Executive SummaryGlobalization, according to Nayyar (2006), is simply described as "an expansion of economic activities across national boundaries". In this day and age, globalization has become increasingly important and common for many organizations as globalization is a way to expand an organization and targeting a more open market. Many organizations have successfully crossed the bridge of globalization and become popular brand, such as McDonald's, Nike and Toyota just to name a few. Therefore the skills to cope with globalization are essential for managers working in growing companies. In section one; this report will explore the topic of 'managing across culture', the problems and recommendation. This report will also use the renowned Hofstede's Cultural Dimension theory, using China as an example of culture. Section two will focus on managing a diverse workforce, exploring the benefits of a diverse workforce and the ways to improve diversity management. Section three will explore the organizational issues related to globalization such as structure and managing change.
English: Mao's official portrait at Tiananmen gate...
English: Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Beijing, China E...
China, Shibangou Bridge underpass, Fuling, Yan...1.0 Managing Across CultureLederach (1995) defined culture as "the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them". Managing culture is one of the most important skills needed to cope with globalization. Understanding that there is a difference in culture is usually the first step to managing cultures. Managers need to know, for example, that Asian culture tends to favor relationship in business more than Western culture. For example, Dvorak, P (2006) wrote that most Western companies think nothing of switching parts suppliers to cut costs while that is a tougher sell in most Asian countries, where executives often have longstanding or personal relationships with their counterparts at suppliers.
Cullen and Parboteeah (2005) recognized the difference in culture and further categorized cultures into three: national,