Overview
The company we interviewed does asset management for real estate in several countries in Europe. The countries where they deploy their activities concerning asset management for real estate are Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Czech and of course the Netherlands. Within This company there are also four languages which are spoken: English, Dutch, German and Czech. The top of the hierarchy is obligated to master at least three languages. In general, they communicate in English. These languages function for internal communication and also for external communication since we have international clients.
For our office in Czech, we speak the local language mainly to adapt to their work culture, since most of their employees prefer to speak in their own language. This company have multiple different backgrounds, practically from every continent of the world, so without going into a certain background, they have plenty of employees that makes This company dynamic. The main cultures are European with the focus on Czech, Germany and Belgium.
The questions asked during the interview with the supervisor were aimed at how their employees in several countries deal with differences in some dimensions of the Hofstede theory such as power distance, hierarchy and uncertainty. Although his French name, at the beginning of the interview it was clear that the supervisor had grown up in the Dutch-western culture.
The supervisor indicated that the most recognizable cultural differences within this company are with their Czech colleagues. He points out that the cultural differences between Belgium, Germany and The United Kingdom are very little because they all are part of the well-known western culture of which the Netherlands is also a part. During the interview he explained a situation with a female Czech colleague; the Czech office had brought in a major customer who had a large real estate portfolio for over 40 million. For customers who have a real estate portfolio larger than 20 million the office needs to involve the main office and the CFO (Chief Finance Officer) which is placed in the Netherlands. The Czech employee followed this procedure and informed the CFO, but he had a very busy week with a lot of meetings, so he said to his Czech colleague that it was ok to handle on his own. However, the Czech colleague had never dealt with customers with a real estate portfolio larger than 10 million, the Czech tried to serve this major customer by listening to her boss/supervisor in the Netherlands, but the deal went wrong. At this stage of the interview the supervisor points out that this was a situation where the cultural differences in scores of power distance, hierarchy and masculinity were clearly visible.
Outcome
Power distance
When asked if the supervisor could describe any cultural limitation, he immediately makes a connection between Dutch and Czech power distance. He describes that power distance on the Dutch work floor in his words could be seen as flat. Communication between co-workers in different levels of hierarchy are mostly informal. Whereas the Czech’s were very formal towards people higher in hierarchy. Because the companies in different countries are so intertwined the hierarchy became intertwined too. This caused informal behaviour of the Dutch employees towards the Czech’s higher in hierarchy and very formal behaviour from Czechs towards Dutch colleagues of high hierarchy. When we asked what could be perceived as either prohibitive or inhibitive issues that the organisation addresses, the supervisor came back to the informal and formal case between Czech’s and the Dutch. He told us that the Czech very much perceived informal communication from a person lower in hierarchy to be inhibitive. This is a good reason why the Czech employee accepted the answer from the Dutch CFO which is higher in hierarchy.
Masculine vs Feminine
When we asked the supervisor to identify the value dimension gender (masculine vs feminine). He tells us that The Netherlands is by far the most feminine out of the 5 (Belgium, Germany, Czech & UK). We asked for an example, and he told us about the ‘recruiters. These people’s job is to get clients for the company and persuade them to choose This company. He said that the masculine countries try to persuade clients by promising them the best quality (achievement). Whereas the Dutch market their services as we make your life as a real estate owner easier (quality of life). He also gave us an internal example he told us the Czech’s are always available to contact even during their holidays. Whereas the Dutch don’t open their mailbox until they are back from holiday. It’s also seen as very inhibitive to call someone for work related questions when they are on holiday in The Netherlands. Whereas the Czechs always have their phones open and ready to help colleagues when they call during a holiday. According to the supervisor it’s because from a cultural standpoint the Czech strive to be the best at their work. While the Dutch just want to do his job accordingly and nothing extra. This also translates to why the Czech employee tried to do the job on her own after the CFO refused to help her like the protocol prescribed. This was her chance to show how good she is in her job and gaining a client in a real estate portfolio over 40 million is of course a very big achievement.
Individualism
The last interesting example of the value dimensions for our case was about individualism. The supervisor told us the Czech work way more together and finish tasks in groups, compared to the Dutch which all take a task for themselves. It’s a world of difference. According to Hofstede individualism is about in which magnitude a country thinks about itself. The Netherlands scores 80 out of 100 on this value, this means that most of the Dutch only look after their family, maybe their friends but not necessarily their co-workers. This also explains why the Dutch CFO didn’t seem to care if the Czech was ready for the job. A good example of the way of working is explained by the supervisor. He told us about an internal IT problem which the Dutch had problems with. They let one after the other IT members have a look at the problem, but they couldn’t solve it. Then when some Czech IT members came over for some meetings, they also let them have a look at the problem but instead of the Dutch they looked at it together and discussed what they saw together. It took the Czech only 1 hour to trace the origin of the problem. This difference in individualism can also explain the behaviour of the Dutch CFO who told the Czech to do it herself. If the CFO was a Czech, he or she would probably have reacted otherwise.
Possible Solutions/ Best Practice
The actions which were taken after the incident with the female Czech colleague and the Dutch CFO were drawing up procedures as a purpose to prevent such situations in the future. Furthermore, This company started to educate Czech employees to make sure they could handle major real estate portfolios. This company organized a weekly training program for over 4 months. This has led to a major improvement for Czech employees as individuals and as an office as well. It might sound funny, but they also got intercultural communication courses as well during this 4-month period of training. The super told us that they got in touch with the Hofstede dimensions, this was very pleasurable because we didn’t have to explain to the supervisor what the Hofstede theory means.
By now the Czech office is doing a great job, this is one of their offices with the least problem compared to other offices. This situation has contributed to improving the way we serve our potential customers, the supervisor said. The Czech office and employees are no longer dependent on the Dutch main office by handling major customers. This company want to implement this improvement to all their offices around Europe, aiming for strong and sustainable business operations. This development and situation also gave This company a purpose and a vision to grow globally.
Student Authors
Tom Tempessy (LinkedIn)
Student Faculty of Business and Economics, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam The Netherlands
Block 4, Semester 2, 2021
Thomas Schroeder (LinkedIn)
Student Faculty of Business and Economics, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam The Netherlands
Block 4, Semester 2, 2021
Kim Kraaij (LinkedIn)
Student Amsterdam School of International Business, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam The Netherlands
Block 4, Semester 2, 2021
Kamil Klijer (LinkedIn)
Student Faculty of Business and Economics,Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Block 4, Semester 2, 2021