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FAQ - Intercultural Project Management
Intercultural management goes far beyond the liaison of company’s cultures solely through cultural borders in a geographical sense. Nowadays, we don’t find cultural differences only in our neighbourhood. Cultural differences can be found between teams and departments of a company. Some examples: In a plant of an automobile parts supplier the sample production, the production unit and the sales department have their own cultures. You find every kind of culture there, from a strongly hierarchical orientation to a collective team culture, from a formal dealing to very friendly relations. Unfortunately, the team work on projects does not work out well. The values are very different, similar terms have different meanings. The seeds of conflicts have been sown. A German software company has hired programmers as support from India with a Green Card. The Indian colleagues are working on another floor than the German members of the project team. The project team members have a different view on the way to solve problems, and, like in the first examples, conflicts are preconditioned. If , as well, this company supplies its products to a global customer, the chaos will be perfect. What will be the solution? Intercultural management starts with an analysis of the different cultures of a company. Therafter, the members of the single cultures will be lead to each other, and they will learn to develop empathy for the other part. Managers will be supplied with additional tools, in order to be able to form and lead intercultural teams more speedy. This approach has shown fantastic results while treating cultural problems within a company, before, during and after M&A projects and in international projects. The factor of success “culture” is often underestimated by senior managers and causes annual losses of millions of Euro`s.
There are only two basic rules which have to be kept in mind: 1. In international business the seller is expected to conform to the buyer. 2. In international business the visitor is expected to conform to the local customs. If you consider these rules, things will be easier for you in an international environment. However, one appeal to your alertness: Please stay true to yourself. Avoid imitating behaviour patterns that could debase you or make a fool of yourself in front of your foreign partner. Respect all alien behaviour patterns in the same way, without condemnation. Maybe, Chinese people do not wish to have democracy designed according to the Western role model. Indians are possibly much happier than we can imagine, and if men in Arabian countries kiss each other there is no hint to their sexual prevalence.
Many scientists defined various patterns of culture. Culture is defined as a response of human behaviour to the immediate conditions of living. As a hint, I recommend to differentiate between four pairs of behaviour patterns: 1. Results - oriented versus relationship -oriented. This pattern differentiates between the focus on business compared to a focus on human relationships. Typical examples of these patterns are the USA for results-oriented and Japan for relationship-oriented. 2. Informal versus formal cultures. Formal cultures build on criteria like age and status, informal cultures are build on human equality. Once again, the USA and Japan are typical examples. Who stands for which pattern? 3. Time-fixed versus time-open cultures. Parts of the world esteem punctuality and the the appointment calendar, other parts of the world see time as a relative value. This difference can lead to many misunderstandings and is difficult to understand. Typical examples of these patterns is the German-speaking Europe on one side and the Arabian world on the other. . 4. Expressive versus reserved cultures. How do I have to communicate? Do I have to utter myself straightforward or non-directly? Which non-verbal gestures, which body language is permitted or tabooed? Does a nod mean yes or no? Is it permitted to look directly into the eyes of the negotiating partner? The devil is in the details. We willingly provide individual advice for your intercultural questions.
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