Cultural Competency in a Diverse Business Environment (for Chattanooga Chamber)

Communicating with Cultural Competency in an increasingly diverse Business Environment

August 13, 2013

International Business is rolling

into Tennessee

So, the Germans, French, Japanese,

Koreans are coming...

...but what does this have to do with me?

Mind the Culture Gap

Do Any Of These Statements Apply to You?

• I work with people of different cultures/countries and sometimes I feel like we aren't fully connecting

• When working with foreigners I am unsure how to make contact and what contacts to make

• Sometimes it seems difficult to get "honest" information from my foreign business contacts

Why Culture matters

• Cultural values impact most relevant behaviors in interpersonal processes

* contacting * introducing * trust building * * communicating *negotiating * conflict management *

• Knowing about cultural behavioral preferences will benefit work performance in diverse teams

Visible & Invisible Parts of CultureVisibles:- what people see, hear, touch, taste, smell- explicitly learned- conscious- easily changed- objective knowledge

Invisibles:- what people believe, value, think, feel- implicitly learned- unconscious- difficult to change- subjective knowledge

Cultural Dimensions• Individualism vs. Collectivism

• Short-term vs. long-term orientation

• Hierarchical vs. participative orientation

• Need for certainty vs. tolerance for ambiguity

• Orientation towards achievement vs. quality of life

1. Individualist ……………………………………....…………………....…................ Group-oriented

2. Egalitarian ………………………….…………………....……......…................………. Hierarchical

3. Task-oriented …………………....………………..………..........................………… Relationship

4. Rules ……………………………....…………………....……..............……... Particular Situations

Building Relationships

US GER AR GER* MEX PER|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Individualist Communitarian

MEX PER AR GER US|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Hierarchical Egalitarian

US GER AR PER MEX|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Task-oriented Relational

MEX PER AR US GER|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Particular situations Universal rules

1. Implicit ……………………………………....…………………....…........................………..... Explicit

2. Consensual Harmony ………………………….………….................………. Confronting

3. Formal …………………....………………..……………....................................………… Informal

4. Achievement ……………………………....…………………..................……... Balanced Life

Communication

MEX PER AR US GER|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Implicit Explicit

MEX PER AR US GER|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Harmony/Consensus-seeking Confrontational

MEX PER GER AR US|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Formal Informal

GER US AR GER* MEX PER |________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Live to work (achievement) Work to live (balance)

1. Polychronic ………………………....…………….....................................….... Monochronic

2. External Control ………………………….…….....……................………. Internal Control

3. Risk-averse …………………....………………..….....................………..............… Risk-taking

4. Process-orientation …..…………………....…...........….......…... Results-orientation

Time & Decisions

MEX PER AR US GER|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Polychronic Monochronic

PER MEX AR GER US|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10External Control Internal Control

PER MEX AR GER US|________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Risk-averse Happy to take risks

GER PER AR MEX US |________|_______|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Processes matter Results matter

Peaches vs. Coconuts

Peach- extroverted with strangers- open & curious- makes "friends" quickly- talks openly in public- public & private interwoven

Coconut- reserved, needs time to warm up with strangers- private & public strictly separated- social distance determined by status, social role, profession- close, very intimate sharing of experiences with friends

ze German use of ze Englisch language

• most Germans speak English

• many know English only on an academic/school level

• most schools teach mainly British English

• => misunderstandings (esp. with Americans)

• difficulties in understanding nuances, reading between the lines

• native speech is full of "would", "could", "please", "thank you", "might"

• Germans use "should", "must", "have to", "yes" and "no"

Working across

Cultures

• Be patient when building trust and establishing relationships

• Use simple English - Avoid idiomatic language

• Watch for nonverbal interaction cues

• Be aware of the gap between your home culture and the culture of your counterpart

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