It, however, calls for judgment when dealing with groups or societies different from one's own. Information about the nature of cultural differences between societies, their roots, and their consequences should precede judgment and action. Negotiation is more likely to succeed when the parties concerned understand the reasons for the differences in viewpoints.
It is a form of reductionism that reduces the "other way" of life to a distorted version of one's own. This is particularly important in case of global dealings when a company or an individual is imbued with the idea that methods, materials, or ideas that worked in the home country will also work abroad. Environmental differences are, therefore, ignored. Ethnocentrism, in relation to global dealings, can be categorized as follows: Important factors in business are overlooked because of the obsession with certain cause-effect relationships in one's own country.
It is always a good idea to refer to checklists of human variables in order to be assured that all major factors have been at least considered while working abroad. Even though one may recognize the environmental differences and problems associated with change, but may focus only on achieving objectives related to the home-country. This may result in the loss of effectiveness of a company or an individual in terms of international competitiveness.
The objectives set for global operations should also be global. The differences are recognized, but it is assumed that associated changes are so basic that they can be achieved effortlessly. It is always a good idea to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the changes proposed. Sometimes a change may upset important values and thereby may face resistance from being implemented.
The cost of some changes may exceed the benefits derived from the implementation of such changes. Cultural differences manifest themselves in different ways and differing levels of depth. Symbols represent the most superficial and values the deepest manifestations of culture, with heroes and rituals in between. Symbols are words, gestures, pictures, or objects that carry a particular meaning which is only recognized by those who share a particular culture.
New symbols easily develop, old ones disappear. Symbols from one particular group are regularly copied by others. This is why symbols represent the outermost layer of a culture. Heroes are persons, past or present, real or fictitious, who possess characteristics that are highly prized in a culture. They also serve as models for behavior. Rituals are collective activities, sometimes superfluous in reaching desired objectives, but are considered as socially essential.
They are therefore carried out most of the times for their own sake ways of greetings, paying respect to others, religious and social ceremonies, etc. The core of a culture is formed by values. They are broad tendencies for preferences of certain state of affairs to others good-evil, right-wrong, natural-unnatural. Many values remain unconscious to those who hold them. Therefore they often cannot be discussed, nor they can be directly observed by others.
Values can only be inferred from the way people act under different circumstances. Symbols, heroes, and rituals are the tangible or visual aspects of the practices of a culture. The true cultural meaning of the practices is intangible; this is revealed only when the practices are interpreted by the insiders.
Figure 1. You might want to put everything in writing to avoid misperceptions later on. But before you start crafting precise job descriptions, make sure you have protected the parts of your company that rely on implicit communication and fluid processes for business success. But you should also train local employees to adapt to some of your corporate norms.
Employees around the world hear about the importance of debate for success in the company. Exxon Mobil, which prides itself on task-oriented efficiency but has large operations in strongly relationship-oriented societies such as Qatar and Nigeria, reaps tangible benefits from getting employees to adapt to its culture, rather than the other way around. If all the Shanghai employees are in their thirties and all those in London are in their fifties, the rifts may widen.
And if almost all the Shanghai employees are men while most of the London employees are women, things may get even worse. Take steps at the start to ensure diversity in each location. Mix the tasks and functions among locations.
Instruct staff members to build bridges of cultural understanding. When BusinessObjects, a company based in France and the United States, expanded into India, cultural differences quickly arose regarding communication up and down the hierarchy. One U. I e-mail them asking for input but get no response. The lack of communication is astounding. Those e-mails should go to me directly, but she seems to purposefully leave me out of the process. Of course, when my staff receives those e-mails, they are paralyzed.
This relatively minor cultural misunderstanding created tensions aggravated by the fact that all the local employees in Bangalore had spent their entire lives in India; none were in a position to see things from the other perspective. The majority were software engineers in their twenties. And the California office was made up entirely of American mid-career marketing experts, none of whom had ever been to India.
A small issue threatened to sink the enterprise. Five engineers from the Indian office were sent to California for six months, and three Americans moved to Bangalore.
Bit by bit the divisiveness decreased and a sense of unity emerged. And by the time they regain their balance, their economic opportunity may have passed. You have 1 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more.
Artwork: Shannon Rankin, Peak, Uncharted series, , map, adhesive, paper, 20" x 20". Managers should: identify the dimensions of difference between the corporate culture and local ones make sure every cultural group has a voice protect the most creative units, letting communication and job descriptions remain more ambiguous train everyone in key norms ensure diversity in every location Getting culture right should never be an afterthought.
Idea in Brief The Problem Many global corporations suffer from miscommunication and misunderstandings, especially between the head office and regional units. The Challenge How can managers adapt individual employees and the organization as a whole to the realities of working in a global marketplace? The Approach Success involves the careful application of five principles: Identify the dimensions of difference Give everyone a voice Protect your most creative units Train everyone in key norms Be heterogeneous everywhere.
Navigating the Cultural Minefield Cross-cultural management Magazine Article Erin Meyer Learn how to work more effectively with people from other countries. With such a small team spending so much time together, it seemed like the values, mission, and goals of FiveStars were broadly understood by all. Shared humility in that it takes a team to be in it together.
Authentic relationships , meaning bring all of your quirks to work, whatever they may be. The team fights together and never alone. Ho says he knew what would be expected of him in the finance world when he was still a college student.
As a result, even the interview process is transformed. This saves both parties from dealing with a bad match later on. These attributes jibe well with the overall culture at Google and can predict success at the tech powerhouse.
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