Cross-Cultural Management: Nike's Global Market Strategies

This report delves into the critical importance of cross-cultural management for businesses operating in the global market. It begins by identifying a key question related to the subject, referencing the shift of globalization drivers from the North Atlantic to Asia. The report then conducts in-depth research, emphasizing the necessity of cross-cultural communication and competence for multinational corporations (MNCs) to navigate diverse cultural landscapes, manage employees, and understand consumer behaviors. It uses Nike as a case study, contrasting cultural dimensions between the USA and China using Hofstede's cultural dimensions, and highlights the impact of these differences on management styles and business practices. The report also introduces the MBI (Mapping, Bridging, and Integration) tool as a framework for cross-cultural management, suggesting how companies can bridge cultural gaps and integrate employees. The conclusion underscores the importance of cross-cultural communication for stakeholder support and global performance. The report suggests future research directions, such as exploring cross-cultural communication in customer management and diverse employee groups, and offers recommendations including detailed secondary research and the use of social media for cultural insights. The provided references support the research and analysis, providing a comprehensive overview of cross-cultural management strategies and their practical applications in the global marketplace.

Running head: CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Cross Cultural Management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Option 2.
Part 1. Identifying a cross-cultural management question:
The 34th page of the book titled, ‘International management behavior: Leading with a
global mindset.’ mentions that ‘The location of globalization drivers such as technology, cost
structures, growth rates, population trends, and consumers appears to be shifting away from the
North Atlantic region (Europe and the USA) to an Asian one (China, India.’1. This statement
clearly brings out the importance of cross cultural management to global companies operating in
diverse markets. The question pertaining to cross cultural management which can be put forward
to be further explored in the research would be, ‘Why is it important for business
organizations to adopt cross cultural management while marketing products in the global
market?’
Part 2. Conducting further research into the cross cultural management question:
Cross cultural management has emerged as one of the main aspects of the multinational
business organizations. This is because multinational business organizations today need to
operate in different countries having diverse cultures across the globe. They have to employ
employees and acquire customers in those markets. Thus, it has become a necessity for these
companies to exhibit cross-cultural communication competences while managing their
employees as well as customers2. Ibrahim supported this view of the previous authors and shed
1 Lane, Henry W., Martha Maznevski, Joerg Deetz, and Joseph DiStefano. International management behavior:
Leading with a global mindset. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
2 Abugre, James B., and Yaw A. Debrah. "Assessing the impact of cross-cultural communication competence on
expatriate business operations in multinational corporations of a Sub-Saharan African context." International
Journal of Cross Cultural Management 19, no. 1 (2019): 85-104.

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more light on the matter by mentioning that, ‘The cross-cultural diversity within the
organisation’s workforce is one of the important factors that may have negative or positive
impact on the global business operations according to the environmental circumstances
and the strategy adopted by the organisation.’ 3 This means that multinational business
organizations operating in different host market should have knowledge about the cultural
backgrounds and perceptions of the employees they employ in their different host markets.
Failure to acknowledge these cultural perceptions can result in misunderstanding as well as
communication gap between the employees based in the concerned host market and the
management of the company. This communication gap between the management of the MNCs
and their regional employees result in lower productivity. The issue may also result in conflicts
between the employees in the host country and the management of the company, ultimately
hampering the very market operations of the company. For example, Nike is a global sportswear
and sports goods manufacturing company based in the United States. The company enjoys a very
strong presence in China and employs employees from the country to support its Chinese
operations4. The two countries namely, the United States of America and China have diverse
cultural aspects as shown the Hofstede’s tool below. For example, the power distance in the
American society is extremely low compared to the Chinese society. One can apply this fact in
terms of Nike Inc. to point out that, in the operational divisions of the company based in the
United States, employees of lower designations could approach the employees of higher
3 Ibrahim, Emad Abdalla Atwa. "in supporting the Global Business Operations." (2016).
4 "Sec.Gov". 2020. Sec.Gov. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320187/000032018719000051/nke-
531201910k.htm.

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designations more freely. Thus, the managers of the company of American origin in a way
accept free communication from their subordinates as a part of the day to day operations.
However, in the Chinese divisions, owing to large power distance, managers may not hold it
normal to receive open feedbacks from lower level employees. Similarly, the individualism in
the American society is higher compared to the Chinese society. This means that the Americans
pay more attention towards individual rights, convenience and achievements. The Chinese
society on the other hand scores very low on the individualism scale. This means that the people
in China in general pay more importance to the collective interests of the family and the society
compared to individual conveniences. Thus, as far as Nike is concerned, the managers of the
company based in the USA are expected to speak with due respect towards the Chinese culture
and family values while interacting with the Chinese employees. For example, the Americans,
owing to their largely individualistic approach generally consider straight forward conversations
regarding business deals professional while the Chinese in general, owing to the collectivist
approach consider this type of straight forward conversations about business rude. Thus, it
transpires from the discussion that multinational companies should develop and exhibit cross
cultural management capabilities while operating in host nations having different cultures from
their respect home countries. For example, the home country of Nike is the USA while the host
country under discussion is China. The management of Nike should show regards to the Chinese
culture while operating the country. For example, the managers of the company travelling to
China from the USA should generally avoid speaking about business to their Chinese countries
and subordinate in a straight forward manner. This means that the managers of Nike should
exhibit cross-cultural interaction while managing the Chinese employees.

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Figure 1. Hofstede's county comparison tool comparing between the USA and China5
The second tool which the multinational companies can adopt to ensure cross cultural
management is MBI which is the abbreviation to mapping, bridging and integration. The
managements of the companies can take into account the differences between the cultures of the
respective home countries and the host country in question6. For example, as far as Nike Inc. is
concerned, the home country of the company is the USA and the host country under discussion is
China. The managers of the company can identify the cultural differences in between the two
nations like power distance and individualism. The next stage which the management of the
companies can take as per the MBI tool is bridging7. For example, the management of Nike can
5 "Hofstede-Insights.Com". 2020. Hofstede-Insights.Com. https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-
countries/.
6 Markoulli, Maria Panayiota, Colin ISG Lee, Eliza Byington, and Will A. Felps. "Mapping Human Resource
Management: Reviewing the field and charting future directions." Human Resource Management Review 27, no. 3
(2017): 367-396.
7 Harzing, Anne‐Wil, Markus Pudelko, and B. Sebastian Reiche. "The bridging role of expatriates and inpatriates in
knowledge transfer in multinational corporations." Human Resource Management 55, no. 4 (2016): 679-695.

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appoint personnel of Chinese origin to oversee the Chinese operations. This would ensure that
the company is able to show due respect and recognition to the Chinese cultures while operating
in the country. The company by appointing a Chinese person to supervise its Chinese operations
would be able to develop a stronger sense of belongingness among the Chinese employees. This
would lead to the third stage of the MBI tool namely, integration8. The company can integrate
the Chinese employees with its operations to a greater extent by encouraging them to provide
ideas and feedbacks while forming strategies regarding the operations of the country. This would
strengthen the sense of belonging to the company among the Chinese employees and they would
contribute more highly towards the performance of the company. Thus, practicing of cross
culture management would boost the revenue generation of Nike not only in China but also
globally.
Part 3. Answer to the question with ideas for future research and recommendations:
One can point out from the above discussion that that it is important for multinational
companies to adopt cross cultural communication while operating in the global market in order
to ensure that they are able to gain support of the stakeholders like employees in the host markets
concerned. This support from stakeholders in different host markets boosts the performance of
the companies in the host market concerned which in turn translates to the superior performance
of the companies in the global market.
The future researchers can conduct researches on cross cultural management in
multinational companies in different aspects. For example, they can conduct research in areas
8 Leroy, Hannes, Jesse Segers, Dirk Van Dierendonck, and Deanne Den Hartog. "Managing people in organizations:
Integrating the study of HRM and leadership." (2018): 249-257.

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like use of cross cultural communication in customer management and management of diverse
groups of employees in different host markets. The following are the recommendations which
could be put forward before the future researchers to guide their research:
Recommendation 1. Detailed secondary research:
The researchers should conduct detailed secondary researches while conducting
researches on cross cultural management. For example, they should conduct researches about the
cultural aspects of particular countries and the political aspects of the countries, all of which go
in to shape the cultural perceptions among the employees and the customers.
Recommendation 2. Use of social media websites:
The researchers should use social media websites like Youtube and Facebook to a great
extent to conduct researches on cross cultural management in multinational companies. This is
because it is not always feasible for researchers to conduct primary analysis, especially if the
researchers are carrying on cross cultural management researches on countries other than the
countries in which they are based. The reviews available on the social media platforms can
enable the researchers gain understanding of the cultural perceptions prevailing in different
nations.

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References:
"Hofstede-Insights.Com". 2020. Hofstede-Insights.Com.
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/.
"Sec.Gov". 2020. Sec.Gov.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320187/000032018719000051/nke-531201910k.htm.
Abugre, James B., and Yaw A. Debrah. "Assessing the impact of cross-cultural communication
competence on expatriate business operations in multinational corporations of a Sub-Saharan
African context." International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 19, no. 1 (2019): 85-104.
Harzing, Anne‐Wil, Markus Pudelko, and B. Sebastian Reiche. "The bridging role of expatriates
and inpatriates in knowledge transfer in multinational corporations." Human Resource
Management 55, no. 4 (2016): 679-695.
Ibrahim, Emad Abdalla Atwa. "in supporting the Global Business Operations." (2016).
Lane, Henry W., Martha Maznevski, Joerg Deetz, and Joseph DiStefano. International
management behavior: Leading with a global mindset. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.
Leroy, Hannes, Jesse Segers, Dirk Van Dierendonck, and Deanne Den Hartog. "Managing
people in organizations: Integrating the study of HRM and leadership." (2018): 249-257.
Markoulli, Maria Panayiota, Colin ISG Lee, Eliza Byington, and Will A. Felps. "Mapping
Human Resource Management: Reviewing the field and charting future directions." Human
Resource Management Review 27, no. 3 (2017): 367-396.