Global Literacies: Lessons on Business Leadership and National Cultures

Businesspeople operating outside their native country need some understanding of foreign cultures. This study offers a survey approach--both in the sense of broad coverage and use of survey data--to the idea that national culture matters even in a globalized world. The authors received questionnaire responses from more than 1,000 senior executives and conducted interviews with 78 CEOs. As an almanac for international business, the book is moderately valuable. Boxed sets of handy information about the major developed economies supplement the CEO interviews, in which the authors usually work in a few basic facts about history and culture. Unfortunately, the book goes no deeper than this. German leaders, described as ""quality perfectionists,"" value ""knowing your strengths and shortcomings,"" while U.K. leaders, dubbed ""modernizing traditionalists,"" advocate leading by example. The CEO interviews read like annual report letters. Although the book claims information from financially successful companies, many of the 78 choices, such as Boeing and Novatris, have underperformed the stock market and many of the CEOs are under intense criticism. No hard questions are asked about these matters. The CEO of a company best known recently for a bitter strike speaks only of the need for trust and communication with employees. These CEOs doubtless have useful things to teach about success and business, but the authors do not press them to go beyond superficial platitudes such as encouraging one's employees to think positive. (Feb.)