Overview

If we would talk about a sector where cultures meet each other, it would be the hospitality industry. People with all different cultures get in touch by similar working achievements. Therefore a company in this sector has the responsibilities to both its employees as its clients, to make everyone feel accepted and comfortable. We will be analyzing a Dutch company selling clothes and gear for hospitality employees. This includes chefs, kitchen brigades and service staff. The company works B2B, mostly to dealers and via e-commerce. Also they sell straight up to the end users, which consists of restaurants or chefs. The clothes are sold in more than 20 countries, mostly Europe, which allows the company to be in contact with a lot of different cultures and companies. 

The team of the company itself consists of various cultures as well. For example they have a French account manager and Spanish sales/account manager. This results in a diverse team where the French/Spanish people get to own the contact with the French and Spanish clients/customers. This is done to prevent any communication mistakes. For example Spanish customers like taking things slower and like to meet over dinner, when German clients prefer to get to work and handle business right away. These differences with different ways of approaching are important to acknowledge as a company, to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and that there won’t be a miscommunication or a cultural clash. Hofstede (2020) makes the importance clear of why people act as they do and to look at those differences from everyone’s perspective. Thus it results in understanding each other’s ways and an optimal cooperation between different peoples and cultures.

Therefore it would be seen as prohibitive for the company to not offer the foreign customers the form of communication as wished, just as they are providing it now with foreign/bilingual employees. 

The main language used for communicating with foreign businesses is English, or German when preferred. 

At the moment there are more women than men working in the company. This results in more women to own management and leader roles.

Hofstede Dimensions

The words used to describe the communication between the employees are ‘open and accessible’. It’s perceived as an open organization structure where communication between all positions is supposed to be easy and convenient. This represents a small power distance, which is well known in the whole company but also representative for the Netherlands (Hofstede Insights, 2021). The company tries to treat everyone the same to limit the power distance. There are general guidelines and rules that count for everyone. 

Also the company is really focused on the future but is able to make quick changes when necessary. Think about Covid-19. CD was very soon adjusting their plans, which the employees had to adjust with. This represents the lower amount of avoidance uncertainties, since they are able to adjust and you can’t avoid uncertainties that are unexpected. The company is very long-term oriented. This shows in their (potential) relationships with suppliers and employees but also of course by thinking about future trends and production. This corresponds to the higher score of long term orientation in the Netherlands (Hofstede Insights, 2021).

The Dutch are seen as a feminine country (Hofstede Insights, 2021). The life/work balance in a feminine society is also important in the company. Managers are supportive to their employees and they most likely have a personal bond with each other. It would be prohibitive for the employees and the company to not have an accessible way of contacting other people in different functions. They strive for an optimal team connection where they regularly plan activities with each other to even improve this. Equality is valued. 

Even though achievement and success are important in this company, this is not driven by a masculine approach where success is defined by the ‘best in the field’. (Hofstede Insights, 2021).

Outcome

Nevertheless, talking about team connection, this is where challenges appear. As spoken over before, there is a French employee who also lives and works in France. Although this offers a lot of opportunities and advantages, being an foreign employee is not always easy. The team has to make sure all the relevant information gets communicated with him. This is done by E-mail or meetings mostly. This corresponds with the higher score of France on avoiding uncertainties. Which means they like to get the necessary information on time and prefer rules and structure (Hofstede Insights, 2021). 

Also there is a cultural difference between the Netherlands and France, which creates the challenge to keep him aligned within the company and the team. Dutch people can be very direct and have different ways of approaching. Also the power distance in France is higher than in the Netherlands (Hofstede Insights, 2021). This results in a barrier for communicating with the rest of the employees. The Dutch employees easily approach ‘higher function’ colleagues, when for the French this is not usual. 

Opposite to this, Both Dutch and French people are more likely to think in a ‘I’ form and are seen as an individualist society. Their relationship is most likely to be based on mutual advantages (Hofstede Insights, 2021). 

In a collectivist society people see themselves in a ‘group’ and take care of each other in exchange for loyalty (Hofstede Insights, 2021). Even though collectivism rules in the company, when achieving goals and working on projects there is a way of how individualism meets collectivism. The needs and goals of the team get emphasized but individual needs and desires are also important and not to be seen as forgettable. Nevertheless, an individual’s qualities and personality is what the team forms to what it is. 

Individualism can be prevalent while observing the French employee, unfortunately also leading to issues and drawbacks that the manager can experience. It needs to be noted that foreign employees like him could experience a particular type of pressure added to the already existing pressure of being a manager. The Frenchman, as a good employee, has to work with the team accordingly, however, the responsibility to be in contact with the French clients likely weighs on him. As mentioned, power distance is higher in France which suggests that the employee might not be able to express his discomfort with the responsibility or even share his hardships since there is a probability that he might not feel comfortable with participating in such a personal relationship between him and his supervisor. That in itself can lead to the employer simply not knowing that something might be burdening the French manager which means that no solutions will be proposed. That example perfectly shows the cultural differences and difficulties that might arise from them.

Possible solutions

To avoid situations like this, the focus must be laid on communication with him and they should act from his point of view. The company should strive to make sure that the power distance in this company is not big for him, even though in his culture it might be. The communication should be transferred personal, more one on one, and consist of all the relevant information for him. Like this miscommunication will be avoided. When he eventually completely adapts to the company’s culture he will be getting more certain about contacting other (higher) employees and will be more able to express his thoughts. In this way, the team connection improves and everyone stays involved.

The company’s communication skills and system already seems to be suitable for the type of organizational culture the company wants to implement. It is very casual and a well-fit for Dutch workers. There are differences in how foreign employees might approach this management style. As discussed, there might be issues with assimilation into that culture, however, it seems to be very open for different people and is likely to be a welcoming space for new, foreign employees. It needs to be taken into consideration that, while the company might do their best in trying to make the employees more open and comfortable with the informal relationship with coworkers and especially managers and supervisors, it does not and should not take the whole responsibility if the employee is not able to change their attitude. There are steps that the company can take but at the end of the day, the difficulty of getting used to another country’s culture lies also on the employee.

Authors

Julia Duijndam (LinkedIn)
Student: Business Administration Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences   
Block 2, Semester 2, Year 2.

Michasia Chrzanowska (LinkedIn)
Student: Akademia Leona Kozminskiego, Poland