What are cultural differences in management?

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What are cultural differences in management?
Cross cultural management is going to be considered in this paper. First of all, a
definition of this term should be provided. In our opinion, one of the most appropriate
definitions of this term is the following.
“Cross-culture management techniques help managers contend with the challenges and
opportunities of managing employees in a culturally diverse organizational environment.
Increasing globalization has created more awareness of the need for managers to be sensitive
to the cultural aspects of decision-making” (Cross-Culture Management Definition).
The modern world is really globalized. Transnational corporations have become the
leading players on international business arena. These companies perform in the different
cultural and mental environments. That is why there is always a need to manage some
processes in the different cultural environments.
Today influence of internationalization, globalization and integration processes that
cover the entire world is particularly felt. Increasing amount of companies carries out its
operations in many countries simultaneously. That is why it is important today to identify and
use characteristics of national cultures to create a unique competitive advantage in the
international market. It is a task of cross-cultural management.
Formation of cross-cultural management is a long historical process that is closely
linked with the processes of formation of the world market and foreign trade, international
division of labor, the development of transport, communications. Managers need to know that
an effective cross-cultural management requires not only knowledge of traditions, etiquette, 
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individual business culture of a business partner, but also cultural and mental features of the
different countries. The difference between people is mainly in the external manifestations,
customs, rituals, clothing, nonverbal communication, etc. Attitude to business is also one of
such external manifestations.
Construction of interpersonal relations in a multicultural team or management of
organization located in different countries, cooperation with foreign partners - it's always a
clash of different cultures. A lot of problems and misunderstandings may occur because of
such cultural differences. Therefore, the "cross-cultural" knowledge requires a manager to
avoid such problems. Knowing mentality of an opposite side in international business
negotiations is a key to success.
Generally, cross cultural management does not pay the only attention to differences
separately in different countries. It also prompts how to effectively use culturally conditioned
knowledge to construct the mechanism of cross-cultural management as a joint multinational
activity. The following elements and instruments of cross-cultural management may be
defined:
- A combination of different knowledge via interactive broadcast (IT) - integration of
participants in the process of working in multicultural groups to develop a common approach
to understanding and solving problems. IT facilitates the transfer of knowledge, values and
experience and their integration into the production process;
- To promote the formation of effective cross-cultural technology - common business
language and communication networks;
- Creation and maintenance of partner interaction.
These instruments help to create a single cultural environment even in a large
multinational and multicultural company.
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Successful use of the mentioned instruments of cross-cultural management can help a
company to achieve synergetic effect when the intellectual potential of the collective is
greater than the sum of the potentials of its individual members.
Thus, cross-cultural management as a set of knowledge and skills from different
countries plays extremely important in national economy and the success of individual
companies and associations. It is important to explain the features of cross-cultural
management on some particular example. We believe that McDonald’s would be a great
example of cross-cultural management.
"McDonald's" is a model of global marketing because it offers visitors the standard
menu, regardless of where it is located. But they also pay attention to the tastes of the local
population. In Singapore the company serves breakfast muffin with sausage that is made with
chicken instead of pork meat with spices. Approximately 15% of the population of this city is
Muslims. In Poland you can order milkshakes with black currant in Netherlands - vegetarian
burghers, and in Norway - burghers of salmon.
Another striking example of cultural diversity is well-known Finnish corporation
Nokia, which since the mid-1960s started working in the field of production of
telecommunication equipment, and in the late 80's was one of the main developers of
standard e