Managing Across Cultures [Paperback]

Susan C. Schneider (Author), Jean-Louis Barsoux (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0132722208 | ISBN-13: 978-0132722209 | Publication Date: February 5, 1997 | Edition: 1

This Book is about opportunities, threats, challenges and possibilities inherent in managing across cultures. International responsibilities and contacts are increasingly widespread through companies, without even the need for international travel. The need to appreciate and be able to manage cultural differences, both in the home office and abroad, is becoming more and more a part of everyone's job. Each culture has its own particular blindspots and insights - and knowledge of these can be leveraged for enhanced personal and organisational effectiveness. The book pulls together and integrates a vast literature in crosscultural management, both academic and anecdotal, in a way that is useful to both MBA students and managers. It is based on the authors' vast experience of teaching and research in the area.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The ability to appreciate and manage cultural differences is becoming increasingly critical to success in virtually every business. This book helps managers understand the issues, and provides specific tools and techniques to help them respond successfully. Managing Across Cultures integrates a vast literature in cross-cultural management, both academic and anecdotal, providing a framework that will help managers and organizations understand and successfully respond to their new global environments. Understand why culture matters, how it influences management practice, organizational structure, strategy and human resource management. Learn new ways to manage individuals of different cultures, as well as teams, workgroups and organizations that encompass many cultures. Finally, understand the evolving global organization -- and the global citizens who inhabit it.

About the Author

Susan C. Schneider is Professor of Human Resource Management at HEC University of Geneva, Switzerland, and Visiting Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, France. As well as her research into cross-cultural management, she has actively worked to internationalize the 'mindsets' of managers and companies.

Jean-Louis Barsoux is Senior Research Fellow at INSEAD, France. He is the author of several books on culture and diversity in management, and has written for Harvard Business Review and the Financial Times.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div; 1 edition (February 5, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0132722208
• ISBN-13: 978-0132722209
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,377 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Managing Across Cultures, June 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Managing Across Cultures (Paperback)

Susan C. Schneider and Jean-Louis Barsoux do an outstanding job of covering a very complex subject. Their extremely comprehensive chapters will please the researcher and manager alike. They are well written, avoiding academic jargon, while at the same time providing all the references a reader wanting more information on any topic may need.

The three sections of the book are logically laid out. Part one gives necessary background on the meaning of Culture. First, it debunks a dangerous assumption: that business is business and cultures are converging, thus reducing the need for cultural sophistication on the part of a manager. They clearly demonstrate that Cultural differences are alive and well and have a significant impact on business. Then they go on to discuss different cultural dimensions and how countries differ from, or are similar to, each other along them.

In Part 2 of the book the authors demonstrate how Culture affects the organization, its strategy and human resource management practices. This is must reading for strategists and HR managers and anyone who wants to have a big picture understanding of the interaction of culture & business.

The final Part of the book focuses on the actual management of cultural differences. It was my favorite. Particularly, the chapters devoted to the 'international manager' and the 'multicultural team'. I have read extensively on the two topics and was very impressed by the depth and breadth of the discussion and the authors' ability to address all the relevant issues of two complex topics briefly and clearly. I found these chapters an extremely valuable overview of what we know on both topics.

The book ends with an overview of organization strategies for managing cultures differences: ignore, minimize, or utilize. The material in this chapter is equally applicable to global cultural differences and to domestic management of diversity. The authors wrap up the book with a coherent discussion of business ethics and social responsibility in a global-economy.

An excellent book. I recommend it highly to anyone doing international work today. (Which is practically everyone...)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars expand your horizon, March 14, 2006

By 

Manuela Dobrescu - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Managing Across Cultures (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book is great for those who are interested in comparative management. I liked it a lot and it was very useful for me because it provides lots of concrete examples of different management styles of various cultures. It made me understand and overcome some of my prejudices regarding different cultures of which I had created a certain image and it made me realize that most of the times what we assume about a different culture is wrong. It was a good read and I will certainly think twice from now on before judging people who think differently than me.

4.0 out of 5 stars Out if date, November 15, 2009

By 

Ales Danko "Ales Danko BBA" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Managing Across Cultures (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Current book is a great guide into an ocean of the international business. There is some useful information which is conveyed in quite difficult to read manner and currently is a bit out of date. The book is also loaded with a lot of 'bla-bla' which is quite common for HRM and Marketing books. Overall, not bad but could be more direct and simpler. IMHO