Skip navigation
Managing People Across Cultures
Book

Managing People Across Cultures

Capstone, 2004 more...

Buy the book


Editorial Rating

7

getAbstract Rating

  • Analytical
  • Background
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner cite interesting facts and studies as they discuss various facets of human resource management in an effort to bring HR departments closer to the daily lives and daily work of their diverse employees. They cover including change, motivation, recruitment, assessment tools, managing teams, organizational learning, leadership development and diversity, all with some attention to cross-cultural issues. Even if their reach sometimes exceeds their grasp, pulling all these elements together in a diverse organization remains a worthwhile goal.  

Summary

Corporate cultures include differing values that must be reconciled so people can work together.

Corporate cultures are living systems with built-in defense mechanisms for self-preservation. While corporate cultures are difficult to identify at first blush, they consist of commonly held assumptions that are invented, developed and discovered by people within the organization.

As a result of the specific traits of each of the four kinds of modern hybrid corporate cultures, organizations are difficult to change. Each type of distinct corporate culture is suited to specific business purposes. These four types of cultures vary along two continuums: from being egalitarian to being hierarchical, and from emphasizing the role of the individual to being task-oriented.

The four types of cultures are:

  1. The Incubator — This very egalitarian culture emphasizes individual contributions. It values creativity highly since anyone can develop a powerful, profitable product at any time. The Incubator primarily launches new products and does not often develop and manage labor-intensive functions, such as manufacturing, sales and...

About the Authors

Fons Trompenaars is director of Trompenaars-Hampden-Turner, an intercultural management firm. He wrote or co-wrote several books, including Did the Pedestrian Die?, Leaders for the 21st Century and Riding the Waves of Culture. Charles Hampden-Turner, the author of 18 books, is a senior research associate at Cambridge University. A graduate of Cambridge and Harvard Business School, he is a former Guggenheim and Rockefeller Humanities fellow and a visiting professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Business School.


Comment on this summary

More on this topic

Related Skills

AI Transformation
Attract and Recruit Talent
Be Creative
Be Emotionally Intelligent
Communicate Effectively
Develop the Organization
Digital Transformation
HR Case Studies
Future of Work
Enable Digital Organization
Innovate Strategically
Lead Ethically
Lead Operational Planning
Lead Strategically
Live Well
Manage Learning and Development
Manage Performance
Manage Remuneration
Marketing
Master Interpersonal Skills
Navigate Leadership Challenges
Personal Growth
Plan and Strategize Your Sales
Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Sales
Soft Skills
Understand Innovation
Workplace Skills
Foster a Culture of Innovation
Understand Human Behavior
Drive Change Without Authority
Restructure Your Organization
Collaborate Across Functions
Drive Employee Engagement
Drive AI Transformation
Implement Coaching Programs
Practice Transformational Leadership
Create a Hiring Strategy
Innovation
Lead through Change
Leadership
Leverage Ambidexterity
Manage Teams and Departments
Lead Yourself
Promote Customer Centricity
Build Digital Culture
Create a Sense of Belonging
Build Team Cohesion
Manage Corporate Communications
Build Psychological Safety
Manage People and Talent
Understand Social Behavior
Collaborate Creatively
Leverage Employee Resource Groups
Foster Ownership in Others
Practice Servant Leadership
Communicate Strategically
Increase Your Cultural Awareness
Leverage AI for Management
Discover Cultural Trends
Place Talent Strategically
Enhance Employee Experience
Understand Organizations
Human Resources
Set Team Goals
Translate Strategy into Action
Discover Societal Shifts
Enhance Team Agility
Master Collaboration
Organize for AI
Drive Organizational Performance
Understand Creativity
Optimize Workforce Performance
Manage Your Leadership Impact
Executive Leadership Case Studies
Communicate Corporate Purpose
Organizational Culture Case Studies
Manage Team Boundaries
Motivate Your Team
Understand Organizational Behavior
Emerging Leadership Approaches
Manage Change
Understand Organizational Culture
Management
Lead Inclusively
Lead Remote or Hybrid Teams
Manage Sales Teams
Design Incentive Structures
Understand Motivation
Executive Leadership
Navigate Workplace Culture
Foster Team Culture
Improve Team Performance
Understand Personality Types
Understand Organizational Change
Develop Team Members
Strengthen Team Collaboration
Drive Team Performance
Understand Team Dynamics
Shape Organizational Culture
Understand Leadership Approaches