Cross-Cultural Management

Cross cultural challenge related to dialogue in your professional life Management
The cross-cultural issue identified is management. There is a disconnect between managers and employees, especially in cross-cultural work environments. In most cases, organization management does not recognize the different cultures found in the organization and this causes friction between employees. We all have biases that have to do with our upbringing and the culture we learned when growing up. As a manager one should be aware of these biases to ensure that they can avoid them when working in a multicultural environment (Søderberg & Holden, 2002). There are verbal and nonverbal communication styles that could contribute to this challenge. Gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact. There are cultures where keeping eye contact is a sign of disrespect and most people will avoid making direct eye contact. However, I was brought up and taught to always maintain eye contact with the person I am talking with. Facial expressions and gestures are nonverbal means of communication where one uses these to create impactful conversations with their audience. In cross-cultural work environments, one should be certain of the gestures and facial expressions being used to ensure that they are not abusing or passing on the wrong message to the employees. Management should be wary of the employees and be certain that they are communicating effectively using both nonverbal and verbal communication.
Cross-Cultural Management: Issues to be Faced
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to analyze cross-cultural management. Adler (1983) wanted to establish how the traditional organizational behavior is handled in a cross-cultural environment. Studying cross-cultural management extends the study of organizational behavior by adding a multicultural dimension, which complements international business studies. The author notes that most studies have focused on macro-level instead of the micro-level. There is a strong case build by the authors as she has indicated different studies that have attempted to study this topic and the outcome of the studies. The author has gone ahead and also noted what most other studies have been focusing on and this denotes that there is a link missing.
Social and Cultural Dimension
This study will demonstrate that while technological changes can take place and organizations can be run in the same manner the culture of the people is still maintained. What this means is that an organization in Canada and another in Germany can have the same technology. However, the way the employees behave in those two organizations is quite different. Therefore, it is vital to study organizational behavior from the perspective of cross-cultural management (Adler, 1983). There is bound to be a change and this change is vital if we are to understand how culture plays a vital role in organizations. With proper understanding, organization management will benefit in terms of being able to handle employees and run the organization successfully. The study will bring to the fore the vital insights that will assist management to effectively manage a diverse workforce and still encourage employees to maintain their cultures.
Article Summary
This article is organized around the six central questions that emerged from responses received by panel members. The author has focused on each question and given insights as to the impact it has on organizational management. An analysis is made and data presented in tabular formats throughout the article. The main themes that have emerged from the review are multicultural employees and multinational work environments. Managers need to determine how they can effectively and efficiently manage this workforce to produce results. Managerial skills required have also been noted in the article. This is vital as it points out what skills a manager should have if they are to successfully manage and lead a multicultural workplace or international workplace environment. The main author is Nancy J. Adler.
Sample Population(s)
This was a Delphi study and it sought to collect the opinions of experts. The study incorporated a group of 52 experts that were selected based on their professional reputations in management and research publications on management (Adler, 1983). The experts represented 11 countries. This being a Delphi study there were three rounds for the study. Twenty-four experts took part in both rounds of the study and they also attended the 1981 McGill International Symposium on Cross-cultural management that was held in Montreal. The third round of the Delphi study was considered to be the symposium, where they further refined and integrated the understanding of the experts on the subject.
Results/Conclusions
What is most clear is that both academics and managers view multiculturalism as a problem that needs to be managed instead of it being a resource that could assist the organization to prosper if properly utilized. The article notes the skills that a manager needs if he or she is to effectively manage multicultural work environments. These skills are professional and managerial, personal and social skills, cross-cultural and international skills, and spouses and families who could adapt to foreign environments. A multinational manager should have domestic management skills and those for cross-cultural environments. The author has noted that the study is not definitive as it only integrates existing knowledge of cross-cultural management and the study suggests new research areas.
Application to Challenge
Using the results of this study one can see that it is vital that they view multiculturalism positively and identify the requisite skills needed to effectively manage a multicultural work environment. Using this study one can learn how to communicate and sharpen their social skills to ensure they can communicate effectively to a larger audience. This links directly since the author have insisted on the skills that one should have to manage multicultural employees.
Coaching at the Heart of Managerial Effectiveness: A Cross-Cultural Study of Managerial Behaviours
Purpose of the Study
This study aimed at searching for evidence to demonstrate empirically that good coaching is a vital feature and core activity of being an effective manager (Hamlin, Ellinger, & Beattie, 2006). The selection of this topic was due to the lack of empirical research that underpins the notions of the facilitative leader. While it is recognized that coaching plays a vital role in everyday management. The majority of expert opinion is based on personal beliefs and not empirical evidence. It is for this that the researchers decided to conduct this study. The authors have given a clear background and support for the study.
Social and Cultural Dimension
The impact of this study is that there will now be empirical evidence to support the need for coaching in management. The results of this study will bring to the fore evidence to support the notion to support how vital being a coach is to leadership and management. There is no need for a change as most experts have been pushing for this and there are managers who have embraced coaching to improve upon their management strategies (Hamlin et al., 2006). However, for managers who were skeptical about coaching, they will have to change their management style and adapt the proposed changes if they are to continue leading a diverse workforce.
Article Summary
The article begins with justification and background of the study where the authors have noted how they came to work together. The background of the three studies that the researchers had conducted in the past has been briefly discussed. Then the comparability of the studies was carried out to determine how comparable or identical they all are. Next, the article addresses the two research questions from the perspective of each study before giving a discussion and thereafter a conclusion. The theme that emerges from this study is that of truly effective leaders being the ones who are effective coaches. The authors have managed to link coaching with other studies and this gives additional credence to their study. The main authors are Robert Hamlin, Andrea Ellinger, & Rona Beattie.
Sample Population(s)
This was a cross-cultural comparison study of three independently conducted empirical studies that gauged the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of coaching behaviors. The three studies incorporated into this study were all conducted in three different countries namely the USA, England, and Scotland. This made the studies unique and viable for this present study.
Results/Conclusions
The findings give strong empirical support for the facilitative leader and this is supported by other researchers. There is also similarity and congruence between the three studies (Hamlin et al., 2006). All these studies have demonstrated collectively the type of managerial behaviors that managers should have if they are to be perceived by their superiors, peers, and subordinates to be effective. This demonstrates the importance of coaching in leadership.
Application
One should learn how to be a better coach or facilitative leader is they are to effectively communicate with their employees (Hamlin, Beattie, & Ellinger, 2007). Without this attribute, a manager will struggle to explain tasks to his or her subordinates and the employees will struggle to understand or learn how to carry out tasks. This attribute is beneficial as it allows one to demonstrate to the employees how to perform a particular task. Coaching encourages employee learning and development, which ensures the organization has well trained and skilled employees.
Conclusion
Leveraging the outcomes of these two articles is the plan for overcoming the challenge faced. The two articles give information on how one can become an effective leader and be able to overcome the challenge of management in an organization. Combining the results from these two studies, a person can become an effective leader whose employees look up to them. Dialogue seems to be the most effective way of reaching out and expressing oneself to the employees. Persuasion dialogue is vital if one is to encourage employees to increase their productivity. Using this strategy, the employees who already look up to the manager can be easily persuaded to accept certain propositions.
References
Adler, N. J. (1983). Cross-cultural management: Issues to be faced. International Studies of Management & Organization, 13(1-2), 7-45.
Hamlin, R. G., Beattie, R. S., & Ellinger, A. D. (2007). What do effective managerial leaders really do? Using qualitative methodological pluralism and analytical triangulation to explore everyday ‘managerial effectiveness’ and ‘managerial coaching effectiveness.
Hamlin, R. G., Ellinger, A. D., & Beattie, R. S. (2006). Coaching at the heart of managerial effectiveness: A cross-cultural study of managerial behaviours. Human Resource Development International, 9(3), 305-331.
Søderberg, A.-M., & Holden, N. (2002). Rethinking cross cultural management in a globalizing business world. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2(1), 103-121.