Multicultural Management 2000: Essential Cultural Insights for Global Business Success

by Farid Elashmawi and Philip R. Harris

The expanding global marketplace and information superhighway demand multicultural skills. This book helps readers to understand cultural differences and synergy, and gives you practical strategies... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0884154947
• ISBN13: 9780884154945
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Cultural Insights for Global Business

Good book overall. It's helpful to learn or be reminded of some of the differences in cultures outside of the US. It is very common for me to interact with people all over Europe, South America, China, and India, while at work. The last thing I want to do is insult a colleague without even knowing it. This book provides really useful tips and insights, particularly the negotiation chapter.

Good but repetetive

The authors of this book genuinely know there stuff but the book seems a bit drawn out. Readers are hit over the head with ideas such as "Japanese like to decide as a group" so often that it feels repetitive. That's not to say their insights are off-base, I worked in Japan for three years and I think they do a good job of covering some of the basic differences of US and Japanese business culture. I readily admit that most Americans have a glaring lack of knowledge concerning other cultures but the authors of this book write as though Japanese and Arab businessmen have absolutely no knowledge of American culture, either. There is an example of an Egyptian worker in a US company, who has a degree from Stanford no less, being offended by his introduction at a meeting with US businessmen because it wasn't done the Egyptian way. Seems a bit farfetched. What I've found is, particularly if you're from the US, that you have to be ready for people from the other culture to have some strong assumptions (sometimes incorrectly, such as a Japanese person trying to be so individualistic and direct that he comes off as rude) about your culture and you may find yourself acting more a part of their culture and them acting more like yours. Another example might be you bowing at a Japanese businessman who immediately sticks his hand out for a firm handshake. I particularly liked the example at the end of the book where the authors described some consulting work they'd done in Indonesia in attempts to reconcile the Indonesians' work culture with that of the American parent company. It really is a good blueprint for how this sort of compromise needs to be done to help make the organization more effective (and it really needs to be done a lot more often).

An excellent introduction to multicultural management!

This book gives real-world examples of how to successfully interact with other cultures. I recommend it to other business persons who, like myself, either travel abroad or work with people from various cultures, especially Asia and the Middle East.

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"Filled with new information. Ideal for individuals and organizations seeking high performance in today's and tomorrow's competitive global marketplace."--A. William Wiggenhorn,Corporate Vice President for Training and Education, Motorola Corporation" A needed work. Contains much valuable information to assist managers and students in understanding the complexities of cultural differences." -- Gary G.Williams, Dean, McClaren School of Business, University of San Francisco". . .a great deal of research and experience has been drawn on by the authors. . .the book is a mine of detailed knowledge and information. . ." --Business Executive"Elashmawi and Harris discuss in detail the special skills needed to successfully negotiate and work with people from other cultures." --Business America"Replete with checklists, charts and case studies. . ."--Seattle Times". . . a solid primer for business leaders and managers who wish to complete more successfully in the global marketplce."--Minority Business USA". . .filled with invaluable insights. . . approaches the subject with refreshingly simple and practical angles. . ."--Malaysian Business" This book provides the key ingredients for cross-cultural compentencies. It is a skills oriented text that is rich in practical examples, mini-case studies, critical incidents, and data tables based on both the knowledge and experiences of the authors."--Managing Diversity