Culture studies in international business are passing through difficult times of scrutiny and critique. This is due to the fact that the paradigms, approaches, and methods used so far to study culture have been limited in their scope. For several decades now, approaches that consider national cultures and geo-ethnic origins of interacting individuals have dominated management literature. This book distinguishes itself from other books on Culture in International Business (CIB) studies in two important ways. First, it illustrates how Mary Douglas's Cultural Theory framework (referred to commonly as DCF) can be used to explore different aspects of international business. This sets the stage for future scholars to consider DCF as an alternative tool of cultural sense-making as opposed to limiting themselves to categorical frameworks grounded in static notions of national and/or corporate culture. The second unique feature is that it focuses on the complexities of the applied side of culture (i.e., it takes a culture-in-practice perspective), while simultaneously emphasizing the dynamicity and diversity of culture. The book concludes by offering suggestions for the future of CIB studies. This domain, it predicts, may witness significant changes in the way culture is seen as influencing workplace relations. It also identifies other areas on which CIB scholars may need to focus attention in the future: culture in an increasingly digitalized world, culture and the organization as a system, and culture and the intelligent/knowledgeable organization. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of cross-cultural management, international business, human resource management.

The internationalization of business via the process of globalization has brought issues of culture to the forefront of management thinking. Although culture is by no means a new area of study in business schools, it remains frustratingly elusive and misunderstood. This textbook gives business students - or future managers - an understanding of the multitude of frameworks available to them to make sense of the cultural contexts they will encounter in their managerial careers. Starting from a general introduction to 'culture' and its role in businesses, Taran Patel encourages readers to shed a critical eye on the commonly accepted frameworks. She compels readers to ask three questions: Can I only make sense of the variety of cultures around me by categorizing people into static categories based on their geo-ethnic identities? Is it valid to make sense of people's behaviours by categorizing them as 'French', 'Indian', 'German' or 'American'? What other ways are there to make sense of people and their behaviours? Students studying from this textbook will benefit from a variety of conceptual tools that can be used to navigate the world of culture and its intersection with business and management. Taran Patel's unique textbook will be core reading for students of cross-cultural management / intercultural communication and essential reading for all those studying or researching international business and management.

The internationalization of business via the process of globalization has brought issues of culture to the forefront of management thinking. Although culture is by no means a new area of study in business schools, it remains frustratingly elusive and misunderstood. This textbook gives business students - or future managers - an understanding of the multitude of frameworks available to them to make sense of the cultural contexts they will encounter in their managerial careers. Starting from a general introduction to 'culture' and its role in businesses, Taran Patel encourages readers to shed a critical eye on the commonly accepted frameworks. She compels readers to ask three questions: Can I only make sense of the variety of cultures around me by categorizing people into static categories based on their geo-ethnic identities? Is it valid to make sense of people's behaviours by categorizing them as 'French', 'Indian', 'German' or 'American'? What other ways are there to make sense of people and their behaviours? Students studying from this textbook will benefit from a variety of conceptual tools that can be used to navigate the world of culture and its intersection with business and management. Taran Patel's unique textbook will be core reading for students of cross-cultural management / intercultural communication and essential reading for all those studying or researching international business and management.