Managing Across Cultures: The Seven Keys to Doing Business with a Global Mindset

by Charlene M. Solomon, Michael S. Schell

hether you run a giant corporation or work in a small business, it’s more than likely that you regularly deal with people of different cultures―from customers and suppliers to salespeople and colleagues. It simply can’t be You will have trouble succeeding in business today if you don’t appreciate and know how to actively manage global cultural diversity. Managing Across Cultures examines why people around the world behave as they do and provides actionable tactics for succeeding in today’s global business environment. Experts in the field of cross-cultural training, Michael Schell and Charlene Solomon describe seven readily recognizable behaviors and explain what they mean, how to interpret them, and most importantly, how to respond to them. Managing Across Cultures is filled with case studies illustrating the importance of understanding and dealing with cultural differences in all aspects of business. You’ll learn

Genres: Business, Management

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Keryn]

This book is more relevant to all readers than one might think, but it has as its major downfall the fact that it is largely an update of a previous book, and it excludes 98% of the African continent - only Egypt is represented, not even South Africa. And yet Africa is a part of so many major companies due to the growth potential and population of 1 b people (2nd most populous continent to Asia). Hence my rating of 3. I did find the 7 cultural dimensions useful(also known as the CW Model) through they are not new: heirarchy, group focus, relationships, communication styles, time orientation, change tolerance, motivation/work-life balance. Practical models do indeed help in addressing challenges - tables after each dimension guide you on how to cross cultures. The chapter on women in culture was interesting, with some case studies of working effectively with the cultural differences while in countries that do not recognise women as equal in stature to men. Although I did not use the online links and discussion forum after each section, it was refreshing to see this type of interaction in a management book. I would recommend it as a worthwhile read, probably the type of book you want to know is there when you need to refer to it.

[Sarie]

Very good and practical guide for everybody who works or travels accross various countries.
Like most books on cultural differences, Africa is underrepresented, which is a pitty. However, the country-overviews per chapter are very clear and helpful.

I hope one day there will be an updated version of the book, as the world has chenged quiet a bit in some places.

[Denise]

The book starts with excellent theoretical background and with a interdisciplinary view of multiculturalism but limits its scope to the definition that multiculturalism is only related to people with different nationalities. There is a blind side of the individual with different cultures and the concept here was not fully explored and instead, narrow-oriented. Plus, it takes a subject very current and relevant nowadays and transforms it into a formula, putting into categories, ranges and number that helps the fundaments of exposing certain treats but that does not mean it proposes or suggests a different approach on administrative theory. A better work related to multicultural works would be the studies of Hofstede with a much better theoretical and interdisciplinary view of the individual not constituted only by his place of birth and living.

[Jared]

Having worked quite significantly with businesses in 7 countries over the last 10 years, I was surprised to find explanations for almost all of my frustrations - and what I saw as shortcomings - explained in this book. When I first picked it up, I thought it was going to be similar to The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman - which I did not enjoy. I was pleasantly surprised as I found myself having "ah hah" moments from the very beginning.

The book has some great insights, even though I did find that techniques and explanations were often recycled in describing a new perspective or when developing another point. Overall I felt the book was a solid 4.0, and if you work with international companies - a must read.

[Mike]

Managing Across Cultures' subtitle promises "The Seven Keys to Doing Business with a Global Mindset." These "seven keys" turn out to basically be a tweaked presentation of Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The other elements of the book are similar adaptations of other fairly prominent ideas. At first, I found it disappointing that the book didn't have anything newer or more groundbreaking, but that's the book's strength. On a topic that has spawned hundreds of books filled with nonsense, this book brings together the better elements of the theories that are out there into a format that's readable and applicable. That makes it a worthwhile read.

[Chip Hopper]

The topics discussed in this book are valuable for anyone interested in having a better “global mindset” either in business or in personal interactions. I liked the book, but I’m not sure an entire book was necessary to convey the items addressed. I think the message could have been conveyed in a much shorter format. That said, I think the book is worth the read.

[Alexis]

This book provides a fairly basic understanding of the challenges of working in cross-cultural settings. It was easy to read and gave real-life examples of how to apply the management concepts discussed throughout the book, sharing stories of actual companies that had either succeeded or failed to interact in a global context and explaining the reasons why.

[Michael Weening]

I wish I would have read this book prior to my first expat in England. I would have made less mistakes.

A great practical guide on how to lead when living in a different culture. Should be required reading for someone about to move internationally or who has a global team.

[Fiorella]

its fantastic, i like it so much.

[Xiang Li]

Good thoughts for learning about culture.

[Delhi Irc]

Location: GG6 IRC
Accession No: DL030099