Shared Knowledge and Schemes Created by a Set of People

The term ‘culture’ holds a significant importance in every person’s life. It is an integral part of the identity of every individual. There is no single commonly accepted definition for ‘culture’ but one particular definition which stands out is "Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them" (J.P. Lederach, 1995). Culture consists of the various social and moral values which are a part of any society. These are the shared values which are present in the society and are passed on from one generation to another, and it is these shared values which not only help to identify the members of a particular culture group but also help to distinguish them from some other group. Culture not only refers to the religion a set of people practice, but also the languages they speak, the way they dress, the way they greet each other and many more. Culture not only varies from country to country, but it is also highly diverse within the different regions of any country.

Globalization has led to international integration due to the exchange of ideas, products and other aspects of culture. It has brought the countries of the world very much closer. Although the term ‘Globalization’ is regarded as a relatively new concept arising only in the past few decades, but international trade has been taking place for many centuries. An early example of this is the ‘Silk Route’ which was important for the cultural interaction of the various parts of Asia. It joined the West to the East and was used by merchants to travel across different countries and sell their goods. This had led to the increasing exchange and understanding of the different...

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... bridge this cultural gap. IKEA adopted many simple strategies to enhance cross-cultural management and to create a work environment that was fruitful for both the organization as well as the employees. The best strategy of IKEA to enhance cross-cultural management was to have about 80% of the managerial roles filled with Spanish managers while the remaining 20% were Swedish. This helped IKEA by getting a very close understanding of the Spanish culture by the people who were involved in the decision making process and also who could share this knowledge with their Swedish colleagues. IKEA conducted seminars in which the managers from both the cultures participated in discussions and sharing their ideas. The managers first had to undergo training on the work culture of IKEA; this helped them to meet the expectations of not only IKEA but also their domestic employees.