Managing Across Cultures~ Book Review

I’ve been checking out Managing Across Cultures: Seven Keys to Doing Business with a Global Mindset by Charlene M. Solomon, and Michael S. Schell. It’s been a very interesting read for me. Before I started writing I worked as a senior buyer for a multicultural automotive company for over 10 years. I always enjoyed working with, and learning about people from different nations.

The company I worked for was Japanese owned, but was developed from a sister company in Canada. The company also had plants in several other countries. I studied the Japanese culture quite a bit when I first started working there, and it was very interesting to learn how their culture differed from ours.

I wish I would have found a book then like Managing Across Cultures, but I’m still glad I stumbled on it now. Since I do most of my business online these days I deal with people from all over the world. The relationships range from co-worker, to customer, or reader, to possible business partnerships.

Managing Across Cultures is very informative, the book discusses how other cultures can impact different aspects of your business such as:

• How cultures affect individual behavior, and how you can interpret that behavior.
• They also discuss how you can use that information to become more affective in your business dealings.
• Know the importance of studying other cultures before you jump in and try to do business there. Some major corporations have made costly mistakes by jumping into new markets without studying the culture first.
• How your company can best utilize multi-cultural work force to encourage diverse thoughts and ideas.

There is a ton more information in the seven keys Managing Across Cultures discusses, this is just a small taste. I would say it’s definitely worth the read for many small business owners in today’s world wide marketplace.

The book is available at major retailers, and online at Amazon.com (I even saw a Kindle edition listed).

Book Image: McGraw Hill