Title: Perceptions of managers on transcultural conflict: a study in international South African management

Authors: Claude-Hélène Mayer; Lynette Louw

Addresses: 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

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: values; identity; automobile industry; South Africa; transcultural conflict; conflict management; international management; diversity management; cultural diversity; cross-cultural management; automotive management.

DOI: 10.1504/EJCCM.2011.042674

European Journal of Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, 2011 Vol.2 No.1, pp.3 - 31

Published online: 11 Oct 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article