Managing Identities Across Borders
Speaker
Abstract
| Let us explore the underused concept of “identity” in managing across borders. A brief review of the literature on ethnic identity in business will introduce us to two case studies. In the first, a seemingly conventional case of two “cultures” intersecting in the British branch of a German MNE, will be analyzed in order to appreciate the significance of identities in interactions and communications. In the second, an examination of the way in which Taiwanese people use their identities for networking and entrepreneurial development --will illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. I will conclude that an identity approach can add a means to investigate the complexity of discourses and a more nuanced approach to real-life situations than in the more traditional national-culture-focused approach. Doing so can also provide useful critiques of the broader and more methodological issues - for instance, of generalizability and of validity in cross-cultural management studies. |
| Contact information: |
| Slawomir Magala |
