Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Intercultural management'

Globalization is a transformational change phenomenon that is significantly and rapidly impacting today’s organizations, leaders, and people. In turn, the role of the global business leader has become quite complex, and Fortune 500 organizations are facing a dearth of global leaders capable of addressing today’s business leadership challenges. In response to this challenge, one particular strategy for developing global leaders focuses on building intercultural skills. However, given the complexity of their roles, global leaders may face difficulties in developing these skills. By first acknowledging these obstacles global leaders can then, through their work, develop effective strategies and practices in the intercultural domain. After some time spent working in their global roles, leaders may be in the best position to measure what intercultural strategies and practices are most effective. Once global leaders possess strong intercultural acumen, they can pass on their knowledge to emerging generations of leaders by recommending a number of strategies and practices that have proven effective in navigating the global business arena.

This study took a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews of global leaders to gain a deeper understanding of the difficulties faced in developing intercultural skills. From that vantage point, the interviewees articulated strategies they have used to nurture these critical intercultural skills. Success measures for global leaders demonstrating applicable intercultural skills may include effective communication, team cohesion, and goal achievement. Other success measures were discovered as a result of this study. Collectively, these measures inform new strategies and tools to develop and coach future generations of emerging global leaders seeking to enhance their intercultural acumen.

Social contact and geographical movement have been widely studied since ancient times. Conducting business across cultures and expatriation are becoming more popular and ry. As a result of those cultural interactions, individuals face multiple challenges, changes, and social encounters with people from other countries and cultures. The challenges are even greater when those individuals are organizational leaders leading companies or departments in foreign countries. Changes in emotional and professional adjustment to a new country could lead to a serious culture shock process. Literature on culture shock and cultural adjustment shows that individuals could face adverse psychological consequences as a result of failing to adjust to the new culture (Hofstede, 1980; Mendenhall, Bird, Oddou, & Stevens, 2008; Oberg, 1960). This mixed-methods research studies whether culture shock relates to intercultural effectiveness of organizational leaders who are Spanish nationals working in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States (U.S.). Research instruments measure the organizational leader’s level of intercultural effectiveness, and the degree to which the leader is experiencing culture shock. Quantitative data was collected using the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (Mendenhall et al., 2008), and the Culture Shock Adaptation Inventory II (Juffer, 1985). Qualitative data was collected from in-depth interviews via e-mail to document the experience of Spanish organizational leaders working as expatriates in the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S.

I dagens globaliserade samhälle suddas gränserna ut allt mer och vi har kommit att leva mycket närmare andra kulturer. Detta märks inom EU då detta har lett till att det blir lättare att resa och inte minst jobba i andra europeiska länder. Företagen etablerar kontor i länder världen över vilket leder till att olika nationaliteter och kulturer möts på arbetsplatsen. De kulturella skillnaderna handlar till stor del om människors olika normer och värderingar som innefattar samtliga personer i företaget oavsett position. Den interna kommunikationen kan försämras i ett multinationellt företag om chefer och anställda inte är på samma våglängd. I denna situation uppmärksammas chefens roll och hur han agerar i möten med en ny kultur.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vad chefer verksamma i länder med andra kulturella normer och värderingar än de själva anser vara viktigt att tänka på för att lyckas. Intresset ligger i att lyfta fram deras reflektioner kring ledarskap i en främmande kultur och vilka eventuella svårigheter som kan uppstå.

En kvalitativ studie bestående av direktintervjuer med åtta franska chefer verksamma på franska företag i Sverige har utförts för att besvara syftet. De teorier och studier som har används behandlar kultur, ledarskap och interkulturellt ledarskap.

Efter att ha analyserat de empiriska data mot de valda teorierna har följande slutsatser kunnat dras. Undersökningen visar att det krävs en delvis anpassning från chefernas sida krävs för att samarbetet ska fungera, därutöver behövs en medvetenhet för att förstå den andra kulturen. Man måste som chef i en främmande kultur våga fråga sina medarbetare om det är något man inte förstår. De skillnader som tydligast framkom mellan kulturerna var den låga maktdistansen, konflikträdslan och strävan efter konsensus.

In today’s globalized society the boundaries are being more and more expunged and we are living closer to other cultures. This is perceived with the European Union seeing as this has lead to the simplicity in travelling as well as working in other European countries. Companies establish offices around the world which leads to the meeting between different cultures at the office. Cultural differences are for the most part about people’s different values and norms and that includes everybody in the company regardless of position. The internal communication can deteriorate in a multinational company if managers and employees are not on the same wavelength. In this situation the roll of the manager is being distinguished and how he interacts in the meeting with a new culture.

This thesis aims to investigate what managers working in countries with different values and norms find important to succeed. The interest lies in bringing out their reflections about leadership in foreign cultures and what possible difficulties that may occur.

To answer our purpose a qualitative study has been carried out, consisting of personal interviews with eight French managers working for French companies in Sweden. The theories and studies that have been used discuss culture, leadership and intercultural leadership.

After analyzing the empirical data against the chosen theories, the following conclusions have been drawn. The survey shows that a certain amount of adaptation from the managers is needed for the cooperation to work, in addition to this an awareness of the other culture is needed to be able to understand the other culture. As a manager in a foreign culture you have to be able to ask your co-workers for advice if there is something you don’t understand. The differences that were most obviously manifested between the two cultures were the low degree of power distance, the fear of conflicts and strive for consensus.

Dans la société globalisée d’aujourd’hui, les frontières sont devenues de plus en plus effacées et nous nous trouvons plus proches d’autres cultures. Cela est visible à travers la coopération intra-communautaire au sein de l’Union Européenne qui a rendu les voyages et surtout le fait de pouvoir aller travailler dans un autre pays européen plus facile. Les entreprises établissent des bureaux dans des pays du monde entier, ce qui fait que les nationalités les plus diverses se rencontrent sur le lieu de travail. Les différences culturelles consistent en grand partie en normes et valeurs universelles perçues différemment par chacun dans l’entreprise multinationale, peu importe la position. La communication interne dans ce type d’entreprise peut se détériorer si les managers et les employés ne sont pas sur la même longueur d’onde. Dans cette situation, le rôle du manager est central : comment agit-il dans les interactions avec la nouvelle culture ?

Ce mémoire a pour but d’examiner ce que les managers actifs dans d’autres pays avec d’autres normes et valeurs trouvent d’important pour assurer la réussite de leur entreprise. Nous nous sommes attachés à mettre en lumières leurs réflexions autour du management dans d’autre cultures et des difficultés éventuelles qui peuvent surgir.

En vue de répondre à notre objectif avec ce mémoire, nous avons effectué une étude qualitative, en procédant à des interviews avec huit managers français actifs dans des entreprises françaises en Suède. Les théories et les études qui ont été employées traitent de la culture, du management et du management interculturel.

Après avoir analysé les données reccueillies après ces interviews et les avoir comparées aux théories choisies, nous avons pu en tirer les conclusions suivantes : l’étude montre qu’une adaptation partielle de la part des managers est nécessaire pour que la collaboration puisse fonctionner ; en outre, le manager étranger doit avoir une conscience approfondie de l’autre culture enfin de la comprendre. En étant manager dans une autre culture, il faut oser demander à ses collègues dés qu’il y a quelque chose qu’on ne comprend pas. Les différences les plus clairs que nous avons mis à jour entre les deux cultures étudiées étaient : la distance hiérarchique, la peur de conflits et l’aspiration au consensus.

As we continue to work towards a better understanding of intercultural competence, leaders must identify areas where they can facilitate change in themselves and in the organizations they lead. This quantitative study incorporates the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to measure orientations towards cultural differences of leaders in substance abuse treatment facilities. This study also incorporates the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) to measure how the followers' perceive the organizational culture. Data was analyzed using statistical software program (SPSS) and statistical correlations and multivariate analysis of variance were computed. This study is unique in that it breaks new ground in the measurement of the level of intercultural competence of leaders in substance abuse treatment facilities and how their followers' perceive the organizational culture according to the OCI scores.

Results revealed a statistical significance with leaders that scored in the denial orientation of the IDI and their followers that scored the organizational culture as passive/defensive on the OCI. This study points to recommendations for change, from a developmental training perspective and to encourage leaders to become aware of their intercultural competence orientation. Use of the IDI, OCI and interventions to assist in finding ways to increase awareness will strengthen leaders and organizations.

African American high school students are underrepresented in study abroad programs, and their lack of intercultural skills and international understanding can impede their personal and professional development, and limit their career opportunities. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative case study was to explore the influence of intercultural experiences through study abroad and immersion programs on African American high school students’ intercultural competence. The conceptual framework drew on 2 theories: Bennett’s development model of intercultural sensitivity and Kolb’s experiential learning. Data from interviews and focus groups with 13 African American high school students, 2 parents, and 2 teachers as well as documents and field notes from a Northeast United States urban high school addressed the research questions pertaining to how students perceived travel abroad that fostered intercultural competence skills as well as how teachers and parents perceived students’ personal development. Findings resulted from provisional codes used to identify pattern of codes, and central themes that indicated predeparture seminars and reflective practices enhanced intercultural skills. The portfolios suggested that most students became more reflective and accepting of cultural differences after their sojourn abroad. Recommendations based on the findings suggest increasing homestay experiences and planning and predeparture trainings. Future research is needed on how to attract more male African American students to such programs. The findings may contribute to positive social change by encouraging investment in homestay study abroad and immersion programs with adequate preparation and planning at inner city high schools that might foster intercultural competence skills.

As the competition is increasing both nationally and globally, the companies are looking for new ways to decrease costs and gain innovation. The latest hot topic is Open innovation (OI), which can be seen as the ultimate limit in terms of accessible expertise, since it makes no difference in valuing an idea in terms of its origin. The trend is that companies are increasingly acknowledging the relevance of external resources, engaging in OI rather than relying exclusively on internal research and development (Chesborough, 2006). There are many types of supplier relations and innovation networks that the companies can take part in, but OI can be seen more as an approach and mindset that should determine how the companies act, whether it’s a question of being more open for ideas from another department, or even towards a competitor company. The companies are often using different types of collaborations and strategy and, potentially, trying to move up “the scale” towards OI.  With this thesis work I propose that there are many different aspects that the companies have to be aware of when moving up the scale from in-house development towards global OI. In reality, not many companies are taking the full advantage of OI, nonetheless knows the perquisites for doing so. OI may be the trend for development of companies, but today the nature of this is complex as companies are using different layers of the supplier and collaboration types in different parts of the organization. The success stories which Chesborough uses to exemplify the concept of OI do not address the grey area, or place on a scale, where many companies are situated in. This study will therefore explore the complexity in managing these collaborations that is not so present in the literature. How do you manage a collaboration that includes supplier relation, partnership and a want for OI at the same time? This means that there has to be a selection on which projects to collaborate with, as well as strategies for collaborating in a more innovative way and the steps that needs to be taken to get there.  In this thesis I am going to use this broad definition of innovation:

Innovation is the total set of activities leading to the introduction of something new, resulting in strengthening the defendable competitive advantage of a company. (van der Meer, 1996)

My partner company in this study is a global Telecom company (DU Technology) who would like to learn more about this and improve their collaboration with an Indian Service provider (ITC). These companies will be used as a case study to provide an example on how complex the movement towards OI can be, and what it demands from the companies to succeed. As the companies are working in a global context, I will also highlight the importance of an understanding for the cultural differences that affects collaboration and how to manage these when they are not a part of your own company.