Leadership and performance in multicultural business environments a qualitative study in German-Colombian teams

Multicultural leadership is a topic a great interest in nowadays globalized work environment. Colombia emerges as an attractive marketplace with appealing business opportunities, especially for German enterprises. After presenting Colombia’s current political, social and economic situation, the thesis elaborates the complex subject of cultural differences while focusing on the peculiarities of German and Colombian national cultures. The resulting implications for a team’s collaboration and leader effectiveness are theoretically supported with reference to the landmark studies of Hofstede and GLOBE. By utilizing semi-structured interview techniques, a qualitative research enriches the previous findings and gives an all-encompassing insight in German-Colombian teamwork. The investigation identifies distinctive behavioral patterns and relations, which imply challenges and factors of success for multicultural team leaders. Finally, a categorical analysis examines the influence of cultural traits on team performance and evaluates the effectiveness of the applied leadership style.

Historias y Realidades: ¿Qué hacen los directivos?

El propósito central del estudio consiste en descifrar, entender, contextualizar y reinventar el trabajo directivo actual. En el inicio del texto se busca comprender las realidades sobre el trabajo directivo desde la perspectiva y estudios de dos autores principales, Henry Mintzberg y Stefan Tengblad, los cuales exponen desde otro ángulo el día a día de los directivos; posteriormente se presenta la influencia que tiene el contexto nacional en los diferentes comportamientos y modelos de dirección, haciendo una comparación entre los directivos Suecos y Estado Unidenses para concluir las variables culturales, económicas, políticas y sociales que modifican y personalizan el trabajo directivo; finalmente en la última sección, después de comprender el trabajo directivo desde su naturaleza y sus fuentes externas de influencia, se propone reinventarlo o desde diferentes postulados y modelos, entendiendo que no existe una solución o fórmula mágica, sino unas herramientas que cada directivo debe definir y construir a lo largo de su vida.

Revisiting the 'modern' multinational enterprise theory: an emerging-market multinational perspective

Using Triad-based multinational enterprises as their empirical setting, influential scholars in international management uncovered key organizational characteristics needed to create globally integrated and locally responsive multinationals. They proposed a “modern” theory of multinationals' organization (Hedlund, 1994). But recently, a new generation of multinationals from emerging markets has appeared. Little is known about their organizational choices and some scholars even doubt that they leverage organizational capabilities altogether. Does the “modern” theory still hold in their case? This exploratory study of three emerging-market multinationals (EMNEs) discloses that for reasons related to their origin in emerging economies and to the competitive specificities of these economies, EMNEs approach the global and local conundrum in ways which are both similar – and vastly different – from recommendations of the “modern” theory. We inductively develop a new theory that accounts for the evolution of organizational capabilities in EMNEs to reconcile global integration and local responsiveness. We discuss its implications for the executives of both emerging and Triad-based multinationals.

The dream’s door: a case of MNC in Poland

Globalisation inevitably led to attempts to transfer know‐how and expertise to markets in different locations and cultures, where the particular organisation is willing to begin to operate. Hence, the need for understanding the conditions for successful knowledge transfer is especially important. The globalisation process in the Eastern bloc, which began in 1990, is a good example of knowledge transfer where the mutual meaning creation played a crucial role. This case study illustrates the process of international knowledge transfer between Western Europe and an emerging economy using the example of DAK Corporation and quality transfer to Poland. The case is especially useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students, including MBA students, studying general management as well as more specialised courses stemming from international management, for example, cross‐cultural management and organisational behaviour. Since the material focuses on people management and development as well as organisational culture creation, current and future practitioners from the human resources department will find it particularly useful. Students considering a career in a multinational company can also use this case in their preparation for the challenges of operating in a global business environment.

A situational model development in hospitality retailing : the case of Irish pubs

Although importance of situational influences on consumer behaviour has been recognised for some time, little research has been conducted into their effects on hospitality retailing. Over the past decade the Irish theme pub sector has enjoyed extensive growth, which recent studies attribute to the situational components inherent within the environment. This study identities and evaluates the situational components that influence consumers within Irish theme pubs and gauges impact of each of the dimensions of an established situational model on customer behaviour using gender and age cohorts. A three phase, mixed method research design was used and respondents were selected from six Irish theme pubs in Melbourne. The study found that both physical and social situational components have a significant influence in attracting, serving and satisfying the needs of consumers.

Strategic implications of global integration and local responsiveness for Chinese multinationals: an area for future study

Purpose – Based on the review of extant international business and management literature, this paper aims to examine the global integration (GI) and local responsiveness (LR) paradigm and its impact on the adoption of international business strategy (IBS) by multinational corporations (MNCs); second, discuss determinants that are critical in the process of forming IBS by MNCs; and third identify the lacuna in current research with respect to strategic implications of the framework for MNCs from emerging economies such as Chinese multinational corporations (CMNCs).Design/methodology/approach – Based on the extant literature review, this paper identifies a research gap and proposes several research questions for future study. First, the paper reviews prior studies on the GI-LR model and its impact on and strategic implications for IBS. Second, it examines how MNCs from developed countries adopt different types of IBS and what determinants drive their decision-making. Third, it attempts to discuss why CMNCs should be studied in terms of their choice of IBS based on the GI-LR mode. The paper concludes with research questions for future study.Findings – This paper summarizes determinants of IBS in a three-category table mainly based on prior studies on the GI-LR model from developed countries. As a consequence, it identifies a future research area in the field of international management.Originality/value – This paper is based on a comprehensive review of prior studies related to the GI-LR framework. The aim of the study is to identify a new research area in international management, that is, how MNCs from emerging country contexts, such as China, to co-ordinate GI and LR for their IBS.

Strategic implications of global integration and local responsiveness for Chinese multinationals: an area for future study

Purpose – Based on the review of extant international business and management literature, this paper aims to examine the global integration (GI) and local responsiveness (LR) paradigm and its impact on the adoption of international business strategy (IBS) by multinational corporations (MNCs); second, discuss determinants that are critical in the process of forming IBS by MNCs; and third identify the lacuna in current research with respect to strategic implications of the framework for MNCs from emerging economies such as Chinese multinational corporations (CMNCs).Design/methodology/approach – Based on the extant literature review, this paper identifies a research gap and proposes several research questions for future study. First, the paper reviews prior studies on the GI-LR model and its impact on and strategic implications for IBS. Second, it examines how MNCs from developed countries adopt different types of IBS and what determinants drive their decision-making. Third, it attempts to discuss why CMNCs should be studied in terms of their choice of IBS based on the GI-LR mode. The paper concludes with research questions for future study.Findings – This paper summarizes determinants of IBS in a three-category table mainly based on prior studies on the GI-LR model from developed countries. As a consequence, it identifies a future research area in the field of international management.Originality/value – This paper is based on a comprehensive review of prior studies related to the GI-LR framework. The aim of the study is to identify a new research area in international management, that is, how MNCs from emerging country contexts, such as China, to co-ordinate GI and LR for their IBS.