Cross culture strategic management Management Research Paper

CROSS CULTURE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
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Overview
The evolutionary nature of the corporate world to reveal higher degrees of interrelatedness calls for an extraordinary awareness and understanding of the issues of strategic cross-cultural management among business stakeholders. Ahammad and others explain that as business administrators increase their levels of cognizance concerning the challenges and rewards associated with the processes of managing international and cross-cultural operations increases, the contexts surrounding corporate initiatives also undergo rapid evolutions. Bird and Mendenhall explain that critical advancements in transport and communication, coupled with the availability of viable environments of investment and minimal costs of production offered by the overseas economies have played a significant role in increasing the levels of accessibility of global markets. On the other hand, developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China have the inherent ability to provide foreign investors with the opportunities of accessing the highly extensive markets. According to Dragoni and others, proper adoption of strategic cross-cultural management requirements leads to the enhancement of foreign direct investments, global based sales, and the profits acquired in overseas ventures. Stahl and Tung reveal that as the investment environment sees an increase in the levels of multinational operations, issues such as enhancement in the associated degrees of multiculturalism will be inevitable. Beugelsdijk, Maseland and Van Hoorn attribute this position to the fact that cross-border business deals result in an increase in the prevailing levels of interaction among key stakeholders such as workforces and managers drawn from varied cultures. Bauer and Matzler hold the view that heightened multiculturalism on a global scale will call for the adoption of new strategies aimed at fostering efficient operations.[Ahammad, Mohammad Faisal, Shlomo Yedidia Tarba, Yipeng Liu, and Keith W. Glaister. "Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention." International Business Review 25, no. 1 (2016): 66-75.] [Bird, Allan, and Mark E. Mendenhall. "From cross-cultural management to global leadership: Evolution and adaptation." Journal of World Business 51, no. 1 (2016): 115-126.] [Stahl, G.K. and Tung, R.L., 2015. Towards a more balanced treatment of culture in international business studies: The need for a positive cross-cultural scholarship. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(4), pp.391-414.] [Dragoni, Lisa, In-Sue Oh, Paul E. Tesluk, Ozias A. Moore, Paul VanKatwyk, and Joy Hazucha. "Developing leaders’ strategic thinking through global work experience: The moderating role of cultural distance." Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 5 (2014): 867.] [Lisa, p.867] [Ahammad, Mohammad Faisal, Shlomo Yedidia Tarba, Yipeng Liu, and Keith W. Glaister. "Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention." International Business Review 25, no. 1 (2016): 66-75.]
Background, Statement of the Problem and Purpose of the Study
Bird and Mendenhall define strategic management as the multiple business moves and approaches that enterprise administrators put in place to drive their operations based on the underlying visions, goals, and objectives of their firms. On the other hand, the scholars explain that the management strategies put in place by a venture play a crucial role in defining the position of the firm based on its commitments to certain specified markets, competitive approaches, and modes of operation. Therefore, the strategy of an organization is considered as the game plan that its administrators embrace when positioning the venture in the desired market arena, to foster proper monetary investments aimed at developing the desired capabilities, competitive advantages, sustainability, and attainment of superior performances. The current study seeks to undertake a critical analysis of the strategic management practices adopted by managers dealing with cross-border operations. By appreciating the increasing significance of cross-border business operations, the paper adopts research articles for studies conducted in this field to explore critical issues such as management practices across borders and cultures, the effects of societal cultures on the management and the cultural contexts on which business management activities need to take place.
Research Questions
The study proceeds with the aim of seeking answers to the following research questions
1 What are the effects of societal cultures on the management and the cultural contexts on which business management activities need to take place?
2 What are the roles of cross-border managers in developing dynamic cross-cultural competencies?
Themes of Discussion
An Analysis of the Increasing Significance of Cross-Border Investments
The global landscape has seen a significant increase in the number of multinational organizations with the zeal of broadening their cross-border operations. According to Beugelsdijk, Maseland and Van Hoorn, there are over 70,000 multinational enterprises offering employment opportunities to over 100 million individuals drawn from multiple cultural backgrounds. Ahammad and others explain that this population could increase to at least 150 million by 2025 because of the heightening levels of international migrations resulting from issues such as homeland crises and seeking for education and career opportunities overseas. According to Bird and Mendenhall, a total output of foreign direct investments due to cross-border business operations reached $3.5 trillion in 2010. To illustrate the increasing levels of global investments and therefore the need for inclusion of cross culture strategic management practices, Stahl and Tung reveal that about 60 years ago, the United States alone accounted for over 52% of the global GDP. However, this percentage has significantly shrunk over the years to less than 20% due to the increasing effects of international activities and the economic move taken by investors in other countries to engage in cross-border business activities.[Bauer, Florian, and Kurt Matzler. "Antecedents of M&A success: The role of strategic complementarity, cultural fit, and degree and speed of integration." Strategic management journal 35, no. 2 (2014): 269-291.] [Bauer, Florian, and Kurt Matzler. "Antecedents of M&A success: The role of strategic complementarity, cultural fit, and degree and speed of integration." Strategic management journal 35, no. 2 (2014): 269-291.] [Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd, Robbert Maseland, and André Van Hoorn. "Are Scores on Hofstede's Dimensions of National Culture Stable over Time? A Cohort Analysis." Global Strategy Journal 5, no. 3 (2015): 223-240.]
Management Practices across Borders and Cultures
The global economy plays a crucial role in fostering the advancement of a competitive business landscape that reveals the attributes of ambiguity, complexity and higher degrees of dynamism for conglomerates pursuing cross-border operations. Therefore, managers engaging in cross-national operations are faced with the inherent obligation of fostering proper development of global leadership potencies as well as initiating effective global leadership task-performance cues. Stahl and Tung reveal that in the contexts of creating an effective pipeline of upcoming cross-border workforces, managers working in cross-cultural settings are faced with the obligation of building effective leadership policies. Therefore, managers working on cross-border projects need to enhance the development of dynamic cross-cultural competencies as highlighted in the ensuing paragraphs.[Bird, Allan, and Mark E. Mendenhall. "From cross-cultural management to global leadership: Evolution and adaptation." Journal of World Business 51, no. 1 (2016): 115-126.]
The role of cross-border managers in developing dynamic cross-cultural competencies
Dragoni and others describe dynamic cross-cultural potencies as the skills and abilities that are developed and enhanced by administrators through training. Managers working on cross-cultural and inter-border initiatives are faced with the obligation of initiating unique leadership through fostering the processes of reducing ethnocentrism while valuing the underlying cultural variations in their areas of operation; heightening their levels of cultural adaptation and flexibility; tolerating ambiguity. Ethnocentrism is defined as nationalistic self-centeredness trait of an individual that upholds the ideology that people from other cultural setups are inferior. Consequently, managers working on cross-border ventures need to prevent the detrimental effects associated with ethnocentrism based on the nature of their operations as professionals that initiate higher degrees of coordination and collaborations among people drawn from an array of cultural backgrounds.[Bird, Allan, and Mark E. Mendenhall. "From cross-cultural management to global leadership: Evolution and adaptation." Journal of World Business 51, no. 1 (2016): 115-126.]
For effective advancement of dynamics in cross-border business operations, global managers are squarely obliged to initiating cultural flexibility. Cultural flexibility is defined as "the capacity to substitute activities enjoyed in one's home country with existing, and usually distinct, activities in the host country". Effective cross-cultural flexibility in corporate settings is positively related to the success of managers dealing with cross-border ventures as it leads to the advancement of self-confidence and proper enhancement of self-esteem. On the other hand, cultivation of cultural flexibility enhances a global manager’s ability to work on expatriate assignments as it fosters the business administrators’ potencies of adapting to foreign operational environments. Beugelsdijk, Maseland, and Van Hoorn explain that when working on multicultural assignments and situations, effective global managers will often show the will of relinquishing their traditionally preferred ways of operating to adopt other tactically and culturally different strategies. Therefore, proper enhancement of cultural flexibility is one of the most effective developmental goals depicted by global managers faced with expatriate assignments.[Stahl, G.K. and Tung, R.L., 2015. Towards a more balanced treatment of culture in international business studies: The need for a positive cross-cultural scholarship. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(4), pp.391-414.] [Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd, Robbert Maseland, and André Van Hoorn. "Are Scores on H Hofstede's Dimensions of National Culture Stable over Time? A Cohort Analysis." Global Strategy Journal 5, no. 3 (2015): 223-240.]
Managers working in cross-border contexts must be capable of developing tolerance of ambiguity in their operations. Tolerance of ambiguity is described as the inherent ability of leaders show effective management practices when dealing with new and unpredictable situations. Ahammad and others reveal that managers with greater abilities to foster tolerance for ambiguity depict superior potencies in dealing with the stressful conditions imposed by the operational environments that reveal higher degrees of uncertainty as they reveal higher degrees of receptiveness to change. Putting into consideration the multiple uncertainties and complexities associated with the global economy, managers dealing with cross-border operations are faced with the obligations of developing leadership cues aimed at boosting their capabilities of dealing with the associated ambiguities.[Ahammad, Mohammad Faisal, Shlomo Yedidia Tarba, Yipeng Liu, and Keith W. Glaister. "Knowledge transfer and cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee retention." International Business Review 25, no. 1 (2016): 66-75.]
The role of corporate managers in fostering talent management
The...