Short description:

 Cross-cultural Challenges in International Management addresses the various difficulties that may impede smooth communication and cooperation of those involved in international business interactions. It examines what types of resources are mobilized to overcome such difficulties.

Long description:

The development of international business and of globalization in every field of activity requires the interaction of individuals and groups with diverse cultural, religious, ethnic and social characteristics in different institutional contexts. Cross-cultural Challenges in International Management addresses the various difficulties that may impede smooth communication and cooperation of those involved in such interactions. It examines what types of resources are mobilized to overcome such difficulties.

The cultural and societal challenges of international management must be considered at different levels, the one of strategy, which the first part of the book is devoted to, but also that of management and business practices, addressed in the third part of the book. Both strategic decisions and daily business practices, however, in the particularly fluctuating and incompletely defined international context, gain from being framed by ethical and corporate social responsibility, which the second part of this book is devoted to. Cross-cultural Challenges in International Management provides an analysis of specific situations revealing such cultural or societal challenges. Thus, the reader will benefit not only from advanced theoretical knowledge in the field, but also from practical applications in various professional context and various countries.

Practitioners, students in various fields of social sciences, particularly in management, communication, international relations, and researchers will widely benefit from this book.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction and overview. Part 1. Cultural and Societal Challenges in Strategic Decision Making. 2. How to survive in an unstable environment for a long time to come: a study of firms operating in Tunisia during the democratic transition. 3. Asymmetric Alliances and SMEs? Internationalization. 4. Autonomy or abandonment? An analysis of authority figures in the context of international post-acquisition integration. 5. Cultural challenges and quality management practices of a German multinational in Brazil. Part 2. Ethical and social responsibility issues in international management. 6. CSR Action Mechanisms of International Companies: An analysis in the Light of African Realities. 7. The ethical tools of multinationals: a proof of cultural diversity. 8. The long march of CSR in China: from Confucius to the teachings of Business Schools. 9. "Islamic Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism": The case of MÜS?AD in Turkey. Part 3. The challenges of cross-cultural issues in international management. 10. The Limits of Managerialism for International Enterprise in India. 11. Environmental considerations when purchasing transport services: A Comparison of management approaches between Swedish and French Shippers. 12. Does International Mobility Really Increase Students? Intercultural Competence? 13. Are intercultural competences at the centre of job-market demands? 14. Conclusion.