Cross cultural management

This article discusses Trompenaars Onion Model, Cultural Intelligence, and Corporate Values of Wesfarmers. It also explains how statistics and population demographics can assist international managers in decision making. Additionally, it reflects on how to make oneself indispensable at work.

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Cross cultural management
Name
Institution

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1. Explain what Trompenaars means with the “Onion model” of the seven dimensions of
culture?
Trompenaars’ onion model means that culture is made up of several layers (Wang
2012, p. 79). According to Trompenaars, the outer layer represents cultural artifacts or various
symbols such as flags, traditional cloths, architecture and so forth. The next layer represents
heroes, the third layer represents common traditions and rituals, such as how people great each
other, take meals, practice their religion, get married and so on. The Centre of the onion is
composed of the underlying values and cultural assumptions, which according to Trompenaars
affect all the other layers. According to Kamila (2010, p. 78), these beliefs, norms and attitudes
are difficult to recognize without having a deeper analysis and thorough understanding of each of
these layers and how they interact. By coming up with this layers, Trompenaars meant that
culture varies from one place to the other and it is essential to understand the differences to be
able to interact with people.
The onion model also means that people can be judged by different things other than what
they eat, how they speak, what they wear, or how they behave. While coming up with this model,
Trompenaars meant that there are so many things that can define culture other than what people can
actually see. Understanding this fact is indispensable because it helps people, especially those who
lead international teams to understand their followers.

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2. Apply this model to your own culture?
This model match with various aspects which define the Nepalese culture. For instance,
just like Trompenaars assertions, a culture is made up of values and beliefs that may vary from
one society to the other and that is why some of the things in my community such as the manner
in which we greet people, our diet, and body language, among others vary from my community
to the other.
The model also shows that people cannot judge or pretend to understand a person simply
from his or her behaviors, clothing and food (Gloria 2016, p. 36). In Nepalese culture, people are
understood by different things, other than what they consume, what they wear or how they
behave. This resembles Trompenaars assertions in the onion model because he believes that there
is more to what define culture than what people can actually see.
In Nepal, Trompenaars model means that there are different things which make people to
judge and differentiate others. For example, people have different reasons why they are married,
different perceptions concerning success, how to achieve it, the time frame they require to
achieve it and so forth (Wang 2012, p. 79). From this model, Trompenaarstalks about specific vs
diffuse and says that for specific, people keep work and personal lives separately. This happens
in real life because there are people who feel that the two aspects are of different importance and
therefore give them different priorities (Natalie 2016, p. 35). He also says that for diffuse, people
view connection between their work and personal life. This defines people in my society who
feel that positive relationships are crucial in attaining some of the important goals.
Nepalese culture, people have different ways of dealing with their emotions and this
relates to Trompenaars neutral verses emotional point of view. Some of the people make

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significant efforts to control their emotions and this represents neutral people, while there are
others who find ways to express their emotion, even sometimes spontaneously, at work and these
people represents Trompenaar’s emotional point of view.
3. How can statistics and other data on population demographics, such as the ABS
Population clock, CIA World Fact book and others, assist International managers in
their decision making?
Statistics and other data on populations demographics such as ABS population clocks
plays a crucial role in making international managers to come up with sound decisions.
According to Yoe (2012, p. 67), population has a significant role on running businesses and
management of organizations. Statistics help international managers to make various decisions
like for instance, the number of people to target for a particular product or service, where to open
a business, and so forth.
They can also make them on making decisions concerning where to expand their business
to. Yoe (2012, p. 69), affirms that population growth has a significant impact on success of
businesses. Therefore, having information concerning the population of a particular country,
managers make decisions on whetherto expand their investments to that country or not. Having
information concerning population can also help international managers to make decisions
concerning the level of production, delivery time, and so forth.
statistics and other data on population demographics can also assist international
managers to make decisions concerning the risks which are likely to be involved in running or
managing a company in a particular country (Gloria 2016, p. 35). If for instance, statics indicate
that the population of a certain area where the managers claims as the strong hold for the

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company seems to decline, it can be an implication of a risk and therefore such information can
assist him/her to take actions in advance.
4. Describe Cultural intelligence according to theory?
Cultural intelligence can be described as the ability to understand how people think and
act differently from others. According to Livermore (2015, p. 90), it can be described in three
different dimensions that relate to the three classical divisions between emotion, actions, and
understanding. These dimensions include emotional, cognitive, and action dimension. Livermore
(2010, p. 54) asserts that the emotional dimension relate to the feeling component of the situation
and the motivation which an individual has to come up with a solution, the cognitive dimension
can be described as a rational component which is based on the abilitythink critically as one of
the ways of enabling people to understand some of the things theyexperience. Having this
characteristic also makes individuals to understand some of the things that happen in their day to
day lives, and to come up with judgments which are majorly influenced by conceptual
frameworks and language.
Cultural intelligence is a term widely used in government organizations, as well as in
business and academic research, and can be termed as being ableto relate and work efficientlyin
different cultures (Garima 2018, p. 77). It can be described as an essential term because it
provides proper understanding of various crucial things such as motivation and behavior.

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5. Describe Cultural intelligence in your own words and reflect on your own cultural
intelligence?
Cultural intelligence can be defined as one’s ability to adapt and understand values and
beliefs as he/she interact with others from different regions (James 2012, p. 74). In Nepal, where
I reside, people have cultural beliefs which vary from those of other regions. To understand the
differences and adapt to them, they have to learn various things such as values, beliefs, and other
factors that define the culture of the other people.
Cultural intelligence can also be used to define important aspects in my culture. For
instance, it can assist people who visit Nepal to understand the types of foods which people in
my community eat, what they wear, why they marry, how they greet people of varying ages and
so forth.
6. List 6 corporate values of Wesfarmers as mentioned by the Chairman in the video?
From the video, the chairman mentions various corporate values of wesfarmers, namely:
being ethical and honest in operations and also being open and transparent while dealing with
other people, observing laws and regulations and valuing customers through satisfying their
needs and desires. He also affirms that it is important to value all suppliers through treating them
respect, making sure that the staff members are protected through ensuring they have safe and
promising work environment and also businesses adhere to corporate social responsibility.
Finally, he says that all businesses should make a great contribution to the where they undertake
their businesses.

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7. Reflect on how you could make yourself indispensable at work?
According to Niels (2012, p. 25), being indispensable in work is crucial because it makes
one to realize the value of working with a particular organization. One of the ways that I could
use to make myself indispensable at work is through committing my efforts towards the tasks I
do to ensure my bosses sees the reasons why I should be in that organization.
The other way that I can use to make myself indispensable at work is through
appreciating the varying views, values and beliefs that my workmates, managers and other
stakeholders hold in the work place. This tactic is crucial because it can make every person to
feel that I have nothing which can make us to experience conflicts or other things that may affect
our socialization.
References
Garima, S. (2018). Cultural Intelligence: Consanguinity to Thinking Styles, Personality and
Curiosity. Journal of Psychosocial Research, 13(1), 76-88.
Gloria, M. J. (2016). Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success. Journal of
Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 21(1), 32-45.
James, T. J. (2012). Termination or Need for a Cross-Cultural Competence Training Program: A
Conflict between Two Top Managers. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies,
18(2), 76-87.

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Kamila, M. (2010). Positive Organizational Culture as a New Trend in Cross-
Cultural Management. Basic Concepts. Journal of Positive Management, 1(1), 76-87.
Livermore, D. (2010). Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success. New
York: American Management Association
Livermore, D. (2015). Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success. New
York: American Management Association
Natalie, S. M. (2016). Curiosity and Its Role in Cross-Cultural Knowledge Creation.
International Journal of Emotional Education, 8(1), 34-56.
Niels, V. H. (2012). Successful Global S&OP: Leadership, Change Management, Behavior,
& Cross-Cultural Differences. The Journal of Business Forecasting, 31(3), 23-43.
Wang, X. (2012). Study on Cross-Cultural Management for International Students in China.
Canadian Social Science, 8(4), 78-97.
Yoe, C. (2012). Principles of Risk Analysis: Decision Making under Uncertainty. Boca Raton,
FL: CRC Press