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Apr 26

Multicultural Teams: Cross Cultural Approaches to Time Management

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »
clock with chinese signs i1 Multicultural Teams: Cross Cultural Approaches to Time Management

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Everyone has heard the expression “Time is money”. This saying has an equivalent in most languages, demonstrating that the concept of time plays an important role in business cultures across the globe.

Modern Western business, in particular, considers the efficient use of time as a measurement of success. For example, if a project is not completed by the agreed date, the company will lose profit and its reputation will suffer. However, other cultures take a different approach to time management. Some Eastern cultures, such as India and Japan, tend to favour the coordination of tasks rather than tackling them sequentially.

Cross cultural awareness training provides an introduction to the concepts of time and how they differ across cultures, providing you with a better understanding of what to expect when working with international counterparts.

One cross cultural theory about time that intercultural training covers was developed by Edward T. Hall, an American anthropologist and cultural expert. Hall distinguished between monochronic and polychronic views of time. For example, when doing business in Germany or the US, both monochronic cultures, you will find that your counterparts tend to consider that time is wasted unless decisions are being made and actions are carried out. The task is the priority and communication between colleagues is often direct and to the point.

However, in polychronic cultures like India, time is not perceived as a number of slots where each is presented by a definite task that needs to be tackled sequentially. Instead, when doing business in India, you will find their polychronic approach to time is much less driven by a need to get things done on time and more by the fact that things are done and harmonious relationships are maintained throughout the process.

The difference in these cross cultural approaches can create significant challenges for anyone working in a multicultural team. When your multicultural team members have attitudes to time that are similar to yours, coordinating projects can be relatively problem-free. However, when your team members from different cultures view time differently, issues relating to planning, decision-making or project deadlines can often lead to frustrations caused by miscommunication and mismatched expectations.

For example, a German working on a multicultural team with Indian nationals may become frustrated by what he perceives to be indirectness or lack of urgency in his colleagues. Conversely, the Indian team members may feel that their German counterparts come across as being pushy and fail to consider the harmony of the team.

Another clear illustration of contrast between these two attitudes to time can be found in comparing the American and Japanese modes of production. The American model, credited to Ford, is a linear production line, with one task following another until the product is finished. The Japanese, however, initiated the ‘just-in-time’ model, credited to Toyota, in which production is synchronised to allow the company to minimise waste and be responsive to demand.

These are just a few examples that show how attitudes to time can present challenges and benefits for multicultural teams. The challenges and advantages that different attitudes to time can create are numerous and can have a clear negative or positive impact on multicultural teams and the success of the projects that they work on. By participating in a Cross Cultural Training course such as Working across Cultures or Intercultural Training Germany, multicultural teams can develop strategies to not only cope with their differences but harness them for more effective team working and productivity.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Apr 23

International Alliances and Cross Cultural Differences: Finding a Way Forward

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Car manufacturers Daimler, Renault and Nissan have recently announced a three-way global tie-up of their brands. The alliance will allow the three automotive giants to share technologies and development costs, leading in particular to the production of new electric cars. These are the kind of technical, financial and strategic advantages usually associated with international partnerships, and therefore used to advocate them. What is often overlooked, however, are the human factors that affect their performance.

Car factory ricardoazoury i International Alliances and Cross Cultural Differences: Finding a Way Forward

© istockphoto.com/ricardoazoury

 

In an international partnership of this scale, where employees with different national and corporate cultures work together virtually and face-to-face on a daily basis, failure to manage intercultural differences will lead to cross cultural misunderstandings, increasing tensions between colleagues and ultimately jeopardising cooperation.

Cross cultural clashes of this kind in international partnerships are usually caused by a lack of integration, due to the fact that members of one organisation are unable to adapt all or part of their corporate and national culture to meet their partners’ expectations. The result is failure to accept a common reality and common goals, essential for the success of any international partnership. Cross Cultural Awareness Training courses for international management are specifically designed to create the cross cultural awareness employees and management will have to draw upon in order to fully reap the benefits of global partnerships formed by the likes of Daimler, Renault and Nissan.

Renault and Nissan, French and Japanese car makers respectively, are familiar with the cross cultural challenges of international partnerships. In 1999 they formed the Renault-Nissan alliance, the first of its kind in the automotive industry, which saw Renault take a controlling stake in Japanese giant Nissan. Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn was placed in control of the Japanese company, who fired a number of its top Japanese executives. Hardly an example of cross cultural co-operation, the deal nevertheless saw Nissan turn around its profits and eliminate its automotive debts, all in the midst of a flailing Japanese economy. As a result, Ghosn was awarded a medal by the Japanese government and Renault-Nissan is now the fourth largest carmaker in the world.

No one can dispute this success story, and it may be on its wave that Ghosn has claimed international tie-ups are the way forward for the automotive industry. Yet it is estimated that no more than 50% of international mergers and acquisitions achieve the level of success initially anticipated. Reasons for slow progress or outright failure are high labour turnover, low morale amongst employees, reduced job satisfaction and increased stress, amongst others. These may not be immediately measurable in monetary terms, yet their effect on companies’ performance cannot and should not be ignored or underestimated.

Another factor that has a huge impact on the success of international partnerships of this kind is cross cultural difference. Many organisations will venture into an international partnership unprepared for the many cross cultural challenges and only face up to them when projects have been abandoned or key employees have resigned.

Just like due diligence processes are carried out in preparation for international ventures, global organisations should consider pre-emptive measures and consider the cross cultural differences all parties will encounter and provide staff with relevant cross cultural awareness training initiatives. Intercultural Training courses designed with the specific needs of global organisations and their employees in mind – such as Managing Virtual Teams and Managing International Mergers and Acquisitions – will considerably reduce the cultural risks inherent in international operations such as that recently undergone by Daimler, Renault and Nissan.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Apr 21

Beating the ‘No-Fly’ Order with Virtual Communication

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

The eruption last week of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano has caused major disruption to air travel throughout Europe.  As this took place during school Easter holidays, many UK families have been stranded abroad, unable to return to school or work.  Business travellers have also been affected and many meetings have been postponed and projects put on hold.  The disruption that this has caused to business has been immense and the impact of people being unable to travel is as yet incalculable.

In this situation, unprecedented in recent times, virtual communication comes into its own.  Companies that are equipped with video and teleconferencing technologies are likely to suffer far less of an impact than those companies that rely on face-to-face contact between colleagues in different locations.

Business Woman on laptop 2 quavondo i Beating the ‘No Fly’ Order with Virtual Communication

© istockphoto.com/quavondo

 

While email and telephone usage is ubiquitous in today’s business environment, video and teleconferencing technologies enable companies to interact internally and externally anywhere in the world. This can not only save a great deal of money but allows global organisations to be responsive to business needs and to avert disruption in situations like the current no-fly order.

Savvy companies realise that communication via virtual platforms is most successful when they are aware of the obstacles and know how to overcome them. Cross cultural differences, the absence of non-verbal communication and working in different time zones are all issues that need to be handled sensitively when working virtually across cultures.

Communicaid’s Managing Virtual Teams cross cultural awareness training course is specifically designed to address these obstacles and equip managers with the knowledge and skills they need to communicate effectively with their teams through virtual means.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Apr 13

International Assignments – Understanding the Impact of Reverse Culture Shock

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

‘Culture shock’ is a widely tackled issue in cross cultural and intercultural training programs as it can have a huge impact on the international business community. In its broadest sense most people understand that culture shock can occur to an international assignee on their arrival in a new culture or to a short-term business traveller during their time in another culture. While culture shock is a widely understood concept, people tend to be less familiar with the concept of ‘reverse culture shock’, the condition which can affect international assignees or business travellers arriving back to their home culture after a prolonged period spent living and working in another culture.

When we think of returning home after time spent abroad, we don’t automatically think there might be problems or obstructions to our readjustment. We might not even think we’ll need to readjust at all – after all, we are returning back home!

Whilst abroad there is the tendency to think that life at home has stood still, that nothing has moved on and that our friends’ and family’s lives have carried on as usual. However, when we get back to our home culture, we often find the opposite has happened. Life has moved on, and we have missed it. Even seemingly trivial things such as television can have an impact on our mood and feelings.

What is more, there is often the expectation that when we return from an extended period abroad, people will want to sit and listen to our stories. This however is often not the case. People might take a passing interest, but the truth is that if they have never had a similar cross cultural experience they will not typically appreciate your situation and may be uninterested in what you did during your time away. This can cause you to either become frustrated, despondent or repress the memories of your time away.

Though you may not realise this, while things have changed at home, you too have changed over the course of your assignment so remember this. You have spent time away from what you know, from the familiar and have been transplanted into the unfamiliar. This will affect you on returning and readjustment to your home culture.

If you are preparing your return from an extended cross cultural experience living or working in another culture, here are some tips to help you deal with the effects of reverse culture shock:

  • Plan in advance and make sure you prepare for your homecoming in the same way you did for your departure.
  • Be aware that things will have moved on and will not have stayed exactly as you left them. If you are prepared for this, then you will not be so surprised by the reality of your return.
  • Find people with similar experiences of living abroad in the same or other culture, with whom you can share stories about your international assignment or travels.
  • Be aware that the business may not recognise or understand what skills you have developed or the knowledge you have gained while living or working abroad. Try to set up meetings with your manager or team to help them harness your new competencies and awareness.
  • If you have family, be aware of the impact your return can have on them. Be sure to set aside time when you can reminisce on your experiences together and talk about how the adjustment process is going.
  • Make occasional trips back to the other culture so you don’t lose touch with it.

While general tips like the above are useful, the effects of reverse culture shock can be as diverse and profound as your experience abroad. No person is the same and we all assimilate and react to different situations in our own way. Communicaid has long recognised this and developed a highly tailored and blended approach to intercultural and cross cultural training to help individuals deal with the complexity of reverse culture shock.

Communicaid’s cross cultural training programs for repatriation provide individuals returning from an extended international experience with skills and strategies to re-assimilate as effectively and smoothly to their home culture. Repatriation Training examines the potential cultural, social and work challenges of returning to your home culture. These cross cultural awareness training programs also provide practical information on recent home country changes and developments and strategies for reintegrating into the organisation. By providing repatriation training to your employees and their families, you can ensure a higher retention and satisfaction rate resulting in improved performance for the organisation.

©  Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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