Cross-Cultural Management Essay

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…

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…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…