Cross-Cultural Management: The Cultural Mindset is based on Dr. Nahavandi's years of teaching, researching, and consulting with many businesses on cross-cultural issues. Built around a think-know-do model, the text enables readers to adopt a cultural mindset that will effectively guide their thinking and behavior as future managers. By focusing on culture in general, the book addresses both national cultural issues and diversity issues. The key underlying theme for both topics is how culture, national or group-related, impacts our perspective - what we value, how we think, how we behave, and how we manage people effectively.
Afsaneh Nahavandi is a professor at Department of Leadership Studies and the Department of Management at the University of San Diego and Professor Emerita at Arizona State University. She teaches courses in leadership, culture, organizational behavior and organizational theory. She is originally from Iran and was educated in the French school system. In addition to English, she is fluent in French and Persian and has a working knowledge of Spanish. She has traveled extensively and considers herself to be fully part of three different cultures. Her academic background is similarly trans-disciplinary. Her PhD is in social psychology from the University of Utah. She taught in business schools for over 20 years, first at Northeastern University in Boston and then at Arizona State University. She was also a faculty in the ASU School of Public Administration for five years. Her diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds have allowed her to develop a unique perspective on understanding and teaching culture.
Nahavandi has authored five books: The Art and Science of Leadership (first published in 1997, Pearson-Prentice Hall), now in its 7th edition; Organizational Behavior (2014, Sage). with R. Denhardt, J. Denhardt, and M. Aristigueta; Ancient Leadership Wisdom (2012, Wasteland Press); Organizational Behavior: The Person-Organization Fit (1999, Prentice Hall). and Organizational Culture in the Management of Mergers (1993, Quorum Books). She is also the author of numerous articles about leadership, culture, and teams, including one recent article about teaching culture in the Journal of Management Education, and several chapters about Indo-European Leadership (IEL). She has held a variety of administrative positions including director of Freshman programs and of the MBA program at ASU's West campus, associate dean of the University College and the College of Public Programs at ASU, and most recently, department chair of Leadership Studies at USD. Her most recent research project has brought together 15 doctoral students who have developed a comprehensive assessment of the cultural mindset. The assessment is currently in the validation stage and constitutes a first step towards the creation of an extensive training program for developing a cultural mindset.
