Final Paper - MGT 457

Need For Cultural Knowledge

Cheryl Harris

Walsh College

Need For Cultural Knowledge

From the first and second chapters of Wild & Wild 9th edition, the topic that intrigued me is Need for Cultural Knowledge. Cultural features that we can see are a very small portion of all that comprises it (Wild & Wild, 2019). Cultural knowledge within a management setting helps bosses to relate well to other bosses and operatives. It also helps operatives to relate with other operatives and their immediate bosses. In the external environment, cultural knowledge is helpful when it comes to striking a deal with potential in investors. For example, cultural knowledge would do Americans a lot of good when it comes to relating with Japanese investors. Without such knowledge American business persons would not know that the Japanese do not talk about business in the first meeting; they in turn exchange business cards and use the first meeting to get to know their partners.

The article by Dholakiya encourages managers to embrace cultural knowledge and cultural diversity at large. The main reason why the authors encourage diversity is because it brings more value to an organization. More specifically, cultural diversity affects the performance of a firm because it is an equivalent of outsourcing i.e. with people from different cultures and different parts of the world; a company is bound to realize a diversity of skill sets that will maximize its performance. It is worth mentioning that the article does not fail to mention that there are a lot of challenges encountered by business people in their pursuit of diversity (Dholakiya, 2017).

Cultural knowledge is painted as important in informing managers about globalization. Globalization is a concept that cannot only be realized with money; there is a need for information and knowledge. This can only be provided by people that have spent a lot of time in the new global location that a given company is looking to explore. I selected this topic because cultural knowledge is a trending topic in the corporate world. Knowledge on cultural knowledge will be helpful to me because I desire to know what it takes to conduct business outside America. It is also my desire to know what it takes to deal with non-American employees when doing business in the United States or outside the United States.

The main thing that I learned from reading the combination of the text and my chosen article about cultural knowledge is that achievement of globalization is not an easy thing. It takes a lot of time, money, patience and knowledge for a company and its management to overcome the challenges of achieving globalization. Another thing that I learned is that there is more to globalization other than its textbook definition i.e. all that an individual can learn about globalization is best realized through hand’s on experiences and not books, journals, or online materials. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the article and class text taught me that cultural knowledge and globalization is best driven by proper internal and external environment communication channels.

Discussion Question

Is cultural knowledge best realized through a course or through real experiences in a global work environment?

References

Dholakiya, P. (2017). 3 Tips for Managing a Cross-Cultural Workforce. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288796

Wild, J., Wild, K. (2019) International Business: The Challenges of Globalization (pp. 44-45). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.