Influential factors in cross-cultural management

Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie

Published: 15-October-2014

Cross-cultural management: influential factors

Cross-cultural management has no come of ease for managers and so is the same when it comes to understanding what it is, how it is applied and factors that influence such application. This is because there are mixed feelings on what cross-cultural management is all about as demonstrated in the table 1 below.

Table 1: comparing and contrasting key terms in cross-cultural management journals

Key terms	Comparison	Contrasts
Communication	Just like past researchers (e.g. Ford and Ford, 1995; Heracleous and Barrett, 2001), the three journals considered in this analysis view language-based communication utilized by actors for the main purpose of achieving their goals or to meet their needs.	Ardichvili et al., (2006) presented a different view on communication form the two articles by noting that it extends far from its conventional (face-to-face) adaptation into an online and wide reach angle. The researcher also noted that increased adoption and penetration of communication media now means that some cultures (e.g. Brazil) have begun to develop preference for high reach communication mediums.
Language and symbol	In all the journals language is viewed as an important factor in marketing instrument design. The ideology is that MNCs should be conscious of the language used in any given market and ensure that whatever language adopted by the company is in line with what the market understands.	In contrast anyways, Luo & Shenkar (2006) took a different dimension by casting language as a macro variable within the broader context of a firm and its surrounding. Such proposal also demands that language should be set aside form the construct of culture which numerous literatures have proven it to be correlated with. Their reasons is that unlike national culture, language is more of a strategic choice that inherent in cultures and evolvements in institutional realities.
Strategy – global integration or local adaptation	All the journals are of the view that MNCs need to consider both the local market and international setting when choosing a strategy but the most effective is to adapt with local market in terms of product and service offerings.	While the other journals focused on local adaptation for MNCs, Oosthuizen, (2004) foresees global integration as the best approach. The researcher made known that a great opportunity in modern day business is for businesses to create new global icons that overshadow cultures while also retaining the unique features that apple to the local market – also known as top-down approach (glocalization).

 Although they are a number of key points form the above discussion, one should understanding that the most important factor to consider when communicating with a foreign market is language and symbol design (Ardichvili et al., 2006; Oosthuizen, 2004; Luo & Shenkar 2006). In order to aid easy decoding of messages, MNCs need to encode message in the language of the local market and symbols should be easily understood by the local market. This will enhance assimilation and flow of communication between the company and its market.

In the article, ‘In Marketing across Cultures: Are You Enlightening the World or Are You Speaking in Tongues?’ Oosthuizen, 2004 made known that the frame of reference from which a communication is based is very important. This is because humans internalize communication with their frame of reference and gained experience, and when communications are established outside such frame of reference, they are either misunderstood or not understood at all.

One might ask how a manager could address a communication from an employee that has value but no cultural sensitivity. The answer would be to attach some level of empathy to it. This is because empathy attaches some emotional connection to the meaning presented. As demonstrated in his study, Oosthuizen (2004) showed how cultural sensitive message can be communicated by beginning with “only Christians will understand his work,” but proceed to incorporate a general meaning for all religions. Oosthuizen;s (2004) also shows that the researcher is from a high-context culture because extra care was dedicated towards pointing out all elements presented in the journal as well as supporting each statement with examples and references where necessary.

From the above analysis, it is evidently clear that managing across cultures is not easy but one would begin smart and strategic start by adapting to local language and communication will integrating global strategy in a new market.

Reference

Ardichvili, A., Maurer, M., Li, W., Wentling, T. & Stuedemann, R. (2006) ‘Cultural influences on knowledge sharing through online communities of practice’, Journal of Knowledge Management, 10 (1), pp. 94–107, Emerald [Online]. DOI: 10.1108/13673270610650139 (Accessed: 23 December 2009).

Ford, J.D. and Ford, L.W. (1995) 'The role of conversations in producing intentional change in organizations', Academy of Management Review 20(3): 541-570.

Heracleous, L. and Barrett, M. (2001) 'Organizational change as discourse: communicative actions and deep structures in the context of information technology implementation', Academy of Management Journal 44(4): 755-778.

Luo. Y. & Shenkar, O. (2006) ‘The multinational corporation as a multilingual community: language and organization in a global context’, Journal of International Business Studies, 37 (3), pp. 321–339, Palgrave Macmillan [Online]. DOI:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400197 (Accessed: 23 December 2009).

Oosthuizen, T. (2004) ‘In marketing across cultures: are you enlightening the world or are you speaking in tongues?’, Design Issues, 20 (2), 61–72, MIT Press Journals [Online]. DOI: 10.1162/074793604871293 (Accessed: 23 December 2009).