Cross Cultural Management Best Practices

What is Cross Cultural Management?

Globalisation is causing businesses to engage in cross-cultural communication more and more each day, resulting in a greater need for certain skills and competencies. This is where cross cultural management comes in.

Cross Cultural Management is the study of societal cultures’ influence on managers and their practices within the international business setting. It also looks at individual members of an organisation, their values, norms and understanding of cultural contexts.

Its overall goal is to ensure members of organisations are equipped with the right skills and competencies to deal with culture clashes and barriers of communication to enable effective cross-cultural contact.

Why is Cross Cultural Management so important?

Cross cultural management is vital as businesses are going global, resulting in people from all over the world working together. An individual’s culture from their home country heavily impacts how they perceive, understand, and communicate ideas.

This can cause miscommunications due to clashing cultures which often results in friction between individuals or groups. Certain social cues or behaviours can be perceived different depending on individual’s culture, for example in India avoiding eye contact when talking to an elder or superior is a sign of respect whereas in Western countries this same behavior could be perceived as shame or fear.

Cross cultural management enables us to successfully communicate with and understand individuals from differing cultures to our own, by learning of these cultural differences and adapting to them. Overall, it is essential to understand how people’s decision-making processes are impacted by their own cultural norms and values, in order to maximise performance.

Want to find out more about Cross Cultural Management?

The Importance of Cross Cultural Management

The Need for Cross Cultural Management

Cross Cultural Management Explained