Culture studies in international business are passing through difficult times of scrutiny and critique. This is due to the fact that the paradigms, approaches, and methods used so far to study culture have been limited in their scope. For several decades now, approaches that consider national cultures and geo-ethnic origins of interacting individuals have dominated management literature.
This book distinguishes itself from other books on Culture in International Business (CIB) studies in two important ways. First, it illustrates how Mary Douglas’s Cultural Theory framework (referred to commonly as DCF) can be used to explore different aspects of international business. This sets the stage for future scholars to consider DCF as an alternative tool of cultural sense-making as opposed to limiting themselves to categorical frameworks grounded in static notions of national and/or corporate culture. The second unique feature is that it focuses on the complexities of the applied side of culture (i.e., it takes a culture-in-practice perspective), while simultaneously emphasizing the dynamicity and diversity of culture. The book concludes by offering suggestions for the future of CIB studies. This domain, it predicts, may witness significant changes in the way culture is seen as influencing workplace relations. It also identifies other areas on which CIB scholars may need to focus attention in the future: culture in an increasingly digitalized world, culture and the organization as a system, and culture and the intelligent/knowledgeable organization.
It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of cross-cultural management, international business, human resource management.
1. Introducing Culture in the Context of International Business Studies: Conceptualisations, Controversies, and Convictions Taran Patel 2. Dynamicity and Complexity of Cultural Spaces Comparing Pre- and Post-Revolution Iranian Bazaars through the Cultural Theory Lens Mashianeh Hatamabadi 3. Entering into the Mind of the Entrepreneur: The Hermit’s Metacognition as an Entrepreneurial Driver Ahmad M. Salih 4. The Role of Aikido and Cultural Intelligence in Harmonising Leader-Follower Relationships Ahmad M. Salih, Wilko Vriesman, and Uday Saul 5. Cultural Facets and Their Implications on International Negotiations Jovana Stanisljevic 6. A Brighter Future? Scrambled Visions of Internships for Young French and Chinese Chefs and Maîtres d’Hôtel Nathalie Louisgrand 7. Does Perceived Organisational Support and Open-Mindedness Escalate Cross-Cultural Adjustment with Respect to Domestic Migration? A Study of the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry Ritika Singh and Hardik Shah 8. Confronting the Stranger Within: Conjuring the Uncanny with International Management Students Michelle Mielly 9. Taking Stock of the Present and Looking Toward the Future: Cultural Evolution in a Knowledge-Intensive and Digital Era Ahmad M. Salih
Taran Patel is a Senior Professor in the People, Organization and Society Department of Grenoble Ecole de Management, France. Ahmad M. Salih is a Senior Director of Knowledge Management and Operational Excellence at Khatib and Alami PTE, Singapore. He is also a faculty member at Heriot Watt University, U.K.
