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Managing and Harnessing the Power of Cross-Cultural Differences Working on Cross-Cultural Communication, Business Development and Project Management Challenges |
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By Anastasia Bibikova & Vadim Kotelnikov, Founder of the Ten3 Business e-Coach
"Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves" - Abraham Lincoln
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What is Culture? Culture in general is concerned with beliefs and values on the basis of which people interpret experiences and behave, individually and in groups. Broadly and simply put, "culture" refers to a group or community with which you share common experiences that shape the way you understand the world. The same person, thus, can belong to several different cultures depending on his or her birthplace; nationality; ethnicity; family status; gender; age; language; education; physical condition; sexual orientation; religion; profession; place of work and its corporate culture. Culture is the "lens" through which you view the world. It is central to what you see, how you make sense of what you see, and how you express yourself. Four Cultural Dimensions Cultures - both national and organizational - differ along many dimensions. Four of the most important are:
Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges Culture is often at the root of communication challenges. Exploring historical experiences and the ways in which various cultural groups have related to each other is key to opening channels for cross-cultural communication. Becoming more aware of cultural differences, as well as exploring cultural similarities, can help you communicate with others more effectively. Next time you find yourself in a confusing situation, ask yourself how culture may be shaping your own reactions, and try to see the world from the other's point of view. Culture Shock Failure to identify cultural issues and take action can lead to a culture shock. In order of priority, the most often found symptoms of culture shock are3:
Not coping with culture shock symptoms when they appear can lead to a very negative situation. Respecting Differences and Working Together Anthropologists discovered that, when faced by interaction that we do not understand, people tend to interpret the others involved as "abnormal", "weird" or "wrong"5. Awareness of cultural differences and recognizing where cultural differences are at work is the first step toward understanding each other and establishing a positive working environment. Use these differences to challenge your own assumptions about the "right" way of doing things and as a chance to learn new ways to solve problems. Building Trust Across Cultural Boundaries Research indicates4 that there is a strong correlation between components of trust (such as communication effectiveness, conflict management, and rapport) and productivity. Cultural differences play a key role in the creation of trust, since trust is built in different ways, and means different things in different cultures. For instance, in the U.S., trust is "demonstrated performance over time". Here you can gain the trust of your colleagues by "coming through" and delivering on time on your commitments. In many other parts of the world, including many Arab, Asian and Latin American countries, building relationships is a pre-requisite for professional interactions. Building trust in these countries often involves lengthy discussions on non-professional topics and shared meals in restaurants. Work-related discussions start only once your counterpart has become comfortable with you as a person. Cultural differences in multicultural teams can create misunderstandings between team members before they have had a chance to establish any credibility with each other. Thus, building trust is a critical step in creation and development of such teams. As a manager of a multicultural team, you need to recognize that building trust between different people is a complex process, since each culture has its own way of building trust and its own interpretation of what trust is. Harnessing the Power of Diversity Diversity is a specialized term describing a workplace that includes people from various backgrounds and cultures, and/or diverse businesses. You can find a strategic competitive advantage in an organizational and cultural context by seeking to leverage, rather than diminish, opposite forces. "An important but widely overlooked principle of business success is that integrating opposites, as opposed to identifying them as inconsistencies and driving them out, unleashes power. This is true on both a personal level (the balanced manager is more effective than his or her peer at one end of the control spectrum) and on organizational level as well...More Case in Point: DuPont A US-based multicultural team at DuPont gained around US$45 million in new business by changing the way decorating materials are developed and marketed. The changes included new colors that team members new, from their experience within other cultures, would appeal more to their overseas customers.6 Case in Point: General Electric (GE) At General Electric (GE) the sum is greater than its parts as both business and people diversity is utilized in a most effective way. A major American enterprise with a diverse group of huge businesses, GE is steeped in a learning culture and it is this fact that makes GE a unique company. As Jack Welch puts it: "What sets GE apart is a culture that uses diversity as a limitless source of learning opportunities, a storehouse of ideas whose breadth and richness is unmatched in world business. At the heart of this culture is an understanding that an organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive business advantage." As Welch noted in his 1996 Letter to Share Owners, "The constant sharing of business experiences and cultural insights, from around the world, is creating a Company whose brains, as well as businesses, are truly global." The GE Leadership Effectiveness Survey (LES) provides a framework for evaluation of the corporate leaders that includes, inter alia, the following parameters: "Fully utilizes diversity of team members (cultural, race, gender) to achieve business success" and "Demonstrates global awareness / sensitivity and is comfortable building diverse / global teams." Case in Point: Female Color I, one of the authors of this article, had a business meeting with a Japanese businesswomen in our office. During the break, she went to the washroom. I was surprised to see her opening the door into the "Man's room" which had a big male-silhouette sign on it. I warned her, "Excuse me, it's a man's room! Don't you see that sign?" "Yes, I see it," she answered, "but it's red. In our country, a red-colored sign means it's a lady's room. For men, it should be black or blue." What a cultural difference! I pay attention to the sign only, not to its color, and she pays attentions to completely different things. How many such communication gaps we experienced - without noticing it! - during our previous discussion? Yes, if I wish to communicate more effectively, I should learn more about thinking habits and perceptions of our prospects. |
Bibliography:
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"Working on Common Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges", Marcelle E.DuPraw and Marya Axner, 1997
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"Waging Peace in Our Schools", Linda Lantieri and Janet Patti, 1996
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"Breaking Through Culture Shock", Elisabeth Marx, 2001
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"Building Trust Across Cultural Boundaries", Ira Asherman, John W. Bing, Ed.D., and Lionel Laroche, 2003
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"Conflict Resolution in Intercultural Settings: Problems and Prospects", Kevin Avruch and Peter Black, 1993
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"Developing a Culture for Diversity", Chris Speechley and Ruth Wheatley, 2001
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"Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind", Geert Hofstede, 1997
