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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
JUNE 2011
VOL 3, NO 2
Cross Culture Analysis “An Exploratory Analysis of Experiential Narratives
and Implications for Management”
Shahzad Ghafoor (Corresponding Author)
Lecturer COMSATS Institute of Information Technology. Lahore, Pakistan.
Fukaiha Kaka Khail
Lecturer COMSATS Institute of Information Technology. Lahore, Pakistan.
Uzair Farooq Khan
Lecturer , COMSATS Institute of Information Technology. Lahore, Pakistan.
Faiza Hassan
Program Officer, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology. Lahore, Pakistan.
Abstract
Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and numerous forms of partnerships have necessitated the
intercourse between people of diverse cultural background in the same work place. This has
ultimately contributed to a considerable interest in the subject of cross-cultural learning.
However, most studies in this area, though scanty, have addressed this subject from the
organizational point of view. Thus, this study explores the area of cross-cultural learning from
the perspective of the individual employee. The narratives of 7 Swedish managers are
analytically explored to try to understand what individuals learn, if any, from a cross-cultural
interaction in a work environment. The framework of analysis is based on the motivations for
working on international assignments or projects (including expectations), how individuals cope
with work in a different cultural environment (adjustment issues), and what influence, if any, this
kind of experience has on the individual on completion of the assignment. It is observed that, by
and large, there is no reciprocity with regard to learning in this nature of interaction. Most
importantly, individuals simply revise and modify work practices, in view of prevailing
circumstances, but not the thinking behind such practices. The basic framework of thought
behind individual action, filtered through a set of cultural assumptions, remains unchanged.
Keywords: Cross-cultural learning, Interaction, Individual, Experience, Narrative, Knowledge.
1.0 Introduction
The twin concepts of Internationalization and globalization have contrived to encourage an
increasing number of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other forms of partnerships across
national borders (Laurent, 1981). This trend has given rise to ways of working that ensure the
coalescing of individuals from diverse backgrounds on the same project or assignment in a
foreign environment. As the world gets “smaller”, more and more people are spending time
living and working away from their home country, giving rise to greater face-to-face contact
among people from different cultural backgrounds (Brislin, 1981). Such intercourse, therefore,
serves as a kind of arena for, deliberate but sometimes unconscious, diffusion of significant and
varied experiences among the interacting individuals. Consequently, there is a resurgence of
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