The cross-cultural manager revisited: changes on the ground, changes in perspective

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Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781003477723-43

In this chapter, we trace a number of key shifts in the empirical realities of cross-cultural managers and in the approaches to studying and conceptualizing them. Under the “changes on the ground”, we observe the transformation of the nature of the multinational corporation’s overall constitution, the shifting understandings of cultural difference in the world of practice and the transformation of traditional expatriation. Under “changes in theorizing” we note the long-standing but evolving challenge to culturalism, the shift towards a positive view of cultural difference, the political nature of the work of the cross-cultural manager and the acknowledgment of the dark side of the job as noteworthy developments. We conclude by reiterating that the cross-cultural manager merits continued investigation.