Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands Becoming A Multi-Cultural Leader

Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands

Becoming A Multi-cultural Leader

Mike McDannell
Career Concepts, Inc

Agenda
What is Culture?
Dimensions of Culture
When to Flex and When to Be Rigid
Summary
Questions?
What is Culture?
Your definitions?
Culture is the way people solve problems

Culture is multi-dimensional
Culture is the context in which things happen
Three Levels of Programming

Personality
Specific to
Individual
Learned and
Inherited
Culture
Specific to
Group or
Category
Learned
Human
Nature
Universal
Inherited
Learning Values and Behaviors

Work
20
Behaviors
School
10
Values
0
Age
Family
The Layers of Culture

The outer layer: explicit products
The middle layer: norms and values

Values: This is how I desire to behave
Norms: This is how I should behave
The core: base assumptions about existence
Layers Within Culture

National
Regional/Ethnic
Gender
Generational
Social
Business (corporate, organizational,etc)
Culture is a Normal Distribution
Cultural Stereotypes
Critical Dimensions of Culture

Universal
Individual
Affective
Specific
Achieved Status
Inner Directed
Sequential Time
Particular
Communitarian
Neutral
Diffused
Ascribed Status
Outer Directed
Synchronous Time
Universal vs Particular
How do we judge other peoples behaviors
Universal a set of rules

Tends to be abstract
Particular situation dependent

Tends to be very specific
In practice, most people use both
You are riding in a car driven by a close friend. He

hits a pedestrian. You know he was going at least
thirty-five miles per hour in an area of the city
where the maximum allowed speed is twenty miles
per hour. There are no witnesses. His lawyer
says that if you testify under oath that he was only
driving twenty miles per hour he will not suffer
serious consequences.
What right has your friend to expect you to protect
him? Will you testify he was going 20mph or not?
% Choosing to Lie
South Korea
63%
France
27%
Russia
56%
Canada
7%
China
53%
USA
7%
India
46%
Switzerland
3%
But Truth is relative

You are a journalist who writes the restaurant
column for a local newspaper. Your best friend
has just sunk their life savings into a new
restaurant. You eat there and believe the food
is not all that good.
What right does your friend have to expect you to
write a good review?
Will you go easy on them?
% Choosing to Lie
Russia
53%
France
37%
South Korea
55%
Canada
31%
China
50%
USA
34%
India
53%
Switzerland
29%
Tips for doing business with:

Univeralists
Be prepared for rational
professional arguments
Particularists
Be prepared for personal
meandering or
irrelevancies that do not
seem pertinent
Do not take impersonal get Do not take get to know

down to business attitudes you talk as a waste of time
as rude
Carefully prepare the legal Carefully consider the
personal implications of a
ground
legal approach
Individual vs Communitarianism
Individualism primary orientation to self
Frequent use of I
High decisiveness and initiative
Vacation alone or in pairs
Communitarinism primary orientation to group

goals and objectives
Frequent use of we
Decisions referred to organization
Vacation in groups or extended family
There is a defect in the installation of a part.

It was caused by negligence on the part of
one of the team members. Responsibility
for this mistake may be assigned in different
ways.
A. The person causing the defect through
negligence is responsible.
B. Because he or she works in a team the
responsibility should be carried by the team.
% Assigning Individual Blame

Egypt
40%
UK
70%
Japan
43%
Netherlands
71%
Mexico
43%
USA
72%
France
49%
Hungary
84%
Singapore
49%
Russia
88%
China
52%
Czech Republic 92%
Tips for Doing Business With:

Individualists
Communitarians
Prepare for quick decisions Show patience for time

taken to consult
Negotiator can commit
Negotiator can only commit

tentatively
Tough negotiations are

done before meeting
Tough negotiations are done

face-to-face
Conducting business alone Conducting business

means the person is highly surrounded by others
respected by their company indicates the company highly
respects the person
The aim is to make a quick The aim is to build
deal
relationships
Neutral vs Affective
Neutral:
Do not reveal what they are thinking/feeling
Emotions often dammed up may explode
Cool and self-possessed behavior admired
Physical contact or strong expressions taboo
Affective
Reveal thoughts and feelings openly
Transparency & expressiveness release tension
Heated, vital open behavior admired
Touching and strong expression frequent
Tips For Doing Business With:

Neutrals
Affectives
Put as much as possible

on paper beforehand
When they express

goodwill, respond warmly
Lack of emotion does not

mean they are bored or
disinterested
Enthusiasm does not

indicate agreement
The negotiation is
centered on the issue, not
on you as persons
The negotiation is centered

on you as persons, not so
much on the issue
Specific vs Diffuse
Specific
Direct, to the point, purposeful in relating
Precise, blunt, definitive and transparent
Principles and consistent moral stands independent
of the person being addressed
Diffuse
Indirect, circuitous, aimless forms of relating
Evasive, tactful, ambiguous, even opaque
Highly situational morality depending on the person
and context encountered
A boss asks a subordinate to help him paint his

house. The subordinate, who does not want to do
it, discusses the issue with a colleague.
A. The colleague argues You dont have to paint

if you dont feel like it. He is only your boss at
work. Outside he has no authority.
B. The subordinate argues: Despite the fact that
I dont feel like it, I will paint it. He is my boss and
you cant ignore that outside of work either.
% Helping Boss
China
68%
US
18%
Nigeria
59%
UK
14%
Venezuela
53%
Switzerland
9%
Korea
47%
Netherlands
9%
Indonesia
42%
Sweden
9%

Specific Oriented
Diffuse Oriented
Study the companys

objectives, principles and
numerical targets
Study the companys

history, background and
future vision
Be quick, to the point, and

efficient
Take time and remember

there are many roads to
Rome
Structure the meeting with

time, intervals and agenda
Let the meeting flow,

nudging its progress
occasionally
Do not use titles or

acknowledge skills
irrelevant to the issue
Respect a persons age,

title, background
connections
Achieved vs Ascribed
Achieved:
Titles used only when relevant to the competence you

bring to the task
Respect for superior in hierarchy based on how
effectively they perform their job
Most senior managers varying age and gender and

proven proficiency in specific jobs
Ascribed:
Extensive use of titles especially to clarify status
Respect for seniors in hierarchy seen as measure of
your commitment to the company and mission
Most senior managers male, middle aged and qualified
by background

Achievement Oriented
Ascription Oriented
Make sure your team has

Make sure your team has
enough data, technical
enough older, senior, and
advisors and knowledgeable
formal title holders
people
Respect the knowledge and Respect the status and
influence of your
information of your
counterparts
counterparts
Use the title that reflects
Use the title that reflects
your degree of influence
your personal competence
Sequential vs Synchronic Time

Sequential
Do only one task at a time
Time is sizeable and measurable
Keep appointments strictly; start & finish promptly
Relationships are subordinate to schedules
Synchronic
Do more than one activity at a time
Appointments approximate
Schedules are subordinate to relationships
Relationship of Time
Think of the past, present and future as being in
the shape of circles. Please draw three circles on
the space available, representing past, present
and future. Arrange these circles in any way you
want that best shows how you feel about the
relationship of the past, present and future. You
may use different size circles. When you have
finished, label each circle to show which one is the
past, which one the present and which one the
future.
Cottle, T., The Circles Test; an investigation of perception of temporal relatedness and
dominance, Journal of Projective Technique and Personality Assessments, No. 31, 1967,
pages 5871.
Relationship of Time Horizons
Four Patterns
Absence of zone configuration (China)
Integration (Belgium)
Significant Overlap (French)
No difference (Japan) (50% same circles)
Tips for Doing Business With

Sequential
Synchronic
Employees feel fulfilled by

achieving planned goals
Employees feel fulfilled by

improving relationships
Most recent performance is

the major issue
Whole history with the

company and future
potential major focus
Career planning joint

supervisor/employee
Career planning based on

employee aspirations
How Do We Know?
Be a curious observer ask why
Watch for emotions

Look at objects and artifacts displayed
Watch for things not there
When to Flex
In matters of taste, bend like the willow. In
matters of value, stand like the oak.
Chinese Proverb

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Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands

Becoming A Multi-cultural Leader

Culture is the way people solve problems

Culture is the context in which things happen

Three Levels of Programming

Learning Values and Behaviors

The Layers of Culture

The middle layer: norms and values

The core: base assumptions about existence

Layers Within Culture

Business (corporate, organizational,etc)

Culture is a Normal Distribution

Critical Dimensions of Culture

Universal a set of rules

Particular situation dependent

In practice, most people use both

You are riding in a car driven by a close friend. He

But Truth is relative

Will you go easy on them?

Tips for doing business with:

Do not take impersonal get Do not take get to know

Communitarinism primary orientation to group

There is a defect in the installation of a part.

% Assigning Individual Blame

Czech Republic 92%

Tips for Doing Business With:

Prepare for quick decisions Show patience for time

Negotiator can only commit

Tough negotiations are

Tough negotiations are done

Conducting business alone Conducting business

Physical contact or strong expressions taboo

Tips For Doing Business With:

Put as much as possible

When they express

Lack of emotion does not

Enthusiasm does not

The negotiation is centered

A boss asks a subordinate to help him paint his

A. The colleague argues You dont have to paint

Tips for Doing Business With:

Study the companys

Study the companys

Be quick, to the point, and

Take time and remember

Structure the meeting with

Let the meeting flow,

Do not use titles or

Respect a persons age,

Titles used only when relevant to the competence you

Most senior managers varying age and gender and

Tips for Doing Business With:

Make sure your team has

Sequential vs Synchronic Time

Relationship of Time Horizons

Tips for Doing Business With

Employees feel fulfilled by

Employees feel fulfilled by