An unsuitable job for a woman: a ‘native category’ approach to gender,diversity and cross-cultural management

This paper takes an ethnographic study of the recruitment of women at BMW MINI between 2003 and 2006 as the basis to explore the impact of the concepts of ‘native categories’ and ‘recontextualisation’ on diversity management and cross-cultural management. I consider how managers' and workers' subconsciously held cultural categories relating to gender and work affected efforts to increase the number of female line workers in the plant, and how these were further complicated by the recontextualisation of German native categories in a British context. In doing so, this paper will develop a better understanding of the way native categories affect management and international business, provide an addition to the literature on recontextualisation, by introducing the concept of ‘native categories’ to research exploring the effects of recontextualisation on cross-cultural knowledge transfer, international human resource management strategy and marketing, and, finally, develop some understanding of how diversity management initiatives can fail in practice.     

跨文化管理-从文化冲突到文化融合

面对文化冲突,如何进行跨文化管理,是跨国经营的重要课题。本文从认识文化差异,识别文化冲突切入,解析了文化融化四个阶段的不同特征,探讨了如何从文化冲突到文化融合的跨文化管理策略。     

跨文化管理中的礼貌原则及其应用

成功的跨文化管理是建立在对特定文化的一些重要维度的理解和接受上。本论文试图证明语用学中的经典理论——礼貌原则也应被视为一种重要的文化维度。礼貌原则在人际交流中既有普遍性,又有文化特定性。把它作为一种重要的文化维度不仅是必要的,而且是可行的。     

Enhancing adaptive transfer of cross-cultural training: Lessons learned from the broader training literature

Drawing insights from the broader training literature, we argue that evaluation of cross-cultural training effectiveness should adopt comprehensive criteria, including cognitive, skill-based, and affective learning outcomes as well as adaptive transfer. We propose that the integration of an error management supplement in cross-cultural training can enhance trainee acquisition of self-regulation skills and self-efficacy that facilitate adaptive application of learning to novel cultural situations. In addition to the traditional error management training designs (i.e., positive error framing), the current paper describes additional design elements to promote acquisition of cognitive strategies, prevent premature automaticity, alleviate concerns about error occurrence during learning, and enhance readiness to transfer. In addition, we offer propositions regarding the effects of the supplement on learning and transfer outcomes, along with implications for future research and practice on cross-cultural training.     

Global team members’ performance and the roles of cross-cultural training,cultural intelligence,and contact intensity: the case of global teams in IT offshoring sector

Abstract

This study investigates an unexplored form of global team prevalent in the Information Technology (IT) offshoring sector where IT service providers work alongside with client representatives in a global team context. Guided by theories of intelligence and intergroup contact, this study investigates global team members’ individual-level task performance. Specifically, this study examines the development of global team members’ cultural intelligence (CQ) following cross-cultural training. This study also determines the effects of improved CQ on individual-level task performance and examines the moderating role of contact intensity on the relationship between improved CQ and individual-level task performance. Data on the development of CQ, participation in cross-cultural training, and contact intensity were collected from 225 global team members while data on task performance were obtained from each of the global team members’ supervisors. The results of the statistical analyses reveal that: (i) CQ improved following participation in cross-cultural training sessions; (ii) improved CQ is positively and significantly related to individual-level task performance; and (iii) contact intensity moderates the relationship between improved CQ and individual-level task performance. These findings have a number of theoretical and practical implications for international organizations such as those in the IT offshoring sector.     

影响跨文化交际活动的主观因素的探究

要实现卓有成效的跨文化交际,除了要掌握他民族的的文化知识,外显交际文化,更重要的是要探究其内隐交际文化,即他们的思维方式、心理特征、价值观、世界观等。本此,本文作者旨在考察一下影响跨文化交际活动的一些主观因素,希望能对我国高等教育中跨文化教学提供一些启示。     

文化因素对企业外派员工培训外包管理的影响研究

丝绸之路是商业互通的桥梁,而"一带一路"则是丝绸之路的创新性拓展。跨国企业贸易活动中外派员工扮演着重要的角色,然而外派员工的业绩极易受到目标国文化的影响,跨文化培训势在必行。论文基于霍夫斯泰德文化维度理论,从文化的各个维度探讨了文化因素与企业外派员工培训外包管理决策的相互关系。     

The impact of expatriate supporting practices and cultural intelligence on cross-cultural adjustment and performance of expatriates in Singapore

We test the relationships between corporate expatriate supporting practices, cross-cultural adjustment, and expatriate performance. Specifically, we propose that the facets of cultural intelligence moderate the expatriate supporting practices–expatriate adjustment relationship. Analyzing 169 expatriates residing in Singapore, we found that expatriate supporting practices were positively related to adjustment as well as performance. Further, we demonstrated that metacognitive and cognitive cultural intelligence negatively moderated the links between expatriate supporting practices and adjustment, while motivational cultural intelligence had a positive moderating effect. These findings have implications for organizations providing support for expatriates and the expatriate selection and training processes.     

Job satisfaction in aging workforces: an analysis of the USA,Japan and Germany

In light of the dramatically aging workforces in many industrialized countries, age diversity management will become a major challenge in human resource management. To successfully handle an age-diverse workforce, it is crucial to understand how employees of different ages can be motivated. This paper analyzes age's moderating role in the relationship between situational job characteristics and job satisfaction. To control for the potential influence of the cultural and institutional context, we use data from the USA, Japan and Germany. Findings show that older employees' job satisfaction is driven by different factors than younger employees: older employees put more emphasis on good relationships with colleagues, while income, advancement opportunities, job security and having an interesting job are less important. However, these effects are mostly nation-dependent, which underlines the importance of conducting cross-cultural or cross-national aging research.     

The psychological contract in Chinese-African informal labor relations

This qualitative study analyzes Chinese-Ghanaian employment in trade as an example of South-South cross-cultural labor relations. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, employment practices and labor conflicts are discussed with regard to psychological contract and equity. The analysis is guided by a process model of psychological contract that has been adjusted and extended in consideration of the dimensions of foreignness and cross-cultural communication. After briefly introducing the situation in Ghana we elaborate that under conditions of foreignness, employment relations are conflict prone because of contradictory equity expectations of employers and employees. We discuss how Ghanaian employees perceiving their psychological contract as violated attempt to restore equity by means of voice, silence, retreat or destruction and often fail due to lack of mutual cultural understanding between employers and employees. We conclude that exit in contrast to expectations is a viable option for employers rather than employees, but most employment relations, though defective, are perpetuated.     

Building effective organizations: transformational leadership,collectivist orientation,work-related attitudes and withdrawal behaviours in three emerging economies

Abstract

Previous cross-cultural research on transformational leadership has focused mainly on replicating the augmentation effects of transformational leadership over transactional leadership on followers’ attitudes and behaviours. Relatively few studies have systematically examined cultural impacts in moderating the influence of transformational leadership on work-related outcomes taking a cross-cultural perspective. Using a field survey of 577 employees from banking and financial sectors in three emerging economies, namely: China, India and Kenya, we examined the moderating effect of collectivism on the relationships between transformational leadership, work-related attitudes and perceptions of withdrawal behaviours. Our results found support for the moderating effect of collectivism on the relationship between transformational leadership and work-related outcomes, such as facets of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and perceptions of organizational withdrawal behaviours. In addition, our results lend support to the view that transformational leadership might be effective across cultures. The implications of these findings for future research on transformational leadership and cross-cultural research are discussed.     

跨文化比较研究及其对跨文化团队的管理启示

企业全球化经营是跨国公司的战略选择,这必然带来不同民族文化之间的碰撞与融合,文化冲突是跨国公司面临的重大问题之一,也是跨文化团队管理冲突的重要来源,这使得跨文化管理研究具有重要的意义。当前宏观层面的跨文化比较研究成果颇丰,但跨文化团队管理研究较少。研究者应借鉴跨文化比较研究成果,加强跨文化团队管理方面的研究,提升跨文化团队管理水平及管理绩效。     

The mediating effects of cross-cultural dynamic competencies on the relationship between multicultural personality and cross-cultural adjustment

Although the mediating effects of dynamic competencies on the relationship between personality traits and cross-cultural adjustment have been conceptually judged by several scholars, none of them have been empirically validated. Consequently, this study examines the mediating effects of dynamic cross-cultural competencies including general self-efficacy, relational skills and non-ethnocentrism on the relationship between multicultural personality traits and cross-cultural adjustment. The empirical results provide some support that relational skills and general self-efficacy mediate the relationship between multicultural personality traits and certain facets of cross-cultural adjustment. Relational skills completely mediate either the relationship between social initiative and interaction adjustment or that of cultural empathy and interaction adjustment. General self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between emotional stability and psychological adjustment. However, the results suggest that multicultural personality traits have direct effects on cross-cultural adjustment. The practical implications of these findings for dynamic and stable cross-cultural competencies are discussed.     

Global virtual teams: a human resource capital architecture

As organizations continue to globalize their operations, it will become evident that most organizations do not have the resources to ‘fully man’ operations throughout the world. Therefore, management will be examining organizational options that reduce the demand on an already depleted pool of global managers. One of the options being examined by companies is the global virtual team (GVT). These complex teams are being considered as a bridge mechanism to allow multinational organizations to expand rapidly without taxing present global managerial skills. This paper uses a theoretical foundation based upon competency theory as the motivation for the formation of GVTs and to explain how they function. Four critical capitals (i.e. human, social, political and cross-cultural) are deemed to be essential for effectiveness of GVT and are discussed in the paper. In addition, a process for assessing the stock of capital in a GVT team is also developed in the paper.     

大学生跨文化交际能力的自我培养模式研究

针对我国外语教学缺乏真实的跨文化交际环境的实际,教师积极引导大学生进行跨文化交际能力自我培养符合我国国情和普通高校校情。英语教学实践表明：大学生对英语文化知识点的多维扩展式自主学习,可促进和加深他们对目的语语言文化的理解,有助于培养学生的跨文化交际能力,促使他们根据实际主动寻求跨文化交际机会,逐步提高跨文化交际能力。     

浅谈大学英语教学中的文化导入与跨文化交际技能的培养

本文从探讨文化导入以及跨文化交际技能与大学英语教学的关系为出发点,阐述培养学生跨文化交际技能的重要性和必要性,并对如何在外语教学中培养学生的跨文化交际能力进行探讨。     

Personality traits and cross-cultural competence of Chinese expatriate managers: a socio-analytic and institutional perspective

Drawing from socio-analytic theory and institutional theory, this study investigates the influence of personality traits on cross-cultural competence (CCC) in Chinese expatriate managers' overseas managerial experiences. Given the growing importance of Chinese outward foreign direct investment to other economies, this study is timely as it expands our knowledge of expatriates from this large emerging ‘superpower’. In order to explore the impact of personality traits on CCC, multi-level in-depth interviews were conducted including interviews with 25 Chinese expatriate managers, 15 foreign colleagues and 10 cross-cultural experts or expatriate supervisors. The findings suggest that although conscientiousness and openness emerge as major traits that may contribute to CCC, their influences are considerably constrained by institutional differences between home and host countries. This study contributes to theory building by proposing a new conceptual model that incorporates institutional factors into socio-analytic theory to explain how personality traits contribute to CCC of expatriates. It also advances the field by examining the experiences of expatriates from an emerging economy and how their experiences differ from those previously researched.     

American repatriate employees' retrospective assessments of the effects of cross-cultural training on their adaptation to international assignments

With 10 to 50 per cent of expatriates curtailing their assignments early, and the cost of foreign placement estimated at $500,000, training for expatriates needs to be improved. This study investigates different methods of training, and the results as perceived by repatriates. Repatriates were asked about the amount and type of cross-cultural training they had received and their effectiveness and productivity during the overseas assignment. Repatriates' responses included specific comments about their individual and familial experiences. It was hypothesized that managers who receive rigorous cross-cultural training before and during the assignment will not suffer intense culture shock and will become effective more rapidly than managers who have not had cross-cultural training. The results demonstrated that integrated cross-cultural training does reduce the time necessary to adjust and to achieve cultural proficiency and reduces the time necessary to become effective and productive in the assignment.     

浅析中西文化差异对委婉语翻译的影响

素有礼仪之邦的中国在跨文化交际中却因为对中西文化差异缺乏了解最终造成用语失误。本文将从中西文化的差异入手,从委婉语的概述,语用功能和翻译策略等方面来阐述委婉用语在跨文化交际中的有效运用。只用充分了解中西文化的差异,尊重他国文化,才能在跨文化交际中实现双赢。     

Experiential cultural intelligence development: context and individual attributes

Cultural intelligence (CQ) represents advancement in the area of international human resources management and cross-cultural training. An experiential approach to CQ training is developed and analyzed. A diverse, multicultural group of over 370 participated. General self-efficacy and contextual aspects related to Contact Theory were found to be significant to training outcomes in CQ development. In crafting the most effective CQ training and education, organizations and international human resources staff can benefit from understanding individual and contextual influences. Our experiential approach to CQ education appears to hold promise and adds to the literature by producing a specific approach.