Intercultural Communication for Managers

CHAPTER 5

Power, Influence, and Authority

Contradicting a superior in some cultures can lead to reprimands and punishment.

To manage and communicate successfully in a global marketplace, the workings of power, authority, and influence must be understood.

In much of the world, including the industrialized West, power is considered to be separate from the person. Power goes with the organization or the office. In Western countries, power is related to the responsibility, authority, and ability to make decisions and the responsibility, authority, and ability to implement them. An individual’s title, such as vice president or managing director, symbolizes that power.

Asian cultures, on the other hand, with their strong emphasis on the group over ...