Importance of Cross Cultural Management

Introduction:

Cross cultural management is study of differences in cultures that exists in the changing demographics of the world and particularly w.r.t to an Organisation and managing it by learning and practicing to benefit Organisations Geographically. CCM is very important to understand the dynamics within an organisation because of ethnic and cultural diversity that exists. With increasing Globalisation the importance of CCM pervade even vast and has much relevance in today’s business scenario. Globalisation and open markets have paved the way for creation of MNCs. These MNCs with their presence across many countries have to undergo the Local cultural adoption/Shift in order to perform efficiently and smoothly.

The need for understanding different cultures is necessary as Cultures have their own way of interpreting things and what is good for one may be bad for others. And what is believed to be an essential for one group may not be necessary for others. Hence with this diversity an organisation has to understand and adapt sensitively to different group’s want and needs and strive hard to keep the gap among these groups to minimal. The main challenge though is to align Organisation culture with the Local culture and try to have sync with each other. The harmony of these together is very essential for survival and success of Organisation, ignoring these aspects might challenge the very existence

As Change is only constant, with the rapid Globalisation we are witnessing, demographic changes are inevitable and challenge the Organisations to consider CCM seriously as never before and urge the need to deal with change and adopt in order to be competitive. The way Organisation tackles these challenges defines and determines the future success.

New Challenges at Work place: Managing Remote teams

With the technological advances (and Globalisation) work places are not limited by boundaries and have challenges to cultural aspects and can determine the success of coordination and communication which are essential factors for team success. Even though the other person can’t feel physical presence the effect of culture can still be felt. Speaking to colleagues in Switzerland is quite different than people in Middle East, speaking about personal things is quite acceptable in Swiss. In UK where it is mostly individualistic based, speaking about personal things quite may not work.

To manage remote teams a set of factors are vital like being objective, encouraging others in the call to participate actively, paraphrasing, stressing on agenda and being open for other ideas.

Conclusion:

Each culture has a different way of looking at things and it is indeed a challenge for managers who work cross-culturally. It is very essential for managers to be conscious of cultures with whom they interact. Organisations believe in diversity as it helps them to tackle diverse set of problems.  People from different cultures bring in different skill sets to table. This diversity in turn brings in competencies to compound present skills to be more competitive and flexible in finding solutions. And the best way to make these cultural issues work for Manager’s benefit is by building a strong relationship through personal rapport and reputation, being motivated and caring for others.