Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business

This is a well-written book, which provides a solid approach to dealing with cross-cultural issues with many excellent examples and statistics. The central purpose of this work is to dispel the idea that there is one correct management model. In addition to initiating the reader into the world of cultural diversity as seen in a business setting, the authors also analyse concrete steps for reconciling cultural dilemmas. Like many other books in this genre, this book equates culture with the boundaries of the nation states and all countries are treated as monolithic cultures. This may lead readers to assume that once I learn about American of British behaviour, I can predict how any American or Brit would act in a certain situation. Recommended for managers in multicultural organizations, especially those involved in the process of internationalisation. Students of cross cultural studies and HR-practitioners would also find this book useful.

This is a shorter, and more condensed version of the authors' earlier book 'Building Cross Cultural Competence'. In this book, the authors' target managers and business people who are looking to understand cultural differences and how to deal with them in a variety of circumstances and situations. Each chapter begins with am introduction to one of the dimensions, a discussion of how the differences manifest themselves and concludes with 'tips' on how to deal, and how to do business, with the different culture explored in that chapter. The authors use the same six dimensions of culture introduced in their earlier work (universalism vs. particularism; individualism vs communitarism; specificity vs. diffusion; achieved status vs. ascribed status; inner direction vs. outer direction; and sequential time vs. synchronous time), but they present these dimensions in a much more accessible and simple manner with more emphasis on what each dimension actually means for business people and how it affects business-related situations. This book has become the reference for business people and managers in the area of culture. Simple and very well written without losing credibility; this is a book that will enlighten and guide any manager in dealing with people from other cultures. While in some ways it is a 'western-centric' book (targeted to Western - especially US - managers), it remains very useful for managers from other cultures since the authors have attempted to keep the examples and discussion culturally neutral.

The results are in: All of those stereotypes that we've been told to forget are, in fact, true. At least, that's what a survey of 30,000 people from 31 nations suggests. The data paints some familiar pictures: the inflexible German, the vacillating Frenchman and the pushy American. The statistics from the survey support the conclusions reached by authors Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner in the earlier, first edition of this book: Don't base business decisions on the rhetoric that people are the same regardless of race, color or creed. They aren't! Academically organized, dense with anecdotes and, this time, thoroughly documented, Riding the Waves of Culture is entertaining at least, and possibly essential in this global age. We [...] recommend this book to any professional approaching an international management task, or overseeing a business that stretches across regional boundaries.

Having read a number of books on intercultural management, I can only say that in my opinion, "Riding the Waves of Culture" is by far the best book on this subject. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner present the results of their research on cultural differences in a most engaging way. Their book is a quick read that is full of wonderful anecdotes about cross-cultural business dilemmas. The stories are presented in a way that demonstrates great awareness of and respect for very diverse approaches to business. The authors also offer a methodology for reconciling value differences that incorporates the best of both worlds.

I work in a large international ag company. I've been working on a project on how to approach the challenges of language and culture in fully integrated cross-hemisphere teams. I've done a lot of reading of articles and books. This book is the best resource I have found. Trompenaars gives you a framework to begin to think about and understand the differences between cultures. What makes this really valuable is that the information on how specific cultures operate within this framework is based on a database of reponses from more than 30,000 managers around the world. The book is full of specific examples and data to support conclusions.