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Cultural intelligence
Cultural intelligence: an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would.
Companies, too, have cultures, often very distinctive; anyone who joins a new company spends the first few weeks decipheringits cultural code. Within anylarge company there are sparring subculturesas well: The sales force can’t talk to the engineers, and the PR people 9lose patience with the lawyers. Departments, divisions, professions, geographical regions each has a constellation of manners, meanings, histories, and values that will confuse the interloper and cause him or her to stumble. Unless, that is, he or she has a high CQ.
Cultural intelligence is related to emotional intelligence, but it picks up where emotional intelligence leaves off. A person with high emotional intelligence grasps what makes us human and at the same time what makes each ofus different fromoneanother. Apersonwith highcultural intelligencecansomehow teaseoutofaperson’sorgroup’s behaviour thosefeaturesthatwouldbetrueofallpeopleandall groups, those peculiar to this person or this group, and those that are neither universal nor idiosyncratic. The vast realm that lies between those two poles is culture.
An American expatriate manager we know had his cultural intelligence tested while serving on a design team that included two German engineers. As other team members floated their ideas, the engineers condemned them repeatedly as stunted or immature or worse. The manager concluded that Germans in general are rude and aggressive.
A modicum of cultural intelligence would have helped the American realize he was mistakenly equating the merit of an idea with the merit of the person presenting it and that the Germans were able to make a sharp distinction between the two. A manager with even subtler powers of discernment might have tried to determine how much of the two Germans’ behaviour was arguably German and how much was explained by the fact that they were engineers.
An expatriate manager who was merely emotionally intelligent would probably have empathized with the team members whose ideas were being criticized, modulated his or her spontaneous reaction to the engineers’ conduct, and proposed a new style of discussion that preserved candour but spared feelings, if indeed anyone’s feelings had been hurt. But without being able to tell how much of the engineers’ behaviour was idiosyncratic and how much was culturally determined, he or she would not have known how to influence their actions or how easy it would be to do that.
One critical element that cultural intelligence and emotional intelligence do share is, in psychologist Daniel Goleman’s words, “a propensity to suspend judgment to think before acting.” For someone richly endowed with CQ, the suspension might take hours or days, while someone with low CQ might have to take weeks or months. In either case, it involves using your senses to register all the ways that the personalities interacting in front of you are different from those in your home culture yet similar to one another. Only when conduct you have actually observed begins to settle into patterns can you safely begin to anticipate how these people will react in the next situation. The inferences you draw in this manner will be free of the hazards of stereotyping.
The people who are socially the most successful among their peers often have the greatest difficulty making sense of, and then being accepted by, cultural strangers. Those who fully embody the habits and norms of their native culture may be the most alien when they enter a culture not their own. Sometimes, people who are somewhat detached from their own culture can more easily adopt the mores and even the body language of an unfamiliar host. They’re used to being observers and making a conscious effort to fit in.
People who are somewhat detached from their own culture can more easily adopt the mores and even the body language of an unfamiliar host.
Althoughsomeaspectsofculturalintelligenceareinnate,anyonereasonablyalert,motivated,andpoised canattainanacceptablelevel ofcultural intelligence,aswehavelearnedfrom surveying2,000managers in 60 countries and training many others. Given the number of cross-functional assignments, job transfers, new employers, and distant postings most corporate managers are likely to experience in the course of a career, low CQ can turn out to be an inherent disadvantage.
The Three Sources of Cultural Intelligence
Can it really be that some managers are socially intelligent in their own settings but ineffective in culturally novel ones? The experience of Peter, a sales manager at a California medical devices group acquired by Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals, is not unusual. At the devices company, the atmosphere had been mercenary and competitive; the best-performing employees could make as much in performance bonuses as in salary. Senior managers hounded unproductive salespeople to perform better.
At Lilly’s Indianapolis headquarters, to which Peter was transferred, the sales staff received bonuses that accounted for only a small percentage of total compensation. Furthermore, criticism was restrained
and confrontation kept to a minimum. To motivate people, Lilly management encouraged them. Peter commented, “Back in L.A., I knew how to handle myself and how to manage my sales team. I’d push them and confront them if they weren’t performing, and they’d respond. If you look at my evaluations, you’ll see that I was very successful and people respected me. Here in Indianapolis, they don’t like my style, and they seem to avoid the challenges that I put to them. I just can’t seem to get things done as well here as I did in California.”
Peter’s problem was threefold. First, he didn’t comprehend how much the landscape had changed. Second, he was unable to make his behaviour consistent with that of everyone around him. And third, when he recognized that the arrangement wasn’t working, he became disheartened.
Peter’s three difficulties correspond to the three components of cultural intelligence: the cognitive; the physical; and the emotional/motivational. Cultural intelligence resides in the body and the heart, as well as the head. Although most managers are not equally strong in all three areas, each faculty is seriously hampered without the other two.
Benefits and challenges of cultural diversity in the workplace
Hult News
As national politics and discourse seem to grow more inward looking and divisive across America and Europe in 2017, successful businesses must continue to think inclusively and globally. Embracing cultural diversity in the workplace is an important first step for businesses that want to be competitive on an international scale.
Benefits:
1.Diverse cultural perspectives can inspire creativity and drive innovation
2.Local market knowledge and insight makes a business more competitive and profitable
3.Cultural sensitivity, insight, and local knowledge means higher quality, targeted marketing
4.Drawing from a culturally diverse talent pool allows an organization to attract and retain the best talent
5.A diverse skills base allows an organization to offer a broader and more adaptable range of products and services
6.Diverse teams are more productive and perform better
7.Greater opportunity for personal and professional growth
Challenges:
8. Colleagues from some cultures may be less likely to let their voices be heard
9. Integration across multicultural teams can be difficult in the face of prejudice or negative cultural stereotypes
10.Professional communication can be misinterpreted or difficult to understand across languages and cultures
11.Navigating visa requirements, employment laws, and the cost of accommodating workplace requirements can be difficult
12.Different onderstandig of professional etiquette
13.Conflicten working styles across teams
the Virgin
Group to Disney and PricewaterhouseCoopers, organizations across industries are embracing the benefits of a diverse workforce. But with benefits, necessarily come challenges of working across borders, cultures, and languages.
Key benefits and challenges of cultural diversity in the workplace.
1. Benefit: Diverse cultural perspectives can inspire creativity and drive innovation
Our culture influences the way in which we see the world. A variety of viewpoints along with the wideranging personal and professional experience of an international team can offer new perspectives that inspire colleagues to see the workplace and the world differently.
Diversity of thought has been shown to breed creativity and drive innovation, helping to solve problems and meet customer needs in new and exciting ways. For example, cosmetic giant L’Oréal attributes much if its impressive success in emerging markets to its multicultural product development teams.
Multiple voices, perspectives, and personalities bouncing off one another can give rise to out-of-the-box thinking. By offering a platform for the open exchange of ideas, businesses can reap the biggest benefits of diversity in the workplace. A recent study from Forbes echoed this notion, concluding that “the best way to ensure the development of new ideas is through a diverse and inclusive workforce.”
2. Benefit: Local market knowledge and insight makes a business more competitive and profitable
A multicultural workforce can give an organization an important edge when expanding into new markets. Often, a product or service needs to be adapted to succeed overseas. Understanding local laws, regulations, and customs, as well as the competitive landscape, can help a business to thrive. Moreover, local connections, native language skills, and cultural understanding can boost international business development exponentially.
And being more competitive ultimately means being more profitable. DiversityInc annually recognizes the top 50 most diverse companies and measures their success against the broader market. Recent research from McKinsey also underscores the fact that diversity is good for a business’s bottom line. In fact, ethnically diverse companies were shown to be 35% more likely to have financial returns above the national industry median.
3. Benefit: Cultural sensitivity, insight, and local knowledge means higher quality, targeted marketing
Cross-cultural understanding, along with local market knowledge, lends itself the production of more effective marketing strategy and materials. For example, high quality and culturally sensitive translations of websites, brochures, and other assets are essential. But these can be overlooked without the input of a native speaker.
Even brand taglines can get badly lost in translation. A frequently cited example is from KFC in China, whose chicken was marketed as so tasty, you’ll “eat your fingers off!” (A poor translation of their brand tagline, “Finger lickin’ good.”)
Market-specific knowledge and insight is invaluable when it comes to for imagery and design. What might work well on a billboard for a British company, might fail or, at worst, offend elsewhere. A memorable McDonalds print ad in Finland may have been considered clever locally, but it was seen as confusing and even grotesque by foreign audiences.
The danger of making a serious marketing blunder, which can cause irreparable damage to a brand or business abroad, can be mitigated by employing a diverse workforce with local marketing savvy.
4. Benefit: Drawing from a culturally diverse talent pool allows an organization to attract and retain the best talent
According to a Glassdoor survey, two thirds of job hunters indicated that diversity was important to them when evaluating companies and job offers. In a competitive global job market, demonstrating that your business is invested in fostering a multicultural and inclusive environment can make you stand out to the right candidates. Making diversity an important part of the recruiting process will broaden your talent pool of prospective employees.
Not only does hiring from a more diverse talent pool makes your business attractive to ambitious, globally minded candidates, it also helps you to keep them on board. Diversity, including diversity of gender, religion, and ethnicity, has been shown to improve retention and reduce the costs associated with employee turnover.
In a diverse workplace, employees are more likely remain loyal when they feel respected and valued for their unique contribution. This, in turn, fosters mutual respect among colleagues who also value the
diverse culture, perspectives, and experiences of their team members. An inclusive atmosphere of crosscultural cooperation is an excellent way to bond colleagues and teams across the business.
5. Benefit: A diverse skills base allows an organization to offer a broader and more adaptable range of products and services
By drawing from a culturally diverse talent pool, companies benefit from hiring professionals with a broad range of skills that are often not accessible when hiring locally. Globally oriented companies can addto their service range by leveragingthe skills and experience their international employees bring to the table.
A broader skills base and a more potentially diverse offering of products and services can help your business to have the competitive advantage of adaptability. In today’s volatile and uncertain global business environment, nimble and adaptable organizations are the ones that thrive.
Adaptability means faster and more effective planning, development, and execution. A company with cultural and cognitive diversity can be quicker to spot a gap in the market. It will also have the global (ormarket-specific) insight and experienceto help a new or adapted product tomeet changing consumer behaviour and succeed.
6. Benefit: Diverse teams are more productive and perform better
The range of experience, expertise, and working methods that a diverse workplace offers can boost problem-solving capacity and lead to greater productivity. In fact, studies have shown organizations with a culture of diversity and inclusion are both happier and more productive.
Where working in homogeneous teams can seem easier, it can cause a business to settle for the status quo. Diversity, on the other hand, can breed healthy competition, stretching a team in a positive way to achieve their best. This atmosphere of healthy competition can lead to the optimization of company processes for greater efficiency. As a recent article in the Harvard Business Review argues, the challenges of working in a diverse team are one of the reasons why diverse teams perform better: “working on diverse teams produces better outcomes precisely because it’s harder.”
7. Benefit: Greater opportunity for personal and professional growth
Fundamentally, an inclusive and culturally diverse business will attract talented, ambitious, and globally minded professionals who will appreciate the opportunity for personal and professional growth.
Working across cultures can be a truly enriching experiencing, allowing others to learn about perspectives and traditions from around the world. Bonding over similarities and differences can help you to become a global citizen, abandoning prejudices or an ethnocentric world view something that is increasingly valuable. In 2017
A diverse set of colleagues can be professionally enriching too exposing you to new skills and approaches to work, and developing an international network that can take your career in exciting new directions or abroad.
8. Challenge: Colleagues from some cultures may be less likely to let their voices be heard
However, the presence of diverse brain power alone is not enough. It’s also critical to create an open and inclusive workplace environment, so all team members feel empowered to contribute.
This can be particularly challenging for colleagues from polite or deferential cultures. For instance, professionals from Asian countries such as Vietnam or Japan may feel less comfortable speaking up or sharing ideas, particularly if they are new to the team or in a more junior role.
Conversely, assertive colleagues from the US or Western Europe, or those from Scandinavian countries who emphasize flat organizational hierarchy,maybemoreinclinedtospeak upmeetingsornegotiations when others don’t.
9. Challenge: Integration across multicultural teams can be difficult in the face of prejudice or negative cultural stereotypes
While local expertise is an invaluable asset, it’s also important to foster integration among teams to avoid colleagues from different countries working in isolation and limiting knowledge transfer.
This can be a challenge to overcome, particularly if there are underlying prejudices between cultures, making them less inclined to work together. Negative cultural stereotypes can be seriously detrimental to company morale and affect productivity. For instance, the centuries-long antipathy between the British and French, or the Polish and Germans can sometimes creep into the workplace.
Although not all stereotypes are necessarily negative like the notion that Americans are confident or Asians are intelligent all are simplifications that can prove limiting or divisive in the workplace. And while outright prejudice or stereotyping is a serious concern, ingrained and unconscious cultural biases can be a more difficult challenge of workplace diversity to overcome.
Sometimes, a little bit of humour is the best way to diffuse negativity. Here are the top 10 wrong (yet persistent) cultural stereotypes and the truth behind them:
10. Challenge: Professional communication can be misinterpreted or difficult to understand across languages and cultures
While qualitytranslations are keyfor effective marketing, there can also bea real risk of communication getting lost in translation among multicultural colleagues. Language barriers are just one challenge. Even in an office where everyone speaks English, comprehending a range of accents, or understanding a native-speaker’s use of idioms, can be difficult.
Moreover, effective cross-cultural communication comes down to much more than just words spoken. Non-verbal communication is a delicate and nuanced part of cultural interaction that can lead to misunderstandings or even offense between team members from different countries. Things like comfortable levels of physical space, making or maintaining eye contact, and gesturing can all be vastly different across cultures.
Even something as simpleas a greeting or handshake has cultural implications that should beconsidered in a work environment. Business Insider put together this useful infographic to highlight the differences in handshakes and professional greetings around the world:
11. Challenge: Navigating visa requirements, employment laws, and the cost of accommodating workplace requirements can be difficult
Despite the clear benefits, hiring talent from overseas can present an HR challenge. Not least among this is the complicated process of navigating employment laws and visa requirements for international workers. Requirements and regulations are different in each country and between countries, and can change frequently.
Beyond visas, further accommodations for a recruiting and retaining a culturally diverse workforce should be taken into account. For instance, providing a quiet space for prayer can make a workplace more welcomingandinclusivefor employeeswitharange of beliefs,as cantakingintoaccount different cultural or religious holidays. Of course, these considerations and accommodations can sometimes be an added business cost as well as a logistical challenge.
12. Challenge: Different understandings of professional etiquette
Colleagues from different cultures can also bring with them different workplace attitudes, values, behaviours, and etiquette. While these can be enriching and even beneficial in a diverse professional environment, they can also cause misunderstandings or ill feelings between team members.
For instance, the expectation of formality (or relative informality), organizational hierarchy, and even working hours can conflict across cultures. Where a Japanese colleague may not feel it appropriate to leave work before their manager (or, indeed, anyone else), a Swedish professional may be used to a 6hour working day
Additionally, different approaches to punctuality, confrontation, or dealing with conflict can prove an issue.
13. Challenge: Conflicting working styles across teams
However, working styles and attitudes towards workcan be verydifferent, reflecting cultural valuesand compounding differences. If not recognized and accounted, conflicting approaches to work can put the brakes on productivity.
For instance, approaches to teamwork and collaboration can vary notably. Some cultures, including many in Asia and Central America, value collective consensus when working towards a goal. Whereas others, such as Germany and America, put emphasis on the independence of the individual. Likewise, emphasis on order, rigor, and organization
Cultural differences in leadership styles
Erin Meyer, professor at INSEAD, executive education program Leading Across Borders and Cultures, Harvard Business Review July–August 2017 issue (pp.70–77) of.
Cultural differences in leadership styles often create unexpected misunderstandings. Americans, for example, are used to thinking of the Japanese as hierarchical while considering themselves egalitarian. Yet the Japanese find Americans confusing to deal with. Although American bosses are outwardly egalitarian encouraging subordinates to use first names and to speak up in meetings they seem to the Japanese to be extremely autocratic in the way they make decisions. As a Japanese manager living in the United States and working for Mitsubishi put it: “I couldn’t figure out how to adapt my approach from one day to the next, because the culture was so contradictory and puzzling.”
Problems like this manager’s are widespread. In many years of researching, consulting, and teaching executives and managers in hundreds of global companies, I’ve found that it’s common for people from different countries to grapple with mutual incomprehension. Often that’s because managers fail to distinguish between two important dimensions of leadership culture.
The first of these is the one we’re most familiar with: authority. How much attention do we pay to the rank or status of a person, and how much respect and deference do we pay to that status? On this dimension, the Japanese are clearly more hierarchical than Americans. The positions are reversed, however, when we look at the second dimension: decision making. Who calls the shots, and how? Does the boss decide, or does the team decide collectively? On this dimension, which is often overlooked, the Japanese are more consensual than Americans.
The management approach that works in Lagos won’t be as effective in Stockholm.
Approaches to authority and decision making are not the only ways in which cultures differ, but they are arguably the most important in the leadership context. And if international managers confound the two, they will make mistakes in adapting their leadership styles to the cultures and situations at hand.
I explore the two dimensions and how they affect global leadership effectiveness, focusing particularly on how attitudes toward decision making impact global teamwork. I conclude by mapping selected cultures along both dimensions and comparing the resulting expectations about the role of the leader.
Attitudes Toward Authority
Over the past century, the biggest leadership trend in the U.S. and parts of Western Europe has been the abandoning of hierarchical management processes for a more facilitative, egalitarian approach. Command-and-controlhasbeenreplacedwithempowerment.Managershavebeentrainedtostoptelling their employees what to do and instead move to “management by objective,” open-door policies, and
360-degree feedback. Early on, addressing the boss by first name rather than title became the norm. Company hierarchy further dissolved when the CEO began “management by walking around,” having impromptu discussions with people at all levels without even letting their supervisors know. Then the corner office yielded to open-plan spaces. Since most management literature and research still come out of the U.S., business school education has largely reinforced this trend.
But attitude toward authority is one of the most striking points of difference across cultures. In Nigeria a child learns to kneel or even lie down as a sign of respect when an elder enters the room. In Sweden a student calls her teachers by their first names and, without implying any disrespect, feels free to contradict them in front of her classmates. Unsurprisingly, the management approach that works in Lagos will not get the best results in Stockholm.
Understanding this disconnect is important. In general, the greatest business opportunities lie in the big emerging economies, which include Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and Turkey. In nearly every case, these are cultures where hierarchy and deference to authority are deeply woven into the national psyche. The management orthodoxy of pushing authority down in the organization does not fit easily into the emerging-market context and often trips up Western companies on their first ventures abroad.
Take the case of an American firm I worked with two years ago. I’ll call it Chill Factor, as it delivers innovative cooling solutions to consumers and small businesses. For the previous 15 years, Chill Factor had been training its employees in the latest egalitarian leadership methods, encouraging low-level workers to show initiative, while teaching the bosses to leave their doors open, accept 360-degree feedback, and set objectives rather than issue edicts. Additionally, the business had set up the flattest organizational structure possible.
This progressive culture helped the company attract talent and keep employees inspired and engaged. The entire workforce was humming with creativity and innovation.
After decades of success in the U.S., Chill Factor took a big jump and negotiated a joint venture with a company in Hangzhou, China. But within weeks the Chill Factor managers were complaining about the lack of initiative shown by their Chinese staff. As one manager related to me:
My Chinese employees don’t see it as their job to have ideas or make suggestions to their leaders. They just follow instructions. Subordinates do not volunteer solutions but simply present problems. Their measure of success is to do what they are told, when they are told, and to do it well. But I expect them to produce new ideas and to give the bosses information so that we can make the best decisions for the benefit of the business.
In a session with a group of American executives and a dozen of their Chinese colleagues, I asked the Chinese managers to work as a small group and give advice to the Americans about how to handle their Chinese staff more effectively. They huddled and then presented their recommendations:
Because Chill Factor now wants to succeed in China, we hope our American colleagues could kindly make some changes:
1. Before attending a meeting with your staff, prepare more ideas for yourself.
2. Be more specific with directions to your employees.
3. Have your own plan before allocating work to your subordinates.
The American managers were dumbfounded and asked for elaboration. “The most surprising comment from our Chinese colleagues,” one Chill Factor executive later explained, “was that we were perceived not just as incompetent but as arrogant, because we didn’t take the time to explain to our staff carefully and in detail what we wanted them to do and how.” It was a valuable learning moment for this firm, which began to pull back on some of the egalitarian practices that it had so long taken for granted as the best approach.
Of course, those who already have some international experience might not be surprised that Chinese managers defer to their bosses and that American attitudes toward status don’t travel well. But understanding differences in attitudes toward hierarchy and status, as we’ve noted, isn’t the whole story.
Attitudes Toward Decision Making
Many executives and managers assume that in more-hierarchical societies, decisions will be made at the top by the boss, and in more-egalitarian cultures, decisions will be reached by group consensus. Yet on a worldwide scale, we find that hierarchies and decision-making methods are not always correlated.
The U.S. is a striking example. American business culture has become more and more egalitarian over recent decades, but consensual decision making is clearly not the norm. American companies favor quick and flexible decisions, so decision-making power is vested in the individual (usually the boss). With a disdain for “analysis paralysis” and a belief that “any decision is better than no decision,” the American manager may solicit input from his or her team but ultimately is the one to make the final determination. And in most cases, the team members not only are fine with this but expect it. The U.S. can thus be described as an egalitarian culture where decisions are made top-down.
In top-down decision-making cultures (India, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, and Russia are other examples), decisions aremade quickly,but they aresubject to change as newinput or arguments arise. When people in these cultures say they’ve reached a decision, the decision is not a firm commitment but a placeholder that can later be adjusted.
Contrast that with what happens in Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden. If you’ve collaborated with companies in those countries, you might have noticed that a lot of people seem to be involved in the decision-making process, and it takes a long time to negotiate group agreement. However, once a decision gets made, implementation is surprisingly quick, because details and stakeholders were aligned while consensus was being reached. In these consensual cultures, it’s as if the
word “Decision” has a capital “D,” representing a commitment that can’t (and shouldn’t) be easily changed.
If groups reach decisions in different ways, be explicit about the process.
Either system can work well, or both have their advantages. Small “d” top-down decision making is particularly suited to industries where the pace of change is fast and speed to market trumps product perfection. Big “D” consensual cultures are great for industries where development timelines are long and perfection of the product is essential. It’s perhaps no surprise that two big “D” cultures Germany and Japan are among the world’s greatest car-manufacturing nations.
Problems arise, however, when members of a single team have different norms of behaviour. What happens, say, when a consensual big “D” Japanese Company acquires a top-down small “d” American business? This was exactlythe situation when Suntory became the majority shareholder in Beam (maker of Jim Beam whiskey). The success of this acquisition reveals some useful strategies for navigating safely through big “D”/small “d” collaboration.
As is the tradition in Japan, Suntory managers used a consensual big “D” system of decision making. One of them explained:
In Suntory the management structure is hierarchical, but decisions are most often made by group consensus. Mid-level managers discuss a proposal among themselves and come to a consensus before presenting it to manager’s one level higher. The next-higher-ranking managers then discuss the proposal themselves and come also to an agreement. If they collectively believe in the initiative, they pass it on for approval at the next level, until it gets to the top.
Twowordsdefinethisconsensual process,socommoninJapanesecompanies.Thefirstis nemawashi the practice of speaking with each individual stakeholder before a meeting in order to shape the group decision and develop agreement in advance. The second is ringi, which involves passing a proposal around level by level, starting at the bottom and then working through the layers of middle and senior management before arriving at the top.
This system works beautifully, provided everyone understands and follows it. The problems at Suntory and Beam arose because managers on one side didn’t understand how managers on the other side made decisions. The experience of one American manager from Beam provides a nice illustration:
There was a problem and a decision had to be made, which required a trip to Japan. The Japanese director in charge would be present, so I thought this would be the perfect moment to impact his direction. I prepared some slides for a meeting, along with my proposal. During the meeting, it became apparent that the decision had already been made by the group beforehand and was different from my proposal. Trying to discuss and convince during the meeting had no effect at all.
Learning the approach of the other culture and adapting accordingly is obviously important. Through trial and error and by asking questions, the Beam manager came to see that his assumptions about how and when decisions would get made was entirely a result of his experience working in the U.S. Over time, he learned to give his input much earlier at Suntory. But if you’re managing the collaboration of two groups with different systems for reaching decisions, being flexible and adapting your individual style are not enough. You must also be explicit about the process of decision making. Define whether decisions will be made by consensus or by the boss. Establish whether 100% agreement is needed. Clarify whether a deadline for the decision is necessary and, if one is set, how much flexibility there will be for changes afterward.
Consider the case of a German-American collaboration I worked on. Early in the project, team members from both countries discussed a major decision ahead of a meeting with the company’s big boss in the U.S. The team formed a point of view, and everyone seemed united on it. But during the actual meeting, after a very short discussion, the boss announced her decision, which ran counter to the team’s recommendation. The Americans all agreed with the boss without a word of pushback. The German team members, however, were deeply unhappy about this turn of events, concluding not only that the American boss was arrogant but also that their American colleagues were two-faced.
Of course, these perceptions weren’t exactly helping the relationships among the team members. But the situation became particularly fraught when it came to the meaning of the word “decision.” One German team member explained:
At the end of a short meeting the boss would announce, “Great! We have a decision.” For a German, when you say “We will do this,” it is a promise. You can’t just change your mind casually tomorrow. So we Germans would spend days working on the implementation. And then one of the Americans would call us up and casually mention that we were taking another direction, or the boss would show us more data suggesting a different path.
For the first several months of collaboration, the Germans could not shake the feeling that their American teammates were disingenuous. One manager spoke to his American boss about the situation, and the conversation was illuminating for both of them. The German commented, “I then understood that for an American, a decision is simply an agreement to continue discussions. And if you are American, you understand that. But for a German, who considers a decision a final commitment to march forward on a plan, this can cause a lot of confusion.”
In a consensual, egalitarian culture, the boss won’t jump in and decide.
To get the collaboration on track, the two leaders organized an off-site retreat. The team members discussed their assumptions about how decisions should get made and what the word “decision” means in each of their cultures. They developed a system for collectively arriving at decisions and determining how flexible those would be, using the big “D”/small “d” distinction. In subsequent meetings, an American might be heard to say, “Great! Decision made!” only to pause and clarify, “Decision with a
small ‘d,’ that is. We still need to run this by our colleagues at home, so don’t start working on it yet.” With the cultural difference brought to the surface and acknowledged, the collaboration took off.
The Four Cultures of Leadership
Making a clear distinction between attitudes toward authority (from hierarchical to egalitarian) and attitudes toward decision making (from top-down to consensual) goes a long way in helping leaders become more effective in a global context. It turns out that countries are quite broadly scattered across the two dimensions, as you can see from the exhibit “Mapping Leadership Cultures,” which plots the positions of 19 countries within four quadrants. Let’s look at the main expectations people have of leaders in each quadrant.
Consensual and egalitarian: Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden
Earlyin my career, I worked as the only non-Dane on an eight-person team. As an egalitarian American, I thought it was great when my boss told me that decisions would be made by consensus. But then the e-mailsstarted.First from him: “Hey,team,forthe annual face-to-faceinDecember,Ithought wewould
focus on being more client-centric. What do you think?” Then from a team member: “Hi, Per. Great idea. But wouldn’t it be better to focus the meeting on how to market our services more successfully?” Andfrom someoneelse: “Ithinkitwouldbemost effectivetohavepresentationsfrom all team members about their individual client strategies.” And then everyone began sending responses to one another, ending with: “Erin, we haven’t heard from you. What do you think?” Consensual decision making sounds like a great idea in principle, but people from fundamentally non-consensual cultures can find the reality frustratingly time-consuming.
If you are to thrive in this quadrant, therefore, you need to go in with the following approach to leadership:
Expect the decision making to take longer and to involve more meetings and correspondence.
Do your best to demonstrate patience and commitment throughout the process, even when diverging opinions lead to lengthy ongoing discussions.
Don’t expect the boss to jump in and decide for the group. The boss is a facilitator, not the decider.
Resist the temptation to push for a quick resolution. Take the time to ensure that the decision you make is the best one possible, because it will be difficult to change later.
Consensual and hierarchical: Belgium, Germany, and Japan
A French director of Deutsche Bank once told me: “When I moved to Germany, I was aware that both our cultures are rather hierarchical. So I continued to make decisions as I would have in France, which was basically after some good debate to tell the group what I’d decided, even when I knew many people had opposing opinions about what should be done.” When the director received feedback from his first 360-degree review, he was upset by complaints from his German staff that he wasn’t inclusive. Eventually he realized that the Germans expected him to invest considerably more time in winning their support before coming to a decision more than would have been necessary in a French organization.
If you likewise are not used to a consensual, hierarchical culture, be aware that in this quadrant:
If you’re the boss, your team will defer to your decision, yet desire and expect to be part of the decisionmaking process. Make a point of soliciting opinions and input from your staff.
Be patient and thorough. Invest the time necessary to get each stakeholder on board.
Once a group decision begins to form, take special care to listen to those with dissenting opinions.
Focus on the quality and completeness of information gathered and the soundness of the reasoning process. Remember that in this quadrant, decisions are commitments that are not easily altered.
Top-down and hierarchical: Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia
We’ve already visited this quadrant in the company of those Americans who moved to China with Chill Factor and perceived their Chinese staff as lacking initiative, while the Chinese viewed the new U.S. managers as incompetent.
If you’re operating in this quadrant:
Remember that the boss is the director, not a facilitator.
If you’re the boss, you will be deferred to in public and probably in private too. Don’t be shy about telling your team how best to show you respect.
Be clear about your expectations. If you want your staff to present three ideas to you before asking your opinion, or to give you input before you make a decision, tell them. Old habits die hard for all of us, so reinforce with clarity and specificity the behaviour you are looking for.
Be careful what you say. You may find that an off-the-cuff comment is interpreted as a decision and suddenly everyone is building that factory or reorganizing that department, when you thought you were just introducing an idea to explore.
Top-down and egalitarian: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
An Americandirectorfor the World Bank, whom I willcall Karen,describeda challengeshe was having with a Korean employee who had recently joined her team. “When I hired Jae-Sun to work for me in D.C., he had a shining résumé,” Karen explained. Promoted time and again to run teams across Asia, he appeared to be an employee who knew how to get things done. Yet Karen noticed right away that if JaeSun was with her or another senior manager in a meeting, he seemed reluctant to express his views and instead deferred to them. “I had hoped to groom him for a bigger role in the department, but with this lack of self-confidence, I saw it just wasn’t going to happen,” Karen told me.
Succeeding in a top-down, egalitarian environment requires behaving as follows:
Before the decision has been made, speak up no matter what your status is. You might not be asked explicitly to contribute, but demonstrate initiative and self-confidence by making your voice heard. Politely yet clearly provide your viewpoint even when it diverges from what the boss seems to be thinking.
Once the matter has been resolved, align quickly with the boss and support the decision even if it conflictswiththeopinionyoupreviouslyexpressed.Atthisstage,ifyoushowdisagreement especially in front of others you may be viewed as difficult to work with.
After the decision is made, remain flexible. Decisions in this quadrant are rarely set in stone; most can later be adjusted or revisited if necessary.
CONCLUSION
Once you’ve figured out the nuances and complexities of the different approaches, you will make smarter choices in all your cross-cultural interactions as a leader and as a follower. During performance reviews with your Mexican staff, for instance, you might choose to explain your own approach and ask the team to adapt to you. The next week, while leading a meeting with those same employees, you might decide it will be more productive if you adapt to their cultural norms rather than expect them to adapt to yours.
The bottom line? Although you may have been a very successful leader in your own culture, if you hope to motivate and engage people around the globe, you will need a multifaceted approach. Today it’s no longerenoughtoknowhowtoleadtheDutchwayortheMexicanway,theAmericanwayortheChinese
way. You must be informed enough and flexible enough to choose which style will work best in which cultural context and then deliberately decide how to adapt (or not) to get the results you need.
The Lewis Model – Dimensions of Behaviour
Up to the middle of the 20th century, the scrutiny, analysis and comparative studies of the world’s cultureswerelargelymattersforacademicians.Someknowledgeofthesubject washelpfulinourtravels abroad or when welcoming foreign guests to our shores.
The globalisation of worldbusinessin the last 5 decades has heraldedin an era when cultural differences have become vitally important to leaders, managers and executives in the world’s international and multinational companies. The complexities of merging corporate cultures, issues of leadership, planning, decision-making, recruitment and task assignment are all compromised by the nation-traits of the people involved. What allowances must be made when outlining organisational culture? Where can one look for guidelines?
One of the great dilemmas in analysing a person’s cultural profile and deciding where to fit him or her into an existing organisation is how to choose cultural dimensions to create an understandable assessment.
Several dozen cross-cultural experts have proposed such dimensions. None has yet succeeded in capturing the whole field. The best-known models are:
▪ EdwardHall, whoclassifiedgroupsasmono-chronicorpoly-chronic,highorlowcontextandpastor future-oriented.
▪ Kluckholn saw 5 dimensions – attitude to problems, time, Nature, nature of man, form of activity and reaction to compatriots.
▪ Hofstede’s 4-D model looked at power distance, collectivism vs. individualism, femininity vs. masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Later he added long-term vs. short-term orientation.
▪ Trompenaars’ dimensions came out as Universalist vs. particularist, individualist vs. collectivist, specific vs. diffuse, achievement-oriented vs. ascriptive and neutral vs. emotional or affective.
▪ Tönnies dwelt on Gemeinschaft vs. Geselleschaft cultures.
The Lewis Model is the latest to gain world-wide recognition, being developed in the 1990s and articulated in Richard Lewis’s blockbuster, When Cultures Collide (1996), which won the US Book of the Month Award in 1997. Lewis, after visiting 135 countries and working in more than 20 of them, came to the conclusion that humans can be divided into 3 clear categories, based not on nationality or religion but on BEHAVIOUR. He named his typologies Linear-active, Multi-active and Reactive Lewis considered that previous cross-culturalists, in accumulating the multiplicity of dimensions listed in the preceding paragraph, ran the risk of creating confusion for those who sought clarity and succinctness. Moreover, he pointed out that the experts’ preoccupation with north/south, monochronic/poly-chronic dichotomies, had caused them to overlook or ignore the powerful Asian mind-set
(comprising, in fact, half of humanity). He named this behavioural category Reactive, thereby creating a model that is essentially tripartite and cites the following characteristics:
▪ The Linear-active group is easily identified. It comprises: the English-speaking world – North America, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and Northern Europe, including Scandinavia and Germanic countries.
▪ The Reactive group is located in all major countries in Asia, except the Indian sub-continent, which is hybrid.
▪ The Multi-actives are more scattered: Southern Europe, Mediterranean countries, South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Arab and other cultures in the Middle East, India and Pakistan and most of the Slavs. Though these cultures are wildly diverse, geographically and in their religions, beliefs and values, they can be categorised as a group, as behaviourally they follow the same pattern with the following traits and commonalities: emotion, talkativeness, rhetoric, drama, eloquence, persuasion, expressive body language, importance of religion or creed, primacy of family bonds, low trust societies, unpunctuality, variable work ethic, volatility, inadequate planning, capacity for compassion, collectivism, relationship-orientation, situational truth, dislike of officialdom, tactility, sociability, nepotism, excitability, changeability, sense of history, unease with strict discipline.1
1 Reader: Navigating around the World
Where and when do we need these types of people?
Type Description
Needed to LINEARACTIVE
MULTIACTIVE
task-oriented, highly-organized planners, who complete action chains by doing one thing at a time, preferably in accordance with a linear agenda
emotional, loquacious and impulsive people who attach great importance to family, feelings, relationships, people in general. They like to do many things at the same time and are poor followers of agendas
REACTIVE good listeners, who rarely initiate action or discussion, preferring first to listen to and establish the other’s position, then react to it and form their own opinion
organise, plan, see problems, analyse consequences, follow consistent policies, access rational thought, generate data, and challenge us objectively
generate enthusiasm, motivate, persuade, create a positive social atmosphere, access emotions, generate dialogue, and challenge us personally
harmonise, act intuitively, be patient and see the big picture, think and act long-term, access feelings, listen, empathize and challenge us holistically
Whilethethreetypesaredistinctive,each possesses behavioural elementsfrom theothertwo categories. It is a question of which one is dominant. Many individuals deviate from the national type in a work situatione.g.engineersandaccountantstendtobeLinear,salespeopleMulti-active,lawyersanddoctors Reactive.
The Lewis Model is based on data drawn from 50,000 executives taking residential courses and more than 150,000 online questionnaires to 68 different nationalities and has produced the following tripartite comparison according to country.
Fig. 1 The Lewis Model
Culture
ByAdriana Flores González
Soft power’s cultural aspects canbeexplainedasnon-traditional forces, suchasculturalandcommercial goods. Therefore soft diplomacy’s mission is to inspire an important dialogue and promote creativity, and entrepreneurship and the globe.2 The definition of culture shared by different experts is related to a way of life, especially general customs and beliefs of a particular group of people at a particular time.3 Cultural diplomacy is regarded as forming international bridges and interactions, identifying networks and power domains within cultures and transcending national and cultural boudoir. Soft power incorporates national culture including knowledge, belief, morals and any other habits created by a society. The importance of public diplomacy has been emerging since soft power has grown out of culture, domestic values and policies.4
The importance of knowledge and development of intercultural communication in the area of protocol and diplomacy is relevant in this globalized world so as to better understand the perspectives of other people. By protocol we refer to an established set of rules, where we have an international system of courtesy and flexibility to adapt to the needs of diplomats. In managing the art of diplomacy paramount understanding of intercultural communication is needed in order to understand the different ways of thinking as well as cultures, beliefs and traditions of other diplomats around the world, which should be considered and respected. These can differ from one country to another. Although diplomats have a conduct and guidelines they follow for better communication and understanding between two parties it is extremely important to prevent that the other person feels uncomfortable or offended. Technology has provided internet, which offers us a revolutionary way of communicating. The lack of communication between cultures still exists, and regularly comes from different speaking styles and the messages that the other person transmits.Aperson receives an interpretation based on values, beliefs and expectations of the person who sent the message.
Various experts in diplomacy and intercultural communications share their own experiences with other cultures, bringing conscious messages or thoughts and knowing the importance of intercultural communication used in other aspects of culture, despite the fact that these experts have been prepared for these changes Despite their everyday experiences in an intercultural world, they also experience cultural shock in different areas, such as in language and beliefs, even though they may prepare for these. They change their place of work and live approximately 5 years in a foreign country. That gives them the possibility to explain possible cultural shock in other countries where they are designated to work, and also the observed differences through time. Taking into account that it is also important to know some cultural codes from the country of origin, we also consider interesting the culture and
2 Berkeley Enterprise’s Causes & Initiatives. 2013. Soft Power’s Cultural aspects.
3 Dictionary.cambridge.org. Culture.
4 Hwajung Kim.2011. Cultural Diplomacy as the Means of Soft Power in an Information Age.
protocol in the country of origin. This is referred to in the “Note”, where we provide some examples about collective cultures and pluralism.
If we talk about cultural differences we believe that differences should be evident, for example if we compare Mexican and Dutch cultures. Differences also exist between countries which are more or less similar. As Mr Ramón Tonariuh Romero Reyes said differences in culture are not always are evident. Everycountryhaskeyculturaldifferences,andtheyarenotalwayssoobvious.Religionisoneimportant topic in culture. Counsellor and representative to the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) at the Embassy of Mexico in the Netherlands Mr Ramón Tonariuh Romero Reyes stated the following:
“I think every country has key differences in culture and they are not always so obvious, and each country has their challenges such as in Protestant societies for example in Sweden and the Netherlands. The ethic of work and saving money always differs from the attitude of the Catholic cultures, and this makes a big difference. The same happens in Canada which has societies that save money, while in southern countries one can notice a relatively larger freedom. In short I think every country has its own cultural challenges as for example the security challenge in Kenia or Mexico”. 5
As we mentioned before, language is a fundamental issue if we talk about culture. It can cause culture shock in many occasions. We are not only referring to language in a strict sense. People from Mexico and Guatemala all speak Spanish, but they have their own expressions and different meanings for specific words. Language can be an intercultural shock. My own language is Spanish. When I am in a Spanish speaking country, I am nevertheless aware that I am in another culture. The Consul of the Embassy of Ecuador in Belarus, Union Sovietise Mr. Rodrigo Benitez Proaño said about culture:
“When I speak about cultural shock I can tell you about my experience in China. Language can be an intercultural shock as we make a difference between Spanish and Chinese for example. Even in the Spanish language there is one meaning in Spain and another in countries in LatinAmerica. Culture also refers to the way we dress, music, language and manners. Chinese people are superstitious.You must be conscious of the way you act so as not to offend people with certain gifts, you must be careful with colours and gifts. It takes time to accustom oneself to each country. For example, in China they have a habit of spitting on the floor, and this should not scare you because you are informed about the culture before, but do not expect them to do this while sitting in the plane next to you for example. There is always something which causes a cultural sock, and one has to go through a process of adaptation in a country because of language and admiration in many other cases”.6
5 Flores Gonzalez Adriana P. 2013. Diplomacy in the Modern Protocol. Interview in Spanish
6 Flores Gonzalez Adriana P. 2015. Diplomacy in the Modern Protocol. Interview in Spanish.
KofiAnnanmentionedfiverulesforinternational Diplomacyduringaspeechat Saint XavierUniversity. “These five rules can be seen as five principles which I believe are essential for future conduct in international relations: collective responsibility, global solidarity, the rule of law and mutual accountability and multilateralism”.7
The importance of respect for cultures, religions and traditions and the needs for others is one of the basic subjects, as said by Mr. Nye: “When a country’s culture includes universal values and its policies promote values and interests that others share, it increases the probability of obtaining its desired outcomes because of the relationships of attraction and duty that it creates”.8
The Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda in the Netherlands, Mr. Guillaume Kavaruganda was born in Rwanda, been educated in Italy with a lot experience in the diplomatic corps said about their cultural experience in not European country as the Unites States ofAmerica.
“The ways things are done in the United States of America are very different from our way of doing things. Rwandan people are polite and reserved, probably very different to people in the USA. I was a bit in shock when I heard people talk in the beginning of my mission in Washington D.C. If you are a diplomat from a poor country like Rwanda or from many African countries, people do not always treat you with the same respect that they treat diplomats from rich countries who put more money on the table, they are looking for money. In Europe even if they know you have no money to put on the table, they are at least polite”.9
The Counsellor of Argentina and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paramaribo, Suriname Mrs Ana Emilia Sarrabayrouse said about her intercultural experiences in Italy and Suriname:
“A cultural shock is something that you don’t expect and in general you expect that there is a difference between one culture and another. I am Argentine and Argentina has 50 percent of immigrants with Italian origin so there are many Italian influences. When I went to Italy I thought it was like going to another city or region of my country but when I get there I had a big cultural shock compared to when I went to Suriname. These are my two points of reference. I thought almost everything between Italy and Argentina was similar in relation to Suriname. I knew I was going to go to Suriname to find something totally different as the language which I never had heard before, a different climate and a country with a mix of races. In Italy most people are white with European origin with a population of immigrants
7 Saint Xavier University. 2009. Kofi Annan’s five rules for international diplomacy.
8 Nye, Joseph S Jr. 2004. Soft Power. The means to success in world politics, Public Affairs New York.
9 Flores Gonzalez Adriana P. 2015. Diplomacy in the Modern Protocol. Interview in Spanish.
from Asia and the Middle East. I was more prepared for a change when I went to Surinam so the shock had less impact. To integrate with Suriname society is something that is almost not possible for me because I don’t speak the language besides being a diplomat I cannot integrate in a Surinamese society as I cannot integrate in Italian society even speaking their language, being white as the Italians and managing their language. These are doors that a diplomat cannot open. I can relate to Italian diplomats and I can do the same with Suriname society but I cannot integrate with Surinamese culture. Diplomacy has its microclimate. This microclimate exists in all countries: intercultural communication is standard, English being the official language. No matter the country in which you find yourself, the communication system is the same” 10
The Importance of Communication in International Business
By Debbie Mcrill; Updated September 26, 2017
Understanding Culture
Because cultures vary so widely across the globe, understanding the differences in culture is vital to the business environment. A person's culture impacts the way he communicates. For example, in Japan people do not like to say the word "no." In a business meeting, a Japanese business person may mean no, but never directly state it. This can cause confusion. Another cultural example is in Saudi Arabia. Never discuss women, even to ask about a female family member's health. In Saudi Arabia, you may be having a business meeting and the person may leave the room for up to 20 minutes. The Saudi person may have gone to prayers as he considers the business meeting more of a discussion than a formal meeting.
Communication Errors
Understanding the local meaning of a word or phrase is a vital aspect of international communication. Errors can cause embarrassment and can show disrespect. According to Kwintessential, a communication company, an example of a communication error occurred with the Kellogg Company. It was selling a cereal product in Sweden. The cereal name, Bran Buds, can generally mean, "Burned farmer," in Sweden. Another example is the ad, "Come Alive with Pepsi," by Pepsico. In Taiwan, the translation became, "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead."
Etiquette and Communication
Etiquette is a combination of behavior and communication. Making an error in etiquette can cause a business deal to fail. For example, when you are meeting with a group of people from the Asian culture, you have to be aware of hierarchy issues. If you disagree with an idea presented by a person in
10 Flores Gonzalez Adriana P. 2013. Diplomacy in the Modern Protocol. Interview in Spanish.
management, it is not a good idea to say so in front of subordinates. The manager "loses face," by what is perceived as criticism.
Written Communication
In the Western World, business is handled by phone calls and emails. Less formal communication can cause confusion and misinterpretation due to language differences. For example, if you use generally accepted Americanized statements, you can cause a lot of confusion such as, "I'm on it. I'll jump on that right away," or even, "I get it." Other email communication needs to be considered. For example, in Japan, typically, a person will greet you by your last name and then the word "san." This is a sign of respect to you. If you simply send back an email response without a greeting, it may be considered rude.11
Cultural differences in business – are
you aware of them?
A key to being successful in business internationally is to understand the role of culture in international business. Whatever sector you are operating in, cultural differences will have a direct impact on your profitability. Improving your level of knowledge of international cultural difference in business can aid in building international competencies as well as enabling you to gain a competitive advantage.
However, onthe one handwhereit is important to be aware ofcultural differencesof different countries, on the other, it is also hard to be aware of every single aspect of each country’s organisational culture. Therefore, you should be aware of the key factors that have a direct impact on business. These are:
Communication is the key to success for any business, whether you are operating nationally or internationally, but when operating internationally it becomes even more important due to language barriers. Passport to Trade 2.0 project aims to remove this barrier by providing training materials in the languages of the country you are operating.
Being aware of basic customer needs is an important aspect as this will give the advantage of conveying your message. In simple terms, if you are aware of the customer’s cultural background, then you will be able to adopt better and more suitable advertising methods.
Body language is another key factor in cultural difference. As different countries have different ways to convey or share their message, for instance in Germany people tend to speak loudly when sharing ideas, whereas in Japan people speak softly, it very important to know what your body language should be doing when interacting with people whether it’s your business partner or an interviewer.
11 https://bizfluent.com/info-7761139-importance-communication-international-business.html
Before launching a marketing campaign, always conduct research to become aware of your target audience since customer demand, decision making, gender views and ideologies greatly vary in cultures.12
Cultural Differences in Business
All of us global minds have been confronted with cultural differences at some point. They often lead to amusing misunderstandings, but can also have a serious impact on your career. We help you avoid cultural conflicts at work and leave a good impression.
In this article, we will focus on cultural differences in communication and in valuing time before briefly touchingonsomegeneralguidelines.Youmayalsobeinterestedinourarticleson internationaletiquette and international business culture, or in our cross-cultural communication section.
Differences in Communication
If you have travelled a lot before, you know that there are huge differences in communication between people from one country to another. In some cultures, people are loud, direct or even blunt and tend to interrupt othersduringaconversation.Inothers,peoplearetypicallysoft-spoken,usefloweryorindirect language and wait patiently for others to finish their sentence.
During a business meeting, these differences are likely to come to the fore. Try to adjust to the way your business partners communicate, e.g. when addressing and greeting your business partners, your boss and your colleagues. Always use last names and titles unless you are invited to do otherwise.
Hierarchies may have a great influence on the communication style in your new surroundings, so it is important to keep an eye on this. The most senior business partner may be the one who is making the decisions at a meeting. Failing to acknowledge their status within the company or to greet them with due respect can leave a bad impression.
Valuing Time
Cultural differences also become apparent in differing concepts of time. Is the scheduled time frame for a meeting set in stone, or does it allow for some flexibility? Will you jeopardize a business deal by arriving late, or is it perfectly acceptable to let family matters, for example, take precedence over business appointments?
12 http://businessculture.org/business-culture/cultural-differences-in-business/
A popular example: Everyone would agree that Germans are well-known for their punctuality. In many AfricanandSouthAmericancountries,however,scheduledappointmentsareoftentreatedlikeageneral guideline rather than something one has to strictly abide by.
Seeing how some cultures are more time-conscious than others, it is always best to be punctual at first and simultaneously adopt a relaxed attitude towards time management. Even if you are always on time, your business partners may not take the appointed time for a business meeting as seriously as you do. After a while, you will learn to adjust to your business partners’ unique pace at work.
Cultural Differences Aside…
There are always a few generally valid guidelines you should pay attention to in order tomake a positive impression inthebusinessworld. Being dressedappropriately forthe occasionand arriving at a business meeting well-prepared are two very obvious ingredients for your success in international business. Whether you are in France or in China, your business partners will appreciate your efforts to make a good impression, regardless of cultural differences.
When you fly abroad for business purposes, jet lag is a factor that needs to be taken into account as it might inhibit your professional skills significantly. After all, who makes a great impression when they are sleep-deprived and stressed out?
To mellow the effects of jet lag, try to arrive a couple of days early to give your body enough time to adjust. It may help to set your watch to the new time before you leave and to act accordingly. If at all feasible, this could involve slowly adjusting your sleeping and waking hours to the new time zone. This may seem trivial to you, but a well-slept and alert traveller is much better equipped to deal with cultural differences than someone who is underslept and exhausted.13
Differentstrokesfordifferentfolks
Communicatingcross-culturallyisamust inaglobalisedworld,andcommunicationsprofessionalsmust convince their companies of the value of bringing people together to share a diversity of business thinking.
by Dafydd Phillips and Richard Morgan
European integration, globalisation, organisational change, corporate alliances and M&A, the focus on shareholder value, as well as increased competition and the challenge of market differentiation – these are all topics that are debated in conference calls and boardrooms again and again, and yet it is often overlooked that all of these issues are affected by people’s differences and the need to respond to them as individuals. Managing diversity is not just cosmetic – it increases market share and customer
13 https://www.internations.org/guide/global/cultural-differences-in-business-15308
intimacy. It improves stock performance and public image. Diversity also helps a company become more competitive in the labour market. All of this means that any internal scepticism to a cross-cultural strategy must be met head on. The drive for managing diversity must come from top management, but also involve all levels of the company in an inclusive and interactive manner. The point must be made that it is a strategic necessity.
As ever, communicators have a key role to play in conveying the importance of cross-cultural issues. The best training must be first-hand experience of working with others from around the world. Where this is not always feasible, however, a quick Google search reveals numerous specialist consultancies that offer business-focused cross-cultural classes. Certainly, the mixture of acquiring new skills while immersing oneself in specific cultures can be an asset and a stepping stone to global success.
MINDING YOUR INTERNATIONAL PS AND QS
A certain well-known multinational financial institution has run several campaigns convincing us that they are the world’s local bank. Their highly effective advertisements picked on the minutiae of cross-cultural interactions that have been the mainstay of comedy routines and TV depictions of ‘funny foreigners’ for decades: the ‘hilarious’ misunderstandings that can arise when two cultures interpret a simple gesture in very different ways. These are the stumbling blocks that international communicators wake up in a sweat over, but are they really such a major feature of cross-cultural communication? We all want to be on our best behaviour, especially when we are guests abroad or are hosts to guest from abroad, but are we in danger of paralysing our communications efforts from fear of causing unintended offence? Lu Ellen Schafer is executive director of Global Savvy, and has provided multinationals with international training and consulting programmes. Her experiences have given her an overview of the way we work around the world In her opinion, when it comes tointeractingin a “culturally appropriatemanner”,communicators should not get bogged down with worrying about how their actions will be perceived: “People worry too much about whether they are showing the sole of their foot when they sit down or not handing someone a business card in the culturally appropriate way,” she says. “I have found these protocol gestures are less important that listening deeply to others, encouraging others to speak and being gracious. It’s just like mom told us!”
WORKING WITH OTHER CULTURES WHILE STICKING TO YOUR STRATEGY
Beyond the issue of personal interaction, the plethora of different cultures, opinions and voices can seem to be a bar to communicating a particular strategy: how can one strategy accommodate this fractured, multifaceted world? It can be hard enough to get anyone to see things your way, to adapt the same work mentality and attitudes that shape your company’s work ethos, never mind trying to accommodate someone from a wholly other cultural background, who may have different ways of thinking and who may subscribe to different intellectual paradigms. How can companies make space for these differences while still managing to push forward a coherent strategy?
Jana Weatherbee, vice president of internal communications at IBM, sees no inherent problem with sticking to a common strategy while also taking on board local differences: “Communications professionals in markets around the world have authority and responsibility for local execution of our
global internal communications strategy,” she says. “The result is a rich array of locally relevant tactics, all driving a common strategy.”
Benoit Ams is managing partner at New Step International, a consulting firm that specialises in marketing westerncompanies in China. He says that western firmslookingto bridge out into developing countries, and specifically China, must be able to adapt to their new colleagues’ conditions. “Management practices and structures often need to be adapted to the local context,” he says. “To succeed in China, you need to be capable of working and interacting with colleagues who do not deal with reality in the way that westerners do, who do not see the world in the same way. In China, more than anywhere else, you will need to create a team spirit in your own house style. Therefore, you must not try to become Chinese, but rather you should put in place a language and common system of reference which will enable you to work in cross-cultural teams.”
Lu Ellen Schafer believes there are a number of significant similarities in the way people work and want to be treated at work that help make communicating cross-culturally less intimidating than it may first appear. As she puts it, “Leadership, consistency and the perception of fairness matter a great deal. We have discovered that worldwide, each person wants to feel heard and respected, and be treated fairly. When leaders model this behaviour, the differences in intellectual paradigms matter less than one would think.”
LOST IN TRANSLATION When communicating cross-culturally, misunderstandings will arise. When this happens, the best approach is to step back and try and see the situation from the perspective of the other side. When we have to adapt our communication strategies and techniques to work with others, it can be easy to feel that it is we who are doing most – if not all – of the work in attempting to bridge the culture gap – e.g. by becoming more flexible with time zone differences. However, the reality is that working globally demands input from everyone, all the time. Communicators should not rush to put the blame for a communications breakdown on others. Schafer describes it like this: “The Law of Negative Attribution means we attribute a negative motive to someone. While this is certainly not cultural, the impact of the Law of Negative Attribution is heightened when we work across cultures and distance. We need to step back and assess the situation from different angles to get to the root of the issue.”
Benoit Ams has a more direct warning about the potential perils of linguistic misunderstandings: “Have you ever heard about the ‘three yeses of communication in China’? Well, for Westerners, the yes is an agreement, unequivocal adherence to what has been said, while in China, there are three forms of the word: “yes, I understand”, “yes, it is possible”, and “yes, I will do”…” Choosing words carefully and precisely can be the key to achieving understanding between parties.
OUTSOURCING, OUT OF MIND
An inescapable feature of modern business is that of outsourcing to other parts of the world,a practicethat showsno signsof abatingthanksto agrowing choiceofcountries able to tailor to your business’s needs. But more choice means more complexity: whereas earlier outsourcing was to vendors of similar cultural backgrounds, now your vendor could be located in India, Southeast Asia, China, or Eastern Europe. Problems and mishaps arising from cultural differences are a common feature of outsourcing, and can go undetected until well into a particular project. The resulting frustrationsandlossofproductivityareahallmarkofoutsourcingfailures.Thepopularityofoutsourcing
also raises specific questions about communicating internally with very different workforces, with particularly far-reaching ramifications in regard to issues of accountability and transparency, both key business concepts for most companies in the west for a while now. But do companies that outsource to other parts of the world face problems in promoting these concepts? Can conflicting views of what constitutes best practice be a hindrance to communications?
Benoit Ams is experienced in this area. “According to the specialists, 80 per cent of the failures of western companies in the Chinese market are directly or indirectly due to intercultural issues,” he says. “This lack of intercultural understanding becomes more damaging as the contracts become more complex,movingfromsalesrepresentationmodelstomorechallengingpartnershipmodels(forexample in the case of the technology transfer). It is naive to assume that “the professional world is governed by Anglo-Saxon management, and the Chinese will end up adapting”, as one of my European customers suggested to me during our first meeting. The development of his operations in China would later prove him wrong. It is thus important to put in place a true system of intercultural management in order to optimise the chances of success in this ancient country”.
TRAINING Lu Ellen Schafer believes that not only communicating the importance of transparency and accountability to workers who may be new to this sort of thing, but also actively rewarding them for it, is the key to a harmonious working relationship: “People do what they are rewarded for doing,” she says. “If they are rewarded for transparency, they will move toward that goal. The key is to get the managers in alignment with transparency and accountability and have them rewarded for it. This will help change the work culture in the company’s global sites.”
Again, larger companies that outsource extensively, particularly to emerging countries, can benefit from immersive training programmes that give a rounded, nuanced view of the cultural, social and economic context that the outsourcing finds itself in. IBM works alongside groups that are heavily involved with the developing world, as Jana Weatherbee explains. “As a global corporation, we believe it’s critical that our employees have an understanding of, and respect for, other cultures,” she says. “We provide formal classroom training as well as hands-on learning opportunities through international assignments. We recently complemented these efforts with a programme we call the Corporate Service Corps. This year (the programme’s second), 500 IBMers from different parts of the world are coming together in small teams in emerging markets of the developing world. They are working on short term assignments with non-profits, governments and NGOs, and in the process are learning about the culture of the local community, as well as the cultures of their fellow IBMers.”
“According to the specialists, 80 per cent of the failures of western companies in the Chinese market are directly or indirectly due to intercultural issues”.
CONNECTING WITH CULTURES ONLINE One highly visible means of communicating quickly with people from all around the world is, of course, through social media. Does its prevalence and popularity help or hinder the delicate task of cross-cultural communication? Schafer, for one, is encouraged by the potential to hop, skip and jump across barriers of time and space, and its implications
for bringing people together: “More frequent, informal communication can help build relationships and quickly answer business queries,” she says. “Therefore, the more, the better in our dispersed, culturallydiverse workplaces.” This is one area where that often-overlooked internal communications tool, the intranet, can come into its own. If a company is sufficiently international in scope, then ambitious internal communications projects can be established, as is the case with IBM’s ‘jam sessions’. Jana Weatherbee explains: “A jam is a multi-day, facilitated conversation (with local language capability) on our global intranet among thousands of employees, focused on specific topics. Post-jam analysis of the conversations produces a set of outcomes that are then executed in the company. Our most recent jam, which also included clients, had nearly 90,000 participants across 80 countries.” Not every company can boast 90,000 participants spread over 80 countries, but as long as your company views diversity of thinking and ideas across the company as a competitive advantage, then bringing people from different cultures together to share diverse points of view should be a no-brainer.