Since China opened up to the outside world in 1978, a tremendous economic development took place. China is today still a fast growing economy. With a huge population that makes up for an enormous market along with relatively low labor costs, China is very attractive for foreign companies. When foreign companies expand and establish in China, many aspects must be taken into consideration. Aspects like cultural differences must be considered by the foreign managers as well as how to manage the Chinese employees in human relations. Having innovative employees are beneficial to any company. However, the way to influence employees to be innovative can differ from one culture to another. There is little research done on Swedish companies operating in China and how they influence their Chinese employees to be innovative. The aim of this thesis is to provide some insight into this matter. The thesis takes a deductive approach, and the investigation is performed quantitatively by a survey. The survey is answered by the Chinese employees that are currently working in Swedish companies where they are to rank the presence of several Strategic Human Resource Management practices. Also, their perceptions on Chinese cultural aspects are investigated. The results from this thesis will point out the most successful practices in influencing the Chinese employees’ innovativeness, but also the cultural factors that can obstruct innovativeness. This research may be of value for Swedish companies, as well for Swedish managers hoping to establish themselves in China.

Nowadays, an increasing number of global retailers such as IKEA, Carrefour and Auchan, are expanding their business internationally: internationalization is seen as a way to face competitors as well as to enhance position on the market. In particular, emerging markets are becoming a fertile field for investing resources due to their fast economic development and growing disposable income of the local population. A number of market actors (or stakeholders) affect or are affected by the internationalization process, and therefore stakeholder management determines its success to a large extent. Thus, stakeholder management competences are becoming increasingly important in today’s business world. Our study addresses stakeholder management strategy applied by a Swedish global retailer (IKEA) when internationalizing to the Russian market. We also try to identify the main cultural differences between the focal organization and the Russian stakeholders, and the way in which the company faces and overcomes those diversities. Thus, we first give a brief overview of stakeholder management approach applied by IKEA on the corporate level, and then focus on particular practices adopted in Russia. Although the IKEA Group has internal and external stakeholder management framework, we find out that no explicit stakeholder management methodology is used in Russia. The strategy of managers is emergent and implicit, but within the company guidelines and code of conduct and in accordance with organizational culture and values. Although we outline IKEA Russia’s interaction with all main stakeholder groups on the Russian market, we examine more in detail the strategies applied towards the company’s three most critical stakeholders: government, suppliers and employees. Hence, IKEA Russia opts for long-term close collaboration with suppliers through knowledge and expertise exchange, close relationship-building, improvement of working standards, and even financial investments in some cases. Employees are granted good working conditions and respectful attitude, different compensation package, possibilities for personal and professional development. Government, identified by our respondents as the most challenging stakeholder, is approached through lobbying on different levels, development of personal relationships, exchange of experience and best practices. However, when interacting with authorities, IKEA also has to adapt, be “flexible within the limits”, and focus on the long-term. Having outlined real-life strategies applied by IKEA in Russia, we compare them with the results of theoretical modeling. In order to come up with theoretical propositions for stakeholder management of IKEA in Russia, we developed a stakeholder management model, which comprised all the most relevant theories. We, thus, discover that theoretical suggestions for stakeholder management are close to what is done by management in practice. However, the theoretical model overlooks “soft” aspects of dealing with stakeholders: local and organizational culture, turbulent business environment, fast pace of doing business. Moreover, it is difficult for a single stakeholder management framework to give a one-right stakeholder management approach: it is important to combine different theories and use them for complementing each other. This allows to get a more profound insight into managing stakeholders. We develop our research based on the information we could gather from IKEA’s representatives as well as secondary data sources, such as books, two doctoral theses, and a vast amount of journal articles. Our respondents were asked to answer questions throughout which their perceptions about the company’s stakeholders have been evaluated. This has helped the researchers to draw conclusions and answer the research questions.

The recent wave of globalization triggered by the end of the Cold War and stimulated by progressing liberalization of trade and international migration policies has led to a significant surge in numbers of bicultural individuals, i.e. people with more than one ethnic identity (Nguyen & Benet-Martinez, 2007), and thus, a surge in bicultural employees. An emerging stream of research from psychology and organizational studies indicates that bicultural individuals have a particular set of skills and competencies that can contribute to the performance of international teams and, in turn, organizations. However, to date there has not been a large sample empirical study investigating the oft-stated relationship between biculturals and performance. This dissertation seeks to fill this gap in the literature by examining said relationship by relating the composition of national association football teams to results in six consecutive FIFA World Cup and six UEFA European Championship tournaments (i.e. the results of 272 teams in 12 competitions). The results indicate that biculturalism improves team performance when moderated by the cultural diversity of the competitive environment of the team. / Graduate

The aim of the study was to investigate how the Swedish managerial leadership applies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to what extent they need to adapt their leadership due to the context which they are in. Six semi-structured interviews were made, and the results shows that the conditions for Swedish leaders is better in a context higher educational level among the employees and where the employees also express that they value the Swedish leader’s education and professional background. The study also shows that the participants to a high extent need to use an adaptive leadership approach to match the various contexts they work in. The leadership style the participants mostly use is a mixture of what they have learned in their new environment with their roots still in the Swedish approach. The study also shows that that the outcome of leadership can be affected by the different cultures and hierarchies within the different organisations. It is therefore necessary for the Swedish mangers to have a cultural intelligence and characteristics that can meet both the demands of the employees and the employer who often are of different educational and cultural backgrounds. This balance between the historical leadership in the UAE and the new Western leadership is something that the Swedish managers need to bring with them in their everyday work.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze culture’s influence on emotional intelligence between Mexican and Swedish leaders among multinational teams. The theoretical chapter has presented relevant theories relating to the field of research. Starting with globalization and internationalization, continuing with leadership and management. Thereafter, emotional intelligence and culture were defined. Followed by crosscultural management and multinational teams. A conceptual framework was illustrated to understand the logic behind the concepts. To gain a deeper understanding a qualitative method was applied. Further the thesis has pursued a deductive research approach. Purposive sampling was done to ensure the quality of the thesis. Furthermore, the empirical chapter presents the cases, followed by the operationalization, to establish a coherent order. In the analysis, the empirical material is linked to the theoretical framework. Lastly, the final chapter includes conclusions, implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. The outcome of this study has provided an understanding of the high importance of emotional intelligence amongst international business leaders. Furthermore, the findings in this thesis indicate that there are more similarities than differences regarding emotional intelligence between Mexican and Swedish leaders among multinational teams. Moreover, the thesis material emphasizes that nationality has a minor influence on emotional intelligence. It is rather other cultural aspects that have a greater impact.

Face à la concurrence exacerbée, la prescription d’achat peut être stratégique pour les organisations. Dans des contextes de décision difficiles, la prescription d’achat devient indispensable pour certains consommateurs. La revue de la littérature révèle des carences, des contradictions et un manque de confrontations terrain à propos des quelques théories et propositions émises sur ce concept. Qu’est-ce que la prescription d’achat ? Quel est son poids parmi les principales caractéristiques de décision d’achat ? Quel est l’impact de la culture ? Une étude qualitative menée en France auprès de 10 vétérinaires prescripteurs et 10 acheteurs d’aliments pour animaux de compagnie permet de mieux définir la prescription d’achat, et de valider ou rejeter les précédents apports sur ce thème. A l’aide du Consumer Styles Inventory (Sproles et Kendall 1986), une étude quantitative auprès de 308 acheteurs français et 221 acheteurs chinois d’aliments pour animaux de compagnie valide la sensibilité à la prescription comme caractéristique fondamentale de décision d’achat. Elle a un poids modéré selon le style de décision émergent, mais son rôle est discriminant dans la constitution des segments en France. Elle est positivement et significativement associée au perfectionnisme, à la fidélité, à l’hédonisme et à la confusion ; elle l’est négativement et significativement au prix. Alors qu’il y a une différence significative dans les styles de décision d’achat des français et des chinois, ce n’est pas le cas pour la sensibilité à la prescription. Les principaux apports théoriques et méthodologiques portent sur une meilleure définition de la prescription d’achat, sur la mesure du concept et sur sa présence au sein de deux cultures pourtant opposées. Pour les organisations, cette recherche souligne la valeur ajoutée que constitue le prescripteur face aux indécisions des acheteurs. Celles positionnées sur le haut de gamme sont encouragées à mettre en place des réseaux de prescripteurs pour faciliter leurs ventes. Une série de recommandations opérationnelles en découlent. / In highly competitive markets, shopping prescription may be strategic for organizations. In complex decision-making situations, shopping prescription is useful for some consumers. Literature review reveals gaps, contradictions and field shortcomings about this concept. What brand prescription is? What is its weight among the main decision-making characteristics? What is the impact of culture? A qualitative study conducted in France with 10 vet prescribers and 10 pet food buyers helps to better define this concept, and validate or reject previous contributions to this topic. Using the Consumer Styles Inventory (Sproles et Kendall 1986), a quantitative survey with 308 french and 221 chinese pet food buyers validates prescription consciousness as a fundamental decision-making characteristic. It has a moderate weight within the main decision-making style, but its role is discriminant on the cluster formation in France. It is positiveley and significantly associated with perfectionism, loyalty, hedonism and confusion while it is negatively and sinificantly to price. There is a significant difference in decision-making styles between French and Chinese, but this is not true for prescription consciousness. The main theoretical and methodological contributions are a better definition of this concept, its measurement scale and its presence in both but divergent cultures. From a managerial standpoint, this research highlights the added value brought by prescribers. Companies positioned on the high end market are encouraged to set up prescribers networks to ease sales. A series of operational recommendations arise from there.

The aim of the study was to investigate how the Swedish managerial leadership applies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to what extent they need to adapt their leadership due to the context which they are in. Six semi-structured interviews were made, and the results shows that the conditions for Swedish leaders is better in a context higher educational level among the employees and where the employees also express that they value the Swedish leader’s education and professional background. The study also shows that the participants to a high extent need to use an adaptive leadership approach to match the various contexts they work in. The leadership style the participants mostly use is a mixture of what they have learned in their new environment with their roots still in the Swedish approach. The study also shows that that the outcome of leadership can be affected by the different cultures and hierarchies within the different organisations. It is therefore necessary for the Swedish mangers to have a cultural intelligence and characteristics that can meet both the demands of the employees and the employer who often are of different educational and cultural backgrounds. This balance between the historical leadership in the UAE and the new Western leadership is something that the Swedish managers need to bring with them in their everyday work

Background: This study examines cross-cultural management within the Nordic renewable energy sector, focusing on how leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds manage their teams effectively amidst various cultural dynamics.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how leaders in three renewable energy companies based in Denmark and Sweden perceive and address cultural differences, as well as to identify the competencies these leaders deem important for managing cross-cultural challenges effectively. The research questions addressed include: How do these leaders navigate cross-cultural challenges within the renewable energy sector? Do these leaders highlight any specific competencies as particularly important for managing these cross-cultural challenges?  Method: A qualitative research approach was utilized, consisting of semi-structured interviews with seven leaders from three global companies in the renewable energy sector based in Sweden and Denmark. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis to extract relevant themes concerning cross-cultural competencies and leadership strategies.  Results and Analysis: The findings reveal that leaders emphasize the importance of cultural competence, including effective communication strategies tailored to diverse cultural settings. Leaders also highlighted the necessity of flexibility and adaptability in their leadership styles to address and navigate cultural differences successfully.  Conclusions: The study concludes that cross-cultural competencies are necessary for effective leadership in the renewable energy sector. Leaders must integrate understanding of cultural differences into their leadership practices to foster a productive and inclusive work environment.  Recommendations for Future Research: Future studies could expand the geographical scope to include other regions and explore the impact of technological advancements on cross-cultural leadership practices within the sector.  Keywords: Cross-Cultural Management, Renewable Energy, Leadership Competencies, Nordic Countries

In recent years the important of leadership in the organization has become an area of interest. Leadership has been noted to impact corporate culture, employee commitment and response and the overall performance of the organization. Given the fact that leadership is such an important part of organizational development and discourse, effective methods for developing effective leadership in the organization are needed. Without definitive methods for leadership development, organizations will not be able to optimize the outcomes of leadership in the organization. Thus, there is a clear impetus to delineate what works best in the context of leadership development. This study used concurrent qualitative and quantitative research to understand better the effect of cross-cultural influences on the leadership development programmes and leadership practices development in a study population consisting of managers and supervisors in the Kuwaiti banking industry. Although Kuwaiti organisations employ many international employees and operate foreign subsidiaries, they have not created leadership development programmes to improve cross-cultural leadership skills for managers. As a result, Kuwaiti managers often rely on traditional transactional methods and an authoritarian style of leadership that may be less effective with employees from different nations and cultural backgrounds. The qualitative phase of the research collected data from Kuwaiti bank managers through interviews while the quantitative phase of the research collected data with survey instrument. The quantitative phase of the study also tested the validity of a conceptual model and hypotheses using structural equation modelling and regression analysis. The research was guided by distributed leadership theory, which considers leadership as a series of interactions between leader and follower with the follower sometimes adopting an informal role as temporary leader. The theory also considers the context in which the leader operates as a critical factor for motivating leadership practise. The testing and validation of the theoretical model in the study led to the acceptance of a new 'Effective Cross Cultural Leadership' (ECL) model. This model describes the relationship between the exogenous or independent variables of cultural differences, training and development in traditional Kuwaiti leadership, cross cultural leadership development programmes and international leadership practises with the endogenous or dependent variables of leadership development programmes and leadership practises development. The testing of the hypotheses of the study showed a statistically significant relationship between the four independent variables and the two dependent variables with exception of the relationship between the independent variable of international leadership practises and the dependant variable of leadership programmes development. The quantitative findings also indicated that demographic variables do not have a moderating effect on the model. The qualitative findings of the study determined that cultural differences between employees and managers influence the managers' leadership behaviours and their understanding of the type of leadership development programmes to improve their cross-cultural leadership skills. Managers with greater experience or knowledge of foreign cultures adopt more flexible leadership practises when leading international teams. The qualitative findings also determined that front office managers are more willing to use participative leadership styles in leadership practises, while back office managers rely on authoritarian leadership styles focusing on tasks in their leadership practises, indicating that the context influences leadership styles and practise. The findings of the study including the development and validation of the Effective Cross-Cultural Leadership (ECL) model contribute to the theoretical and practical knowledge of cross-cultural leadership in Kuwait that can be extended to other Middle Eastern nations. In addition, the study finding extends cross-cultural theory by indicating that international influences both internal and external to the organisation affect leadership styles despite national norms and preferences. These findings implied that Kuwaiti organisations experience significant pressure to adopt some international leadership practises and styles to accommodate the expectations and needs of the many international workers employed in Kuwait. The practical implication of these findings showed that Kuwaiti managers would benefit from leadership training emphasising that no standard or correct approach to leadership exists and that it can be acceptable for leaders to use participative styles when warranted by the situation.

Nowadays, multinational organisations face the challenge of managing a diverse workforce. The role of diversity has become increasingly important in a world that is influenced by the outcomes of globalisation. Organisations operate worldwide and therefore recruit their employees from all around the world, which leads to diverse workforces. It is essential for an organisation to be aware of differences within the workforce and to manage diversity actively in order to benefit from its positive potential. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact diversity has on organisations such as IKEA. Especially how the everyday business life is affected by diversity and if the positive or negative aspects prevail. Further, it is investigated how cross-cultural management can be used as a managerial tool to influence and adjust diversity in a certain way. The organisational culture of an organisation was identified as the third important cornerstone in that relation. The researchers presumed a correlation between those three phenomena. The aforementioned assumptions led to the construction of the following research questions for this study: What impact does diversity have on an organisation such as IKEA? and How does cross-cultural management influence outcomes of diversity and what role does organisational culture play in that context? To answer these research questions, an exploratory study was carried out. An abductive approach was chosen that allowed for adding new theories throughout the research process. The data was collected through nine semi-structured interviews with experienced IKEA managers. Additionally, scientific articles and books were used as support to develop theoretical and practical contributions to the fields of diversity, cross-cultural management and organisational culture. The study revealed that diversity has a large impact on organisations such as IKEA. Furthermore, a correlation between diversity, cross-cultural management and organisational culture was identified. The findings led to the conclusion that diversity within an organisation creates the need for cross-cultural management. Organisational culture, in that context, builds a foundation for values and perceptions that are shared by the workforce. Therefore, a strong organisational culture helps to utilize the positive aspects of having a diverse workforce. In the case of IKEA, successful organisational socialisation and institutionalisation function as tools for preserving institutional memory, in terms of values and ethical business behaviour.