Michał Chmielecki

Intercultural interactions in multinational subsidiaries

The purpose of this paper is to show how individuals perceive the quality of intercultural interactions at work in multinational subsidiaries and to address the question of what actually prevails in their accounts, i.e., “the dark side” or “the bright side.”,The authors report the findings from five subsidiaries located in Poland and interviews with 68 employees of these companies.,The “bright side” dominated the interviewees’ accounts. The phenomenon of high social identity complexity or common in-group identity can help explain the findings. The results also shed some new light on the associations between the context of subsidiaries and the perception of the quality of intercultural interactions.,The paper contributes to the literature on cultural diversity and intercultural interactions in multinational subsidiaries. As the “bright side” of interactions was emphasized in the interviews, it particularly supports positive cross-cultural scholarship studies. Yet the explorative research does not allow for a broader generalization of the results.,Managers of multinational corporations (MNCs) should do the following: shape the context of MNCs to influence the dynamics of intercultural interactions and the way they are seen by their employees; emphasize common in-group identity to help their employees to adopt more favorable attitudes toward intercultural interactions; look for individuals with multicultural identity who display more positive approaches to intercultural contacts; place emphasis on recruiting individuals fluent in the MNC’s functional language; offer language training for the staff; and recruit employees with significant needs for development who will perceive more opportunities in intercultural contacts.,The research demonstrates that the multicultural workplace of MNCs may be recognized by employees as activating the positive potential of the individuals and organizations that make up a society.,The accounts of intercultural interactions are analyzed to illuminate some significant foundations of how individuals perceive such interactions. The study provides a qualitative lens and highlights the positive approach to intercultural interactions. It may redress the imbalance in prior research and satisfy the need for positive cross-cultural scholarship.

Cultural Factors of Trust in a Public Organization as a Workplace

In this chapter, the concept of trust in organizations is dissected and analyzed within the framework of national culture. The authors evaluate organizational trust in the context of culture with many of the following variables: interpersonal conflict, resistance to change, empowerment, and support for innovation, as noted in the literature. Trust is analyzed within the framework of social capital. The aim of this chapter is to examine empirical research and the concepts that support the meaning, structure, and progression of trust across various cultural confines in order to develop an accumulative pool of knowledge on this immensely complex process.

Metaphors in Management – Blend of Theory and Practice

Łukasz Sułkowski is Professor of Economics and Humanities. He is Chair of HEI Management Department at the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University (Poland), at Clark University (USA) and the Chair of the Management Department at the University of Social Sciences in Lodz (Poland). He is Vice-President of the Polish Accreditation Committee. This book will help managers understand organizations in non-quantitative manner. The modern-day managers are challenged with dealing with these constantly increasing complexities in the pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness. They must understand how constant changes influence their tasks so they can contribute to establishing a fast-reacting organization. The authors analyze how metaphors can serve as methods or tools that provide insight into how organizations function, and how best to deal with making them successful in a state of permanent change.

Application of Neuroscience in Management

Examination of the human mind is a subject of various disciplines that belong to the natural or social sciences, or that straddle the line between them. The most important include biology, psychology, neurology, neuroscience, psychiatry, anthropology and sociology. The interest in exploring the potential links between neuroscience and management as a social science as well as organization studies is constantly growing. This brings a fair amount of attention to mental processes and their role in explaining human behavior and effectiveness. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the application of neuroscience in management.

Positive Cross-Cultural Scholarship Research

Despite ongoing change, most cross-cultural management theory and research tends to emphasize problems and misunderstandings associated with cross-cultural interactions and at the same time deemphasize the positive role of cross-cultural interactions within organizations. We unpack positive features of cross-cultural dynamics by identifying the key processes, conditions and mechanisms through which diversity improves team outcomes by introducing the lens of “Positive Organizational Scholarship”. The goal of this chapter is to showcase research that sheds light on the positive dynamics but also the positive outcomes associated with cross-cultural differences in a wide range of organizational contexts. We are fully aware that this problem-oriented perspective on cross-cultural differences does have merits; nevertheless we would like to strongly indicate that cross-cultural differences may create numerous opportunities and benefits such as increased productivity and creativity, and better problem-solving quality.

A Comparative Study of Attitudes towards Entrepreneurship between Polish and British Students

Abstract Background Entrepreneurship continues to gain momentum as a significant and relevant field of research. Policy makers in the rush to stimulate entrepreneurship in various countries, often rely on the success stories and prescriptions documented in the entrepreneurship literature in which most studies are set in the United States. Research aims The article present exploratory study addresses the subject of cross-cultural differences in attitudes towards entrepreneurship by focusing attention on two particular types of cultures of entrepreneurship British and Polish. Method The quantitative research (survey) was conducted in May 2014 among 153 Polish and 94 British graduate and postgraduate management students. Key findings The findings have some distinctive implications for government, policy makers and educators through determining the attitudes towards entrepreneurship among students.

The use of Social Networking Sites in modern recruitment – empirical study

Abstract Current changes in technology and the role of the Internet open up new opportunities for companies both to communicate and to work. The fact that Social Media entered the business landscape, and in particular the recruitment landscape leads to a demand for knowledge about recruitment trends regarding social media. Contemporary social media and recruitment texts have been reviewed in order to identify what impact social media is having on the recruitment industry. It focuses on how companies and recruitment professionals are taking advantage of the social media landscape to recruit talented people. Relevant existing research has been reviewed and primary research conducted (both qualitative and quantitative). The authors have conducted 8 IDIs with recruiter from various industries. The latter consisted of 147 CAWIs with employees from various Polish organizations from several different industries. The article presents interesting results that can be especially useful for recruitment managers, specialists and company owners. It is recommended that in order to gain a fuller picture of the issues underlying the findings, quantitative research on a bigger scale should be undertaken.

Conceptual Negotiation Metaphors Across Cultures - Research Findings from Poland, China, The United States and Great Britain

Abstract Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in the cultural dimensions of conflict resolution. Books, numerous studies, and courses have offered perspectives on the nature of culture and its complex relationship to the transformation of conflict. This article focuses on metaphors concerning negotiations across cultures. The study attempts to contribute knowledge in the field of cross-cultural studies on language and culture, especially with regards to negotiation metaphors. The article attempts to answer a question how does the usage of metaphors for the process of negotiation differ across cultures

Culture as a barrier of knowledge sharing

Abstract Management in last decades has seen knowledge sharing become a key tool for the success of a variety of institutions. Many international companies and other organizations have developed knowledge management programs as key to their future development strategies. There are number of international organizations that have identified knowledge sharing as one of their core management tools. Yet despite its growing popularity, knowledge sharing remains a complex and challenging task. This article discusses what cultural barriers can impede knowledge sharing processes

The use of social media in public relations in Poland and the United Kingdom – case studies from automotive industry

Abstract Current changes in technology and the role of the Internet open up new opportunities for companies both to communicate with the public and organisational functionality of its own structure. The fact that Social Media entered the business landscape, can be globally experience in the novel ways of communication, particularly between all stakeholders in organisation’s environment, but also in growing tendency in search for the new knowledge and expertise in digital environment. Organisations existing in brick-and-mortar landscape, observing ongoing and continues development of the digital technologies that ubiquitously transforming the way we perceive a role of marketing and making Public Relations more fascinating discipline in the XXI century. Becoming more exposed to the public, marketers needs to understand importance of their role in the new age of digital era but more importantly to be able to adapt to a new environment by building their digital presence with accordance to tomorrow’s reality and prevailing expectations. Every geographical region has its own unique approach in practicing public relations and building their own understanding of that concept. What is more, one also has to take into consideration the relations between corporate culture and organizational environment and it’s influence on certain managerial practices. Broadening the traditional perspective and communication by the new and growing acceptance of the dot.com era, internet is defining new rules, that continuously supported by the visionary and innovatory approach of modern organisations, not only modelling PR and marketing but companies as a whole. The aim of this article is to identify the changing trends of the new PR model that continuously evolve in the digital era and changing our way of building robust two-direction communication channel. The article presents four case studies (Poland and the UK) of social media in PR on the automotive market.