The role of cultural diversity with regard to strategic decision making in Pechiney

Auteur(s) : Decker, Peter

• Notice du document

  Titre / Title

  The role of cultural diversity with regard to strategic decision making in Pechiney

  Auteur(s) / Author(s)

  Decker Peter, auteur principal

  Type de document

  MBA

  Publication

  London Metropolitan University (Royaume-Uni), 2003

  Description technique / Physical description

  152 p.

• Description

  • Résumé / Abstract

    With this dissertation the author investigates the influence of cultural diversity on strategic decision making for a multinational company. The research was undertaken with the cooperation of the participating company PECHINEY, a leading organisation of the aluminium industry with its headquarters based in" Paris, France. The company has subsidiaries in many countries and ambitions to grow further, especially by establishing businesses in emerging industries such as China. The research areas of this dissertation include globalisation, the global aluminium industry, the evolution of the firm PECHINEY, cultural perspectives and international management practises. The author of this dissertation undertook extensive literature review and acquired knowledge of all above-mentioned subjects. The author agreed then with the participating organisation on the specific investigation areas within the group and evaluated relevant company documents. Alter this stage, the author had developed significant knowledge of the subject areas and could conduct interviews in order to gain information of executive managers concerning the group's globalisation experiences. The findings inform clearly that PECHINEY needs to address communications in order to improve relationships with emerging industries. Failures of synergies in the past are mainly due to different perspectives based on cultural values such as individualism and uncertainty avoidance. Many aspects of negotiations and business practises are based on trust developed over time. PECHINEY should make extensive use of historical events in order to avoid further failures linked to issues of cultural diversity. Individual elements for specific regions should be appreciated and integrated in strategy formulation. The current management trend of PECHINEY is to alter the Human Resources Strategy. The company has undertaken major restructure processes during the part years and realised the need for more internationalisation. International recruitment and training policies will help the group to develop a corporate culture that facilitates the integration of expatriate managers in foreign territory.