International Human Resource Management Strategies for Multicultural Organizations

The increasingly global nature of construction has highlighted the importance of multiculturalism and the new challenges it brings to execution especially in the light of the dependency on international human resources for expertise and delivery of construction projects in a cost-effective and timely manner. Adopting an analytical approach, this chapter attempts to review international HRM strategies and outlook for multicultural organizations of the construction sector in the Zimbabwean context and also provides some deeper insights on the gaps and inadequacies and recommends possible ways of bridging the identified gaps in practice. In the process, the chapter also examines the cultural factors that influence communication and how communication can be made effective in multicultural environments. But the core of the chapter is to explore international human resource management strategies for multicultural organizations.

Employee Voice Behavior of Governmental Organization

Previous research has tested the effect of cultural intelligence on voice behavior by using transformational leadership as a mediating variable.. This study presents a different perspective by using the ethical leadership variable as a mediation. This study examined the effect of cultural intelligence on voice behavior with ethical leadership as a mediating variable. Research data were collected from 492 employees of the governmental organization in Indonesia. The results showed that cultural intelligence had a significant effect on employee voice behavior and ethical leadership which mediated the relationship between cultural intelligence and employee voice behavior. This research can be used as a reference for application in multicultural organizations, especially in the application of voice behavior.

Ethnocentrism: Enemy of Productive and Happy Multicultural Workplace

Organizations and professionals are usually unaware about the fundamental rationale behind workplace ethnocentrism. Due to globalization today’s workplace are becoming multi-cultural, thus to address and understand the intricacies of ethnocentrism and being sensitive towards the issue is the need of the hour. Effective management of culturally diversified workplace is significant point of concern. As it may germinate challenges before the organization, one such challenge is related with ethnocentric feeling among culturally diversified workforce towards each other. This paper will explain the concept of ethnocentrism at workplace, the psychology of ethnocentric tendency and the various problems that an ethnocentric view presents before the multicultural organization while dealing with culturally diversified employees by synthesizing various research studies done in this area, comprising of examining various approaches to ethnocentric tendency. It also answers why diversity at workforce that exemplifies a changing world and contemporary workplace which is vital for creating competitive work environment that enhance work productivity. It will also discuss the implication of ethnocentrism in multicultural organizations and how to avoid the intricacies of ethnocentric phenomenon and resultant conflicts and disruptions arising at the workplace.

International Human Resource Management Strategies for Multicultural Organizations

The increasingly global nature of construction has highlighted the importance of multiculturalism and the new challenges it brings to execution especially in the light of the dependency on international human resources for expertise and delivery of construction projects in a cost-effective and timely manner. Adopting an analytical approach, this chapter attempts to review international HRM strategies and outlook for multicultural organizations of the construction sector in the Zimbabwean context and also provides some deeper insights on the gaps and inadequacies and recommends possible ways of bridging the identified gaps in practice. In the process, the chapter also examines the cultural factors that influence communication and how communication can be made effective in multicultural environments. But the core of the chapter is to explore international human resource management strategies for multicultural organizations.

Cultural identity and its impact on today’s multicultural organizations

Within the context of the internationalization of organizations and, in particular, growing numbers of staff members from different cultures, the number of studies on the management of cultural differences has increased considerably. However, as several authors have observed, studies on cultural differences and the concept of cultural identity remain limited, in large part due to the influential studies of Hofstede, which led to increased interest in national cultures. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the importance of cultural identity, which is a broader concept than national identity and only partly determined by it. Cultural identity is based on the distinctiveness or specificity of a given community, encompassing certain characteristics common to its people. A distorted view can significantly hinder understanding and communication with citizens of a specific nation. Today, as many authors observe, there is renewed interest in the complex, multidimensional process of identity construction in cross-national, cross-cultural work settings. The aim of the present study is therefore to review the processes involved in the formation of cultural identity and its importance for understanding individuals’ distinctive, culture-specific traits and to show how individuals with plural identities influence and transform contemporary organizations. Finally, a research program focused on recontextualizing cultural identity in contemporary organizations is proposed.

From The Hague to Paris to Montréal: Knowledge transfer and cultural synergy in a multicultural organization

This article shows how knowledge transfer can be useful in the field of cross-cultural management, in particular to better understand what several authors call cultural synergy. Defined as the ability to take advantage of interactions between people from different cultures to create a dynamic of cooperation and innovation in multicultural organizations, the concept, however, lacks some empirical illustration. Through an unusual field of research, we propose to draw lessons from an artistic organization, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, involved in the remounting of the Kaguyahime ballet by Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián, which will require the collaboration of a Dutch artistic direction, Quebec technicians, dancers from several countries and Japanese and Quebec musicians (Canadian). The focus on knowledge sharing at the center of this encounter allowed us to identify some steps and mechanisms that could be useful both in the theoretical conceptualization of cultural synergy and, from a practical point of view, in its concrete implementation. This will allow us to highlight that, in order to promote, the individuals involved, guided by a management team, will mobilize different identities to create the contact points necessary for cultural synergy.