Comments for Cultural Competence Think Tank

Comment on Leadership anchored in place, time and culture – A critical moment of truth by Jim Rose

Jim Rose — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:26:14 +0000

Interesting juxtaposition. Many of us in managerial positions have been in a situation where we were going to “lose face.” So what is the choice” Try to save face from that particular situation, and potentially lost more face should the situation worsen? Or “lose face” by owning up, which in many cases actually causes you to “gain face.” The air of infallability, or “face” is a misperception. A comic book ideal. Management is about people, and people respond to other people who they can related to. Idolotry is not a management style.

Comment on Gift giving vs. Grease payments – A slippery slope by Heartburn Home Remedy

Heartburn Home Remedy — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:35:42 +0000

After reading through this article, I just feel that I really need more information on the topic. Can you share some resources please?

Comment on Uncertain Times – Tips to consider when working with different cultures by Sue Voyles

Sue Voyles — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:43:32 +0000

This information is both invaluable to employees in corporations who work with distributed, global teams, and also to us Americans who are living and/or working alongside people from other countries and cultures. Our American way of doing things is often a combination of determination and mental toughness (‘we’ll get through this’), yet tempered by the reality around us that calls for compassion and giving help to others. Great thoughts.

Comment on Uncertain Times – Tips to consider when working with different cultures by Vanessa

Vanessa — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:14:48 +0000

I tend to agree with everything said above, and I would add the following: while you do not want to unnecessarily put fear into your team I think it is important that you be honest and let them know that times are tough for you just like everyone else. Some things that happen are thanks to forces beyond your control, but you are doing everything you can to keep everyone in jobs and keep the business running as normally as possibly, in order to minimize any unpleasant disruptions to the organization. I think on the whole people prefer honesty, also you don’t want to lull them into a false sense of security, as emotions tend to run high anyone when layoffs occur. You don’t want to put yourselves in a situation to unwittingly add fuel to that fire.

Comment on Uncertain Times – Tips to consider when working with different cultures by Beverly Cornell

Beverly Cornell — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:39:46 +0000

You make some great points but I think this is just the tip of the issue of uncertainty. With these tough economic times, how people handle what is happening in your office will be as different as what they chose to wear. I truly believe the last points you made about setting clear expectations and listening will take folks far. Being curious and taking the time to understand the concerns of your diverse staff or customers will go a long way.

I look forward to reading more!

Comment on Cultural Competencies for Global Success by Kalpana

Kalpana — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:55:33 +0000

Kalpana
Bangalore

To work with a global mindset can be a very big challenge . Every day we face relationship challenges at home and at our work place which we try to over come using many techniques figuring out what will work at what point in time and how to apply the same with individuals and teams .

So to have a global mind set can be a process and not a destination .

As we are evolving in our office place , we constantly are experimenting with different known competencies which have been successful in producing desired results .

So the crux is how we need to scale up our flexibility and tolerant quotients in our relationships .When we enter into a marriage we are faced with several challenges , our pain areas become obvious over a period of time .The same may be the case because initially we do try to factor all the competencies , but once we are deep down the grind we understand that these challenges do not have any solutions , but we just need to deal with them appropriately to ensure work relationships are balanced .

To that extent we can develop a cultural competency in the minds of the people who need to work with people from different cultures . The need to factor the biggest quotient of tolerance and be prepared to deal with the challenges . It can be a e process and definitely there are not set formulas which will work .

Constant awareness and exposure to different cultural practices can help us deal with this challenge and help us develop a global mind set .

Comment on Seemingly innocuous actions may be offensive to your customer by Pages tagged "innocuous"

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Comment on Do you or don’t you ? Simple expressions with cultural connotation by Elinor Ho

Elinor Ho — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:40:09 +0000

In 2005, I was involved in a Chinese-American Joint Venture business in the mainland China so we were invited to visit several different international companies in Shanghai, China. Since the product that the joint venture company manufactured was the environmental-friendly product, the American company was bringing alot of so-called “green” promotional souvenirs to the prospective clients, e.g. the green hats, green shirts etc. However, when we gave the “green hats” to the local engineers to one of the companies, the gentlemen were a little bit embarassed to accept the gift. Since I am a chinese, I was told and be aware of the fact that the “green hat” for a man meant that his wife had the affairs with the other people. It is absolutely a “no, no” to the chinese. Hope this little tip will help anyone who are going to do business with the chinese.

Comment on Cultural Competencies for Global Success by Matt Smith

Matt Smith — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:58:10 +0000

An element of cultural compatibility I believe is as crucial as geographical or national differences is that of company culture. Of course companies derive much of their culture from their headquarter country, but even there regional variances can have a great impact on how a company functions. In the US, take for example the difference between a New York firm and another company, even in the same industry, based in Ft. Worth, Texas or the Bay area of California. It’s a given those businesses will look, feel and operate differently. Likewise, companies can also function very differently depending on the style and personality of their management team. This is as true if they are across the country from each other or just on different floors of the same building.

Companies considering an alliance, partnership or outsourcing relationship with an outside firm must pay close attention to understanding and anticipating the impact of national culture on the relationship, but just as critical is the culture of the company itself. Be observant of those unique qualities too when forging a new relationship.

Comment on Cultural Competencies for Global Success by Vanessa

Vanessa — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:32:13 +0000

This is a huge subject and I could write a book on it, however, I think there is one thing you have to consider when managing cultural differences that is absolutely key: Flexibility.

If you have a service or something in your home country and it is something very obvious and simple to you, it still may not be simple and obvious in your new country. Don’t get frustrated that it is not in your new location, work with the system not against it. Everywhere in the world things are done differently, you need to adapt to their ways, they won’t adapt to you.

Besides red tape being one of the biggest challenges in many Asian, Latin American and African countries the other big differentiator I have found, and one of the hardest to deal with is work ethic. I have worked in all continents of the world and lived in all but Asia, and to my mind there are only 3 countries where the work ethic can be compared: The UK, The US and Hong Kong. In my experience I would say that you need two people to do the job of one American in many developing nations.

And finally, very few nations have the sense of urgency that the UK or the US does, and so that would be why things do not move as fast, or get done as quickly or efficiently as they do in the UK or US.