Cross Cultural Management

The purpose of this essay to demonstrate the heathenish differences amongst the UK omnibus personnel casualty to piddle as an expatriate conductor in Colombia. By taking into love Hofstede, Bond, Trompenaars and new(prenominal) cross heathenish focusing queryers to advise the UK music film director most the Colombian stopping point, taking into con placeration the differences mingled with asteriskership styles, determination make, recruitment and selection, motivation, planning and team versus several(prenominal)(a) hotshot working. The reason for selecting Colombia was that fit in to the results by Geert Hofstede, these 2 countries atomic number 18 real reverse to unmatchable a nonher.T herefore it im small-arm be corking to comp be the differences and the similarities amid the countries farming. concord to Adler (1983) Cross ethnic management is defined as the study of the manner of pot in the organizations located in nicetys and nations around the gentleman. It focuses on the r destroyering of organizational deportment within countries and stopping points, on the comparison of organizational behaviour cross managements countries and floricultures, and perhaps most distinguishedly on the interactional of muckle from incompatible countries working within the same organization or within the same work environment.As an advisor to a UK keep company open uping a subsidiary and to send an expatriate Manager to work in Colombia, the beat let on appearance is to enter the country with an acceptance to what is the culture of Colombia, as it is endlessly break dance to accept and then inquire. Hofstede defines culture as the collective schedule of the mind which distinguishes the members of unmatched human group from a nonher civilisation, in this sense, includes value systems of determine atomic number 18 a core element of culture. (Mead et al, 2009) From further query on Hofstedes culture dimension, we f aecal matter state that thither is a huge divergent between the UK and Colombian culture. (Hofstede, 2009) Power Distance is the cessation to which members of a clubhouse accept the unequal distribution of power among individuals. (Ball et al 2004) On the Power Distance dimension (PDI) Colombia shootd a comparatively spunky hold of (67). Hofstede, (2011) the stigmatize reveal that Colombians be reliant on way and hurl leadership that is regularly in a paternalistic access.This is authentic(a) by workers, they argon rattling some(prenominal) loyal and the effrontery is that all delegacy and account dexterity is at a spicyer level. Here subordinates atomic number 18 to pick out do those in positions of trust with particular compliments, nitty-gritty it is a society that has a precise low level of tolerance for un plasteredty. The motorbus knows e genuinelything and is all powerful. Harris et al (2004) Management here is knock againstn as organism springit arian, the theory X managers as defined by McGregor. Netmba, (2011) In Colombia the lines of conference in organisation is steep, subordinates give normally know whom to report to.Companies here are characterised by a less formal witnesss and fewer layers of management. (Mead et al, 2004) According to Geert Hofstedes culture dimensions scores, UK has the score of (35) This surfaces that the UK has a precise low power distance, which means that it society de-emphasises the differences between citizens power and wealth. It places to a greater extent(prenominal) than emphasis on opportunity and equating for e actuallyone. Managers and subordinates are treated equally. Hod traints et al, (2003). Here the management style as more than of the theory Y manager, as managers are more flexible. (Netmba, 2011)Trompenaars views Individualism and fabianism dimension as the conflict between groups and individual interest. Triandis, (1994) this reflects the underlying written text of society integrated, tight kindly arrangement involving collective responsibility. (Jhon Martin, 2005) UK has a score of (89) on the Hofstedes riseing, this score indicate that UK has a graduate(prenominal) score on individualism and a high gross national growth and in any case a ingenuous political structure. Here the society are more individuals and are expected to look after themselves and their immediate families save. Mcfarlin et al, 2011) On the new(prenominal) hand Colombia has a score of (13), this indicates the opposite of UK, meaning that Colombia is a collective society, where a favourite for a strongly tie social framework in which citizens are integrated in groups, they expect their clan, families, or another(prenominal) in-group to look after them in ex transplant for unquestioning reliability.Colombians societies are strongly from birth onwards integrated into strong groups, this is a great come up to extended family. (Hofstede and Bond, 1988) Colombian peo ple would openly express emotions regular in craft concern circumstances, whereas the British would consider such display nprofessional. (Helen Deresky, 2003) UK managers separates work, human relationships and in-person spots, they hack their cloak-and-dagger lives and work, they are more direct and open, whereas in an diffused oriented cultures, such as Colombia, there is spill over from work into in the flesh(predicate) relationships. (Helen Deresky, 2003) According to Edward Hall Britain is a monochronic sentence society. To British citizens succession is preciously and limited re outset, it is to be scheduled, saved, and as well as spent with precision, for the British time is money, and the clock is at all times running. at that placefore, schedules and deadlines essential to be met, and when others are not on time for meetings, British may feel insulted, when meetings digress from their purpose, British tend to become impatient. (Mcfarlin et al, 2011) notwithst anding in Colombia attitude toward time is manana meaning tomorrow. From Edward Hall seek, Colombian is a polychonic time society. Despite the position that the British frequently regards a deadline as a firm commitment, Colombians much regards deadline oblige on them as an insult. They feel that serious things take long time and therefore weednot be chilled.Colombians are not known for punctuality. They may go in at a agate line meeting 15 or 20 minutes late, since this is considered the norm. (Mcfarlin et al, 2011) The UK manager breathing out to Colombia essential be careful not to offend Colombians as they misunderstand the local language of time. Polychronic cultures take a more flexible view of time and this may be lumbering for British to understand. The procedure of relationship building is regarded with more more sizeableness in most part of the globe. It is important for a cross culture manager to be aware of the submit of culture on decision making styles and process. Deresky, 2003) According to Harris et al, (2004) British negotiators are in general speech payoff objective regarding the precise issue at hand and usually would like to waste no time in getting down to course and making progress. They understand the others position, and are marked by tolerance and compromise. Managers here are seen as being one dimensional, mechanical and caught in a short term transitional approach. They focus more on formal rules than relationships. According to trompenaars dimensions UK is seen as being a high universalism society, However Colombia is seen high on particularism.Hodgetts et al, (2003) Colombian managers would like to take able time to build trust and respect as a buttocks for negotiating contract. In Colombia personal commitment to individuals, kind of than the legal system, form the instauration for the enforcement of contracts. UK manager must be aware that relationship building is in fact, the first phase of negotiations with the Colombian. Looking at Trompennars dimension of diffuse vs specific, Colombians are known to have an indirect colloquy style and they rely on facial expression. With the Colombians it is considered polite to keep beside eye contact during conversations.With close friends, women could kiss apiece other on one cheek or clasp forearms. Men often hug and hit each others back. This particular hug is known as the abrazo. ( pagan taboos, 2010) Colombians exit likewise ask numerous polite questions and go done other pleasantries UK managers should expect inquiries as to your trip, family, friend and health, when greeting Colombians you dont not rush them, as it is considered callous and disrespect to rush greeting. The standard greeting is the handshake upon introduction and departure. ethnic taboos, 2010) In the other hand intercourse in the UK will be more direct and reserved they avoid high pressure tactics and confrontational behaviour. (Harris et al, 2004) Language feces as well as be a pitfall for a British expatriate manger going to work in Colombia. Inability to speak local language can be a challenge therefore the British manager must learn Spanish when going to work in Colombia as this will sponsor. In Colombia selecting a leader or a manager from a company is the most crucial decision, as they will normally destiny to know them in person and probably establish friendship.They make decisions on the fanny of feelings, quite than experience or empirical evidence of other facts. heathen taboos (2010) In Colombia before starting a meeting, there will ever so be a small speak, this is necessary in as its gives manager and subordinate the time to get to know each other personally. It is seen as a good way to establish relationship this is seen as a high priority than ripe doing calling. Most time other cultures doing pedigree with Colombian should wait for them to initiate the trading controvertion. (Charles, Trompenaars, 2004)At t he end of the meeting, do not hurry off wait a junior-grade longer to come up talking with the work colleague or business associates, Colombians will find it impolite and disrespectful to leave immediately hunting a meeting, this to them signify that you have better things to do. therefore a British expatriate manager should take this into consideration as mentioned above, time is not an issue for Colombians, and Meetings will last as long as they need to last, and establishing trust is really important first. (Charles, Trompenaars, 2004)Management nowa sidereal days must make sure that they are disposition and being unders in like mannerd across cultural borders. As a UK manager working as an expatriate in Colombia, there are umteen things to take into account as the two countries are very unalike when it comes to cross cultural differences and in cross cultural management. Dealing with incompatible culturally teams can be a challenge. The expatriate UK manager going t o Colombia must consider and respect that Colombians management is all in all different from the one from UK therefore the expatriate manager must target appreciation and consideration of Colombian culture.Uk manager should show tolerance, in respecting Colombians cultural views, beliefs and have tolerance for their difference working practices, as mentioned above in the views from Trompenaar, Colombia is seen as a high particularism society, they focus is more on relationship than formal personas, in Colombia the business set is very formal and the expatriate manager from UK will be more boffo if he bears in mind the importance of being polite at all times. And treat people in positions of conditionity with respect.It is better to make an error on the side of being excessively formal rather than to jeopardize a business relationship by being similarly informal and placeing flippant. Cultural taboos (2010) whereas in the UK this is not the case. British society is seen as high universalism, they focus is more on formal rules than relationships, here business contract are adhered to very closely, and they believe that a cross is a deal. (Hodgetts et al 2003) The UK expatriate manager must also have the fellowship of the Colombian organisational culture and history, as this will help him know exactly what to expect from the Colombian working trategy, and learn who has the authority to decide on settlement and on the decision making. He must also take whatever ill-treat that is necessary to gain an in depth understanding of Colombians, and how they negotiating styles, views of process, and cultural values may come to play. close to other important issue that the UK expatriate manager should consider is language, the lack of abroad language skills will put the British manager at a disadvantage, as verbal communication is important.In Colombia business is done in side of meat and in Spanish, therefore the British manager should consider discipline Spa nish before taking the challenge of working in Colombia. In deduction a manger moving to work from one country to another, must know that it is not an easy issue but a repugn one. Cross cultural manager must learn the differences management styles between the host country and the visiting country. Taking into consideration their cultures differences, value, beliefs and norms.References Dereskey, E. (2011). world-wide Management, seventh Edition. Prentice Hall Dereskey, E. 2003). international Management, 4TH Edition. Prentice Hall Mcfalin, D. , Sweeney, P. (2011). International Management, 4th Edition. New York Harris, P. Robert, T, . Moran, S, . Moran, V. (2004). Managing Cultural Differences, 6TH Edition. USA Hampden, C, T, Trompennar, F. (2004). Building Cross- Cultural Competence. UK Hodgetts, R. Luthans, F. (2003) International Management, 5TH Edition Mead, R. , Andrews T. (2009). International Management, 4th Edition Wiley Nancy J. (1983). The honorary society of Managemen t Review Cross-Cultural Management Research The Ostrich and the movement Cultural taboos (2010) on tap(predicate) at http//www. circlesofexcellence. com/blog/? tag=cultural-taboos&paged=2 accessed 21 March, 2011. Colombian culture tips Available at http//rw-3. com/tag/colombian-culture/ accessed 19 March, 2011. Intercultural Management, UK. Being a Manager in United Kingdom http//www. kwintessential. co. uk/intercultural/management/uk. html Accessed 20 March, 20011. Theory X and Theory Y Available at http//www. netmba. com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/ accessed 19 March, 2011. APENDIX Geert Hofstede Culture property prove http//www. geert-hofstede. com/hofstede_dimensions. php? ulture1=94&culture2=19 High consideration vs. Low consideration Take a look how members of high and low contextual cultures see themselves and their opposites High Context Communication polite respectful integrates by similarities/ unity not directLow Context Communication open true integrates by legitimacy direct High Context claims Low Context impolite cannot represent between the lines naive no self discipline too fastLow Context claims High Context hiding knowledge not trustable arrogant too formal too slow Seehttp//glob specify. com/2009/06/24/indirect-communication-and-indirect-leadership-in-asia/Cross Cultural ManagementCROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT Under these conditions it is obvious that good deals very often operate in different countries and deal with people from other nations. The follow that makes business outside the home country encounters some difficulties. There are significant differences among countries according to their culture and this happen upons their relationships between trade partners or cooperating companies. This exit very often is described by Lisbeth Clausen.She is a prof that associates with surgical incision of Intercultural Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School and she is also associate with Asia Research Center. In the International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2007 Vol 7(3) 317-332 we can find an member titled Corporate Comunication Challenges A dialogue Culture stead, written by Lisbeth Clausen. The denomination is found on her research forge, which examines communication between danish companies and their military home al-Qaeda/ coalescencys in lacquer.The master(prenominal) interest in this research is related to communications between people in organizations with a spheric perspective. The author for a year and a half(a) was part of the international tidings flow research team at Keio University in lacquer where she was observing political decision-making processes in the newsrooms at the common function station NHK and also the commercial station TV Asahi. She has referenceed forty journalists, extraneous correspondents, editors and famous anchors and the five Nipponese national news producers round their production of international news and also she has c ompared studies of danish and Nipponese news programs.Her project is maintained by the Danish Research Council (LOK). She also has interviewed liter ball-shaped managers from Denmark and japan, move overing attention to their cooperation, their cultural challenges in communication and execution of strategies in japan. In her obligate Corporate Communication and Challenges-A Negotiated Culture Perspective is the centre of attention of her long term studies and hard work. The authors main thesis is that business culture cannot be defined only in call of nationality.By the examination of Danish- Nipponese business relationships she tries to show that there are other factors like industry, organizational and professional knowledge that shape culture. However that does not mean that national characteristics and values are not important. The phrase is very well organized. It includes a little introduction to the worrys. Lisbeth presents results of her research that she did bit being in Japan. She applies concept of negotiated culture to empirical entropy at two organizational and contextual levels in intercultural encounters.Communication is viewed as a complex, multi- issued, and active process in which global managers exchange meaning (Clausen, 2007). The fact that she establish her oblige on the theories of intercultural communication and negotiated culture and after that lead readers through nurture obtained from managers engaged in Danish- Nipponese business to get to conclusions that support state by her thesis, strengths this article, makes it clearer and more reliable.Based on the analyses of strategic and useable communications that occur in the business relationship between Denmark headquarter and its alliance partner in Japan, Lisbeth indicates how the western view of communication processes differs from the Japanese and how umteen challenges are brought nigh by the globalization. As mentioned earlier the theoretical intromission for these studies is a theory of negotiated culture.According to Brannen and Salk (t2000) national origin is a descent of values and norms for managers, but is not a determinant of communication outcomes negotiated culture appear when members from different national and organizational cultures deal together during cooperation between corporation from two different countries emerge the specific attributes of a headquarters/partners relationship cultural differences may affect task related issues in unlooked-for ways The fact that the author indicates all the sources from which she has obtained information presented in the article makes this articlea more valuable source of knowledge about intercultural communication. Lisbeth has lay in data for her studies in April 2004 in Denmark and in September-November 2004 in Japan. She refers to the company she was examining as the brake shoe caller. She conducted fifty interviews in five companies as part of a monstrousger project on man agement, communication and competence. The goal of interviewed made in twain Denmark and Japan was to achieve a good understanding of the viewpoints of both the headquarters and the partner.In Denmark Lisbeth has focused on the production of new prototypes and has met people in the factory. In Japan she has visited several shoe stores and has spent some time in the showroom. She has thoroughly interviewed managers and directors from so more departments. similarly that she has also interview via telephone the managing director of Asia (Danish) stationed in Hong Kong (Clausen, 2007). It seems like Lisbeth has put so much effort in obtaining all the information that let her be as objective as possible. The article is well organized. Every problem that is discussed belongs to different paragraph, with a header to make it easier to understand. The author describes different issues step by step without mixing them together.Everything together is connected in the just article and all t he conclusions are drawn from all the information presented in there. It gives me an view that Lisbeth has broad knowledge about the problem of communication according to the culture differentiation. Besides that the language that she uses even if she talks about some theories is rather always clear. Because all businesses involve communication therefore ability to run with people from other culture is crucial in global world of business. Communication becomes more difficult when partners come from different cultural ground and speak different language (Adler, 2002).There are no doubts that managers and expatriates have big challenges dealing with their partners across the borders. Culture in certain way shapes the communication. To explain better the relationship between culture and communication the author is so precise and describes first the notion of communication, considering more than just one perspective. I think that this is one of the proofs that Lisbeth tries to be very objective. Hesperian approach is concerned on communication as a transmittal of information from sender to receiver, what is understood as a possible to control process. From the other side she also presents eastern perspective that emphasizes a role of cooperation. Besides that she also focuses on explanation of culture.She presents different theories of culture at the end she puts essence of all of them in a conclusion. She sees culture as a part of relationship rather than in predetermined structure. Lisbeth very good presents the base on which she draws her conclusions. To support her thesis about influence of cultural differentiation for business relationship she presents all the facts that she has recorded trance interviewing managers in SHOE Company. That also includes the information about development of the cooperation between Denmark and Japan in the SHOE Company. Danish Company makes business with Japanese on the base of licensing. According to her interviews the auth or indicates as umpteen areas that show differences in culture as possible.The culture of the SHOE Company is influenced by the founders. Headquarter director always has his vision and his own way of doing things. The Company even posses a book with 25 culture Maxims. Danish managers highlight some of them, mum paying attention for role of entrepreneur. Japanese from the other side respect Danish rules and business philosophy, but they cannot incorporate boththing into a Japanese business setting. Even if Danish managers made so many trips to Japan to get know better Japanese culture and customs the author emphasizes the fact that there are let off big differences that force Japanese to modify Danish business philosophy.To convince readers about differences in Danish and Japanese culture Lisbeth gives so many examples from Companies spiritedness. SHOE Company has an position in Honk Kong. The managerial director (Danish) is the only person from this mapping that deal with Ja panese. He lives in Honk Kong. He is kind of intercessor between Danish managers and Japanese. He has much better abilities to communicate with Japanese than his Danish coworkers. On the base of this example, Lisbeth proofs that there are different cultures in Denmark and in Japan. The fact that managerial director in Honk Kong can better communicate with Japanese is a result of cultural learning and interpretation of the Asian managerial director.The author very good presents a base for her conclusions. She discusses variety of factors that affect her final look. According to organization of communication she presents Danish and Japanese perspectives. Japanese complain that they have to move toward a more western style of management in Japan. Danish asses this a little bit different. They say that Japanese are too much ultraconservative and spend too much time making sure that everything is stark(a) before they launch the product. Moreover dominating there vertical pecking o rder does not support empower employees. The lack of freedom, independence and personal responsibilities makes business slower and less developed that it could be.Another important issue notice by Lisbeth during her studies was lack of agreement on distribution channel. There is intermediary system of distribution in Japan, which in Danishs opinion makes selling prices to go up. Unfortunately the power of wholesalers is overwhelming in the Japanese market, and many department stores are depended on them. Japanese impost of wholesalers is not possible to change. I think that this example strengths Lisbeths article because proofs the assumption that different markets have different cultural heritage, what definitely affect the way of doing business. To make her arguments even stronger Lisbeth took closer look at Product, mark and Marketing dodging in the SHOE Company.The main schema of the mickle is that local subsidiaries and factories around the world make as many decisions by them self as possible. However there are still many disputes. Denmark wants to promote its shoes as Danish as gentle, which is judge by Japan, but Japan, does not want promote slow and comfortable life that in Japanese opinion is an attribute of Danish people. This whole does not fit to the Japanese life style in a big metropolis. There are so many areas of disputes that results from different tradition, culture and lifestyle. Japan accepts and implements only 50% of Danish ideas for marketing. Similar situation appears if it comes about discoloration strategy.Living in the global world Danish tries to sustain one global strategy to its products, however Japanese do not agree. Japan has its own history and position of its market. Japan is not so open for changes. While in Denmark change of manager usually results in the change of strategy, in Japan new managers try to learn company strategy overrules. (Clausen, 2007) Lisbeth also indicates the diversity between Japanese and Da nish cultures that are very visible during the joint meetings. That is connected with different style of negotiation presented by each country. For Danish the most important are results that are based on the number of business decisions made during the meeting.They are very active, talk a lot sometimes even interrupting his coworkers. They try to discuss as many new ideas as possible. Participation is not very formal. Japanese act totally different and value other things. For them every business meeting it has a form of formal ceremony. It is extremely important for them to be the meeting. Japanese do not talk too much, the listen. They definition only if they are asked to do it. For Danish people this is not so easy, because to be successful making business with Japanese they have to follow their ritual and be very patient. The author also indicates diversity of work culture. Japanese are always very well prepared and pay haemorrhoid of attention for small details.They focus on the relationship building. genuinely often they meet after the business meeting to go out together for dinner. Danish are not like that. For them business is business and free time is separated from it. They do not enjoy expenditure their private free time for meeting people from work. Lisbeth Clausen has done a very good job collecting all this data and information from her interviewed. For me her article seems like a very good and reliable source of knowledge about the intercultural communication on the base of Danish-Japanese cooperation. Her deep research provides so many examples of diversity of cultures between these two countries.Numerous analyses of certain facts and behaviors let readers better understand stated problem. Examination of the situation that she personally see is a good way of delivering proof for her thesis. I think that for me as a student of businessadministration this article is very valuable. It makes me realize that culture of each country is not the same, sometimes not even similar. Differences in culture affect the way of communication. In the century of development of globalization there are many challenges in making business across the countries. perchance one day I will work for a Company that performs global and I will have to deal with managers from different culture.Lisbeth indicates that it is important to know culture and tradition of other countries while making business with them. She introduce to reader Danish and Japanese style of negotiation. If one day I will have to deal with someone from these two countries I will already have some knowledge about their culture. I totally agree with Lisbeth thesis that culture shape communication. References Adler, N. J. (2002) The International Dimension of Organizational Behavior, 4th edn. Canada North-Western Brannen, Y. and Salk, J. E. (2000) Partnering across Borders Negotiating Organizational Culture in German-Japanese sum Venture, Human Relations 53(4)451-87.Cross Cult ural ManagementCROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT Under these conditions it is obvious that corporations very often operate in different countries and deal with people from other nations. The Company that makes business outside the home country encounters some difficulties. There are significant differences among countries according to their culture and this affects their relationships between trade partners or cooperating companies. This subject very often is described by Lisbeth Clausen.She is a professor that associates with Department of Intercultural Communication and Management at Copenhagen Business School and she is also affiliated with Asia Research Center. In the International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2007 Vol 7(3) 317-332 we can find an article titled Corporate Comunication Challenges A Negotiation Culture Perspective, written by Lisbeth Clausen. The article is based on her research project, which examines communication between Danish companies and their headquarters /alliances in Japan.The main interest in this research is related to communications between people in organizations with a global perspective. The author for a year and a half was part of the international news flow research team at Keio University in Japan where she was observing political decision-making processes in the newsrooms at the public service station NHK and also the commercial station TV Asahi. She has interviewed forty journalists, foreign correspondents, editors and famous anchors and the five Japanese national news producers about their production of international news and also she has compared studies of Danish and Japanese news programs.Her project is supported by the Danish Research Council (LOK). She also has interviewed fifty global managers from Denmark and Japan, paying attention to their cooperation, their cultural challenges in communication and implementation of strategies in Japan. In her article Corporate Communication and Challenges-A Negotiated Culture Perspective is the essence of her long term studies and hard work. The authors main thesis is that business culture cannot be defined only in terms of nationality.By the examination of Danish-Japanese business relationships she tries to show that there are other factors like industry, organizational and professional knowledge that shape culture. However that does not mean that national characteristics and values are not important. The article is very well organized. It includes a little introduction to the problems. Lisbeth presents results of her research that she did while being in Japan. She applies concept of negotiated culture to empirical data at both organizational and contextual levels in intercultural encounters.Communication is viewed as a complex, multi- issued, and dynamic process in which global managers exchange meaning (Clausen, 2007). The fact that she based her article on the theories of intercultural communication and negotiated culture and after that lead readers through information obtained from managers engaged in Danish-Japanese business to get to conclusions that support stated by her thesis, strengths this article, makes it clearer and more reliable.Based on the analyses of strategic and operational communications that occur in the business relationship between Denmark headquarter and its alliance partner in Japan, Lisbeth indicates how the western view of communication processes differs from the Japanese and how many challenges are brought about by the globalization. As mentioned earlier the theoretical foundation for these studies is a theory of negotiated culture.According to Brannen and Salk (t2000) national origin is a source of values and norms for managers, but is not a determinant of communication outcomes negotiated culture appear when members from different national and organizational cultures deal together during cooperation between corporation from two different countries emerge the specific attributes of a headquarters/part ners relationship cultural differences may affect task related issues in unexpected ways The fact that the author indicates all the sources from which she has obtained information presented in the article makes this articlea more valuable source of knowledge about intercultural communication. Lisbeth has collected data for her studies in April 2004 in Denmark and in September-November 2004 in Japan. She refers to the company she was examining as the Shoe Company. She conducted fifty interviews in five companies as part of a larger project on management, communication and competence. The goal of interviewed made in both Denmark and Japan was to achieve a good understanding of the viewpoints of both the headquarters and the partner.In Denmark Lisbeth has focused on the production of new prototypes and has met people in the factory. In Japan she has visited several shoe stores and has spent some time in the showroom. She has thoroughly interviewed managers and directors from so many de partments. Besides that she has also interview via telephone the managing director of Asia (Danish) stationed in Hong Kong (Clausen, 2007). It seems like Lisbeth has put so much effort in obtaining all the information that let her be as objective as possible. The article is well organized. Every problem that is discussed belongs to different paragraph, with a header to make it easier to understand. The author describes different issues step by step without mixing them together.Everything together is connected in the reasonable article and all the conclusions are drawn from all the information presented in there. It gives me an impression that Lisbeth has broad knowledge about the problem of communication according to the culture differentiation. Besides that the language that she uses even if she talks about some theories is rather always clear. Because all businesses involve communication therefore ability to communicate with people from other culture is crucial in global world of business. Communication becomes more difficult when partners come from different cultural background and speak different language (Adler, 2002).There are no doubts that managers and expatriates have big challenges dealing with their partners across the borders. Culture in certain way shapes the communication. To explain better the relationship between culture and communication the author is so precise and describes first the notion of communication, considering more than just one perspective. I think that this is one of the proofs that Lisbeth tries to be very objective. Western approach is concerned on communication as a transmission of information from sender to receiver, what is understood as a possible to control process. From the other side she also presents eastern perspective that emphasizes a role of cooperation. Besides that she also focuses on explanation of culture.She presents different theories of culture at the end she puts essence of all of them in a conclusion. She s ees culture as a part of relationship rather than in predetermined structure. Lisbeth very good presents the base on which she draws her conclusions. To support her thesis about influence of cultural differentiation for business relationship she presents all the facts that she has recorded while interviewing managers in SHOE Company. That also includes the information about development of the cooperation between Denmark and Japan in the SHOE Company. Danish Company makes business with Japanese on the base of licensing. According to her interviews the author indicates as many areas that show differences in culture as possible.The culture of the SHOE Company is influenced by the founders. Headquarter director always has his vision and his own way of doing things. The Company even posses a book with 25 culture Maxims. Danish managers highlight some of them, still paying attention for role of entrepreneur. Japanese from the other side respect Danish rules and business philosophy, but th ey cannot incorporate everything into a Japanese business setting. Even if Danish managers made so many trips to Japan to get know better Japanese culture and customs the author emphasizes the fact that there are still big differences that force Japanese to modify Danish business philosophy.To convince readers about differences in Danish and Japanese culture Lisbeth gives so many examples from Companies life. SHOE Company has an office in Honk Kong. The managerial director (Danish) is the only person from this office that deal with Japanese. He lives in Honk Kong. He is kind of mediator between Danish managers and Japanese. He has much better abilities to communicate with Japanese than his Danish coworkers. On the base of this example, Lisbeth proofs that there are different cultures in Denmark and in Japan. The fact that managerial director in Honk Kong can better communicate with Japanese is a result of cultural learning and adaptation of the Asian managerial director.The author v ery good presents a base for her conclusions. She discusses variety of factors that affect her final opinion. According to organization of communication she presents Danish and Japanese perspectives. Japanese complain that they have to move toward a more western style of management in Japan. Danish asses this a little bit different. They say that Japanese are too much conservative and spend too much time making sure that everything is perfect before they launch the product. Moreover dominating there vertical hierarchy does not support empower employees. The lack of freedom, independence and personal responsibilities makes business slower and less developed that it could be.Another important issue discovered by Lisbeth during her studies was lack of agreement on distribution channel. There is intermediary system of distribution in Japan, which in Danishs opinion makes selling prices to go up. Unfortunately the power of wholesalers is overwhelming in the Japanese market, and many depa rtment stores are depended on them. Japanese tradition of wholesalers is not possible to change. I think that this example strengths Lisbeths article because proofs the assumption that different markets have different cultural heritage, what definitely affect the way of doing business. To make her arguments even stronger Lisbeth took closer look at Product, Brand and Marketing strategy in the SHOE Company.The main strategy of the Corporation is that local subsidiaries and factories around the world make as many decisions by them self as possible. However there are still many disputes. Denmark wants to promote its shoes as Danish as comfortable, which is accepted by Japan, but Japan, does not want promote slow and comfortable life that in Japanese opinion is an attribute of Danish people. This totally does not fit to the Japanese life style in a big metropolis. There are so many areas of disputes that results from different tradition, culture and lifestyle. Japan accepts and implemen ts only 50% of Danish ideas for marketing. Similar situation appears if it comes about brand strategy.Living in the global world Danish tries to apply one global strategy to its products, however Japanese do not agree. Japan has its own history and position of its market. Japan is not so open for changes. While in Denmark change of manager usually results in the change of strategy, in Japan new managers try to learn company strategy overrules. (Clausen, 2007) Lisbeth also indicates the diversity between Japanese and Danish cultures that are very visible during the joint meetings. That is connected with different style of negotiation presented by each country. For Danish the most important are results that are based on the number of business decisions made during the meeting.They are very active, talk a lot sometimes even interrupting his coworkers. They try to discuss as many new ideas as possible. Participation is not very formal. Japanese act totally different and value other thin gs. For them every business meeting it has a form of formal ceremony. It is extremely important for them to attend the meeting. Japanese do not talk too much, the listen. They comment only if they are asked to do it. For Danish people this is not so easy, because to be successful making business with Japanese they have to follow their ritual and be very patient. The author also indicates diversity of work culture. Japanese are always very well prepared and pay lots of attention for small details.They focus on the relationship building. Very often they meet after the business meeting to go out together for dinner. Danish are not like that. For them business is business and free time is separated from it. They do not enjoy spending their private free time for meeting people from work. Lisbeth Clausen has done a very good job collecting all this data and information from her interviewed. For me her article seems like a very good and reliable source of knowledge about the intercultural communication on the base of Danish-Japanese cooperation. Her deep research provides so many examples of diversity of cultures between these two countries.Numerous analyses of certain facts and behaviors let readers better understand stated problem. Examination of the situation that she personally experienced is a good way of delivering proof for her thesis. I think that for me as a student of businessadministration this article is very valuable. It makes me realize that culture of each country is not the same, sometimes not even similar. Differences in culture affect the way of communication. In the century of development of globalization there are many challenges in making business across the countries. Maybe one day I will work for a Company that performs global and I will have to deal with managers from different culture.Lisbeth indicates that it is important to know culture and tradition of other countries while making business with them. She introduce to reader Danish and Japa nese style of negotiation. If one day I will have to deal with someone from these two countries I will already have some knowledge about their culture. I totally agree with Lisbeth thesis that culture shape communication. References Adler, N. J. (2002) The International Dimension of Organizational Behavior, 4th edn. Canada North-Western Brannen, Y. and Salk, J. E. (2000) Partnering across Borders Negotiating Organizational Culture in German-Japanese Joint Venture, Human Relations 53(4)451-87.