Intercultural Management

MBA Essentials

Herman Blom, Harald Meier, IfTQ-CERT International Institute for Training Quality Certification (Ed.)

• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9783754313701
• eBook ISBN: 9783754355398
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

The book contains fundamentals of international corporate policy, communication and cultural concepts as well as an overview on the central functions of international HR Management, Leadership and Managing Diversity. On the one hand, it represents the essential framework conditions and instruments of international corporate management as well as for managers in their responsibility managing departments or project teams with intercultural staff or stakeholders or being as an expat working abroad. In this way, a company, team or a manager can also gain intercultural experience of other diverse related differences as usable diversity potential.The book is based on the 3rd edition of the German-language title of the same name by the Dutch-German team of authors with decades of experience in many countries in corporate projects, management training courses and study programs. The target group are primarily companies and managers, management training courses and study programs such as an MBA, General Management, Entrepreneurship or Project Management.

1. Intercultural Business and Management

1.1 Global Business and Megatrends

1.2 International Companies

1.2.1 Globalisation of Companies

1.2.2 Levels of Globalisation

1.2.3 International Corporate Organisation

1.3 Intercultural Management Concepts

1.3.1 Internationalisation in Decision-making Bodies

1.3.2 Intercultural Management Strategies

1.1 Global Business and Megatrends

Employees at all corporate levels and areas step-by-step are today confronted with intercultural influences in their function and at their workplace. And the company's workforce is changing step-by-step into a colourful diversity of people of different nationalities, gender, ethnicities, religions, skins, etc.

Development in International Trade in a nutshell

Globalisation was and is always discussed critically. International trade and investment are not really a new phenomenon. Trade, investment and labour migration have stretched across continents for thousands of years and are an integral part of cultural developments. Human beings and entire cultures cannot be restricted in their urge to move and develop in the long term and even by laws and walls of any kind.

• First trade documents between Europe and the Orient are dated 4,000 BC. During the more than 100-year-lasting construction of the Cheops pyramid complex (Egypt), more than 100,000 porters (meru) were employed. Like stone blocks, these human resources were imported from Central Africa and shipped down the river Nile. Recordings from grave finds show carved in stone how work and accommodation, distribution of tools and violations was regulated between people of different ethnicities and languages.
• Even BC until the 13th cent., the today known as Silk Road crosscontinental trade network over land and sea between Europe and Central Asia as far as China as the most important logistics network for e.g., import of spices, silk or porcelain and vice versa export of agricultural products, glass and precious metals. Among other things, security (escort), trade (exchange and trans-shipment points) and food/accommodation (e.g., known as caravanserai in today's Turkey) were organised.
• Since Columbus' voyage at the end of the 15th cent. – originally, to research a safer and shorter sea route to India – an idea, which Aristotle had around 350 BC. European kingdoms have subjugated overseas cultures and created state enterprises to exploit these colonies. With the abandonment of colonial policy, private investments (e.g., the British East-India Company) with foreign offices gradually took over the promotion of natural resources, trade in products and financial transactions.
• Today, around 25 countries control 80% of world trade and the majority takes place in the triad North America–EU–SE Asia. The role of the Gulf States region has been increasing rapidly for years. And all over the world there are numerous expanded and new international bridges, tunnels and pipelines, canals and rail networks, airports and seaports to cover the international trade.

Now, the same problems arise as hundreds and thousands of years ago due to intercultural misunderstandings and international piracy, national protectionism and political intervention (e.g., US boycott of companies involved in the Russian-German pipeline Nordstream). And there are even new technical problems: for a week the Suez Canal (12% of world trade) was blocked for almost a thousand ships by a transverse lying container ship, which led to massive production losses in Europe because missing technical components from Asia.

Beside big companies even most SMEs in industrial countries are today part of international value chains. At the same time, German companies are represented world-wide as investors and branches – and vice versa foreign companies here. In addition is a demographic development: the aging and declining native population in industrialised countries need foreign staff and constant immigration. The number of business start-ups, for example, in Germany, has been falling for many years (partly due to the very good labour market for skilled workers). But the number of entrepreneurs with a migration background is increasing so much that they are seen as a job engine² (see example below).

International Workforce

Today, intercultural workforces belong to every industrial country and even to emerging countries, e.g.:

• seasonal/permanent guest workers, cross-border commuters,
• specialists as fitter, manager or development worker as expats,
• or in international projects and virtual collaboration,
• employees as migrants and their subsequent generation with a migration background.

Without the intercultural workforces' labour, knowledge, experiences as well as motivation, industrial companies, for example, would no longer be able to maintain their level of service and performance. Also, the product and market development as well as research within the framework of international value chains would not be nearly as successful. For example, migrants or their children are among the most successful founders in industrial societies worldwide.

Example International leading US brands founded by migrants

Migrant entrepreneurs in the US are twice more often as native-born to start a business, they’ve founded more than 50% of the high-tech companies in California. They are more likely earning an advanced degree and inventing something new or holding US patents. And these migrants are not only driving the New Economy, they help the urban revitalisation incl. creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs – they bring back the spirit of the American Dream. Migrants often have entrepreneurial skills by nature, e.g., they are risk takers and showing stress resistance, they have huge personal networks, and often they like self-employment because of their ethnic and cultural background – nowadays more than natives in our saturated societies. Migrant entrepreneurs are making a significant contribution to the economic growth and innovations, they are keeping the US companies and economy globally competitive, e.g., the 30 most successful US companies founded by migrants – Apple, AT&T, Budweiser, Colgate, Dow, DuPont, eBay, Garmin, Google, Intel, Kraft, Levi’s, LinkedIn, Netflix, PayPal, PepsiCo, Pfizer, P&G, Sun, Tesla, USS Steel, Yahoo, YouTube ... – nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies were founded by the first or second migrant generation, and only less than a third of the Mainstreet Business.³

As important as intercultural migration is for socio-cultural development in societies, international labour migration and labour exchange is also important for economic development today and in the future. In Germany, for example, there have been guest workers from South and SE-Europe since the 1960s and later ethnic re-settlers from Eastern Europe. Today there are more and more qualified migrants from all parts of the world in all areas and functions of research and development. Vice versa, many Germans work worldwide as expats, project managers and technicians as cross-border commuters (e.g., to Denmark, the Neth...

Table of contents

• Blom/Meier
• Edition Management Essentials
• Preface
• Motto
• Brief Contents
• Contents
• Figures
• Abbreviations
• 1. Intercultural Business and Management
• 2. Cultures and Communication
• 3. International HR Management
• 4. International Expat Management
• 5. Managing Intercultural Teams
• 6. Managing Diversity
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright