Multicultural Management 2000: Essential Cultural Insights for Global Business Success (Managing Cultural Differences) [Hardcover]

Farid Elashmawi Ph.D. (Author), Philip R. Harris (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0884154947 | ISBN-13: 978-0884154945 | Publication Date: May 26, 1998 | Edition: 1st

The expanding global marketplace and information superhighway demand multicultural skills. This book helps readers to understand cultural differences and synergy, and gives you practical strategies and skills to succeed in today's multicultural workplace. This invaluable book explores the vast cultural differences of the Arabs, North Americans, Latin Americans, and Asians. It guides you through many real-life cross-cultural situations from personal introductions and telephone calls to meetings and presentations, to training, motivation, and negociations. Dialogues, examples, self-test and case studies provide clear and direct techniques to build your cultural competency.

The authors go on to give valuable insight into the subcultures that can exist within multinational organizations. A special section examines Russian/American synergy in space.

Cultural knowledge and skills give you the edge in global exchanges and busines transfers. Multicultural Management 2000 is your toolkit for learning the cultural skills needed to succeed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The authors go on to give valuable insight into the subcultures that can exist within multinational organizations. A special section examines Russian/American synergy in space. Cultural knowledge and skills give you the edge in global exchanges and busines transfers. Multicultural Management 2000 is your toolkit for learning the cultural skills needed to succeed.

About the Author

Dr. Philip R. Harris is President of Harris International, Ltd. in LaJolla, California. He is Series Editor of the Managing Cultural Differences Series and co-author of B-H books Managing Cultural Differences, Multicultural Management 2000, and Transcultural Leadership. He is on the advisory board of the European Business Review.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing; 1st edition (May 26, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884154947
• ISBN-13: 978-0884154945
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,502,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to multicultural management!, August 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Multicultural Management 2000: Essential Cultural Insights for Global Business Success (Managing Cultural Differences) (Hardcover)

This book gives real-world examples of how to successfully interact with other cultures. I recommend it to other business persons who, like myself, either travel abroad or work with people from various cultures, especially Asia and the Middle East.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but repetetive, May 2, 2002

By 

Dave (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Multicultural Management 2000: Essential Cultural Insights for Global Business Success (Managing Cultural Differences) (Hardcover)

The authors of this book genuinely know there stuff but the book seems a bit drawn out. Readers are hit over the head with ideas such as "Japanese like to decide as a group" so often that it feels repetitive. That's not to say their insights are off-base, I worked in Japan for three years and I think they do a good job of covering some of the basic differences of US and Japanese business culture.

I readily admit that most Americans have a glaring lack of knowledge concerning other cultures but the authors of this book write as though Japanese and Arab businessmen have absolutely no knowledge of American culture, either. There is an example of an Egyptian worker in a US company, who has a degree from Stanford no less, being offended by his introduction at a meeting with US businessmen because it wasn't done the Egyptian way. Seems a bit farfetched.

What I've found is, particularly if you're from the US, that you have to be ready for people from the other culture to have some strong assumptions (sometimes incorrectly, such as a Japanese person trying to be so individualistic and direct that he comes off as rude) about your culture and you may find yourself acting more a part of their culture and them acting more like yours. Another example might be you bowing at a Japanese businessman who immediately sticks his hand out for a firm handshake.

I particularly liked the example at the end of the book where the authors described some consulting work they'd done in Indonesia in attempts to reconcile the Indonesians' work culture with that of the American parent company. It really is a good blueprint for how this sort of compromise needs to be done to help make the organization more effective (and it really needs to be done a lot more often).

4.0 out of 5 stars Cultural Insights for Global Business, October 8, 2009

By 

N. Migliozzi "Nancy Migliozzi" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Multicultural Management 2000: Essential Cultural Insights for Global Business Success (Managing Cultural Differences) (Hardcover)

Good book overall. It's helpful to learn or be reminded of some of the differences in cultures outside of the US. It is very common for me to interact with people all over Europe, South America, China, and India, while at work. The last thing I want to do is insult a colleague without even knowing it. This book provides really useful tips and insights, particularly the negotiation chapter.