Cross-Cultural Management in French and American Companies

Abstract

Cross-Cultural Management in French and American Companies By Maimuntu Mohammed, Cloe Lechevallier In response to a fast changing business environment, companies have to internationally adapt. For more than twenty years, managing people has been a core topic scholarly and corporately discussed. Globalization has created a new business environment, where companies and managers have to adapt to meet the demand and fulfill the expectations of a global market. The worldwide business expansion has totally changed principles of human management and now requires the consideration of cultural differences in corporations. Because managing people varies among countries and cultures, it is a necessity for business leaders to adapt and fully understand the notion of cultural differences, since most successful companies are developing outside of their original countries. The purpose of this paper is to analysis the differences in managing people among occidental cultures, with an emphasis on the American and the French cultures, and a focus on cross-cultural management. The research will employ a fact-based principle that combines primary and secondary data. Palmolive-Colgate and L’Oreal are the two multinational companies operating in both countries, that will be discussed and analyzed in this paper as the primary data. A literature research will be conducted as part of secondary data.