Understanding Global Cultures, Third Edition presents the cultural metaphor as a method for understanding the cultural mindsets of a nation, a cluster of nations, and even of a continent. This method involves identifying some phenomenon, activity or institution of a culture that all or most of its members consider important and with which they identify closely. Metaphors are not stereotypes; rather, they rely upon the features of one critical phenomenon of a culture to describe the entire culture. The characteristics of the metaphor then become the basis for describing and understanding the essential features of the culture. For example, the Italians invented the opera and love it passionately. Five key characteristics of the opera are the overture, spectacle and pageantry, voice, externalization, and the interaction between the lead singers and the chorus. These features are used to describe Italy and its cultural mindset. Thus the metaphor is a guide or map that helps such outsiders as students, travelers, and managers on short-term and long-term assignments understand quickly what members of a culture consider important.
Recenzijas
Dear Dr. Gannon,
A round of applause for your book Understanding Global Cultures. We are using it as one of our reference books in my MBA class at Arizona State University. I believe that you capture an extremely valuable picture of the culture and provide information that allows one to travel a little more comfortably, whether for business or travel. I am purchasing an extra copy for my son, a senior at ASU. He is spending six weeks in London this summer with an internship and will visit other countries as well.
Thank you for a great book, not only for my use, but as a basis of hours of enjoyable conversation with a fantastic young man who happens to be my son.
Sincerely,
Ladee K. Rickard MBA student, Arizona State University -- Ladee K. Rickard
| PART 1: INTRODUCTION |
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| Chapter 1: Understanding Cultural Metaphors |
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| PART 2: AUTHORITY RANKING CULTURES |
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| Chapter 2: The Thai Kingdom |
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| Chapter 3: The Japanese Garden |
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| Chapter 4: India: The Dance of Shiva |
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| Chapter 5: Bedouin Jewery and Saudi Arabia |
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| Chapter 6: The Turkish Coffehouse |
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| Chapter 7: The Brazilian Samba |
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| Chapter 8: The Polish Village Church |
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| Chapter 9: Kimchi and Korea |
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| PART 3: EQUALITY MATCHING CULTURES |
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| Chapter 10: The German Symphony |
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| Chapter 11: The Swedish Stuga |
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| Chapter 12: Irish Conversations |
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| Chapter 13: The Canadian Backpack and Flag |
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| Chapter 14: The Danish Christmas Luncheon |
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| Chapter 15: French Wine |
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| PART 4: MARKET PRICING CULTURES |
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| Chapter 16: American Football |
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| Chapter 17: The Traditional British House |
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| PART 5: CLEFT NATIONAL CULTURES |
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| Chapter 18: The Malaysian Balik Kampung |
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| Chapter 19: The Nigerian Marketplace |
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| Chapter 20: The Israeli Kibbutzim and Moshavim |
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| Chapter 21: The Italian Opera |
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| Chapter 22: Belgian Lace |
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| PART 6: TORN NATIONAL CULTURES |
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| Chapter 23: The Mexican Fiesta |
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| Chapter 24: The Russian Ballet |
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| PART 7: SAME METAPHOR, DIFFERENT MEANINGS |
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| Chapter 25: The Spanish Bullfight |
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| Chapter 26: The Portuguese Bullfight |
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| PART 8: THE BASE CULTURE AND ITS DIFFUSION ACROSS BORDERS |
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| (CLUSTERS OF NATIONS) |
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| Chapter 27: China's Great Wall and Cross-cultural Paradox |
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| Chapter 28: The Chinese Family Altar |
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| Chapter 29: The Singapore Hawker Centers |
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| PART 9: PERSPECTIVES ON CONTINENTS |
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| Chapter 30 Australian Outdoor Recreational Activities |
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| Chapter 31: The Sub Saharan Bush Taxi |
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| References |
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| About the Author |
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Martin J. Gannon (Ph.D., Graduate School of Business, Columbia University) is Professor Emeritus of Strategy and International Management at both the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland at College Park and the College of Business Administration, California State University San Marcos. He is a three-time recipient of the Fulbright Professorship Award (West Germany, 1981-82; Thailand, 1987; and Austria, 2017-18).
His other awards include: 1) The Outstanding Educator Award, International Division, 2014, Academy of Management, the largest and best known management and teaching organization in the world; 2) the University of Marylands International Landmark Award for his contributions in the global area, 2003; and 3) the Lifetime Achievement Award, Whos Who in America, 2018. See below for additional awards.
Professor Gannon has been a Senior Research Fulbright Fellow in West Germany; the John F. Kennedy Foundation/Fulbright Professor at Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand; and the Fulbright Professor, Johannes Kepler University, Austria. He has also been a visiting professor at the London Business School, Bocconi University (Italy), University College - Dublin, the University of Lodz (Poland), Wuhan University, Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok), and the University of Kassel and Tubingen University in Germany, and has lectured at many other universities in the world.
At the Smith School of Business he served as the Acting Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Founding Director of the Center for Global Business, Chairperson of the Faculty of Management and Organization, Co-founder and Co-director of the Small Business Development Center, and the Founding Director of the College Park Scholars Program in Business, Society, and the Economy (an undergraduate living-learning community). He is the author of over 100 articles and papers as well as 13 books, some in multiple editions and translations (Korean, Spanish, and Italian). He recently completed a draft of his 20th book. See below.
Professor Gannon has emphasized three overlapping areas of programmatic or in-depth research: International management and behavior; business strategy; and the contingent workforce, particularly studies of temporary help employment. Much of his work in international management and behavior is described in depth in the book, Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 31Nations, Clusters of Nations, Continents, and Diversity, 5th Edition (Sage, May, 2012, c. 2013, 639 pages; Korean translation, Myung In Publishers, 2013). Rajnandini Pillai joined him as co-author after the 3rd edition. The 6th edition was published in 2016 and includes 34 national cultures and their corresponding 34 cultural metaphors. Although the publisher wanted a 7th edition, Professor Gannon decided to pursue other writing opportunities.
In this book Gannon introduced the concept of the cultural metaphor to describe the culture of a specific nation. He defines a cultural metaphor as any institution, phenomenon or activity with which a nations citizens identify emotionally and/or cognitively, for example, the Swedish stuga or unadorned summer and weekend home. He then uses these metaphors and their distinctive features as frameworks to describe in depth the values and the associated business activities in each nation. The 6th and latest edition is divided into a fourteen-part framework to classify these 34 nations and their respective cultural metaphors, clusters of nations, continents, and diversity within nations into different types, e.g., authority ranking and market pricing national cultures as separate parts.
In 2018 he was the senior author of a unique study of 28 cross-cultural experts. The goal was the analysis of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the three most popular methods of comparing and contrasting national cultures: The dimensional perspective as represented by Geert Hofstede and other cross-cultural analysts; the cultural metaphor; and the cultural paradoxical approach. See the publications below for this and other references.
He recently completed a draft of his 20th book, A Memoir of Management Insights: The Strategic Realistic Method for Life and Career Success. It combines three separate perspectives: A memoir; the management insights that the author has achieved through his many and varied activities; and a career or self-help book. As in the case of his other books, this one is unique. It is currently with an agent, who plans to submit it to 12 major publishers.
In the area of contingent employment, he has written many articles that have appeared in such journals as The Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and Industrial Relations. He is also the senior co-author of "Managing Without A Complete, Full-Time Workforce," that appeared in Flood, Gannon, Pauuwe, and Associates, Managing Without Traditional Methods: International Innovations in Human Resource Management (Addison-Wesley, 1996).
In the area of business strategy, he is the co-author of the Dynamics of Competitive Strategy (Sage, 1992), in which the authors develop a unique communication-information model of competitive interaction among firms in an industry, describe new methods for analyzing competitive moves and responses, and test hypotheses about such competitive interactions in four major industries. Mr. Gannon is also the co-author of Strategic Management Skills (Addison-Wesley, 1986), which was a pioneering effort to train MBA students and managers in strategic case analysis and written and oral presentation skills. In 2008 Ofer Meilich and Martin Gannon published an article, Redefining Value: Comparative Video Case Studies of Charles Shaw Winery and Thomas Kincade, in the Journal of Strategic Management Education.
As indicated above, Mr. Gannons research and writing have appeared in over 100 articles and papers. Journals in which he has published include the Academy of Management Journal, The Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Industrial Relations, Monthly Labor Review, California Management Review, Business Horizons, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Venturing, International Journal of Management, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Business & the Contemporary World, and the Journal of Accountancy.
Further, Professor Gannon has published several textbooks, including Management: Managing for Results (Allyn and Bacon, 1988, Spanish translation, 1996); Management: an Organizational Framework (Little, Brown and Co., 1977, and reprinted in a special edition of 10,000 copies by the Life Insurance Institute of America; second edition of this book, 1982); and Organizational Behavior (Little, Brown and Co., 1979). His organizational framework of management was incorporated into the Introduction to Management course at the Army War College for many years.
Professor Gannon has taught a range of courses over a 50-year period for managers, MBA students, EMBA students, undergraduates, and doctoral students. Currently he enjoys teaching Managing in Different Cultures; Cross-Cultural Negotiations; and Strategic Management.
Professor Gannon has served as a consultant and trainer to a large number of organizations, including Chemical Bank of New York, the U.S. General Accounting Office, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Upjohn Company, the American Federation of Government Employees, ARINC, Northrop-Grumman and GEICO Insurance. At GEICO he was the only external consultant on the design and presentation of the annual week-long Senior Management Training Program for ten years from which those promoted to Director and above were selected.. At Northrop-Grumman he served as the University of Maryland Academic Director of the IMPACT Training Program (International Management Program and Compliance Training), an internal certificate program required for advancement to international management positions. In 2008 he received a Career Contribution Award from GEICO. Professor Gannon has served on and chaired numerous committees in universities and professional/academic associations. He has lived and lectured in over 30 nations for various periods of time extending from one week to a year or more.
