Managing the multinational enterprise in a world of different cultures: Some fundamental remarks on the pluralism of cultures and its managerial consequences

Abstract

In the course of globalization one problem is becoming increasingly important for the management of many multinational enterprises (MNEs): How should managers treat different cultures and legal environments? And how should conflicts be handled that result from fundamental differences concerning legal regulations, world views, value systems, and fundamental principles of life? The solution to this problem as proposed in this essay will require a fundamental change in the behavior of MNEs. It will result in modifications concerning all five classical managerial functions: planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. In the present essay we focus on the contribution of responsible management to resolve or prevent conflicts resulting from its own behavior. The solution to this problem requires a clarification of two basic questions: (1) How should management organize the interaction with different cultures? Should management accept the proclamation of Western values (proclamation approach) or start an unprejudiced mutual process of learning between cultures (learning approach)? (2) What are the implications for the design of the management process, i.e., the above-mentioned managerial functions and their relations to each other, resulting from the answer to this question?

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

  • Only published works are available at libraries.

Similar books and articles

Wittgenstein on understanding other cultures.Heikki Saari - 2005 - Grazer Philosophische Studien 68 (1):139-161.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
3 (#1,520,408)

6 months
1 (#1,042,085)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references