Intercultural Management and the Importance of the Culture

Abstract

Due to the existence of a strong corporate globalization, intercultural management has gainedincreasing interest in recent decades. Communication between people of different cultures requiresnot only words, but also the transmission of norms and values, which are not always understood bythe dialogue partner. Managers should be alert not only to the language, but also to the differentattitudes, behavior related to different cultures and traditions. Effective handling of the cross-cultural interface is a critical source of a firm’s competitiveadvantage. Managers need to develop not only empathy and tolerance toward cultural differences,but also acquire a sufficient degree of factual knowledge about the beliefs and values of foreigncounterparts. In this paper we will highlight the main components of the culture (especially religion), thatinfluence the intercultural management.

Keywords

• management
• culture
• religion