THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Several firms utilized the world market that opened to international trade and expansion at an increased rate, mostly in the 1990s and early 2000s. Barriers to a free trade system were limited and facilitated through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Due to communication, transportation, financing developments, mode of entries to countries, and technology, Economies became more opened. There was experience of fewer difficulties when it came to practices involving establishing businesses beyond geographical boundaries. Advanced Communications proved an exponential growth, innovation became more rapid when it came to doing business beyond national boundaries.

In different cultures, activities, perceptions, and practice of management vary, and due to business operations being globalized, coupled with a culturally diverse workforce there came the increased need for international management for people that understands the issues surrounding business and culture very well to manage and facilitate growth in cross cultural businesses effectively.

International Management is a part of international business which is a field. It consists of: International Trade, International Marketing, and International Finance (Nowakowski, 1999). International Management is the decision-making process of a Multi-national Enterprise, such decisions are those in respect of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling in a multicultural area (Nowakowski, 2000). This delineation lays prominence on the role of culture, such as cross-cultural skills, Cross cultural practices in organizations, transfer of technology, etc. in conducting operations. (Rozkwitalska, 2007) portrayed International Management to be the managing of businesses which exceeds a country’s boundaries. The International Management field is one which is relatively new and it changes swiftly. The improved world globalization has brought about various scholars to study this discipline. When Transnational corporations (TNCs) in the 1990s where active in FDIs (foreign direct investment), interests in the field improved. However, these changes in the global economy has brought about quite a lot of issues which should be looked into and also influence the evolution of International Management, therefore this topic is focusing on the role culture has to play in International Management.

Culture is a root. It is rooted in Anthropology, Geography, Psychology, and also in Sociology. The word culture comes from the Latin word cultura. It is related to cult and worship. Further expanding the understanding, it refers to result of human interaction. (Luthans and Doh, 2009). Based on the research focus on International Management, Luthans and Doh (2009) delineated culture to being an acquired knowledge which is used by people of a society to interpret certain experiences and create a social behavior. They further stated that the acquired knowledge establishes attitudes, norms, values, and it influences behaviors.

Culture is one with no single definition especially because of its woolliness as a concept. The definitions vary as there are various researchers and scholars from different disciplines who have written about it. Some researchers argue that culture is something developed and owned by a group of people, while others argue it’s what a group of people is. Culture to some researchers is seen as hcombination of norms, values, feelings, thinking, roles, beliefs, attitudes, behavior, etc. while some other researchers see it as economics, language, religion, education, politics, technology, law, the society etc. (Tayeb, 2003). It is seen as a key term which is used to explain existence and the nature of social order. According to Cotgrove (1978), culture is referred to as shared norms and values of a social system that forms the most vital aspect of a society. Hofstede (1991), defined culture as the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the member of one group or category from another. However, it is important to understand that culture whether being something people are or have, it is an exemplary one. In terms of what people are, it could be related to organizations. It is a management tool which can be used to guide behaviors of people (employees) in the organization (Tayeb, 2003).

Culture is historically developed. it involves values, esteems, attitudes which are being shared by members of a group or society, and have impacts on their lifestyle, be it material or non-material which shapes the two fundamental aspects of culture. (Tayeb, 1988). This definition looks to explain that members of a community learn the shared characteristics through different stages of socialization processes, such include: language, family, religion, formal education, etc. this is not to say that members of such community behave the same way or have the same values and attitudes, they have a significant difference.