Cross Cultural Management

This report discusses about the culture prevailing in the two countries- Iceland and Cambodia. The report elaborates on the cultural dimensions along with the leadership styles of the people from Iceland and the Cambodia. The report elaborates on the communication style and the decision making process of the people from the two countries. The report also elucidates on the management of teams along with the value system of the people of Iceland and the Cambodia.

Running head: CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Cross Cultural Management
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
Cross-cultural management refers to study of the management within the framework
of the cross-cultural context. It refers to the impact of the societal culture on the managers
along with the management practice in a company (Thomas and Peterson 2016). It is
indicative of study of cultural orientations in relation to the individual members of a
company. It helps in the management of the work teams by considering the differences in the
cultural practices of the people coming from different cultural backgrounds. The business
have to adapt the approaches so that they can compete successfully within the boundaries of
the international market. Iceland refers to Nordic island country that is situated within North
Atlantic and is a sparsely populated country of Europe. Cambodia is located within southern
portion of that of Indochina peninsula within Southeast Asia. This report discusses about the
culture prevailing in the two countries- Iceland and Cambodia. The report elaborates on the
cultural dimensions along with the leadership styles of the people from Iceland and the
Cambodia. The report elaborates on the communication style and the decision making
process of the people from the two countries. The report also elucidates on the management
of teams along with the value system of the people of Iceland and the Cambodia.
Cultural Dimensions of Iceland and Cambodia
Culture within Iceland is varied and the place is known for the literary heritage that
started in 12th century. The people in Iceland are endowed with the liberal Nordic outlook and
they place a lot of importance on traits of the independence along with the self-sufficiency.
The people of the country are proud in relation to their Viking heritage and they take great
amount of care in preserving the traditions (Bird and Mendenhall 2016). There exists high
degree of the gender equality within the Icelandic society along with the culture. There are
many women in the leadership positions in the government along with the business. The

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political system in the country is of open nature and the interested women are provided with
the opportunity of organizing the political party so that they can pursue interests within
parliament. The people in Iceland want to preserve the traditions along with the language and
the place is popular for the traditional industries.
Religion plays an important role in the formation of the cultural beliefs of Cambodia.
It acts as a source of the cultural inspiration for the people who are living within Cambodia.
The people in Cambodia are awarded respect on the basis of their age. The Cambodians have
been instrumental in developing the Khmer culture along with the belief system that has
resulted owing to syncretism of that of indigenous animistic beliefs. The people in Cambodia
are addressed by taking recourse to their hierarchical title that corresponds to seniority before
that of their name (Tjosvold 2017). The head of a person is believed to contain the soul of a
person and hence it is a taboo in the society of Cambodia to touch the feet. They believe that
feet is the lowest part of their body and hence it is impure. The people in Cambodia do not
make the eye contact with the people who are older and with the people who are thought of to
be superior.
Leadership styles in Iceland and Cambodia
The Icelanders have the egalitarian society that is low in relation to the masculinity
dimension. The people in the country has high individualism and they have average long-
term orientation. The business culture in Iceland is characterized by that of the low hierarchy.
The low power distance occurs in the companies of Iceland and small size of the
organizations results in direct communication style taking place in between the manager and
the subordinates. The communication path in Iceland is shorter as compared to the
hierarchical business culture. The managers in Iceland are not afraid to take any kinds of
chances or the risks and this makes their decisions unpredictable within the framework of the

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company. The leaders in the companies of Iceland are improvising and they are hesitant in
relation to the following of the formal rules within a company (French 2015). The leaders in
the companies of Iceland are dependent on the informal rules along with their co-workers.
The managers in Iceland depend on their experience which they believe can help in the
development of their business.
The style of the leadership that exists in the companies of Cambodia are the
transformational style of the leadership. There exists high power distance in the companies of
Cambodia and this has given rise to distance in between the managers and the employees of
the companies of Cambodia. The leaders take the bold decisions and they are followed by the
employees in the company owing to the image of the leader as a visionary in the company
(Richter et al. 2016). The leaders take the risks that helps in transforming the society and set
the high standard of the performance. The leaders are eager to embrace the changes and they
respond to the emerging issues of the times. The leaders do not behave in a passive manner
and they take the initiatives on their own that helps in the functioning of the company.
Communication style in Iceland and Cambodia
The people in Iceland are direct in the manner of their communication. The people in
the organizations of Iceland like to carry out the face-to-face communication and they honour
the attributes of accountability along with the honesty. The people in Iceland value the
element of friendships and it can be stated that business and the pleasure within Iceland is
interwoven. The people in Iceland keep their word and the oral agreement has been found to
be binding in accordance with law of the Iceland. The Icelanders greet the business partners
by shaking their hands. The people in Iceland do not have strict rules in relation to the social
interaction and there does not exist many taboos in the society (Vésteinsson 2016). The
companies in Iceland can be said to be streamlined and they have flat organizational

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structure. The CEO’s in the companies of Iceland carry out direct interaction with the
managers who work at the lower levels in the company. This takes place owing to the fact
that the country has classless society and it is normal to approach the people from the various
kinds of socio-economic groups.
The people in Cambodia lay stress on the communication cues that are non-verbal and
it helps them in understanding about the opinions and the thoughts of the other people. The
messages are transferred within the society with the help of the non-verbal communication.
Respect is considered to be a core cultural value in Cambodia and the initiating of the respect
can help in carrying out a successful communication (McLean, Pirinsky and Zhao 2018). The
non-verbal cues are important in the high-context society of that of Cambodia and the
foreigners should be aware about significance of the non-verbal cues that can help in carrying
out effective communication with the Khmer people. It is important to portray the likeness
towards the Khmer people that helps in building a positive relation in between the people in
the society.
Decision-making in Iceland and Cambodia
The people in Iceland are adept at the area of decision making and they lay focus on
the aspect of the problem solving. The decisions are made in the companies of Iceland after
consultation with the employees that helps in taking the just decisions in the company. The
opinions of the subordinates are given importance in the organizations that aids in the process
of successful running of a company. The economy of Iceland is however characterized by the
strong intervention of the government which sometimes delays the process of making the
important decisions (Laura et al. 2017). There exist high level of the free trade in the country
owing to the flexible mind set of the people in the country. The atmosphere at the time of
carrying out the negotiations is calm that helps in taking the important decisions in a

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company. The decisions are made with the help of advice that is provided by the individual
members of the group. This helps in making the right decisions as the decisions are taken by
considering the perspective of individual members of a group.
Cambodia has the hierarchical culture and the decisions are made in the company by
the people in the senior management positions in the company. The managers do not seek the
consensus from employees at the time of taking the critical decisions in the company. The
employees are provided the direction by the people in the higher management of the
company. The informal networking is present among the employees of the company (Clayton
2017). The actual power in a company is held by the people who are in the upper
management within the framework of a company. The young employees cannot delegate the
work to the senior people in the company owing to the barrier that exists in the company in
between the managers and the employees of the company. The Cambodians are averse in
taking the risks and they follow the directions in an explicit manner.
Managing teams in Iceland and Cambodia
The culture in Iceland have been shaped by that of isolation along with extreme forces
prevailing in the nature. The conditions prevailing in Iceland have been instrumental in
creating the resilient people and the sense of the tradition within Iceland is strong. The people
in Iceland are however progressive and they lay stress on the element of innovation
(Júlíusdóttir, Rafnsdóttir and Einarsdóttir 2018). The people are willing to accept the opinions
of the other people if this brings about any positive changes within the framework of the
wider society. The people who are in the senior level positions in the management collaborate
and cooperate with the people who are in the lower level of the organization that proves to be
useful for the purpose of managing the teams. The managers are eager to know about the

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perspectives of people from the lower level in the organization that greatly helps in the arena
of team management.
The Cambodians place a great amount of emphasis on the personal relationships that
can help in the area of the managing of the teams in a company. The communication style in
Cambodia helps in reflecting the value that is placed on the relationships. The people in
Cambodia lay a great deal of stress on recognising the face of the individuals as it can help in
facilitating the successful conduct of the business in a company. The non-threatening work
environment is preferred by the people in Cambodia that can aid in the process of
management of the teams. The intercultural sensitivity plays an integral role in managing the
teams. The Cambodians do not like to confront the other people and this proves to be useful
in the management of the teams (Lilja 2016). The people in Cambodia maintain the
composure at all the critical times that helps in managing the team work.
Value system in Iceland and Cambodia
The people in Iceland are endowed with the values that helps in the successful
running of the society. The people in the country lay a great deal of stress on the quality of
the life that has helped it in emerging as one of the productive economy within the world. The
customs along with the traditions in the country are the culmination of the pagan influence on
that of the Christian religion. There exists dearth of the stratification among the classes of the
people and the people have a high standard of living in Iceland. The people in the country lay
a great deal of stress on rearing the children and education is greatly respected among the
people of Iceland. The people in the country lay a great deal of stress on the arena of the
scientific research that helps in the development of a modern state.
The people in Cambodia lay stress on the element of the family along with the
relationships. They place a great deal of value on that of interpersonal relationships that can

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help in the establishment of a just order within the society. The people in Cambodia are loyal
that helps in the creation of long-term relationships. The people in Cambodia have a fatalistic
outlook that helps in guiding the course of their life (Berkvens 2017). The people in the
country lay a great deal of importance on fate and they believe that power of an individual in
intervening in the life events of an individual is greatly diminished. The religion prevailing in
the country is greatly influenced by that of oceanic merchants. The religious principles of the
Cambodians have inspired arts of the people who live within the particular country (Mamula
2017).
Socio-political events influencing the cross-cultural relationships
The socio-political events have an influence on the cross-cultural relationship of the
people of various countries. There exists transparent regulatory environment in Iceland that
helps in supporting the commercial activity of the different business. It allows the efficient
formation and the operation of the business (Richter et al. 2016). There exist efficient
regulations in Iceland that helps in encouraging the investment in the country. The creation of
the open markets helps in facilitating the cross-cultural relationships within Iceland. The
judiciary of the country is independent and transparency has been well-institutionalized in the
country that encourages the negotiation in between the countries.
Hun Sen was able to lead Cambodia out of the civil conflict that has helped in the
creation of the culture of dialogue within the country. The impoverished country however
needs the reform that can help it in catering to the needs of the globalized society (Adekola
and Sergi 2016). Hun Sen has been successful in finding the champions in relation to the
reform agenda. The country has navigated the relation with the foreign powers by projecting
the neutral stance pertaining to the political relations. The economy of Cambodia is
dependent on various kinds of small sectors which includes the textile manufacturing along

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with the tourism. These sectors are greatly affected by the political upheavel taking place in
the country. Cambodia receives aid from the Western countries that has greatly aided in the
process of its development.
Conclusion
Iceland is popular for the literary heritage that has helped in providing a prominent
position to the country. People of Iceland have the Nordic outlook and they importance on the
element of independence. Religion helps in forming the cultural beliefs in Cambodia and it
helps in providing cultural inspiration to people. The people of Iceland have the egalitarian
society which is low in terms of masculinity dimension. The people in Cambodia are
endowed with the high individualism and there is high power distance prevailing in the
society of Cambodia. This creates a great amount of distance in between that of managers and
employees of companies of Cambodia. Transparent regulatory environment within Iceland
can help in offering support to commercial activity pertaining to various business. Cambodia
can be stated to be an impoverished country which needs reform that can cater to needs of
that of globalized society.

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