Title: Cross-culture management: an examination on task, relationship and work overload stress orientations of Dutch and Japanese working adults

Authors: Lam D. Nguyen; Bahaudin G. Mujtaba; Chat N. Tran; Alexander Ruijs

Addresses: College of Business, Bloomsburg University, 400 East Second Street, Bloomsburg, PA 17815, USA ' H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33314, USA ' Division of International Trade, Foreign Trade University, Hochiminh City Campus, 15, D5 St., Binh Thanh Dist., Hochiminh City, Vietnam ' Webster University Thailand, Maneeya Center (E1), 10th Floor, 518/5, Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Abstract: Human capital is among the most important strategic competencies and capabilities that managers can utilise to achieve competitive advantage. In the globalised economy, it is increasingly demanding for managers to manage their culturally diverse workforce as effectively and efficiently as they manage their more homogenous employees. This study uniquely examines the task, relationship, and work overload stress orientations of people in the Netherlands and in Japan. As a result of the analysis of 439 responses, it appears that Japanese respondents have significantly higher scores on task orientations than Dutch respondents while their relationship scores are similar. In terms of gender, significant difference was found on relationship scores but not on task scores. In terms of stress orientation, no significant difference was found. In this paper, literature on the behavioural approach to leadership, stress perception, and Dutch and Japanese cultures are presented along with practical application and suggestions for future studies.

Keywords: cross-culture management; Japan; leadership; relationships; strategic competitiveness; strategic management; stress perception; culture; task orientation; The Netherlands; human capital; work overload; culturally diverse workforce; gender.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCM.2013.057556

International Journal of Strategic Change Management, 2013 Vol.5 No.1, pp.41 - 58

Published online: 22 Sep 2014 *

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