Cross-cultural management

Lessons from P&G's acquisition of Gillette.

Many companies today rely on employees around the world, leveraging their diversity and local expertise to gain a competitive edge. However, geographically...

Four ways to redefine winning as a shared goal.

Global success requires that companies appreciate diversity and distance rather than seek to eliminate them.

With few exceptions, Americans are relative newcomers on the international business scene. Today, as in Mark Twain’s time, we are all too often “innocents abroad,” in an era when naiveté and blundering in foreign business dealings may have serious political repercussions. When the American executive travels abroad to do business, he is frequently shocked to […]

How decision making, communication, and dark-side tendencies vary.

Miscommunications about time can lead to frustration.

Because of growing commitments of their companies in developing countries, large numbers of American and European managers have entered negotiations with government officials in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Also, with emerging nationalism, these negotiations have become increasingly frustrating. Sometimes misunderstandings have been so great that they have led to a breakdown in negotiations that […]

How to promote candor across cultural, gender, and generational divides

The first wave of foreign direct investment in China, in the 1980s, mostly took the form of joint ventures. A second wave followed in the 1990s in the form of greenfield wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs). Now a third wave of foreign direct investment—cross-border mergers and acquisitions—is gaining strength. Consider the forces driving this third wave. […]

Chinese business culture is unique, but not in all the ways outsiders tend to assume. To identify the most common myths, we interviewed dozens of North American and European expats as well as some Chinese managers now working in the West, all of whom have spent at least three years doing business in China. Our […]

A new study of American and Chinese counterparts.

In an increasingly diverse business environment, managers must be able to navigate the thicket of habits, gestures, and assumptions that define their...

And how to rise to the challenge.

How should a Swiss watchmaker stand out in China?

One tactic: Address conflict immediately.

The reverse culture shock may surprise you.

Four pitfalls to avoid.

Needs may differ between headquarters and regional offices.

Decision by ‘consensus,’ lifetime employment, continuous training, and the godfather system suggest ways to solve U.S. problems