Characteristics Of Cross Cultural Enterprises

meaning and provide them with rules for behavior in their organization, however culture does not necessarily imply uniformity of values. Often different values can be displayed by people of the same culture.

     Cultures are varying among different parts of the globe. People with different cultures have different characteristics and viewpoints on the subjects due to diverse understanding and method of learning. During the past few decades, the international trade grows in a very rapid rate due to the advantages that it provides; “increased sales, operational efficiencies, exposure to new technologies and broader consumer choices” (Heslin). Therefore, when considering the culture aspect to current business world, it is crucial for business to understand the culture aspect because of the tremendous growth of international business as well as utilize the international market to its maximum

Economic development is defined by the ability to succeed internationally. It is important to understand the dynamic role that culture plays in this development as well as in a business setting. This can be done by realizing that every society has its own set of cultural themes or attributes. These themes have a substantial impact on how that culture does business. Upon doing business cross-culturally a strong management structure is essential. Cross-cultural management is the ability to have successful interactions between clients, customers, suppliers, etc. across cultures and around the world. This management style is important to understand because the work behaviors within this style directly affect the organizations’ successful international ventures and projects. This is why understanding organizational culture in Brazil is the main focus of being successful there.

For the successful business, it is must to be aware of the culture of international country with we are doing business or trading. Cultural difference in business can aid in building international competencies as well as enabling to get a competitive benefit. It is difficult to be aware of every aspect of the other country’s organisational culture.

Sometimes cultural difference between countries can cause a negative impact when conducting free market businesses. According to the textual evidence, economic advancement and globalization may be important factors in society change. The culture of societies may also change as they become richer because economic progress affects a number of other factors, which in turn influence culture.

The business model, into this age of information, has integrated itself with many cultures. One of the results of this globalization is development and research into international business and work related culture. In a recent paper by Mooij & Hofstede (2010), it found focus on researching and investigating culture is becoming more popular. Looking at the exponential growth and influence of international, more International Managers are becoming aware of the impact and importance of national culture on organizational culture.

In this era of Globalisation, cross cultural management is the biggest challenge that is faced by the organisations. Within the business context, cross culture refers to interaction between different cultures. Cross cultural management refers to managing the employees from different cultural background in one environment (Adler, 2008). Cross culture management is a significant issue within the organisations as the success of an organisation depends upon the smooth interaction of the employees. This paper is aimed at providing insight on the cross cultural management and the main issues and challenges relating to cross cultural management. For the purpose of this paper, two articles, “Cross-cultural Differences in Management”, by Amman & Jordan

Cultural assumptions can influence not just an individual 's behavior, but companies ' strategies and the way they choose to structure their organizations. The systems they use to motivate employees and control the organization similarly may be "culture bound," meaning that the underlying cultural assumptions are from the home country. Culture and the systems work as intended there but may not work when they are transferred and used elsewhere. Companies should understand that to be effective their structures and systems need to "fit," or be in alignment with, the culture and conditions of the countries in which they are operating.

Over the last ten years, numerous firms have continued to embrace international operations. However, the international operations come with numerous obstacles. For instance, culture is one of the bottlenecks faced by the firms operating in the global arena. Studies indicate that language problems and difficulties along with culture collisions are some of the cultural bottlenecks that an international firm must handle. The firms operating in the international market must recognize that different cultures have own modus operandi in terms of business transactions. In this regard, a subsidiary operating in the host country is obliged to respect the culture of the host nation.

The most recent studies in cross-cultural management reveal that the culture is a very expansive subject for organizations to study, especially for organizations, which hire the most diverse workforce. One definition of a diverse workforce could be as the one, which comes from different ethnic and demographic backgrounds (Plessis, 2011). For studying culture of the diverse workforce, there are two parts to study, the implicit and the explicit culture. The explicit culture includes behavior while the implicit part involves norms and values of individuals (Guang & Trotter, 2012). The explicit culture is already known when workers stay and work in a firm for a length of time, but the most difficult is to understand the implicit culture which is obscured in form of norms and values of the workers. Due to the differences of cultures, workers hold a great potential of variance, variety in terms of their explicit and implicit parts of the culture. The

“Culture” can be defined as the beliefs, customs, behaviors, traditions, skills, etc., of a group or of a people. Though culture may be transmitted from generation to generation, it is often dynamic and changing.”(Toma, p.3) The bigger the company, the more diverse it may become. As companies grow, the various cultural within the company grows amongst the employees. This opportunity will enrich the atmosphere at work, as well as, bring about cultural conflict. The differences among cultures sometimes result in stereotyping, boundaries over stepped, ignorance, unethical behavior, and many times a division within the company. The employer must ensure that the differences between the employees to not

Hofstede conducted research on IBM employees in 40 countries and discovered that the cultural values strongly influenced relationships both within and between organisational divisions. Four of the significant cultural dimensions that Hofstede defined have been examined by many researchers. Understanding the way these dimensions influence culture is of increasing importance for both global leaders and those managing a diverse workforce.

Culture is a very widely identity. For a company, we usually consider two main parts: the national culture, and the corporate culture. So when talk about Chinese culture’s influence to international firms, I will include both Chinese national culture and Chinese corporate culture.

According to the works of Chaney & Martin (2011) and Harris & Moran (2000), they agree that international management skills are in need for the increasing scope of international trades and investments. A large number of multinational companies have expanded their businesses through both developed and developing countries. Some of the business invest directly and others are partnership arrangements and strategic alliances with domestic operations. Their studies show that independent entrepreneurs and small businesses have started investing and competing in the world marketplace. Thus, to acquire corporations’ objectives, there is exceedingly a necessity for the development of strategic framework for cross-cultural management and communication in the current competitive global market. Chaney & Martin (2011) also noted that, cultural awareness and cultural differences are strongly important to the multinational corporations’ success. A good understanding of the culture where business is implemented can make international managers productive and effective.

A global manager has to consult with the legal services in order to comply with the host countries legal parameters. This is imperative for long-term relationship between such corporations and the host country's government. This enables managers of international corporations to find legal recourse incase a problem arises. Such problems can only be addressed through local interpretation and enforcement. There are a few exceptions in countries like China where financial and legal systems are not responsive to the demands of the international business community. In fact, it is in China where the government does not stand behind the commitments of its state owned enterprises. China has a reputation for protecting its powerful companies. The zeal with which China pursues foreign trade is not commensurate to its resolve to embrace global legal norms (Deresky, 2011).