All management is multicultural

Citation

Harris, P.R. (1999), "All management is multicultural", European Business Review, Vol. 99 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.1999.05499aaf.001

All management is multicultural

All management is multicultural

On the verge of the new millennium, it is generally accepted that business has become not only global in scope, but management itself is also multicultural. The phenomenon of market globalization was the driving force for changing our perspective on the management process both within the corporate world, as well as in academia. The concept goes beyond mere multinationalism. Every manager faces cross-cultural challenges within the workforce, as well as with suppliers and most importantly, the customers! Culture influences one's attitude not only toward the practice of management and leadership, but also toward every aspect of organizational activity ­ performance, production, marketing, public relations, legal and ethical issues, et al. Thus, global managers require cross-cultural competency, especially in organizational communications and team management. It is one reason why business schools are now including such courses, especially cultural anthropology. Doing business on the Internet or electronic mail, for example, is fraught with possibilities of committing costly cultural "faux pas"! When using computers, cultural sensitivity is essential.

Back in 1978 when the authors Philip R. Harris and Robert T. Moran first wrote Managing Cultural Differences (Harris and Moran, 1996), we thought of management in terms of domestic and international divisions. Now as we go into a fifth edition of this classic book, that categorization has disappeared and emerged as a world market. Thus, while creating the MCD Series, titles in these eight volumes addressed topics like multicultural management, transcultural leadership, international negotiations and developing global organizations. Every dimension of management has its intercultural applications as our Website describes (http://www.gulfpub.com/business.html).

That is why management development, whether in universities and colleges or within corporate human resource programs, should promote learning in the concept of culture. It is like a many-faceted jewel which when held to the light provides expanding insights. Originally, my co-author and I were concerned that our writings prepare managers to be more effective when they operate outside their own culture, as in foreign deployment. Then, we appreciated how cultural skills can help managers to deal with minorities and ethnic groups within their home culture and on the job. Next we began to grasp the significance of organizational culture and its impact on work behavior.

Currently, I perceive in New Work Culture (1998) that we are moving beyond the industrial culture to an information and high tech work environment http://www.hrdpress.com. But the ultimate challenge may be off world as we develop space culture and utilize its resources for the benefit of Earth, something I have sought to explain in Living and Working in Space (1996). A new type of management will be required in outer space where large-scale projects will demand macromanagement http://www.wiley/co.uk. Thus, twenty-first century management will have culture at its core, not on its periphery!

Philip R. HarrisManagement/Space Psychologist and Author,Harris International, LaJolla, California, USA. E-mail: philharris@aol.com