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International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, Fifth Edition by Nancy J. Adler with Allison Gundersen

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To my mother, Liselotte Adler, who brought together two worlds and

two very different cultures in creating the home in which I grew up.

—Nancy J. Adler

To my nieces, Stephanie and Melissa Merakis, who

give me hope and inspiration for the future.

—Allison Gundersen

v

Preface

The world of organizations is no longer defined by national boundaries. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior breaks down the con- ceptual, theoretical, and practical boundaries that limit our ability to understand and work with people in countries and cultures around the world. Prior to the 21st century, a disproportionate amount of the pub- lished material on management came from the United States. American managers and American-trained researchers observed the behavior of people in U.S.-based organizations. From their observations and research, they developed models and theories to explain the behavior of people and organizations. The problem was in their implicit assump- tion: most scholars assumed that what was true for Americans working in the United States was also true for people from other countries work- ing worldwide. Both managers and researchers assumed that Americans’ work behavior was universal. They were wrong. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior challenges us to transcend our parochialism—no matter which country we grew up in—and to see the world from a global perspective.

Today, managers no longer have the luxury of reducing global com- plexity to the simplicity of assumed universality; they no longer have the luxury of assuming that there is only one best way to manage. Luckily, we have learned that global complexity is neither unpredictable nor random. Variations across cultures and their impact on organiza- tions follow systematic, predictable patterns. Starting with a core of tra- ditional, primarily U.S.-based understandings of the behavior of people in organizations, International Dimensions becomes a guide for modifying our attitudes, thinking patterns, and behavior. Far from ignoring the historical body of managerial knowledge, International Dimensions expands our understanding of people’s behavior at work to include the diversity and complexity of today’s global environment.

International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior is divided into three parts. Part 1, “The Impact of Culture on Organizations,” describes the ways in which cultures vary, how that variance systematically affects organizations, and how people can recognize, manage, and effectively use cultural variance within their own work environments. Chapter 1 provides a broad context for understanding the global nature of today’s business environment. Chapter 2 focuses on the nature of cultural dif- ferences worldwide and how they impact organizations. Chapter 3 pro- vides a framework for understanding how to effectively communicate

across cultures. Part 2, “Leveraging Cultural Diversity,” presents an inte- grated approach to managing in multicultural work environments. Chapter 4 investigates cross-cultural problem solving and organization- al development; Chapter 5 presents the dynamics of multicultural teams; Chapter 6 reviews approaches to global leadership; Chapter 7 focuses on the best approaches for inspiring and motivating people from around the world; Chapter 8 reviews decision making from a global perspective; and Chapter 9 summarizes global approaches to negotiating and resolving conflict.

Part 3, “Managing Global Managers,” presents a series of issues that are unique to managing people in a global environment. It addresses the human resource management dilemmas involved in managing one’s life and career while moving across international borders. Chapter 10 describes the cross-cultural entry and re-entry transitions from the employee’s perspective and addresses such questions as: What is culture shock? How does one adjust to a new culture? How can employees who have worked abroad successfully navigate re-entry back into their home countries and home organizations? Chapter 11 also presents global transition issues, but from the perspective of the spouse. Chapter 12 introduces the challenges of managing a global career. How do the routes to the top of major companies vary from one country to another? What do managers see as the most important benefits and drawbacks of pursuing global careers? Given its focus on global managers, this section goes far beyond the scope of domestically oriented books on both management and organizational behavior.

International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior is used by executives, managers, and college students in a number of ways. First, it is fre- quently used as a basis for cross-cultural management seminars in which each chapter of the book forms the core of a course module. When used in this way, the book is often supplemented with current readings that provide a more in-depth look at specific areas of the world, as well as with news articles on contemporary world business events. After being introduced to each module with a chapter from International Dimensions, seminar participants often expand on the mate- rial in the book, based on their current interests and experience, by looking at how it applies, for instance, to e-commerce in Eastern Europe or to China’s and India’s rapidly expanding economies.

Alternatively, the book is used as a supplement to core organizational behavior courses. In this case, professors first use their standard intro- duction to the study of people’s behavior in organizations. Using Chapters 1 and 2, they then introduce the international dimensions of organizational behavior. Following this introduction, they pair a chap- ter from International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior with each of the