Inresponsetoasurvey of Fortune1000companiesenquiringabout “thebiggestbarrierin doing business in the world market”, cultural differences ranked at the top of the list (The Guardian, September 20, 2007). The report suggested that the failure to recognize these differences was the most common cause of failure for cross-national enterprises. (Other barriers ranked were the concerns of law, price competition, information, languages, delivery, foreign currencies, and time differences.) Members of different cultures express different values and priorities when they make and implement decisions. These values influence work relationships, whether between superior and subordinate, peers, international joint venture partners, managers in headquarters and subsidiaries, and others. How do international managers recognize the opportunities and threats that cultural difference presents? And how do they respond? Theanswersdonotliesimplyinlearningmoreculture.Theinfluenceofcultureisnever stableanditseffectonbehaviorcanneverbepreciselypredicted.Further,arangeofother factors may intervene. These include the social and business environments, industry and organizational interests, and the personalities of the people concerned. The problem for the manager is deciding which have priority in any given situation. Culture is SOMETIMES very significant; and on other occasions it is not, and the other factorsaremoreso.ThemanagerneedstheskillstorecognizeWHENcultureissignificant, to weigh its influence against that of the other factors, and then respond appropriately. This book aims to equip managers with these skills. The material is organized in four parts. Part One consists of an introductory first chapter. In Part Two, Chapters 2–12 focus on cross-cultural management, and examine how far culture influences behavior in the workplace and the internal systems of the company. In Part Three, Chapters 13–22 focus on global and strategic issues in international business, and emphasize the influence of non-cultural factors on decision-making and implementation. Part Four consists of two concluding chapters, 23 on cultural convergence and divergence in the subsidiary, and 24 on ethics. These two chapters rework many of the themes introduced earlier. Short case studies follow each part. Finally, there is an Appendix on planning a management dissertation. The Instructors’ Manual that accompanies this book suggests alternative arrangements by which the instructor can structure teaching courses based on it.