跨国公司中的文化差异与冲突

跨国公司中的文化差异与冲突a study of cultural differences and cultural conflicts inmultinational corporationsabstract： the 2008 global economic crisis offers an unprecedentedly golden chance to the chinese national enterprises that are desire of taking over overseas big potatoes. nevertheless， the tragedies of cross-border acquisition and merger tie much closer to business world than the comedies. in fact， the main reason of the failure is the dearth of global leadership and intercultural communication competence among domestic entrepreneurs and management team members who are also short of experience of overseas business operation， which sets huge obstacles for the domestic corporations to handle multinational corporation syndrome （mcs）loomed shortly after the fledging period ofcross-border acquisition and merger. these paper analyses the relationship between culture and management， uncovers the real cause of multinational corporation syndrome一一cultural differences， and proposes golden time to address multinational corporation syndrome.key words： cultural differences， cultural conflicts，multinational corporations1.introductionthe global economic crisis in the late of 2008 has brought catastrophe to a lot of well-established multinationals whose current business running status stays at stake. in order to fight against financial deficit， the previous ever bright giants cannot but decide to sell assets as well as subsidiaries. consequently， it offers an unprecedentedly golden chance to the chinese national enterprises that are desire of taking over overseas big potatoes. on the one hand，the domestic corporations have been developed at a dramatic speed with abundant capital reserves in the wake of china’s access to wto， which guarantees the finical capability of carrying out mergers or acquisitions. on the other， the local companies would not only level up competitiveness via absorbing state-of-the-art technology from overseas ones but also pave the way for launching thrilling campaigns on the international markets. nevertheless， the tragedies of cross-border acquisition and merger tie much closer to business world than the comedies. in fact， the main reason of the failure is the dearth of global leadership and intercultural communication competence among domestic entrepreneurs and management team members who are also shortof experience of overseas business operation， which sets huge obstacles for the domestic corporations to handle multinational corporation syndrome（mcs）loomed shortly after the fledging period of cross-border acquisition and merger.2.intercultural integration in multinational corporation syndromebastine&ven （1986） and olie （1995） put forward multinational corporation syndrome （mcs）. it means that newly merged and acquired cross-border companies would encounter a lot of confusion， barriers， and frictions during corporation communication right after taking-over procedures.olie （1995） maintains the rate of successful merger or acquisition floats from 40% to 50% . in his survey of 8000 newly acquired and merged companies， muller （1998） states that only 15070 of the companies bear sound outcome， whereas these successful companies do not yield direct profits in the coming few years. similar to their surveys， jack prouty，global partner of kpmg， displays his study of “70/70”concerning corporation acquisition and merger. it shows that 70% of the companies fail to realize its anticipated business value， and 70% of the failure occurs during the process ofcorporation integration. in his view point， prouty owes cultural conflicts and improper cultural integration to the failure. what’s more， a survey of fortune 500 ceos unearths that 70% of cross-cultural mergers and acquisitions do not yield ideal outcome and the failure of cross-border mergers and acquisitions is attributed to the unanticipated problems in dealing with people， including corporation governance and staff welfare. moreover the survey shows 50% of managers choose to leave the company within one year after taking-over.as far as the author is concerned， the failure of management in multinationals not only lies in the divergence of management concept and manners but also rests with the difference of culture， as the previous analysis of the culture and management mentioned. in fact， setting corporation relationship between strategic objectives，making final decisions， allocating human resource， and expanding public relations are all administrated by human beings. people from different culture would share various viewpoints in business running， which is displayed on diverse performance of communication. staff members would be more likely to misunderstand others’remarks and behavior in such assorted culture backgrounds. if not settled properly， thetiny conflicts would be upgraded into skirmishes and even huge disasters. therefore， managing cross-border corporations essentially demands intercultural knowledge and practice.3.merger stages in intercultural synergyzhuang enping （2005） divides the period of cross一border acquisition and merger into two stages， say， the pre-merger stage and the pro-merger stage， according to his research on the diagnosis， analysis， and resolution of multinational corporation syndrome.during the pre-merger stage， both sides initiate negotiation considerably centered on the maximized economic interests which they can achieve.pro-merger stage is the time when both sides start to perform duties and own right after signing the contract. at this time， the newly-combined company begins to run. personal factors have been taken as the paramount things to harness business operation and daily communication since the both sides have identified and ratified the agreement on financial interests at the pre-merger stage. it is true to see personal factors under multi-cultural workplace as cultural factors. global workers could solve communication conflicts according to the newly-built corporation culture which actually atfirst is well-recognized by the total staff members. in other words， cultural factors based on the culture synergy play crucial roles at pro-merger stage. hence， it is the golden time for corporation development at this period.according to the survey by kearney inc.， it mainly specializes in analyzing ratios of risk during corporation merger periods. the period of corporation merger is put into three divisions， stage of scheming goals and seeking partner，stage of negotiation and contract signing， and thepost-merger stage from the feedbacks.according to the data， 30% of interviewees hold the idea that searching an ideal partner acts as the riskiest circle；17% of interviewees find that the period of meeting and negotiation is the most perilous one； and the remaining 53% of people firmly view that post-merger stage is full of uncertain factors.it manifests that both zhuang’s research and kearney’s survey underscore that the stage after taking-over procedures， namely， post-merger stage， is the most crucial period in cross-cultural mergers and acquisitions， when culture outweighs other factors in daily business operations. now that the post-merger stage is so of great important，intercultural integration is highly preferred at this period in order to overcome multinational corporation syndrome.4.suggestionsas far as the author is concerned， it is strongly recommended that global ceos should design and carry out intercultural synergy as early as possible in order to fuel the integration of various cultures and reduces conflicts. it is a clever idea to add the plan of cultural merger on the meeting agenda， providing the two parts regard the other side as the sole cooperative partner and final signing contract is under preparation. generally speaking， the more early the cultural integration takes place， the more quickly the international staff performance well. in addition， early cultural integration helps staff members get more easily accustomed to the new environment in the wake of corporation acquisition and merger.reference：1、olie， r. l.， 1996， european transnational merger [m]，maastricht university press；2、varner， i. & beamer， l.， 2005， intercultural communication in the global workplace [m]， new york： mcgraw hill；3、schein， e. h.， 1985， organizational culture and leadership [m]， san francisco： jossey bass；4、庄恩平.跨国公司综合症诊断、分析与对策[j]. 管理科学杂志，2005作者简介：石雪（1988.11-），女，汉族，山东省泰安市人，在读研究生研究方向为应用语言学.。