Contemporary Business in Management

Challenges and Contemporary Issues in Cross Cultural Management

Keywords: Emerging Issues, Cross-Cultural Contexts, Globalisation, National Culture

Track Chairs: Simon L. Dolan

ESADE Business School simon.dolan@esade.edu

Jan Selmer

Aarhus School of Business selmer@asb.dk

Paul R. Sparrow

Lancaster University paul.sparrow@lancaster.ac.uk

Track Description Talking about globalization and its impact on management is becoming almost a cliché. Everybody is talking about it, but real understanding of the multiple issues involved in managing cross culturally is still a puzzle. The objective of this track is to provide a forum for scholars interested in cross cultural management issues to network and debate what they consider the most relevant to management. The list below, although not exhaustive, may provide an idea for issues to be discussed: • Globalization, organizations and culture: How do they relate? How are they defined? Theoretical and disciplinary approaches to interpreting them. Diversity and multiculturalism, two sides of the same coin: What are the ascribed advantages of diversity? Types of diversity. Diversity as an organizational myth. Manifestations of (cultural) diversify. Problems with diversity, hence cross-cultural issues in the workplace. What is culture? Conceptual and empirical definitions, dimensions and their quantifiable qualities. The “iceberg model” of culture identification. The “seam lines” of cultural, the social divides that are marked by cultural divides. Review of cross-national scales of culture: from Hofstede to GLOBE to Schwartz (and Trompenaars and others). Actors and structure in the study of culture. The “culture diamond” (creator-receiver, social world-social object). Actor-hood (the myth of the social agent, personal and organizational).

•

•

•

•

• • •

•

Structural and institutional contingencies. The role of social (and organizational) networks. Diffusion of culture, patterns and causes....