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Given the rising expansion of Western multinational companies (MNCs) to the African contexts, the development of expatriates and local employees has become increasingly important to the human resource management of these MNCs. This paper aims to provide critical lessons on cross-cultural communication competences for Western expatriates working in the sub-Saharan Africa business environment.

This paper is a qualitative phenomenology that makes use of lived experiences of senior expatriate staff working in Ghana in the form of direct interviews.

Results showed that cross-cultural communication competence is very important for Western expatriates’ functioning in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings also established a plethora of cross-cultural communication skills that are essential for Western expatriates’ successful adaptation and work outcomes in Africa.

This research argues that there is the need for the appreciations of the differing cultural patterns of expatriates and local staff, and this provides the underlying assumptions of intercultural and cross-cultural communication in global business.

A critical perspective of international business that has scarcely been studied offers lessons for Western expatriates working in sub-Saharan Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to examine relational and task dimension of online communication and the associated emotional experience.

This paper examines four categories of work outcomes: emotional experiences of work, work attitudes, work dynamics and work behaviours; and links each to the cross‐cultural online communication context.

It was found that diversity‐oriented HRM can reduce the cultural fault‐lines between individualist and collectivist (IC) cultures, and thereby positively moderate the relationship between cross‐cultural online communication and affective, cognitive and behavioural outcomes.

Diversity‐oriented HRM can capitalize on an organisation's cultural diversity and avoid cross‐cultural misunderstandings. In a more practical sense, the research purports that combined use of IC HRM practices can produce greater efficiency and effectiveness in online communications worldwide.

The paper provides an insight into the potential implications of increased use of information technology on cross‐cultural communication, and human resource management. The significance of diversity‐oriented human resource management in managing these implications is also highlighted.

The purpose of this paper is to explore students’ perceptions of the use of technology in cross-cultural communication and to compare findings with current trends in business.

Structured interviews with seven open-ended questions were used to explore students’ perceptions of the use of technology in cross-cultural communication.

Students learn how to use new technology in cross-cultural communication faster than businesses implement those technologies. Students tend to emphasize the use of video conferencing tools rather than e-mail.

Although data saturation has been reached, the sample size was relatively small. Students studying business participated in the study.

The findings of this study suggest considering changes to the curriculum and embedding work-based learning into academic programs.

This paper compares students’ perceptions with business expectations, revealing the areas in the content of the business communication classes that need to be changed.

Research within the inter-organizational field has until recently focused on the formation and maintenance of business relationships, while less research has been directed toward the study of relationship ending. Lately, however, research on dissolution and related constructs, such as exit intention and switching has emerged (Halinen, Havila, & Tähtinen, 1999a; Prim-Allaz, 2000; Tähtinen & Havila, 2004; Vaaland, Haugland, & Purchase, 2004). Some literature focuses on the reasons and antecedents to relationship dissolution (Ping, 1999; Haugland, 1999; Wathne, Biong, & Heide, 2000), while other research investigates the process and consequences of relationship dissolution (Grønhaug, Henjesand, & Koveland, 1999; Giller & Matear, 2001; Alajoutsijärvi, Möller, & Tähtinen, 2000). Yet, few studies have investigated relationship dissolution in cross -national dyads. Specifically, the current research examines how supplier reps’ cultural knowledge, cultural adaptation and communication affect buyer tolerance of conflict in cross-national business relationships. The construct tolerance of conflict refers to the intention to discontinue the business relationship with the current partner given conflict situations. This construct is therefore conceptually close to exit intention; a construct frequently used in relationship dissolution studies (e.g. Ping, 1993,1995; Halinen & Tähtinen, 1999b).

Globalisation means that more and more construction projects involve participants from different cultural backgrounds. Besides the obvious language barrier, people may also have different faiths, assumptions and behaviour norms which can and do cause conflicts. This challenges previous approaches and is creating a new context for the construction industry. This research aims to explore how practitioners can work more effectively in cross‐cultural situations.

The paper uses real‐life experience and personal construct theory to understand the problems in interpretation, communications, emotion and trust. It uses methods of participatory action research and experiential research, and an analysis based on dialogue and reflection between the researchers with different cultural backgrounds.

The paper concludes that, to work effectively in cross‐cultural situations, one needs to work with one's personal constructs and pay more attention to informal communications. It is also necessary to recognise and deal with emotions explicitly. It is very important yet difficult to build and maintain trust in cross‐cultural cooperation.

This approach inevitably brings some personal or even biased subjective judgement on certain cultural phenomena. There are others involved who do not have a voice.

The research provides a new approach to facilitate practitioners to tackle the problems of cross‐cultural projects.

The paper applies personal construct theory to cross‐cultural analysis using a novel methodology of cross‐cultural dialogue. This develops a practical approach to situations and establishes the importance of emotion in cross‐cultural cooperation.

The purpose of this study is to explore the adjustment model of expatriates in overseas projects by studying two overseas projects of a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Based on the grounded theory, qualitative analysis was performed based on data compiled from 116 pieces of project briefings, 105 questionnaires answered by expatriate workers and 21 interviews conducted to those workers based on briefings and questionnaires.

The study found that the simulated home is a standard cross-cultural adjustment model for expatriates in Chinese engineering projects, which are project-oriented and often inattentive to employees' individual rights. The simulated home creates a unique work-place and social environment similar to that of expatriates' home country in the cultural setting of the host country, but it also establishes a cultural barrier, limiting the communication between expatriates and the local people, which is not conducive to the cultural exchange between the two sides, causing cultural clashes and consequently hindering the progress of projects.

This research puts forward the model of “simulated home.” And this study bears significance to the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriate workers in Chinese overseas projects.

Relying on data collected from in-depth interviews and participant observation, as well as secondary data, this chapter compares the cross-cultural communication processes between easterners and westerners in an Asian cultural context, namely, that of Taiwan, as well as the potential influences of Confucianism and the theory of “manners of different orders.” Our data reveal that westerners tend to communicate with Taiwanese people in an outspoken and brusque way and to make few changes during the communication process. On the contrary, easterners are inclined to communicate with a gentler approach and make adjustments for the local culture. We also find that Confucianism and the theory of manners of different orders have strong influences on cross-cultural communication strategies and performance. This chapter provides evidence to support the arguments that the theory of manners of different orders may play an even more significant role than the individualism–collectivism paradigm in explaining the causes of better communicational performance in Taiwan and possibly mainland China. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided based on these findings.

Training programs designed to enhance managerial effectiveness at cross‐cultural communication tend to be directed at specific target cultures. This paper argues that an etic approach, one based on universal variables that occur in every culture and that vary across cultures, comprises an important alternative. This paper reviews anthropological/sociolinguistic research on one universal variable, “politeness.” Politeness, or linguistic indirection used to show social consideration, is a crucial element of interpersonal communication in all human cultures, yet it has received little mention in the literature. Implications of politeness for managerial cross‐cultural communication are explored. The implications of a universalistic approach to cross‐cultural communication training are discussed.