Cross-Cultural Management
A Knowledge Management Perspective
Brief
Description
Advanced undergraduate and
postgraduate students and researchers in international business, international management
and cross-cultural management, and all concerned with the transfer of knowledge in the
global economy. It will also be a valuable source of concepts and ideas to cross-cultural
trainers and to various categories of practitioners within knowledge management and
international human resource management. This book forges a break with the concept of
culture that has dominated management thinking, education, and research for several
decades. Culture, rather than being presented as a source of difference and antagonism, is
presented as a form of organisational knowledge that can be converted into a resource for
underpinning core competence. This perspective based on extensive research into the
operations of four major international corporations, challenges traditional thinking by
contending that cross-cultural management is a form of knowledge management. Key to this
text are the four global case companies contrasting experiences, presented as
insightful case studies about rarely observed aspects of firms cross-cultural
communication behaviour.
Features
- Criticises
cross-cultural management studies for being dependent on traditional concepts of culture
that are too detached from the everyday cross-cultural aspects of knowledge sharing,
networking and organisational learning in the global economy Represents the most
up-to-date perspective on the subject.
- Proposes
a new notion of culture based on the modern corporate world Demonstrates the nature
of the global business communities in which undergraduates, postgraduates and managers
will work.
- Suggests
new boundaries and directions for cross-cultural management education and research -
Provides a reference point for students and managers for years to come.
- Demonstrates
how firms international interactions can be studied from a standpoint that ingrates
cross-cultural approaches and a knowledge management perspective Brings students and
managers fully up-to-date in these two important subject areas.
- Presents
four global case studies contrasting experiences - solid theoretical framework
thoroughly integrated with research - Provides students with invaluable insight into
application in the real world.
- Supplies
models and a glossary of terms to clarify the new concepts which ally cross-cultural
management with knowledge management Provides an accessible, learning-oriented
student and manager resource.
Contents
Part 1: Anthropology's
awkward legacy to the manager's world 1. The anthropologist's legacy Is it contagious? An
initial foray into the cross-cultural management literature A Babel of definitions Culture
as essence The undue influence of the essentialist concept of culture The fixation with
culture shock Cross-cultural management for the knowledge-based economy The need to
reformulate the conceptual foundation of cross-cultural management 2. Cross-cultural
management: geopolitics and panic Introduction and chapter overview Geopolitical pressures
and influences moulding cross-cultural management consciousness The 20th century reshapes
the world The impact of the non-Western world on cross-cultural management thinking Into
an age of global networks, anonymity, and uncertainty 3. The global economy: networks for
knowledge Introduction Towards a general definition of cross-cultural management The
global economy Globalisation The transnational corporation The worldwide business
revolution The Net economy Networks and networking The learning organisation Identifying
the terrain of cross-cultural management 4. Culture's periodic tables Introduction Some
consequences of Culture's consequences A topsy-turvy representation of low-context and
high-context cultures A chemical analogy A selection of culture's periodic tables The
limitations of culture as essence in the world of management 5. Making sence withour the
essential culture. Cultural classifications in the management literature: its periodic
tables Five mini case studies: culture as a wanting explanatory factor Mini case 1: the
limitations of a hundred case studies of industrial mergers Mini case 2: the unforeseen
consequences of not taking tacit knowledge with the related explicit knowledge Mini case
3: the perception of Western arrogance in Russia Mini case 4: the ability to trust
insiders Mini case 5: why our view of guanxi may be outdated Commentary on these cases The
indictment Towards looking at culture as a knowledge resource 6. Navigating knowledge
management Introduction Knowledge as a management concept Knowledge management Knowledge
work Generation of knowledge: acquisition and creation Codification of knowledge Transfer
of knowledge Cross-cultural issues Coda: there is nothing new under the sun 7. Towards
culture as an object of knowledge management Introduction The concept of corporate
knowledge narratives The problem of contextual knowledge The informant companies and
methodology Towards a knowledge-oriented concept of culture
Part 2: Case studies: making
sense of culture from a knowledge management perspective 8. Case study 1: Novo Nordisk:
cross-cultural management as facilitation The company background Methodology Vision 21 and
the Novo Nordisk Way of Management The Facilitator concept The objectives and general
operations of facilitation Pre-facilitation The facilitation proper Post-facilitation
Facilitation: an interim review Facilitation as cross-cultural management Self-management
as a multicultural, multilingual team Interactions with units Relationships with corporate
management Facilitation as cross-cultural management Facilitation as knowledge management
How imitable is Novo Nordisk-style facilitation? 9. Case study 2: Matsushita
Electric: A learning history Prologue Methodology The key knowledge management themes and
issues Structure of this corporate narrative A man of his times and ahead of his times
1894-1929: A hundred yen investment 1930-45: Grand vision and interesting times
(interesting as in the Chinese proverb) 1945-56: Anguish, restoration of fortunes and a
personal think tank 1956-61: Towards retirement 1961-1989: Philanthropist and management
philosopher Internationalisation and globalisation The discourse of globalisation
Cross-cultural management issues A knowledge management perspective Afterword 10. Case
study 3: LEGO: transferring identity knowledge Prologue Methodology The key knowledge
management themes and issues Structure of this corporate narrative The company background
The global mission LEGO values and identity LEGO Media International The transfer of
identity knowledge within LEGO Media International Cross-cultural management issues A
knowledge management perspective Managing identity as cross-cultural knowledge transfer
LEGO: a quintessential Danish company nevertheles 11. Case study 4: Sulzer Infra: Creating
One Winning Team Prologue Methodology The key knowledge management themes and issues
Structure of this corporate narrative The company background Methodology The concept of
One Winning Team The Sulzer Infra Academy The Seminar on Vision and Strategy 2002 P-Teams
and Know-how Rings Developing participative competence for cross-cultural team-building
Cross-cultural management issues A knowledge management perspective Part III:
Redesigning cross-cultural management as a knowledge domain 12. Cross-cultural management
at interfaces and in networks Introduction A modified culture concept The four companies
and their context in the globalised economy: commonly held and contrastive features The
management of cross-cultural interfaces Cross-culturally significant features of
organisational learning and networking The role of national groups at senior management
levels Cross-cultural management: a redirection 13. Language: management's lost continent
Introduction A modified culture concept Language and management Language as a descriptor
of management tasks Language as a mobilising medium Language as a repository of company
knowledge, lore and vision The langauge of management: a summary of the dimensions of
translation In search of the language of excellence Conclusion 14. The cross-cultural
management and the translation of common knowledge Introduction The idea of common
knowledge The problems of presenting cultural factors as knowledge resource Ambiguity,
interference and the quest for equivalence Knowledge transfer: absorptive Knowledge
transfer: stickiness Cross-cultural management as translation of common knowledge
Conclusion 15. Cross-cultural management: synergies for participative competence
Introduction Summary review of the argument Remapping the domain of cross-cultural
management Cross-cultural know-how as an organisational resource Teams, diversity and
experimentation Towards good cross-cultural management practice The cross-cultural manager
as a global knowledge worker Rethinking culture as an organisational resource Implications
for management researchers and educators, cross-cultural trainers, and practitioners
Conclusion: a cautionary tale Glossary. Appendix.
328 pages