Conducted in waves every five years since 1981, the World Values Survey (WVS) is a global research study exploring values and attitudes in 120 countries (covering nearly 95% of the world’s population). Using a select group of survey questions from the WVS and its European counterpart, the European Values Survey (EVS), Kings College professor Bobby […]
Read More… from Cultural Attitudes About Work May Not Be What You Expect
Foreign companies can be at a disadvantage when competing against domestic companies strengthened by informal networks developed over years and even lifetimes. In Korea, for example, two types of informal networks play a major role in the success of Korean companies. The first of these networks is the more personal Yongo, which is built on […]
Read More… from How to Turn Foreignness into a Competitive Advantage
In today’s workplace, driven by demographic changes and the evolution in our social attitudes, diversity competencies in managers and leaders are required. Such competencies are based on the following abilities: attitudinal (for example, adapting to other cultural norms, withholding judgment) skills (practicing appropriate etiquette, seeking local expertise). managerial (using culturally appropriate motivational tools) knowledge (following […]
Read More… from Diversity and Inclusion: Key Success Factors for Today’s Companies
Developed in Japan, lean manufacturing introduced tools, processes and a mindset that eliminated waste and ensured the smooth flow of production without sacrificing quality. Kanban, a system that sounds the alert when a component in the production process is running low, and TPM, a proactive approach to equipment maintenance, are just two examples of lean […]
Read More… from Lean Manufacturing More Effective in Collectivist Cultures
The ‘legitimacy’ of a company is based on whether outsiders consider that a company takes appropriate actions — and has the governance structures in place to ensure that it continues to take appropriate actions. One measure of legitimacy is the balance of power between the CEO and the board of directors. In general, investors and […]
Read More… from Reducing CEO Power Can Undermine a Company’s Legitimacy
According to Jim Johnson of University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, the major demographic trends transforming America today are unprecedented — so unprecedented that he calls these trends “disruptive demographics.” Based on on-going analyses of statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor, Internal Revenue Service and other governmental agencies, Johnson, who is […]
Read More… from Six Disruptive Demographic Trends and What They Mean for the Workplace
The annual leadership survey conducted by the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School was focused in 2015 on the development of globally competent leaders. Global competence is required for success as a leader in today’s ‘flat’ world, yet many leaders are weak in this area — and companies may not be training them with […]
Read More… from What Does It Take to Develop Globally Competent Leaders?
In recent years, humility has become increasingly accepted as a central feature of great leadership. Bestselling business books such as Good to Great, which considered humility as one of the two core attributes of great ‘level-five’ leaders, speeches and memoirs by business and non-business leaders, and numerous academic papers all highlight the importance of humility […]
Read More… from How Leadership Humility Is Defined in the East and in the West
There is no doubt that social media has improved both internal and external corporate communication, especially for multinational companies. Social media has, for example, enabled corporations to increase opportunities for two-way communication with their customers at a low cost. However, customers using social media communicate in their own language, which means that a social media […]
Read More… from The Language Challenge for Social Media in Multinationals
A successful global leader is someone who can operate effectively across national boundaries and cultures, defining goals that will appeal to a diverse set of people, whether individuals in their own company or external groups and organizations. And although many skills are equally relevant to domestic leadership (i.e. business acumen, flexibility, interpersonal skills) there are […]
Read More… from The Role of Cultural Self-awareness in Global Leadership
