Cross Cultural Management as a Form of a Business Environment - Term Paper Example

Cross Cultural Management Introduction Cross cultural management is a form of a business environment where individuals from different cultural background are included in the transactions and other things. This is a means of coping with the many differences in the diverse cultures globally in order to be successful. The techniques that are found in the unique form of management help the managers to deal with the many challenges and opportunities at hand. These are like the issue of managing the employees in a culturally diverse organizational environment (Tjosvold 56). In the current years, there has been a vast increase in globalization and this has created responsiveness of the necessity for managers to be responsive to the cultural aspects of decision- making. Even though these cross-cultural differences are a way of helping embrace the diverse notions from different places they also act as a downfall for many mergers in business (Lane 67). The mergers and acquisitions act as an aspect of business strategy in finance and management that deals with the integration of different businesses and comparable entities that can be of help to a corporate to develop its sector or location, without the creation of any subsidiary (Tjosvold 56). The corporate that are more sensitive to cultural differences in any of the cross-cultural environments are in a better form and well equipped to make better decisions. The managers who are well familiarized with cross-cultural management techniques enable smoother workplace relationships. Cross Culture In current years, there has been a rapid increase in globalization and diversity in the workplace and due to this cross-cultural management has become an extremely vital part in the organizational life. The many human races come with different backgrounds. This clearly states the way of doing things in one culture may not be the same way that things are done in the other cultures; also whatever is regarded as good in another culture may be disadvantageous in another (Lane 77). With all the many cultures that exist in the world, the question that arises is how many adaptations are needed for effective international business relation. With the different use of time by the two mergers, there can be an introduction of cyclic time which shall encourage certain degree of synchronization of schedules and targets. Employees can begin understanding other people’s cultures and also trying to learn foreign tongues and cultivating empathy with the views of others (Lewis 113) The human resource in the cross-cultural companies should be well experienced with multinational relations so that they can be capable of choosing the right people for each of the departments. They can be able to look at an individual’s characteristics, ability, talents and education. This is because they are all different and good at certain areas and as well they can be weak and have some blind spots in their attitudes (Lewis 113) They should employ a variety of team-building exercises. These are like camping, climbing Mountains and other games that will bring the individuals together. All members shall come to face some difficulty together and help each other out according to individual capability and with the possessions that are at hand. The ecological constraints of a tent, raft or classroom, require working closely together and avoiding unnecessary friction. This will make the groups learn at a close level how to take charge of the differences that they have (Lewis 114) Cultural difference in international business In the study done by KPMG 83% of Mergers and acquisitions failed to produce any profit for the owners of organizations due to cultural differences. The difficulties that arise come from the facts that the mergers are formed from companies that come from different countries. The people who stay and work in different states always react to different situations and events differently. They have different manners and characters (Ller and Müller 45). Some of the pitfalls that have led to the downfall of mergers are like preoccupation of the employees, organization proliferation, infrequent and irrelevant communication, triangulation and stress and uncertainties (Adekola and Sergi 27). They all become afraid of how the merger is going to affect them individually. In France and Italy, the individuals who are affected by the mergers often form unions to provide them with answers. If they do not come to terms with it, they are prone to go on a strike (Adekola and Sergi 27). In most cases, the working language used in communication is different, and this brings about the breakdown of the information. The teams might be having the same goals but the mode, of communication and ways of achieving them are different. This brings the fall out of mergers. Moreover, the unclear lines of authority and the exact place where they fit bring about conflicting objectives and old loyalties. This ends up robbing the new entity of strength to overcome the loss in productivity (Adekola and Sergi 27). The employees need to concentrate on essence rather than form and focus on helping populace to adapt. The managers of the two groups should provide temporary structure that shall enable people and departments to find the way amid the old ways and the new (Stahl and Mendenhall 46). To actively manage the organizations that have merged across different time and space, the managers have to create an appropriate communication tool and the accountabilities and standards that shall enable organizations to better function across time and space. Furthermore, the action that shall be put in place by both organizations is to focus on recognizing the talents of the individual employees. This will be a good global mind set because the individuals will be selected for an international assignment based on their capabilities. On the other hand, it shall avoid the cross-cultural problems of embarrassing people by singling them out (Furrer 56). The two recruiting manager of the mergers should also focus on motivating the people by offering them greater security and opportunity for affiliation. This can start by first building trust in the relationship. Organizations that are willing to succeed and flourish in this market place must have a global mindset (Lewis 34). This includes openness and deep knowledge of the different cultures and markets in the world of today. It also includes the ability to be able to incorporate and synthesize across these varied markets. It is also extremely essential that the company builds one company culture that acts as a unifying code for the group. This can be made possible by rethinking an organizational structure centered on corporate headquarters (Joynt and Warner 88). The human Resource has to be cultural sensitive and aware of the diversity that exists between them. This is being open to the initiative of shifting cultural mind-set. It makes the organization assign values to the differences, for example, right or wrong, harmful or good. Clashes can occur if a custom of a certain culture of people goes against the idea of multiculturalism. This is to avoid internal conflicts. The manager has to make certain that every self is mindful of the organizational goals (Lewis 44). Lastly there has to be culture competence, which shall be emphasized by the human resource. By focusing on the organization’s culture, there will be no placing of blame to other people. This shall focus on how to align policies and practices with goals and ensure that there is respect on the differences between the cultures. The prejudices in policies and practices have to be eliminated, and the members have to be willing to share powers among leaders of different cultural backgrounds (Hayton 190). Every organization has its own values, beliefs, assumptions and customs. These make up the different cultures within the organizations. Their policies, procedures, programs and processes that define their culture are largely echoed by time orientation, different perception and time use. In order for an organization that is made up of cross-culture structure to succeed, it needs to bring together knowledge about the different groups and transform it into standards, policies and practices that make everything to work (Lewis 43) Some of the actions or procedures that should be put in place on both sides of the merged organizations are like forming a committee that shall represent all levels in the organization. If people at all levels in the organizations are involved, then all the people are likely to be more culturally competent (Adekola and Sergi 27). The human resource needs to identify the cultural groups to be involved in the implementation and also identify barriers that will slow or hinder the merger. Goals, steps and the deadline for achieving them have to be considered (Joynt and Warner 87). After forming the cultural competence committee which shall serve as the governing body, a mission statement that shall commit to the cultural competence has to be written (Lewis 43) Human resource has to find out what similar companies have done in terms of mergers and develop partnerships. This will help in getting ideas that will assist in overcoming the merger fallout. It is also crucial to do a comprehensive cultural assessment of the organizations. This is to determine which tools are needed for the plan (Lewis 44). Resource materials that have information on culturally diverse groups should be collected by the manager and issued to the staff members. Moreover, when both organizations put together a team of natural helpers, community informants and other experts, it can help in making the merger be culturally competent (Lewis 44). Global mindset The whole planet is a marketplace and people come from all part of the globe. Global mindset is the only way of making sure businesses that are faced with cross cultural management succeed. This is the acceptance of global cultural diversity (Lewis 54). The foremost global mindset that both organizations that have merged need to adopt ; are managing self which is the reflective mind set, managing organization, managing relationships, managing change and lastly managing the context which is the worldly mindset. These aspects will establish bounds of management and ensure that everything the organization does is within the standards which were agreed (Lewis 54). Conclusion In order to build a culture competent organization, the way that people think about cultures, operate and communicate has to be changed from negative to positive. This means that the structure, leadership and other activities of a company must be a reflection of certain values and priorities. A continuing program and evaluation of an organization has to take place to ensure absolute encompassing of all cultures. There has to be a clear acceleration, concentration, adaptation in any merger for the cultural differences to be dealt with properly. Works cited: Lane, Henry., et al. The Blackwell Handbook of Global Management: A led to running Complexity. John Wiley & Sons. 2009. Print. Ller, Nina and   Müller, Nina. Cross Cultural Management in the 21st century and how it affects Negotiations. GRIN Verlag. 2004. Print. Stahl, Günter and Mendenhall, Mark. Mergers and Acquisitions: Managing Culture and Human Resources. Stanford University Press. 2005. Print. Furrer, Olivier. Corporate Level Strategy: Theory and Applications. Routledge. 2010. Print. Tjosvold, Dean. Cross-cultural management: foundations and outlook Aldershot [u.a.]: Ashgate. 2003. Print. Adekola, Abel and Sergi, Bruno. Global business management: a cross-cultural perspective. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. 2007. Print. Joynt, Pat and   Warner, Malcolm. Managing across cultures. United States: Thomson learning (KY). 2001. Print. Hayton, James. Global Human Resource Management Casebook. Routledge. 2012. Print. Lewis, Richard. When cultures collide: leading across cultures. Boston: Nicholas Brealey Pub. 2006. Print. Read More