The legend of Valentine’s day

In ancient Rome, during the reign of Emperor Claudius the Second, the armies lacked the sufficient number of soldiers it needed. Claudius could not figure out why more young men didn’t want to go to battle. Finally, he determined that the young men didn’t want to leave their wives, families and girlfriends. In order to remedy this, the Emperor instituted a new law and canceled all of the marriages and engagements in Rome.

In the mean time, there lived a priest in Rome by the name of Valentine. He did not believe in the Emperor’s new law, and he refused to abide by it. He continued to perform wedding ceremonies in secret and lived in constant fear that he would be caught by Emperor Claudius’ soldiers, but he persisted in doing what he knew was right. Finally, the day did come when Bishop Valentine was caught uniting a man and a woman in the bonds of holy matrimony. The Emperor condemned the Bishop to be put to death for his violation of the law.

While the priest was imprisoned, waiting for his execution, many young couples threw notes of thanks along with flowers and other gifts into the window of his cell. Among these young people who admired the priest for doing the right thing was the prison guard’s daughter. She would visit Bishop Valentine in his cell often. On fourteenth of February in the year of 270 AD the Bishop was to be put to death. Bishop Valentine composed a note to the girl telling her that he loved her. He signed it simply, “From Your Valentine.”

In the year 496 AD, Pope Gelasius chose Bishop Valentine as the patron saint of lovers, who would be honored at the new festival on the fourteenth of every February.

Over the years, Valentine’s Day has evolved into a holiday when gifts, cards, flowers and candy are given to the ones we love or would like to start a relationship with. And it is all because of a brave, righteous man named Valentine.

New Year across Cultures

• Australia celebrates New year with a grand fire work display over the Sydney Harbor

• In Belgium New Year is called “Sint   Sylvester vooranvond” . They kiss their loved ones with the onset of the new year and the farmers wish each and every one of their animals.

• In Brazil people party on the Copacabana beach and light millions of candles to wash out to sea

• In UK people welcome the new Year with a lot of drinking, gifts and resolutions

• In Japan New year is “Oshogastu”.   People eat rice cakes and stew. People gift money to children.

• In Korea, they welcome the new year with rice cakes. All Koreans turn a year older on Jan 1st. A Korean has two birthdays.

• In US, people celebrate New years with fire work and the famous Crystal ball drop in Times square New York. In the southern part though, people eat black eyed peas (365 of them) signifying green ($$$) in the new year.

Leadership anchored in place, time and culture – A critical moment of truth

The news about Former President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun taking his own life after allegations of corruption may receive mixed reactions across the world. However, this critical moment of truth epitomizes the extent to which ‘saving face’ becomes a core cultural value of collectivistic cultures.

Check out http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090523/ap_on_re_as/as_skorea_obit_roh for the entire story. President Roh Moo-hyun’s final words include:

‘What’s left for me for the rest of my life is just to be a burden to others’

‘Don’t be too sad. Aren’t life and death both part of nature? Don’t feel sorry. Don’t blame anybody. It’s destiny.’  

Contrast this with some of the high profile corruption charges levied against leaders/ politicians in other cultures. What are your thoughts?

Uncertain Times – Tips to consider when working with different cultures

I am sure that I do not have to elaborate on what I mean when I refer to ‘uncertain times’.  Something that seems everywhere – when you get together in social gatherings, water cooler chat at office, turn the radio on, news paper headlines…….economic downturn…..

Do you know that different cultures adapt/ deal with uncertain and ambiguous times strikingly different? Here are some highlights and tips to turn a challenge into an opportunity when working with different cultures during tumultuous times.

‘Uncertainty Avoidance’ is a cultural dimension that relates to the degree of anxiety society members feel when in uncertain or unknown situations – deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity.

Cultural groups from Argentina, Latin American, Arab nations, Japan, US generally tend to avoid uncertainty and ambiguous situations. When faced with uncertainty, these cultures generally need and expect more structure, express a sense of nervousness and spurn high levels of emotion, and avoid differences.

Cultural groups from India, East Africa nations, Denmark, Jamaica, Singapore, and Hong Kong generally tend to manage uncertain and ambiguous situations better. When faced with uncertainty, these cultures generally orient themselves towards long term strategy than what is happening on a daily basis, accept change and risk, and express a greater level of tolerance for a variety of ideas, thoughts, and beliefs.

Here are some tips for those of you working with cultures that tend to avoid/ averse to uncertainty:

•       Be clear and concise about your expectations and parameters.

•       Plan and prepare, communicate often and early, provide detailed plans and focus on the tactical aspects of a job or project.

Here are some tips for those of you working with cultures that tend to embrace/ manage uncertainty better:

•       Do not impose rules or structure unnecessarily.

•        Minimize your emotional response by being calm and contemplating situations before speaking.

•        Express curiosity when you discover differences.

Share your thoughts and personal insights working across cultural boundaries.

 

 

Gift giving vs. Grease payments – A slippery slope

Gift giving is an intrinsic part of investing into the emotional bank accounts/ relationships when you work with your Asian counterparts. For example, you may have heard of the term ‘guanxi’ from the Chinese cultural context, as an act of reciprocation or returning a favor. Understanding the role of Guanxi in business is fundamental to building relationships in China. Giving gifts and returning a favor is a matter of maintaining equilibrium in business relationships.

As business operations expand across cultural boundaries, it is important for leaders to understand the boundaries of culturally acceptable practices vs. landing in border line ethical issues (i.e. making grease payments/ bribery for any improper advantage). This is all the more pertinent when working with government officials in foreign countries.

There are several U.S. laws that address the manner in which U.S. firms operate internationally, two of which are Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) ¹. You may find the interpretation of some of these interesting:

·         Paying a government official to expedite a safety inspection does not violate the FCPA¹

·         Reimbursing his or her travel expenses for the site visit does not violate the FCPA¹

·         Offering the inspector money to ignore hazardous findings does violate the FCPA¹

It is important to understand that cultural differences exist with respect to gift giving and grease payments. This will allow businesses to navigate through the interesting challenges of work with diverse national cultures.

Note:

‘Cultural Imperialism’ is the belief that one’s culture is right and others are wrong.

‘Cultural Relativism’ the belief that right or wrong is determined by one’s culture and there are no universal principles of right or wrong (or good or bad) across cultures.

Neither approach is ideal. While global firms must understand that practices in other countries are often different rather than unethical, they must also ensure that certain minimum standards are upheld. Cultural Competence is a subject that allows you to recognize, respect and reconcile on value differences between nations and avoid making judgments of right and wrong.

 

¹ SHRM- International Employee Relations and Regulations

Seemingly innocuous actions may be offensive to your customer

Is cultural competence more important in one industry than others? Well, let’s take the case of the healthcare industry. Generally we visit healthcare providers in a state of anxiety or vulnerability i.e. when something is not going right. Simply put, we generally do not go to a hospital when we are feeling good right?

The need for cultural competence manifests itself more acutely in situations where we deal with people in a state of anxiety and vulnerability. And when it comes to healthcare, anything and everything is ‘personal’ which makes it a unique challenge. A little story…The day my first son was born, I was in the delivery room with my wife, our new born and my mother-in-law.

The nurse walks into the room and simply does what she usually does as a matter of routine. She is just following the procedure i.e. asking questions to my wife. The conversation goes something like this:

a)      Pointing to me, the nurse asks ‘Is this your husband?’, and my wife says ‘Yes’

b)      The nurse continues to ask, ‘Is he the father of your child?’, at which point my mother-in-law cannot believe her ears.

What a defamatory question is that? How insulting? What a character assassination?

Well, I have to acknowledge that every culture and society has a certain norm around morality. However, in certain cultures the sanctity of marriage and the relationship of a man and wife is sanctity. In many cultures, having a child outside of marriage or being a single mom is a taboo, it is a matter of family honor. Sometimes, seemingly innocuous actions may be offensive to customers/ peers from a diverse cultural group.

What has been your experience in this context? Have you run into cultural challenges specific to any industry? Share your thoughts and insights.

Do you or don’t you ? Simple expressions with cultural connotation

Let’s be practical here, in America we have seen it all. We are a melting pot of all cultures, don’t we know how to get the job done! Anyway, they are from an English speaking nation and we should be all set right?

I hitched a ride with my friend this week end to the airport to catch my flight from Atlanta to Detroit, and got caught up in a conversation about Cultural Competence. Reflecting back on a workplace incident that occurred a few years ago…I was in a regular management meeting where we discuss issues, projects and priorities. The discussion revolved around a technology project that most of my colleagues seemed very interested in. I said something that I thought was pretty normal and proceeded to discuss the subject further.

I kind of got a strange reaction from my colleagues, who all of a sudden disengaged from the subject abruptly and then started rolling their eye balls and seemed a little confused as I discussed the subject further. The same kind of dynamics happened one other time and I thought is this something that I said that is causing this strange reaction?

Well, the pretty normal something I said was ‘Let’s table the discussion’. In some cultures (in this case the culture that I come from), ‘Let’s table the discussion’ means let us get it on the table for discussion and get it done! No wonder my colleagues who come from the American cultural background all of sudden disengaged abruptly…started rolling their eye…seemed a little confused. In the American culture, the very same ‘Let’s table the discussion’ means let us park it for later. Imagine this little dynamics playing itself out in a global team/ virtual team environment and if and how this may impact communication, understanding of each other’s goals & priorities.

In speaking events, my audiences quite often ask me how Cultural Competence is different from Diversity.  I believe that Diversity tends to be ‘what meets the eye’ i.e. observable behaviors of different cultural groups…following the classic cliché expression – tip of the iceberg. Cultural Competence takes a deeper perspective on the customs, beliefs, values and assumptions of different cultural groups that has a direct impact on how they show up for the game every day. To succeed in this global economy and to effectively manage global teams, it is imperative to develop a global mindset that has a reciprocal familiarity of cultural values and beliefs. The example above, although does not specifically delve into beliefs or values, but at a surface level highlights the cultural variations to normal English expressions.

Do you have a similar story to share? Has something like this caught you by surprise at your workplace? Share your thoughts…..

Cultural Competencies for Global Success

Globalization of business is not a new phenomenon, nor is working with multi cultural teams. However more than ever before, global way of doing business has become an economic necessity to attract the right talent for the right job and to be financially viable. The 2008 US Stock Market Crash revealed an unprecedented implication on the financial markets worldwide. The global economy is bearing the brunt of the slump in the US economy where Europe and Asia stock markets and economy are reeling under the ripple effect. We are finding ourselves in a new global order/ phenomena that is irreversible. Outsourcing arrangement and global operations are transcending commoditized services to become value added services and knowledge management services.

In stark contrast:

·         Over 60% of all cross border ventures do not work out as planned ⁽¹⁾.

·         About 35% of expatriates pre maturely return to their home countries without completing their assignment ⁽¹⁾. With average cost to send an employee and their family on a 3 year overseas assignment around $1M, inability to overcome the cultural shock and adapt to local culture is cited as the primary reason for pre mature returns.

·         Over 1/3 rd of initiatives involving global teams failing to produce expected results², inability to establish lasting relationships is cited as one of the key factors limiting success on the global landscape.

·         Over 70% of mergers do not deliver to plan – Execution Errors; 22% of failures attributed to cultural differences ³.

A conscious approach to developing cultural competence among global leaders and multi cultural teams is becoming a compelling argument to transcend / manage business across barriers to culture, time and space.

What ‘Cultural Implications’ do you see in your line of business? What seems to be your most pressing challenge on this subject? Share your thoughts & insights…Welcome to the Culture Competence Think Tank!

¹ Globalization Trend Report
²2007 research conducted by Dynamic Markets on behalf of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
³ 2007 Deloitte Consulting Mergers & Acquisitions Survey