(E)merging Differences: How to Handle Intercultural Business Situations

By Ute Clement

Our culturally shaped values influence the way we work as well as our behaviour towards our colleagues, superiors and business partners – whether we care to acknowledge it or not. Not surprisingly, then, intercultural competence has come to be one of the key skills of the 21st century: anyone seeking success on the international business scene needs a navigation system to guide them through the complexities of other cultures' modes of interaction, behaviour and communication.In this book, Ute Clement – a seasoned consultant for international corporations – presents a range of methods and concepts for dealing with cross-cultural work situations. She also explains the basics of systemic intercultural consultancy by reference to a wealth of experiential anecdotes. The book evokes the pleasure of exploring cultural differences and encourages an open attitude towards other cultures. The knowledge it presents enables the reader to develop a sense of how to work comfortably in and between different cultures so that new options become available for dealing with everyday work situations.*"A combination of theoretical clarity, vivid examples and useful tools make this book a compelling and informative read for all those who cross cultures in their work."*Corinna Refsgaard, Vice President – Head of HR Cassidian Systems, EADS Deutschland GmbH

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carl-Auer Verlag
• Release date: Sep 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9783849780067

Book preview

Impressum

Cover: Uwe Göbel

DTP: Drißner-Design u. DTP, Meßstetten

Realisation eBook: rombach digitale manufaktur, Freiburg, www.rombach-rdm.de

First edition, 2013

© for the English eBook edition 2013 by Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag und Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH, Heidelberg

All rights reserved

The original German edition was published under the title Kon-Fusionen at Carl-Auer Verlag, 2011.

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ISBN: 978-3-8497-8006-7

Ute Clement

(E)merging Differences

How to Handle

Intercultural

Business Situations

Translated from German by Kathleen Cross

2012

Contents

bunny

Impressum

Titel

Acknowledgements

Preface

Foreword: Intercultural teams are the rule, not the exception

Introduction

A meta-model rather than Do’s and Don’ts or awareness

1. Culture and its challenges

1.1 Potential costs of culture

1.2 Culture at a glance

1.3 Just a kiss?

1.4 Culture as a framework for interpreting the world

1.5 A key German value: quality

2. Intercultural competence

2.1 Communicative und social competence

2.2 Adaptation and identity

2.2.1 Why should we always have to adapt?

2.3 Aspects of intercultural competence

2.3.1 An open attitude

2.3.2 Awareness of self and others

2.3.3 Cultural knowledge

2.3.4 Intercultural tools and techniques

2.4 Building intercultural competence

3. Describing cultures

3.1 Our cultural reality

3.2 Describing cultural differences

3.3 Ethnocentrism

3.4 Seeing through the eyes of the other

3.5 A meta-model for pattern recognition

3.6 Dimensions of culture

3.7 The plurality of cultures

4. German confusions

4.1 The red light means Stop! – How we handle rules and regulations

4.1.1 Universalism and particularism

4.1.2 Centralisation/regionalisation

4.1.3 What do you mean by fair (here)?

4.2 Since when? I or we? Group or individual?

4.2.1 Individualism/collectivism

4.2.2 Organisation and management in collectivist and individualist cultures

4.2.3 We are family …

4.3 Power, hierarchy and authority

4.3.1 Communicative rights

4.3.2 The boss as a first among equals?

4.3.3 (E)merging German-French differences

4.3.4 Management and competence in intercultural contexts

4.4 Are you sure? Uncertainty and control

4.4.1 Uncertainty tolerance and uncertainty avoidance

4.4.2 Information and control

4.4.3 The art of improvisation

4.5 Communication

4.5.1 Diffuse and specific mode of communication

4.5.1.1 Superficiality: German-American misunderstandings

4.5.1.2 The citoyens and the barbarians

4.5.2.1 Contexts in communication

4.5.2.2 How much information has to be communicated?

4.5.2.3 Making use of context

4.5.3 Direct and indirect style of communication

4.5.3.1 Yes, but …

4.5.3.2 Criticism? That’s unheard of!

4.5.4 Life as theatre

4.5.4.1 Affective or neutral?

4.5.4.2 Neutral and affective cultures

4.6 A suit or jeans?

4.6.1 Handling formal and informal environments

4.7 Where does status come from? – Achievement vs. ascription

4.7.1 The American dream is a French nightmare

4.7.2 Sometimes a process requires a touch of grey

4.7.3 Clans, families and strong networks

4.7.4 Performance and status

4.8 Mañana or: Time is money

4.8.1 What is time?

4.8.2 Synchronic vs. sequential time managers

4.8.3 The consequences of cultures of time

4.8.4 Time for cultivating relationships

4.8.5 Notions of time and the planning of processes and events

4.9 Control: acting and reacting

4.9.1 Subdue the earth?

4.9.2 The American way

4.9.3 Communication and notions of control

4.9.4 Inshallah!

4.9.5 Working with one’s environment

5. Intercultural tools

5.1 Style switching

5.1.1 Adapting to cultures

5.1.1.1 Would you be so kind …? British-German management and cooperation

5.1.1.2 Style switching makes it possible to connect

5.2 The art of making distinctions

5.2.1 We’re all the same, aren’t we?

5.2.2 Culture is always important!

5.2.3 Identifying the key differences

5.2.4 The art of making distinctions

5.2.5 How do we deal with culture?

5.3 Finding common ground – Creating cultures

5.3.1 Who are we?

5.3.1.1 Creating common ground!

5.3.2 Nature reserves for identities

5.3.3 Building common ground

5.3.4 How teams grow together

5.3.5 GRPIC: Shaping team processes

5.4 Managing your own learning process

5.4.1.1 The price of devaluing others

5.4.1.2 Pausing for a moment

5.4.2 The right questions

5.4.3 Cultural informants and a notebook

6. Before you get on the plane

6.1 Check your cultural passport

6.2 Are you well-informed?

6.3 Spanish conquerors or explorers?

6.4 Allow yourself to be confused

Summary: Systemic intercultural consultancy

References/Index

About the author

Acknowledgements

Books need a cultural context where they can take root and grow, so I would like to express my gratitude to all those individuals who, for me, make up this invigorating cultural environment.

My curiosity for all things foreign was greatly nourished by the brave and generous gift given to me by my parents, who, when I was 18, allowed me to travel to India by myself for several months. I very much cherish the confidence they placed in me at that time.

Thanks to my clients and customers, I have had the opportunity to experience a rich variety of organisational consultancy work in different cultures – with a whole host of surprises thrown in. I would never have believed, for example, that it’s possible to run a workshop professionally in a tent in the middle of the desert.

My thanks go to Jacques Chlopczyk for productive discussions, collaborative thinking and unwavering support during the entire time it took to write this book.

Ada Göbel made an invaluable contribution to the work on the finer details of this book – without her it would never have been completed.

Finally, without the encouragement of the Carl-Auer Verlag publishing house and Fritz B. Simon in particular, it would probably not have occurred to me to share my experiences in book form. For this I am most grateful!

Ute Clement

Preface

In this highly readable book, Ute Clement demonstrates clearly that she passionately stands for the initiation, implementation and accompaniment of international projects and cultural processes in companies. In this respect, the slogan passion for change accurately reflects the spirit of this book’s author.

Her approach uses the top-down (visions, strategies, etc.) and bottom-up process through effective communication. Ute demonstrates her broad-based and in-depth expertise at all times: this is the fruit of many years observing and working with the behaviours, processes and practicalities associated with change. This ongoing reflection pays off in any cultural change process.

This book attests to the author’s comprehensive expertise in both business administration and methodology. This knowledge and its practical implementation clearly show that Ute Clement knows what culture is and that she is aware of how crucial it is to respect the differences between cultures. The implementation of interventions is discussed, along with how they are to be realised by means of systemic tools, thus giving an unequivocal answer to the question How do I know that it works? Ute’s approach is based on a new understanding of cultural change that makes it possible to take into account simultaneously all the varied concerns of an organization.

All in all a must-read that I highly recommend.

Fons Trompenaars

THT Consulting, Amsterdam

Foreword: Intercultural teams are the rule, not the exception

As Human Resources Manager at an international company that operates worldwide and where growth can only happen at a global level, it is impossible for me to do my job well without being aware of culture. Globally run business operations pay no heed to country borders or cultural differences. That’s one side of the story. The other side is that a lack of intuitive awareness of the culture-related behaviours and the ways in which managers and their employees think can prove costly. Approaches that focus on project management or change management alone often fail to do justice to the day-to-day intercultural environment in which people work. Equally, training seminars that deal solely with intercultural issues often overlook the corporate dimension in organisations because they are unable to address its complexity.

Ute Clement is in her element when it comes to getting the balance right. Here, she offers a detailed account of the consultancy methods she has used in the course of supporting international projects and change processes throughout the world. Using a systemic approach and drawing on the valuable experiences she has gathered in her work, Ute provides us with a how-to guide to acquiring intercultural competence that includes a treasure trove of vivid intercultural anecdotes as well as a broad range of intercultural tools.

We look to external consultants when we think it would be useful to get an outsider’s perspective on team or departmental processes. Doing so enables us to develop as professionals while simultaneously bringing additional expertise and knowledge into the organisation. What we need are tailor-made solutions that fit the situation and the context at hand.

Ute Clement handles this crucial interface masterfully. She manages to apply academic research on intercultural issues to specific contexts and thus to put theoretical knowledge to practical use in everyday organisational work. In doing so, she neither clings rigidly to any particular intercultural approach nor loses sight of business processes. Using a host of intercultural stories for illustration, she presents her convincing approach in a way that makes sense and has practical relevance.

A combination of theoretical clarity, vivid examples and useful tools make this book a compelling and informative read for all those who cross cultures in their work. It demonstrates very clearly how enriching cultural differences can be for us: coming into contact with other cultures and interacting with them can be a lot of fun – not unlike the time spent reading this book.

Corinna Refsgaard

Senior Vice President HR

Fujitsu Technology Solutions GmbH

Introduction

During a merger between a German and a US firm, both sides underwent preparation for creating good working relationships with their colleagues from the other culture. As a way of cultivating contacts in his own division, a German department head invited his new US colleague and her family to an afternoon barbecue.

The idea was to promote cooperation in the project by strengthening social ties. The German host arranged his garden just so – he wanted his American guests to see that even a German is capable of putting on a decent barbecue and that there is little truth in the commonly held notion that Germans are stiff and awkward. So our German host chose to dress casually: a T-shirt and shorts, he thought, would be eminently suitable for a barbecue. The guests arrived – and confusion abounded. His American colleague and her husband appeared in suits and their children in their Sunday best.

What had happened? Clearly the laboured efforts on both sides to get it right had backfired.

It may be that the individuals involved in this clash of cultures can look back on it and smile. A situation like this may prompt general amusement and laughter in the context of a barbecue, but in other contexts it can have harmful consequences.

It is hard to find a company these days that is not part of an international network. In fact, hardly any company can afford not to be part of such a network. Customers, suppliers and production facilities are spread out across the globe. The exchange of information, goods and workers across country borders has reached an unprecedented level. In Germany, we hold phone conversations with our colleagues and partners in the UK, the US, India and China just as often as we do with those in Cologne, Stuttgart, Leipzig or Braunschweig.

The globalised labour market is transforming the way we work and is a key factor in determining which competencies and skills are important for the jobs we do. There is a need to bridge the ever-increasing geographical, social and cultural distance between locations and employees. Many projects have to be coordinated and managed across different time zones. The complex nature of international business increases the amount of time and effort required for coordination and communication.

The ratio of time spent coordinating and communicating with colleagues to the time invested in the actual work itself is shifting more and more towards the task of communication. Adequate communication geared towards specific objectives is absolutely crucial for making efficient use of new company architectures, the benefits of decentralised production and a presence in different markets.

Company employees are spending more and more time clarifying roles, tasks and responsibilities – often without having met with their full project team even once. Whereas roles used to be clearly defined within a solid and stable corporate structure, now the norm is loosely defined work roles in projects with changing responsibilities, targets and architectures.

These changes have also meant that we are increasingly stepping beyond the borders of our own countries, organisations and traditional departments: cross-border and cross-cultural contacts often turn out to be more awkward than we are used to within our own country, organisation or department. Misunderstandings and communication difficulties are the order of the day, and a lot of time needs to be spent agreeing on a joint plan of action with our colleagues and developing a shared picture of the tasks to be tackled.

At the same time, many companies are experiencing the benefits of having a corporate make-up that reflects the heterogeneity of its varied markets and activities. Diversity and interaction with foreign cultures can be a gain, an expansion of horizons. We are often amazed to realise that it is possible to see, judge and handle things completely differently. A variety of perspectives can be enriching and can generate synergies. But making good use of these intercultural differences requires an informed awareness of them.

Our Chinese, English and US colleagues react differently to the way we usually expect. Our established work routines, feedback loops and coordination tools no longer work smoothly (or even at all) in the intercultural context. We stumble over minor deviations from our communicative norms and are disconcerted by the differences between what we are used to in our home contexts and what we expect from our