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Management styles are the ways that managers plan, organize, lead, and control their teams. Different cultures may have different preferences and expectations for how managers should behave and communicate. This article aims to provide an overview of the different management styles of various countries and how they benefit the software development industry and ODC sector in general.
Software development is a global industry that requires collaboration, innovation, and quality. Different management styles can have different impacts on the software development process and outcomes. Learning about different management styles in software development and IT outsourcing industry can have several benefits, such as:
- Enhancing cross-cultural communication and collaboration among teams and clients from different countries.
- Adapting to the preferences and expectations of different stakeholders and markets.
- Leveraging the strengths and opportunities of different leadership approaches and avoiding potential pitfalls and conflicts.
- Fostering innovation, creativity, and diversity of perspectives and solutions.
- Improving the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of software development projects and processes.
Here are some examples of how management styles can vary across different cultural regions.
Germany
Frankfurt airport - insideflyer.de
German managers can use their hierarchy, directness, and task-orientation to provide clear roles and responsibilities to their software developers. They can also leverage their logical and analytical communication style to provide constructive feedback and guidance to their developers. They value clear rules and procedures, efficiency, and quality in the workplace. They are pragmatic, efficient, and results-oriented. They are flexible and open to innovation, but they also base their choices on data and proof. They expect their subordinates to follow the rules and procedures, and to deliver high-quality results on time.
Some of the renowned digital businesses from Germany are:
- SAP: The largest software company in Europe and one of the world's leading providers of enterprise software solutions. It offers ERP, CRM, cloud computing, analytics, and other applications to various industries.
- Siemens: A global industrial conglomerate that operates in various sectors, such as energy, healthcare, infrastructure, and mobility. It offers software solutions for automation, digitalization, and electrification.
- Zalando: A leading online fashion platform that operates in 17 European markets. It offers e-commerce, logistics, marketing, and technology services to customers and brands.
- TeamViewer: A global leader in remote connectivity solutions. It offers software products for remote access, remote support, remote management, and collaboration.
There are also many emerging tech businesses in Germany, such as:
- N26: A leading mobile banking company that operates in 25 markets across Europe and the US. It offers a platform for online banking, payments, savings, and investments.
- Delivery Hero: A leading online food delivery company that operates in 40 countries across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. It offers a platform for ordering food from restaurants, groceries, and convenience stores.
- Celonis: A leading process mining company that provides solutions for business process optimization, automation, and transformation.
- Contentful: A leading content management company that provides solutions for headless CMS, API-first, and cloud-native content delivery.
- Personio: A leading human resources company that provides solutions for HR management, payroll, and recruiting.
Being the largest IT market in Europe, with stable economy, and high level of digitalization, Germany often hires offshore teams from Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, India, and Vietnam.
France
Photo by Jacques Demarthon / AFP / Getty Images
French managers can use their autocracy, centralization, and elitism to make decisions and provide expertise to their software developers. They expect obedience and loyalty from their development team. They can also leverage their creative and innovative communication style to inspire and challenge their developers. They value creativity, innovation, and elegance in their work. They are flexible, adaptable, and opportunistic. They are open to change and innovation, but they also rely on facts and evidence to support their decisions.
- Dassault Systèmes: A world leader in 3D design and engineering software. It offers software solutions for product design, simulation, manufacturing, construction, and more.
- Capgemini: A global leader in consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It offers digital transformation, cloud computing, cybersecurity, AI, and other services to clients in various industries.
- Ubisoft: A leading video game publisher and developer. It produces popular franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Just Dance, and more.
- Criteo: A global leader in online advertising technology. It offers personalized retargeting solutions for e-commerce businesses.
Some of the French emerging platforms are:
- BlaBlaCar: A leading carpooling company that operates in 22 countries across Europe and Latin America. It offers a platform for sharing rides with other travelers.
- Deezer: A leading music streaming company that operates in 180 countries worldwide. It offers a platform for listening to music, podcasts, and live radio. and live radio.
- Ledger: A leading cryptocurrency company that provides solutions for hardware wallets, software wallets, and blockchain security.
Doctolib: A leading health tech company that provides solutions for online appointment booking, telemedicine, and practice management.
Spain
Madrid from InSpain.news
Leaders in Spain are similar to those in France. Spanish managers tend to use their autocracy, charisma, and personalism to influence and motivate their software developers. They are directive and paternalistic. They can also leverage their warm and expressive communication style to build rapport and trust with their clients and stakeholders. They value personal relationships and trust over formal rules and contracts. They value flexibility, spontaneity, and adaptability in the workplace. They are flexible, adaptable, and opportunistic. They are cautious about change and risk, but they also show creativity and initiative when needed.
Some of the successful digital businesses in Spain are:
- Indra: A global technology and consulting company that operates in 140 countries. It offers software solutions for transportation, defense, security, energy, and other sectors.
- Glovo: A leading on-demand delivery platform that operates in 20 countries. It offers delivery services for food, groceries, pharmacy, and more.
- Scytl: A global leader in online voting and election modernization. It offers software solutions for election management, online voting, election security, and more.
Some of the arising tech companies in Spain are:
- Cabify: A leading mobility company that operates in 11 countries across Europe and Latin America. It offers a platform for ride-hailing, carpooling, and micro mobility.
- Typeform: A leading online survey company that provides solutions for creating interactive forms, quizzes, and surveys.
- TravelPerk: A leading travel management company that provides solutions for booking, managing, and reporting business travel.
Sweden
By David Leonhardt - The New York Times
Swedish managers can use their democracy, participation, and egalitarianism to involve their software developers in decision making and problem solving. They encourage teamwork and cooperation. They can also leverage their direct and open communication style to provide clear and honest feedback and guidance to their developers. They value consensus, transparency, equality, and empowerment in the workplace. They are pragmatic, efficient, and results-oriented. They are open to new ideas and change, but they also base their choices on facts and evidence.
Some of the successful digital businesses in Spain are:
- Spotify: A global leader in music streaming and podcasting. It offers access to millions of songs, podcasts, and playlists to users and creators.
- Klarna: A global leader in online payment and shopping solutions. It offers buy now, pay later options, installment plans, and other services to customers and merchants.
- King: A leading mobile game developer and publisher. It produces popular games such as Candy Crush, Farm Heroes, and more.
- TietoEVRY: A leading Nordic IT services and software company. It offers digital transformation, cloud computing, data analytics, and other services to clients in various industries.
There are also many uprising digital solutions in Sweden, such as:
- iZettle: A leading fintech company that provides solutions for mobile payments, point of sale, e-commerce, and invoicing.
- Truecaller: A leading communication company that provides solutions for caller ID, spam blocking, and smart dialing.
- Sinch: A leading cloud communications company that provides solutions for voice, video, messaging, and verification.
United Kingdom
London - Getty Images
British managers tend to be empirical, pragmatic, and humorous in basing their decisions on facts and evidence for their software developers. Like Sweden leaders, managers in UK are consultative and inclusive. They can also leverage their direct and ironic communication style to provide feedback and cope with stress and conflict with their developers. They value professionalism, fairness, compromise, and understatement in the workplace. They are practical, efficient, and goal-oriented. They are open to change and innovation, but they also base their decisions on facts and evidence.
Some of the successful digital businesses in Spain are:
- Sage: A global leader in business management software. It offers software solutions for accounting, payroll, HR, CRM, and more.
- WPP: A global leader in advertising and marketing services. It offers creative, media, data, and technology services to clients in various industries.
- HCL: A global IT services and solutions provider. It offers products and services such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and more.
Some of the emerging platforms in UK are:
- TransferWise: A global leader in online money transfer and remittance. It offers a platform for sending and receiving money across borders with low fees and fair exchange rates.
- Deliveroo: A leading online food delivery platform that operates in 12 countries. It offers delivery services for restaurants, groceries, convenience stores, and more.
- Babylon Health: A leading health tech company that provides solutions for online consultation, diagnosis, prescription, and health monitoring.
- Improbable: A leading gaming company that provides solutions for creating massive multiplayer online games using cloud computing and simulation technology.
This second-largest IT market in Europe often hires offshore teams from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, India, and China.
Australia
Bourke Streel Mall in Melbourne
Australian managers can use their informality, relaxation, and matey attitude to communicate openly and casually with their software developers. They can also leverage their honest, loyal, and humorous communication style to build rapport and trust with their clients and stakeholders. They value honesty, loyalty, and humor in the workplace. They avoid hierarchy and bureaucracy. They are pragmatic, efficient, and results-oriented. They are open to change and innovation, but they also rely on facts and evidence to support their decisions.
Some of the big names in Australia are:
- Atlassian: A global leader in software development and collaboration tools. It produces popular products such as Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, and more.
- Canva: A global leader in online graphic design and publishing tools. It offers a platform for creating social media graphics, presentations, logos, and more.
- Afterpay: A global leader in buy now pay later solutions. It offers payment options for online and offline purchases to customers and merchants.
- Xero: A global leader in online accounting software. It offers software solutions for small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers.
- Culture Amp: A leading people and culture company that provides solutions for employee engagement, performance management, and feedback.
- Freelancer: A leading online marketplace that connects freelancers with employers. It offers a platform for finding and hiring freelancers for various projects.
Being a fast-growing IT market in the Asia-Pacific region, with a high demand for software development services, Australia often hires offshore teams from India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Japan
East Japan from Reuters
Japanese managers can use their consensus, paternalism, and collectivism to seek harmony and consensus among their software developers. They can also leverage their polite and indirect communication style to avoid conflict and criticism with their clients and stakeholders. They value teamwork, cooperation, and long-term relationships in the workplace. They are conservative, cautious, and risk-averse. They tend to be prudent and focused on potential threats rather than rewards. They are resistant to change and innovation, but they also show generosity and hospitality when needed.
Some of the successful digital businesses from Japan are:
- Nintendo: A global leader in video game development and publishing. It produces popular franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, and more.
- Rakuten: A leading e-commerce and internet company in Japan. It offers online shopping, digital content, fintech, communications, and other services.
- SoftBank: A global technology conglomerate that operates in various sectors, such as telecom, internet, AI, robotics, and more.
- Fujitsu: A global IT services and solutions provider. It offers cloud computing, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and other services to clients in various industries.
Here are the emerging platforms operate from Japan:
- Mercari: A leading online marketplace that operates in Japan and the US. It offers a platform for buying and selling new and used goods.
- SmartNews: A leading news aggregation company that operates in Japan and the US. It offers a platform for delivering personalized news from various sources.
- Preferred Networks: A leading AI company that provides solutions for deep learning, computer vision, and natural language processing.
- Sansan: A leading business card company that provides solutions for scanning, managing, and sharing business cards.
Singapore
Raffles Place - Photographer: Lauryn Ishak / Bloomberg
Singaporean managers can use their formality and hierarchy to provide clarity and direction to their software developers. They can also leverage their indirect and subtle communication style to avoid offending or embarrassing their clients and stakeholders. They value order, stability, and harmony in the workplace. They are pragmatic, efficient, and results-oriented. They are open to change and innovation, but they also rely on facts and evidence to support their decisions
Some of the successful digital businesses from Singapore are:
- Sea Group: A leading internet company that operates three platforms: Shopee (e-commerce), Garena (gaming), and SeaMoney (digital financial services).
- Grab: A super app that offers a range of services, such as ride-hailing, food delivery, payments, travel, and more.
- Razer: A global gaming hardware and software company that produces gaming laptops, mice, keyboards, headsets, and other accessories.
There are more emerging tech companies in Singapore like:
- Carousell: A leading online marketplace that operates in Japan and the US. It offers a platform for buying and selling new and used goods.
- Trax: A leading computer vision company that provides solutions for retail intelligence, shelf monitoring, and inventory management.
- Zimplistic: A leading smart kitchen company that produces Rotimatic, a fully automated flatbread maker.
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City District 1 by Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre
Vietnam is a fast-growing digital economy in Southeast Asia, with a young and tech-savvy population, a favorable business environment, and a strong government support for digital transformation. Vietnamese managers tend to be harmonious, consensual, and collectivistic to maintain good relationships and face for themselves and their software developers. Like Japanese managers, they follow the synchronized style. They can also leverage their polite and diplomatic communication style to negotiate and persuade their clients and stakeholders. They value teamwork, cooperation, and long-term commitment in the workplace. They are flexible, adaptable, and opportunistic. They are cautious about change and risk, but they also show creativity and initiative when needed.
Some of the emerging software and digital outsourcing companies in Vietnam are:
- VNG Corporation: A leading internet and gaming company that operates popular platforms such as Zalo (social network), Zing (entertainment portal), and VNG Cloud (cloud service).
- VNPay: A leading fintech company that provides digital payment solutions, such as QR code, e-wallet, and mobile banking.
- FPT Software: A leading IT service provider that offers software development, cloud computing, AI, IoT, and digital transformation solutions to clients worldwide.
- KMS Technology: A US-based software company with a development center in Vietnam. It provides software product development, testing, and consulting services to clients in various domains.
- NashTech: A UK-based software company with a development center in Vietnam. It provides software development, cloud services, digital platforms, data analytics, and business process outsourcing services to clients worldwide.
- Dicom Interactive: One of the most reliable and trusted offshore software development firms in VN and Australia. It specializes in delivering affordable offshore development services to customers globally, with focus on web development, mobile development, blockchain, and SaaS development.
United States
Central Business District - New York
American managers are individualistic. can use their pragmatism, entrepreneurship, and individualism to focus on results and outcomes for their software developers. They can also leverage their direct and assertive communication style to provide clear expectations and motivation to their developers. They value innovation, diversity, and competition in the workplace. They reward performance and results over seniority or loyalty. They are open to change and innovation, but they also rely on facts and evidence to support their decisions.
Some of American famous tech giants are:
- Microsoft: A global leader in software, hardware, cloud computing, and gaming. It produces popular products such as Windows, Office, Azure, Xbox, and more.
- Apple: A global leader in consumer electronics, software, and online services. It produces popular products such as iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and more.
- Amazon: A global leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital content. It offers online shopping, Prime, AWS, Kindle, and more.
- Google: A global leader in internet search, advertising, and online services. It offers products such as Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, and more.
- IBM: A global leader in IT services and solutions. It offers products and services such as Watson, cloud computing, cybersecurity, AI, and more.
Several rapidly growing US technology companies are:
- Airbnb: A global leader in online travel and hospitality. It offers a platform for booking accommodation, experiences, and adventures
- Uber: A global leader in mobility and delivery. It offers a platform for ride-hailing, carpooling, bike-sharing, scooter-sharing, food delivery, and more.
- Stripe: A global leader in online payment and commerce. It offers a platform for accepting payments, building marketplaces, and managing subscriptions.
- Slack: A global leader in online collaboration and communication. It offers a platform for messaging, file sharing, video conferencing, and workflow automation.
This largest and most influential IT market often hire offshore teams from India, China, Philippines, Mexico, and Brazil.
Mexico
Market Urbanism by Nolan Gray
Mexican managers can use their charisma and influence to inspire and motivate their software developers to work on challenging and creative projects. They can also leverage their warm and expressive communication style to build rapport and trust with their clients and stakeholders. They can also take advantage of their flexibility and adaptability to cope with changing requirements and expectations in the software development lifecycle.
Mexico is a dynamic digital economy in Latin America, with a large and diverse market, a competitive workforce, and a strategic location. Some of the emerging digital businesses in Mexico are:
- Kavak: A leading online platform for buying and selling used cars, offering financing, inspection, warranty, and delivery services.
- Bitso: A leading cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to buy, sell, and store digital assets, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.
- Konfio: A leading fintech company that provides online lending solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using big data and AI to assess creditworthiness.
South Africa
Central Business District - Johannesburg
South African managers can use their diversity and democracy to involve their software developers in decision making and problem solving. They can also leverage their direct and open communication style to provide clear and honest feedback and guidance to their developers. They can also take advantage of their pragmatism and efficiency to deliver results and outcomes in the software development process.
With a growing innovation ecosystem, this country has some remarkable tech companies such as:
- SweepSouth: A leading online platform for booking home cleaning services, connecting customers with vetted and insured cleaners
- Aerobotics: A leading agritech company that uses drones and AI to provide precision farming solutions, such as crop monitoring, pest detection, and yield prediction.
- Luno: A leading cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to buy, sell, and store digital assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Saudi Arabia
KAFD in Riyadh - Photographer: Maya Siddiqui / Bloomberg
Saudi Arabian managers can use their paternalism and authority to provide direction and protection to their software developers. They can also leverage their indirect and polite communication style to avoid conflict and criticism with their clients and stakeholders. They can also take advantage of their conservatism and caution to ensure quality and reliability in the software development process.
Here are some of the well-known tech solutions in Saudi Arabia, an ambitious digital economy in the Middle East:
- STC Pay: A leading fintech company that provides digital wallet solutions, enabling users to make payments, transfer money, and access financial services.
- HungerStation: A leading online food delivery platform that connects users with restaurants and cafes across the country.
- Careem: A leading ride-hailing platform that operates in over 100 cities across the Middle East and North Africa region.
- Tamara: A leading fintech company that provides buy now pay later (BNPL) solutions, allowing users to pay for their purchases in installments without interest or fees.
These are generalizations that may not apply to every manager or organization in each country. Moreover, management styles can also be influenced by other factors such as industry, size, strategy, or personal preferences. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the cultural differences in management styles, but also to be flexible and adaptable when working across cultures.
The software market worldwide is projected to grow by 5.42% (2023-2028) resulting in a market volume of US$858.10 bn in 2028. The largest segment within the software market is enterprise software with a projected market volume of US$271.80 bn in 2023. The enterprise application software market revenue worldwide is expected to reach US$246 billion in 2026.
The following table shows the estimated revenue of the software market by region in 2023:
If you want to find out whether it works for your projects to be outsourced in Vietnam, contact us for a free consultation on defining your scope as well as the required workforce for your project. Dicom Interactive is one of the top boutique software development with offices located in Ho Chi Minh City – Vietnam and Melbourne – Australia, with over 15 years experience in the business.
We have been working on a variety of projects across the continents, with focus on education, transportation, entertainment, game, healthcare, insurance, food & beverage, automobile, and travel industry. With the experience of team members ranging from 4 to 15 years, we successfully deliver our services to our clients by the best implementation of the latest technologies in the industry for their businesses. We offer high standard in software solutions, which suit your utmost demands whether they are your business plan of growth, or product budget, or project deadlines.
Get in touch with Dicom Interactive today to share the requirements of your products. We fully grasp the importance of listening and understanding your business, your missions, and visions. Whether your need is a Low-level Outsourcing, or a High-level Outsourcing, or a Complete Technical Outsourcing, we constantly offer world-class software development services. Our team members are well trained and have high working ethic, not only to fulfill the international standard but also to promote the global rating for software outsourcing business in Vietnam in the coming decades.
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