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Previous research on performance appraisals has primarily concerned the reliability and validity of measurement instruments and techniques. Very little research has dealt with the milieu where the actual performance appraisal occurs. In order to help remedy this situation, a conceptual model is presented which highlights the interactive relationships among employee commitment, organizational climate, and performance appraisal systems. The model addresses four key issues: what are the organization's objectives in the appraisal system?, what conditions facilitate or inhibit the accomplishment of these objectives?; how do employee commitment and organizational climate affect these conditions?; and what reciprocal relationships appear likely? (Author)

This first Australasian edition of the popular text Management across Cultures explores the latest approaches to cross-cultural management, presenting strategies and tactics for managing international assignments and global teams. With a clear emphasis on learning and development, the text encourages students to acquire skills in multicultural competence that will be highly valued by their future employers. As more and more managers find themselves becoming global managers, and in a world where practices and expectations can differ significantly across national and regional boundaries, this has never been more important. Rich in cases and examples, Management across Cultures integrates research from across the social sciences with contemporary management practices for a comprehensive overview of cross-cultural management.

Management Challenge Despite the plethora of books on leadership, we still know very little about how or why leadership efforts succeed or fail. And we know even less about how to train leaders, global or otherwise, despite the innumerable training programs available. One thing is clear, however: leadership is not a quality or skill that can be easily replicated around the world. Leadership in Singapore, for example, is based on fundamentally different traditions and assumptions from those in the Netherlands, and these differences cannot be ignored. As a result, the challenge for global managers is to develop a sensitivity and understanding of how leadership efforts play out across countries and cultures, as well as how to behave when placed in or near such responsibilities. We explore this topic in this chapter, looking at the topic from different angles. We also discuss what is probably the most comprehensive study of global leadership (called GLOBE). Throughout, examples are used to illustrate the different faces of leadership across both cultures and organizations. CHAPTER OUTLINE • Dimensions of organizational leadership page 162 • Contemporary approaches to cross-cultural leadership 164 • Limitations on contemporary approaches 171 • GLOBE leadership study 174 • Women leaders: challenges and opportunities 179 • Leadership in China and the West 182 • MANAGER's NOTEBOOK: Leading global organizations 185 • Key terms 188 • Discussion questions 188 • Case: Emerson Electric – Suzhou 190 APPLICATIONS 6.1 Carlos Ghosn, Nissan page 166 6.2 Heroines of Reykjavik 168 6.3 Masataka Shimizu, TEPCO 170 6.4 Patronage and pok chow in Malaysia 173 6.5 Jogo de cintura, Brazil 178 6.6 Women leaders in India 181 A recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, brought together over 1,000 corporate executives, 50 heads of state, and 300 cabinet ministers to discuss world challenges ranging from deficits to competitiveness to deadly diseases. At the conclusion of the conference, an observer from The Economist characterized the meeting as having one overriding theme: the importance of developing global leaders – in corporations, nation states, and NGOs. “The two most popular words in the business lexicon today are ‘global’ and ‘leadership.’ Put them together and people in suits start to salivate.” Indeed, global leadership is both an important topic and a topic about which we understand far less than we pretend.

Management challenge We have now come full circle in this book. We have argued that in today’s economy all managers are global managers, and that they all face similar challenges regardless of where or how they work. We have discussed three types of managerial assignments – expatriates, frequent flyers, and virtual managers – and looked at both the similarities and differences in these assignments. We have examined three major aspects of the work environment – cultures, organizations, and situations – that can affect managerial success or failure. On the basis of this, we have explored six specific mechanisms for developing global management skills. The challenge for managers, then, is to integrate these factors into a unified approach to global management. This is a difficult, but nonetheless necessary, task for future success. We close with a summary of our discoveries, as well as several reflective thoughts on the future of management and what managers might consider as they go forward into uncharted waters. Chapter outline What have we learned? page 406 Where do we go from here? 411 Your time is limited; so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Steven Jobs Former chairman, Apple Computers, United States The most dangerous thing is to be successful. You then think every decision is the right one. Wong Wai Ming Chief financial officer, Lenovo, China

Management practices and processes frequently differ across national and regional boundaries. What may be acceptable managerial behaviour in one culture may be counterproductive or even unacceptable in another. As managers increasingly find themselves working across cultures, the need to understand these differences has become increasingly important. This book examines why these differences exist and how global managers can develop strategies and tactics to deal with them. The text draws on recent research in anthropology, psychology, and management, to explain the cultural and psychological underpinnings that shape managerial attitudes and behaviours, whilst introducing a learning model to guide in the intellectual and practical development of managers seeking enhanced global expertise. It offers user-friendly conceptual models to guide understanding and exploration of topics and summarizes and integrates the lessons learned in each chapter in applications-oriented 'Manager's Notebooks'. A companion website featuring comprehensive chapter-by-chapter PPT slides is available at www.cambridge.org/management_across_cultures.

The authors of the various chapters in this book have approached the concept of global mindset from diverse perspectives and have defined it differently. Levy et al. in this volume define global mindset as a highly complex cognitive structure distinguished by an openness to and expression of multiple cultural and strategic realities on both global and local levels and the cognitive capacity to moderate and assimilate across this diversity. More specifically, global mindset is typified by three corresponding dimensions: (1) an openness and attentiveness to multiple realms of action and meaning, (2) a complex representation and expression of cultural and strategic dynamics, and (3) a moderation and incorporation of ideals and actions oriented toward both global and local levels (Chapter 1 of this volume). At the core of their definition is the awareness of and openness to multiple realities, meanings, and perspectives.

While many studies have demonstrated the relatively successful performance implications of formalized goal-setting programs in organizations, these findings typically do not identify the specific factors behind such techniques which are largely responsible for their success. The six 'task goal attributes' are: goal specificity; participation in goal-setting; feedback; peer competition; goal difficulty; and goal acceptance. While goal specificity and goal acceptance were found to be most consistently related to performance, several intervening variables on performance. The findings are discussed within a motivational framework and it is argued, based on the data, that performance under goal-setting conditions is a function of at least three important variables: the nature of the task goals, additional situational-environmental factors, and individual differences. (Modified author abstract)

The paper summarizes, within a conceptual framework, the research carried out over the last fifteen years on factors related both to turnover and absenteeism. Over sixty empirical studies are reviewed, organized under the following topics: overall job satisfaction, organization-wide factors, immediate work environment factors, job-related factors, and personal factors. A theoretical model is presented in an effort to explain the diversity of findings.