Check whether you are ready to be a multicultural manager.

1. In most Asian cultures, self-sacrifice is important and expected.

2. When a Chinese person asks if you have had lunch or dinner, he plans to invite you out.

3. Your educational credentials will be enough when dealing with American executives.

4. In Arab culture gifts should be opened in the presence of the giver.

5. Most of the time when a Japanese person says “yes, yes,” she is confirming her agreement.

6. Most Americans tend to value spiritual enlightenment more than material possessions.

7. In Malaysian culture group achievement is not as important as individual achievement.

8. In order to work successfully with your Singaporean team you must first exhibit your technical capability and then gain their trust.

9. Most Swedes value risk-taking more than cooperation.

10. Compliments and well-presented flattery are generally not appreciated in South America.

11. Multinational companies should try to standardise their approach to training and development.

12. The way people learn should be considered when planning international training courses.

13. The US approach is the most effective and widespread.

14. British and American trainers like using role plays and simulations.

15. You should never disagree with a teacher / trainer in public.

16. A global company needs to recruit globally.

17. In the eyes of Americans people who hesitate have something to hide.

18. The Japanese are impressed by careful replies.

19. The Japanese are in favour of working in teams.

20. Cultures are so varied and so different throughout the world that management has to take account of differences rather than simply assume similarities.

21. Asian managers want to learn from the teacher, not from each other.

22. Corporate culture is more important than local needs in most areas of management.

23. British and French cultures have many things in common.

24. Americans tend to accept participating in the same training seminar with others of different levels within the company.

25. Japanese managers motivate employees through continuous counsel and persuasion. They maintain group harmony through involvement in the professional and personal lives of their staff.

2. Find and explain the mistakes.

1. A company served pork to a group of Muslims from Saudi Arabia.

2. A company lost an important contract in China because they sent a brilliant young negotiator who had just graduated from Harvard Business School with top marks.

3. A company lost over $1.5 million in a deal with the Japanese because they started the negotiation by announcing their deadlines. The Japanese then used this deadline to their advantage and the deal was concluded on the way to the airport.

4. A German manager working with IBM took up a position as product manager in England. He found that at lunchtime, especially on Fridays, many members of staff went to the pub. He stopped that straight away and now they are not allowed off the premises. It didn’t make him popular at the time but it is not good for efficiency as well.

5. An American manager came to France on a management assignment. He was unable to win the trust of his staff although he tried all kinds of ways to do so. He set clear goals, worked longer hours than everybody, participated in all the projects, visited people’s offices. But nothing worked.

6. A representative of New York’s leading private banking firms came to Singapore to meet their clients who were ethnic Chinese. In the first meeting he began by addressing the top man, Lo Win Hao, as Mr. Hao.

7. A group of ten Egyptian engineers and technicians led by the Chief Engineer was invited to come to Japan for a training program. When the Chief Engineer located his seat he found he was placed next to one of his technicians. Then he noticed that the Japanese instructor intends to conduct the training to all the team members together. After a short time, he found the situation uncomfortable, got up and left the room.

8. Mr. Schulz, the Managing Director of a German subsidiary in Japan, decided to reorganise his division and called a meeting of his five Japanese second-line managers. He appointed Mr. Nakashima to head the newly reorganised department. Then he noticed that two older managers were angry with this decision and after a while one of them requested to be transferred into a different subsidiary. Further, productivity in the department dropped significantly.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1437