Cross-cultural management

Stay in constant touch and have a plan for their return.

In an increasingly diverse business environment, managers must be able to navigate the thicket of habits, gestures, and assumptions that define their...

It depends on where in the world you are working.

Because of growing commitments of their companies in developing countries, large numbers of American and European managers have entered negotiations with government officials in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Also, with emerging nationalism, these negotiations have become increasingly frustrating. Sometimes misunderstandings have been so great that they have led to a breakdown in negotiations that […]

Four ways to redefine winning as a shared goal.

Sometimes even the best laid plans are not enough.

The world of work has changed dramatically over the past decade. Companies are more global and employee groups more diverse than ever before. Organizational structures are less hierarchical and more collaborative. And today’s networked offices are full of technological distractions that would have been unimaginable to the 20th-century manager. We asked experts in cross-cultural communication, […]

The staff at foreign subsidiaries are too often overlooked as essential team members.

Be curious and open to learning a new way of managing.

How to tackle a management role in a new cultural and regulatory environment.

How to seize everyday negotiation opportunities at work

With few exceptions, Americans are relative newcomers on the international business scene. Today, as in Mark Twain’s time, we are all too often “innocents abroad,” in an era when naiveté and blundering in foreign business dealings may have serious political repercussions. When the American executive travels abroad to do business, he is frequently shocked to […]

A framework for bridging social distance

Age, region, and industry matter too.

Four skills to master.

Learning to lead is especially difficult in a different culture.

Three key factors to consider, based on more than 100 interviews with global executives.

Despite the great potential for conflict, many companies routinely—and successfully—use joint ventures. With the increasing use of this form of management, business leaders must think about the more effective way of managing: shared management or dominant parent. This author, drawing from his research with 37 joint ventures involving mostly North American and Western European companies, […]

Don't try to completely assimilate.

Chinese business culture is unique, but not in all the ways outsiders tend to assume. To identify the most common myths, we interviewed dozens of North American and European expats as well as some Chinese managers now working in the West, all of whom have spent at least three years doing business in China. Our […]

Anurag Bhatt (AB), Managing Director (MD) of Coats Indonesia, was on a flight from Bangalore to Singapore on his way to Jakarta after a vacation. On the...

Yalia, a Chinese tech company that is experiencing rapid expansion overseas, has been sending more expatriates on assignment in recent years, but its...

Founded in 1983, China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. ("CNMC") is one of the earliest and largest global Chinese nonferrous metal industrial...

Supplement to case CB0101 Case (B) describes Wu's new critical issue after the merger - whether or not to retain the former Dressta's President.

This case study describes the simultaneous evolution of both Health and Happiness (H&H) International Holdings Limited (referred hereafter as "H&H") and...

Audi is one of Germany's great automobile manufacturers that have the longest history. Its principle of adhering to high-tech level, high-quality standards...

CEMEX is a Mexican company that has become a major international competitor in cement while maintaining a higher level of profitability than other, longer-established...

Huayi Compressor Barcelona, S.L. was founded in 2013 when Huayi Group (Huayi), a Chinese state-owned enterprise, acquired Cubigel Compressors, S.A., a...

Flour milling in recent years has had a great deal of consolidation. The fourth generation of a privately held firm is debating how to protect themselves...

The case follows Ashraf Abu Issa, CEO and chairman of Abu Issa Holding (AIH), as he contemplated the fate of his company's regional expansion. AIH was...

The eHomemakers project was founded in 1998 to provide skills and employment for disadvantaged women in Malaysia. The women worked from home, weaving...

Is your message getting through? The right communication tactics can motivate your people--and fuel your business. Get more of the ideas you want, from...

If you read nothing else on communicating effectively, read these definitive articles from Harvard Business Review. The best leaders know how to communicate...

The note examines the relationship of national culture to management. Offers a definition of culture, explains the scope of culture and its many dimensions,...

A young Italian MBA working for a Swiss multinational is sent to India to establish a subsidiary and implement the strategy he prepared at headquarters...

Discusses the development of a chain of "theme" restaurants. The student is asked to evaluate the current operating strategy and suggest a long-term expansion...

Supplement to case IN1056. Direct foreign investment in Russia was only 1% of GDP in 1999, and Russian industry was only half as productive in that year...

The case opens in November 2020 as Eyad Alkassar and Mahmoud Fouz, co-founders of Iran's first and leading ride-hailing platform, Snapp, eagerly await...

Just weeks into her new job, Mia Foster, a first time CEO with no international management experience, is faced with a major challenge at Levendary Café,...

Stay in constant touch and have a plan for their return.

If you’re trying to balance day-to-day leadership with the bigger picture, this episode is for you.

What turned one of the world’s most visionary CEOs into a fugitive?

In an increasingly diverse business environment, managers must be able to navigate the thicket of habits, gestures, and assumptions that define their...

It depends on where in the world you are working.

Anurag Bhatt (AB), Managing Director (MD) of Coats Indonesia, was on a flight from Bangalore to Singapore on his way to Jakarta after a vacation. On the...

Yalia, a Chinese tech company that is experiencing rapid expansion overseas, has been sending more expatriates on assignment in recent years, but its...

How to grapple with the complexities of moving operations in a tightly woven global economy.

Founded in 1983, China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. ("CNMC") is one of the earliest and largest global Chinese nonferrous metal industrial...

Not many Chinese companies open manufacturing facilities in the U.S., but automotive glass maker Fuyao is considering just that, in Harvard Business School professor Willy Shih’s case, “Fuyao Glass America: Sourcing Decision.”