People Management
Intercultural

Best Practices: Apply with caution!
Most management books focus on supposedly universal “best practices.” In reality, however, many practices transplanted outside their native borders are often observed to produce disappointing results. In Le tiers-monde qui réussit [Succeeding in the Third World] and La logique de l'honneur [The Logic of Honor], Philippe d'Iribarne underlines the importance of recognizing cultural differences. He goes well beyond merely cataloging psychological traits or attitudes and proposes an original and enlightening approach to analyzing cultures.
Le tiers-monde qui réussit, Philippe d'Iribarne, Editions Odile Jacob, 2003.
La logique de l'honneur,
Philippe d'Iribarne, Editions du Seuil, 1989.

Successful Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances
Companies increasingly use mergers and acquisitions as a vehicle for growth. However, over half of these ventures are observed to fail. Successful Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances shows how many of these failures are caused by poor management of cultural clashes between the constituent partners. The authors emphasize the need for more active management of cultural issues, and recommend bridging existing cultures, rather than trying to merge them into something entirely new. They offer many practical instructions and helpful tips on how to do this.
Charles Gancel, Irene Rodgers and Marc Raynaud.
McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Negotiation is a delicate art, which is all the more delicate in multicultural contexts! Intercultural relations add to the challenges of understanding the subtle play of communication and power. Negotiating Globally points out how cultural differences influence the course of negotiations, and offers tips on how to avoid the obstacles that can result from misunderstandings between negotiators of different cultures.
Jeanne M. Brett,
Jossey-Bass, 2001.

Building Cross-Cultural Competence
Building Cross-Cultural Competence offers an original approach for finding creative solutions to the dilemmas that confront us, i.e. drawing lessons from different cultures. The authors effectively emphasize that the first solution comes to mind is generally conditioned by our culture of origin. They recommend seeking inspiration in imagining the solution that could have been suggested by someone from a different culture, then combining the two points of view. They show readers how it is often possible to combine the advantages of the solutions recommended by each culture.
Charles M. Hampden-Turner & Fons Trompenaars,
John Wiley & Sons, 2000.

Managing Across Cultures
Current intercultural management theories are reviewed in this book, which shows that specific cultural characteristics have an impact on corporate competitive standing, and proposes methods for adapting company practices to the cultural context of different countries.
Susan C. Schneider and Jean-Louis Barsoux,
Prentice Hall, 1997.

Riding the Waves of Culture
This book makes a systematic analysis of the impact of local cultural differences on management practices and analyzes major cultural differences along seven dimensions:
  • universality or particularity;
  • individualistic or collective behavior;
  • sentimentality or neutrality;
  • degree of overlap between private and professional life;<
  • attributed status or acquired status;
  • attitude towards time;
  • desire to control nature.
The author then explains how companies can use cultural differences in different countries to their advantage.
Fons Trompenaars,
Irwin, 1995.

Cultures and Organizations
After surveying IBM employees in more than fifty countries, the author analyzes the impact of local culture on employee behavior, and focuses on four main dimensions that characterize cultural differences:
  • hierarchical distance;
  • prevalence of individualistic or collective behavior;
  • degree of masculinity or femininity;
  • need to control uncertainty.
The book then draws practical conclusions on the need to adapt management practices to different countries.
Geert Hofstede,
Mc Graw Hill, 1991.

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