Cross-Cultural Management: A New Strategy for CEM

1. Cross-Cultural Management

It is the study of behaviour of individuals in organizations located in cultures and nations around the world. In the concept of cross cultural management culture acts a distinguished explanatory variable making it a distinct avenue in the management research. It is very important to understand that management attitudes are not always a function of culture but to understand that which attitude corresponds with which culture. But the study of cross cultural management is not only about psychological topography, motivations and aspirations of human beings around the world but the skills of management know how and practices around the globe.Earlier the developed countries like U.S.A were considered to be the superior in their management practices but with the rise of the Japanese management system and the rise of Japanese leaders, this myth does not hold true (Negandhi, A. R., 1983).The focus thus needs to be expanded; we need to conceive the transfer process in multiple directions from the U.S to other developed countries and vice versa. Japanese organizations have three prime characteristics. They are innovative firstly. They are growth oriented and they are sensitive to new opportunity. They are flexible organizations. Jobs are ambiguous and employees are willing to do any related jobs. The organizations provide more opportunity for promotion and wage increase with small differentials. A common theme in the literature on the effectiveness of Japanese Management is their development and utilization of quality circles as they are now commonly called (Cole, R. E. 1980; Rehder, R. R.1981; Takeuchi, H. 1981; Yager, E.1980). Although there are many variations of quality circles in practice, nearly all are structured as a relatively small group of employees who meet together to discuss develop solutions for work problems relating to quality, productivity or cost. Another unique feature of Japanese Management is the tradition of lifetime employment, resulting in a worker spending his entire career with one firm. Lastly the Japanese Management style depicts collective responsibility which is the outcome of various factors like formation of company unions rather than craft unions, emphasis on teamwork and cooperation, consensus decision making and participative management (Keys, J. B., & Miller, T. R. 1984)