Based on research carried out in the subsidiaries of a leading global company, Lafarge, in the contrasting cultural environments of China, the United States, France and Jordan, Philippe d'Iribarne looks at how a Western company can and should manage its cross-cultural, corporate values in its foreign subsidiaries and whether these values are universal or only Western specific.
Autorentext
Philippe d'Iribarne is Managing Director of Gestion et Société (Management and Society), at CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) in Paris, France
Zusammenfassung
How should a Western company manage cross-culturally corporate values in its foreign subsidiaries? Do these values make sense everywhere and can they assumed to be universal or, on the contrary, are they culturally Western specific?Philippe d'Iribarne provides answers to these timely and urgent questions, based on research carried out in the subsidiaries of a leading global company, Lafarge, in the contrasting cultural environments of China, the United States, France and Jordan. It appears that, in a large part of the world, people's expectations are similar; they expect from a good employer clear and decisive leadership, and fair and compassionate treatment, helping them to live a good life. But treating these expectations as the 'same' could be misleading. Western companies with a humanistic orientation are well positioned to fulfil them, provided they are willing, in each and every geography, to take into account the local vision of the right way to achieve a good life.By following the example presented in this book, companies who care can deliver economic efficiency as well as progressive people management in the countries in which they operate.
Inhalt
1. France and the United States: Two Sets for a Single 2. China: Between Guanxi and Celestial Bureaucracy 3. Unity and Tribalism in Jordan 4. Local Forms of Support in all their Diversity: A Cross-Company Survey 5. Values Materialize Within a Diversity of Cultures Conclusion Appendix - National Cultures and Management: An Interpretative Approach