International Cultural Differences

Comparative management theory, in an organized form, dates from the early 1960s and its emergence coincided with the early stages of internationalization by US corporations and the issues which that process gave rise to. Concern about understanding differences was given a boost in the 1980s by the onslaught of East Asian competition in world markets and the dynamism of Pacific as a region for investment and economic growth. The formalization of the attempt to understand organization and management, still largely an American-dominated process, has grappled with the problem of providing advice to managers working abroad. It has applied the methods of social science across a spectrum of approaches and in doing so has achieved moderate success. This text charts that progress by presenting examples of the craft of achieving understanding. They are supplemented by articles which stand back and review progress. It is designed to contain articles which: explain how culture is seen and how its effects are traced along with all the other influences on different kinds of organization; describe the main differences for as many countries as possible; examine particular aspects of organizing and managing to see how cultural differences work to influence them; present successful examples from the world of organization to show how cultural influences can be managed; and review progress in understanding to date, knowledge gaps, and future gaps, and future research needs.