Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions

by Lionel Laroche

Book Overview

'Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions' provides managers of technical professionals with clear and tested strategies to improve communication and increase productivity among culturally diverse technical professionals, teams, and departments.

Dr. Laroche outlines the differences in education and training, career expectations, communication styles, and management expectations in countries around the world. He explains cross-cultural concepts and presents his case for the importance of cross-cultural competence supported by hard data, including charts, tables, and readily accessible schematics.

You'll benefit from the author's experience and expertise as a manager and consultant in this area, illustrated by numerous anecdotes, critical incidents, and mini case studies, centered around two central themes:

* Most technical professionals do not recognize the impact of cultural differences in their work
* Cross-cultural issues lead to a significant under-utilization of talent and affect productivity negatively

'Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions' offers proven tactics for improving your personal effectiveness and the efficiency of your multicultural teams, breaking the communication barrier in the multicultural workplace.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0750675810
• ISBN13: 9780750675819
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great help for foreign students and their professors!

I am a professor of atmospheric chemistry at York University. Most of the people in my research group have done their studies (either graduate or undergraduate, or both) outside of Canada. I have found the content of this book and the suggestions it provides invaluable. Last Christmas, I gave each of my students and postdocs a copy of this book. The feedback I got from them has been very positive.I strongly recommend this book to any foreign student who is studying in Canada and wants to pursue a career here. I also recommend strongly to professors and researchers who work in groups as diverse as mine.

Appreciating cultural diversity

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr. Laroche's book- "Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions" especially because of the many anecdotes and examples he uses to illustrate the problems encountered in dealing with cultural diversity. I was left with the feeling that Dr. Laroche has "been there" and "done that"- all of which lends credibility to his writing. I kept thinking throughout the book -- " so that is why----" or " now I understand why----". The elaboration of the concepts put forth was somewhat repetitive, however this repetition has allowed me to integrate these concepts into my daily thinking, and I regret not having understood them years ago while active in a multicultural workplace. Although Dr. Laroche has written this book specifically for Technical Professionals, the problems encountered, the concepts elaborated,and the solutions suggested could all be easily transposed to everyday situations in our multicultural society.

Avoid misunderstandings

Based on my managerial experience of working for 10 years in the Far East, this book provides a lot of useful advice that helps avoid cross-cultural misunderstanding. This book is well written. Some of the figures are more explicit than a long description. I strongly recommend this book to anyone involved in international management.

Five of my friends have asked to borrow my copy!

When it comes to understanding and adjusting to Canadian workplace culture most new Canadians learn their lessons the hard way. Usually, this is a lengthy and painful process, which can be made more enjoyable and far shorter if one knows the right approach. "Managing Cultural Diversity in Technical Professions" offers a systematic approach to understanding cross cultural issues and the importance of cultural differences in the Canadian workplace, showing the path one has to take to win the battle for a successful career.It is also a book written by someone who has a deep understanding of cross cultural issues and a fine ability to convey thoughts in a concise and crystal clear manner.