European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=330&year=2011&vol=2&issue=1 Inderscience Publishers Ltd en-uk European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management 1758-1508 1758-1516 © 2011 Inderscience Publishers Ltd editor@inderscience.com https://www.inderscience.com/images/files/coverImgs/ejccm_scoverejccm.jpg http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=330&year=2011&vol=2&issue=1 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=42674 Studies in organisational conflict management have gained interest in business and management sciences in the past decade. At the same time, the potential for transcultural conflict has grown. The challenge for South African managers is to find creative solutions for managing a highly diverse workforce and the transcultural conflicts that occur. In order to reduce this transcultural conflict potential in a globalised work environment, it is important to redefine individual and cultural values and identities and make possible the construction of multiple, transcultural identities that are aligned with adaptive value concepts. The purpose of this article is to assess managerial perspectives on transcultural conflict, values and identity in a selected organisation in the automotive industry in the South African context. This study adopts an exploratory research approach by using qualitative methodologies within the phenomenological and interpretative research paradigms. With this approach, the article aims at gaining a deeper understanding of transcultural conflict in the South African organisational work context. The research findings lead to conclusions and recommendations with regard to managing transcultural conflicts in the selected context, which are of importance for researchers and practitioners in Europe who focus on transcultural business management in South Africa. Perceptions of managers on transcultural conflict: a study in international South African management
Claude-Hélène Mayer; Lynette Louw
European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 3 - 31
Studies in organisational conflict management have gained interest in business and management sciences in the past decade. At the same time, the potential for transcultural conflict has grown. The challenge for South African managers is to find creative solutions for managing a highly diverse workforce and the transcultural conflicts that occur. In order to reduce this transcultural conflict potential in a globalised work environment, it is important to redefine individual and cultural values and identities and make possible the construction of multiple, transcultural identities that are aligned with adaptive value concepts. The purpose of this article is to assess managerial perspectives on transcultural conflict, values and identity in a selected organisation in the automotive industry in the South African context. This study adopts an exploratory research approach by using qualitative methodologies within the phenomenological and interpretative research paradigms. With this approach, the article aims at gaining a deeper understanding of transcultural conflict in the South African organisational work context. The research findings lead to conclusions and recommendations with regard to managing transcultural conflicts in the selected context, which are of importance for researchers and practitioners in Europe who focus on transcultural business management in South Africa.

]]> 10.1504/EJCCM.2011.042674 European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 3 - 31 Claude-Hélène Mayer; Lynette Louw Department of Management, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa. ' Department of Management, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa values identity automobile industry South Africa transcultural conflict conflict management international management diversity management cultural diversity cross-cultural management automotive management. 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 2 1 3 31 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=42675 The main purpose of this study is to understand the importance that is attached to work by analysing the link between work-related values and attitudes. In this respect, it is hypothesised that work values significantly predict work centrality and that this relationship is moderated by work-value congruence. Work-value congruence is conceptualised on the premise that different work values have varying degrees of influence on work centrality. It is proposed that as the distance between the act of working and the value it relates to (work-value congruence) differ, the relation between values and work centrality will change accordingly. In the study, work values have proved to act as an important predictor of work centrality. It is suggested that, work-value congruence be treated as an independent variable in future work-related research. The results are discussed along with gender differences for work values. Understanding the importance of work: the effects of work values and work-value congruence
Ba?ak Uçanok
European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 32 - 44
The main purpose of this study is to understand the importance that is attached to work by analysing the link between work-related values and attitudes. In this respect, it is hypothesised that work values significantly predict work centrality and that this relationship is moderated by work-value congruence. Work-value congruence is conceptualised on the premise that different work values have varying degrees of influence on work centrality. It is proposed that as the distance between the act of working and the value it relates to (work-value congruence) differ, the relation between values and work centrality will change accordingly. In the study, work values have proved to act as an important predictor of work centrality. It is suggested that, work-value congruence be treated as an independent variable in future work-related research. The results are discussed along with gender differences for work values.

]]> 10.1504/EJCCM.2011.042675 European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 32 - 44 Ba?ak Uçanok Department of Communication, ?stanbul Bilgi University, Santralistanbul Campus, Kaz?m Karabekir Cad., No. 1, 34060, Eyüp, ?stanbul, Turkey importance of work work centrality work values work-value congruence gender differences. 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 2 1 32 44 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=42676 This study examined the effects of on-the-job management training on the incumbent public administration managers' multicultural skills as a function of the managers' openness to experience. Two hundred eighty four public administration managers from the European Commission and 26 member states participated in the study. The results indicate that on-the-job training (including the initial training, informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources) improve the incumbent managers' multicultural skills, but only when the managers are moderate or high in openness to experience. The multicultural skills of the managers who are high in openness to experience benefit from on-the-job training the most, followed by the skills of the managers who are moderate in openness to experience. When the managers are low in openness to experience, the increased amounts of on-the-job training actually decrease their level of multicultural skills. On-the-job management training and multicultural skills: the moderating effect of openness to experience
Milan Pagon; Emanuel Banutai; Uroš Bizjak
European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 45 - 53
This study examined the effects of on-the-job management training on the incumbent public administration managers' multicultural skills as a function of the managers' openness to experience. Two hundred eighty four public administration managers from the European Commission and 26 member states participated in the study. The results indicate that on-the-job training (including the initial training, informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources) improve the incumbent managers' multicultural skills, but only when the managers are moderate or high in openness to experience. The multicultural skills of the managers who are high in openness to experience benefit from on-the-job training the most, followed by the skills of the managers who are moderate in openness to experience. When the managers are low in openness to experience, the increased amounts of on-the-job training actually decrease their level of multicultural skills.

]]> 10.1504/EJCCM.2011.042676 European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 45 - 53 Milan Pagon; Emanuel Banutai; Uroš Bizjak Al Ghurair University, P.O. Box 37374, Dubai, UAE. ' Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Kotnikova 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. ' University of Iowa CIMBA, Via San Giacomo 4, 31017 Paderno del Grappa, Italy management training multicultural skills openness to experience public administration on-the-job training informal training mentoring coaching resource availability. 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 2 1 45 53 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=42677 The purpose of this article is to explore how Chinese and expatriate managers, working in subsidiaries of five MNCs, communicate and collaborate, what kind of cultural encounters they talk about and give prominence to in their accounts of critical incidents, how they reflect upon them/explain them, and how they cope with perceived similarities and differences to improve cross-cultural communication and collaboration within a global organisation. Using an inductive qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, the study draws on in-depth narrative interviews with 29 expatriate and 39 Chinese managers and experts. The specific value of this paper is that it explores a hitherto under-researched issue and provides insight into well-educated expatriate and Chinese managers' accounts of how they perceive themselves and others in a multicultural work context. In both groups, we find widely travelled, flexible and open-minded people, who are ready and have the capabilities to conduct cross-cultural leadership. Communication and collaboration in subsidiaries in China Chinese and expatriate accounts
Anne-Marie Søderberg; Verner D. Worm
European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 54 - 76
The purpose of this article is to explore how Chinese and expatriate managers, working in subsidiaries of five MNCs, communicate and collaborate, what kind of cultural encounters they talk about and give prominence to in their accounts of critical incidents, how they reflect upon them/explain them, and how they cope with perceived similarities and differences to improve cross-cultural communication and collaboration within a global organisation. Using an inductive qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, the study draws on in-depth narrative interviews with 29 expatriate and 39 Chinese managers and experts. The specific value of this paper is that it explores a hitherto under-researched issue and provides insight into well-educated expatriate and Chinese managers' accounts of how they perceive themselves and others in a multicultural work context. In both groups, we find widely travelled, flexible and open-minded people, who are ready and have the capabilities to conduct cross-cultural leadership.

]]> 10.1504/EJCCM.2011.042677 European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 54 - 76 Anne-Marie Søderberg; Verner D. Worm Department of Intercultural Communication and Management, Copenhagen Business School, Porcelænshaven 18A, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark. ' Asia Research Center, Copenhagen Business School Denmark, Porcelænshaven 24, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark cross-cultural communication cross-cultural collaboration intercultural effectiveness cross-cultural learning processes MNCs multinational corporations MNC subsidiaries China expatriates expats international management culture. 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 2 1 54 76 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=42678 We compare activators and inhibitors of project management (PM) for information technology (IT) projects in Indonesia and the UK and show how they are influenced by cultural differences between the two countries. Our findings come from an empirical case study that we conducted in 2007/2008 using a survey. We show that our results are statistically significant and give reasons for the differences we found. Furthermore, we highlight conclusions that can be drawn by the IT PM community from our study. Activators and inhibitors for successful project management of IT projects in Indonesia and the UK: a comparative case study
Andrew McDonald; Sven Helmer
European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 77 - 94
We compare activators and inhibitors of project management (PM) for information technology (IT) projects in Indonesia and the UK and show how they are influenced by cultural differences between the two countries. Our findings come from an empirical case study that we conducted in 2007/2008 using a survey. We show that our results are statistically significant and give reasons for the differences we found. Furthermore, we highlight conclusions that can be drawn by the IT PM community from our study.

]]> 10.1504/EJCCM.2011.042678 European J. of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2011) pp. 77 - 94 Andrew McDonald; Sven Helmer School of Business, Economics and Informatics, University of London, Birkbeck, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK. ' School of Business, Economics and Informatics, University of London, Birkbeck, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK project management IT projects information technology cultural differences Indonesia UK United Kingdom activators inhibitors culture. 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00 2 1 77 94 2011-09-24T23:20:50-05:00