Cross – Cultural Management in Work Organisations
Author : Ray French
Published by : Universities Press (India) Private Limited
Reviewed by : Prof. Richa Mishra, Faculty - AIMA
ISBN  13: 978 81 7371 617 1
ISBN  10: 81 7371 617 X

About the Author

Ray French is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth Business School, where he teaches in the area of organizational behaviour, managing business relationships, human resource management and cross-cultural awareness for managers.

About the Book          

With the increase in globalization and diversity in the workplace, cross-cultural management has become an important element of organizational life.  As a result, organizational decision-makers and students of business and management have increasingly sought to comprehend the ways in which culture intervenes at workplace level.

The focus of this book is on aspects of cross-cultural management with in work organization.  An awareness of the impact of culture on people in work organization can both enhance an understanding of the realities of day-to-day life in an increasing number of work settings and contribute to effective management of employees in terms of meeting goals set to measure organizational success.  The book aims to provide an evaluative summary of existing models of culture and cultural difference rather than simply reproducing their main points without further comment.

The book is divided into five parts and eleven chapters.  Part I is setting the scene chapter under this part is Introduction which discusses various issues like the importance and scope of cross-cultural management.  The interplay of cultural and non-cultural factors within the subject areas of people management and workplace behaviour.  The chapter also highlights the need for topicality in research models and theories in the field of cross-cultural management.

Under Part II four chapters are covered.  Chapter 2 focuses on describing the meanings of culture it comprehend a range of definitions of the “culture”.  It lists the assumptions underpinning the influential models of cultural differences and recognize the contested nature of culture as a concept.  Various difficulties involved in studying culture, including various stereotypes. The link between the concepts of national and organizational culture.

Chapter 3 looks in detail at the more popular and influential models which have sought primarily to define the characteristics of culture and explain cultural differences in diverse societies. The commonalities between frameworks of culture and the development of thinking in this area.  The chapter also evaluates the usefulness of popular models of cultural differences in explaining aspects of work organization.  And appreciates the extent of cultural determinism implicit in these models.

Chapter 4 discusses the limitations of existing frameworks for understanding culture and cultural differences.  The role of cultural convergence and divergence and the interplay between these forces and the implications of these issues for future cross-cultural analysis.  The chapter deals with the theoretical assumptions of mainstream models of culture in greater detail and depth. 

Part 3 deals with cross-cultural social relations in the workplace.  Chapter 5 focuses on possible impact of culture within individual business-related topic areas, beginning with a focus on organization structure.  It examine the relative impact of societal culture as a contingent factor effecting organizational arrangements.  Chapter discusses the potential ways in which new organizational arrangements.  Various examples of cross-cultural business research methods through an in-depth analysis of studies carried out in this topic area.

Chapter 6 deals with the impact of culture on several organizational processes, beginning here with a discussion of the topic of communication.  It describes the elements of the intercultural communication process.  List the potential barriers to intercultural communication.  The significance of communication in analyzing culture and cultural differences. Various ways by which inter-cultural communication can be enhanced.

Chapter 7 describes the various perceptions and definitions of leadership across different cultural groups.  It assess the extent to which notions of cross-cultural difference can be applied to `traditional’ approaches to understanding leadership.  Impact of culture as a contingent factor affecting leadership style.

Chapter 8 evaluates the extent to which US content and process theories can explain worker’s motivation in diverse societies.  The contribution of comparative research studies which focus on the meaning of work worldwide.  Examines how social factors, including culture, shape individual’s psychological contracts and orientations to work.  It recognizes the trends in contemporary business that may lead to convergence in motivation theory and practice.

Part 4 of the book discuss about managing across or within cultures.

Chapter 9 of the book lists desirable intercultural competencies put forward in existing cross-cultural management literature, and assess the value of additional competencies in view of changes within business settings.  The importance of cross-cultural training in enhancing manager’s competencies and evaluate the value of such training in reality.  Chapter describes the links between culture, ethics and managerial competencies.  It evaluates the impact of intercultural competencies on successful cross-cultural management.

Chapter 10 recognizes the potential contribution of international and comparative human resource management (HRM) to enhancing an organization’s competitive advantage.  Describes how cultural values have influenced HRM policies and practices.  It evaluates the extent to which HRM interventions have varying results when applied within different cultural groups.  Discusses the role of institutional arrangements in explaining differences in HRM and employee relations systems between societies.

Part 5 concludes the book with an evaluation of frameworks purporting comprises Chapter 11 which explains cultural difference in a twenty-first century business context.  The relative impact of culture as a factor influencing different facets of organizational life.  The issues that might inform the future study of cross-cultural management.

Thus, the book touches all the aspects related to cross-culture management.  Most chapters include short activities which will enhance the value of the text for readers.  Though the book is not touching various issues related to cross-culture management like managing multicultural teams, handling conflicts with cross-cultural issues, preparing employees by training them to work in cross-cultural environment.  But since cross-culture is a vast & vibrant topic so keeping in mind all the limitation of book writing the book justifies the topic.