Managing Across Cultures: The Seven Keys to Doing Business with a Global Mindset [Hardcover]

Charlene Solomon (Author), Michael S. Schell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2009

hether you run a giant corporation or work in a small business, it’s more than likely that you regularly deal with people of different cultures—from customers and suppliers to salespeople and colleagues.

It simply can’t be overstated: You will have trouble succeeding in business today if you don’t appreciate and know how to actively manage global cultural diversity. Managing Across Cultures examines why people around the world behave as they do and provides actionable tactics for succeeding in today’s global business environment.

Experts in the field of cross-cultural training, Michael Schell and Charlene Solomon describe seven readily recognizable behaviors and explain what they mean, how to interpret them, and most importantly, how to respond to them.

Managing Across Cultures is filled with case studies illustrating the importance of understanding and dealing with cultural differences in all aspects of business. You’ll learn how:

• Intel’s powerful global corporate culture is a critical element of its historic success
• Colgate-Palmolive integrates cultural understanding into its global marketing programs
• GE adapts its effective management style to local business cultures

You’ll also find out how underestimating cultural influence caused serious problems for organizations like DaimlerChrysler and Wal-Mart.

Managing Across Cultures takes you far beyond other books that simply catalog the customs, gestures, and language vagaries of other cultures. This in-depth, strategic guide will help in every facet of business—from hiring and motivating employees to developing winning sales pitches and marketing campaigns.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Effective management techniques that cross all cultural boundaries

Managing Across Cultures examines seven behaviors common to all cultures and explains how to pinpoint and interpret actions that might initially seem out of step with your way of thinking and operating.

Business guides that take a situational approach just don’t cut it anymore. You need to do more than learn the specific gestures of other cultures. You need a global mindset. You need to strategize. You need Managing Across Cultures.

“This book provides a practical framework to help you understand and negotiate the challenges of culture—I have used it with managers and MBA students alike!”
—Hans Brechbühl, Executive Director, Center for Digital Strategies and Adjunct Associate Professor of Business, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College

“Cultural skill is a core competency for today’s business leaders, and as pointed out in Managing Across Cultures it’s a learnable one. As a business learning professional, I strongly recommend reading this practical and valuable book.”
—Nancy L. Brennock, Director of Textron University, Textron Inc.

“Managing Across Cultures is a must-read for anyone going to or thinking about going to work in another country.”
—Andrew Walker, Head of Global Mobility, Thomson Reuters

“Managing Across Cultures is an engaging and comprehensive resource for anyone who works—or will be working—across cultures. It is an excellent guide to help navigate the complexities of working in the global marketplace.”
—Paula Caligiuri, Ph.D., Professor, Human Resource Management and Director, Center for Human Resource Strategy at Rutgers University

About the Author

Charlene Marmer Solomon is executive vice president of RW3, an organization that designs and creates online cultural learning tools. Through its CultureWizard Web sites and blended learning programs, RW3 provides online cultural training facilities for dozens of the world’s leading global organizations.
Michael S. Schell is CEO and president of RW3. He has founded and successfully managed several global businesses, including Windham International, the first integrated global mobility and intercultural training organization, and has been a pioneer in developing intercultural training models.
Solomon and Schell are also the authors of Capitalizing on the Global Workforce (McGraw-Hill).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071605851
• ISBN-13: 978-0071605854
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Culture made simple August 2, 2009

By George F. Simons

Format:Hardcover

I am not embarrassed to admit that I am currently reading The History of France for Dummies. This "Dummy" series of books, written at the lay level in accessible language and reader friendly organization, could have been a good publisher for Solomon and Schell's latest book. It could have done well as "Managing across Cultures for Dummies."

Before you accuse me of panning the product, let me explain. Managing across Cultures is a thorough, well written, simple presentation of intercultural management boilerplate, suitable for those seeking a comprehensive introduction to the field. If is a useful starting point for students starting in a management program as well as a practical read for first time managers facing the realities of global teamwork and the possibility of overseas assignments or engagements.

The authors present well the problems and challenges of working in international, multicultural environments with copious verbal and graphic illustrations of the problems, supportive case studies, theories about and approaches to intercultural challenges in business. The writing is simple, understandable and ESL compassionate. Despite its close to 350 pages, digestible in a couple hours.

At the core of the opus is the authors' distillation of the Hall, Hofstede, Trompenaars intercultural models--nothing new or cutting edge here, just clear reductionist presentation with copious examples, tips and best practices. The authors contend that understanding this culture general framework created by classic researchers is a viable tool for both self analysis and coping with intercultural challenges one will meet at home and abroad. It serves as a starting point for what the author's describe as "developing a global mentality...."

The book attempts to engage the reader actively in measuring his or her own position in the ranges of cultural difference in each of the seven key dimensions. This self awareness is assumed to facilitate the understanding of the cases and challenges described as well as ones that will be met along the way in real life.

Additionally, the authors have attempted to connect the reader through the book to their website for forum type discussion. Since the release date of the book, however, their web forums do not seem to have been populated to any degree. I suspect this is due to two things. The first is that hardcover book readers, perhaps even Kindle readers, are not used to or motivated to mix online learning with printed text. Secondly, I found the questions raised for discussion in the book and then repeated online were far too vague to be either interesting or challenging.

The penultimate chapter is dedicated to "Women Crossing Cultures," presenting challenges unique to them and tips again based on the "Seven Keys." The book closes with a discussion of the traditional model of the cycle of culture shock in the expatriate experience.

Managing across Cultures is US American in style. It appears largely written for that market, also in the sense that it pays no attention to the context of history or the role of national or organizational politics in the cultural mix. Finally it purveys a certain easy-as-pie, can-do optimism. The dust jacket touts it as an "in depth strategic guide," suggesting that it contains is all that super(wo)man need to know to avoid being enfeebled by the kryptonite of culture. One is armed with stories of the great gaffes of the past and destined to succeed in a global future.

In sum, knowing something about cultural dynamics is a useful start, but only a start on the challenge to know and appreciate the real people into whose lives and cultures global business will take us. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read It Now and Keep As a Reference June 6, 2009

By Catherine E. Shearer

Format:Hardcover

As someone who has always been fascinated by what makes people different in various countries, all too often I've been disappointed when making a book purchase. I am pleased to say that was not my experience with this book.

The cultural dimensions listed are explained clearly, with wonderful real-world examples of how they impact behaviors in various countries. I was constantly amazed by the examples of how making a simple cultural mis-step could materially impact a company's success.

I especially enjoyed the discussion questions at the end of the chapter and the fact that I could log on to a blog and discuss my thoughts with others.

This book will live in my library and I'm sure I'll dip into it frequently.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Managing Across Cultures June 3, 2009

By Amazon Buyer

Format:Hardcover

[[ASIN:0071605851 Managing Across Cultures: The 7 Keys to Doing Business with a Global Mindset] Nowhere does the saying "Don't leave home without it" apply more powerfully than to Solomon and Schell's new book, "Managing Across Cultures." It's "must reading" for anyone who in business, or even socially, mixes with people of other cultures. In the world of the 21st century, that encompasses a large segment of the population. While "Managing Across Cultures" is geared towards businesses, its teachings and applications extend far beyond the "business" community.

The book is well thought-out, well organized, well written, and extremely easy and enjoyable to digest. It's enormously informative. Clearly, its subject matter is one about which Solomon and Schell know an enormous amount. Without trying very hard, you can spend many thousands of dollars consulting with experts in the field of cross-cultural training. Why not learn more spending just a few hours reading this book?

Highest recommendations!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A pioneering, important tool for everyone May 26, 2009

By S.D.

Format:Hardcover

Managing Across Cultures is a wonderfully interesting and useful book from two masters of the intercultural field.

As an individual who has already experienced life in other cultures and countries, I realize the value of being aware of culture in its many manifestations. Managing Across Cultures reinforces and deciphers all the feelings and situations I'd been through in the past, paving the way for an even more successful experience in the future.

For those who are new to working and living in a globally connected, interdependent world, cultural cues may be hard to recognize, which is why this book is so key to living in the 21st century.

Everyone, not only businesspeople, should be required to know and recognize culture. The book also made me discover the inherent strength of multicultural teams, companies, countries, etc. Managing Across Cultures made me realize that diverse organizations are usually the most successful and that being prepared to take advantage of working in a multicultural setting is vital to achieving that success.

This book engenders a greater appreciation for diversity, showing how incredibly bright and stimulating it can be to communicate and, of course, manage across cultures. I give this book my highest recommendation.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheap Book June 18, 2013

By GottaHaveBooks

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book was purchased for college. The price was reasonable and I was also able to resell the book and make some of my money back.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I was hoping for January 11, 2012

By Richmond Hicks

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I work for a small company with development sites in 6 countries and customers on three continents so have to cope with a wide array of differences in cultural expectations. Initially I liked the book - it offers a framework for discussing cultural differences in a non-judgmental way. For this it has been useful among the set of managers that has read it, but I have found relying on the classifications by nation in the book to be problematic. I especially lost it when they were highlighting differences between US and British engineers in addressing risk. The book describes a case study where differences in approach to risk mitigation were causing problems. While the case study may be accurate, and the differences may be real, they were no predicted by the ratings provided for US and British culture. In other words, they were describing a problem that they were claiming could be been predicted and mitigated by taking their advice when looking at their data did not suggest the problem. I dislike when things are not at least self consistent.