A Montenegrin consultant for an international company headquartered in the Netherlands was interviewed to shine light on international communication in a business environment. The company is mainly viewed as an employment agency, but engages in European building projects as well. Despite the headquarters being located in the Netherlands, majority of the business is done abroad and internationally, with their biggest clients located in Germany. Therefore, the consultant is required to travel abroad quite often, as he is the one responsible for interacting with partners/employees from different cultural backgrounds. Since the clients the company work with in the Netherlands are usually also of different origin due to their specialties in certain industries, the languages spoken differ with each client. The main spoken languages are English, German and Dutch; however, the use of Slavic languages has increased lately.

The company’s CEO, who is also of Montenegrin heritage, started this company with the goal of assisting people who migrated to the Netherlands that had low chances at good working opportunities due to cultural and educational barriers. The CEO identified with these problems since he had experienced them himself when he moved to the Netherlands in 1987. After 18 years, the company grew out to be a successful establishment that aided thousands of people in building their careers and delivered quality labor to multiple companies. Since the majority of the clients are international, the importance of a mutual cultural understanding is of utmost importance, in order to create a comfortable, safe and respectful working environment for both parties. 

However, the need for this cultural awareness was not always evident. The consultant has experienced multiple occasions in which there were discussions with the German clients due to the lack of mutual understanding, which derived from the differences in norms and values as there was a clear difference in outward expressions (Weaver, 2013). These cultural differences were expressed in both verbal and non-verbal communication, which lead to unnecessary friction and tension between the two parties. Both parties’ lack of interpreting each other correctly often led to misunderstandings that hindered the partnerships.

The increase in friction between international parties stressed the lack of intercultural awareness and understanding. The consultant realized that he lacked understanding of his clients culturally and its negative impacts. The problems the consultant experienced were communicated to the head of the company and the executive decision was made to tackle this problem. He mentioned that the downfall was that both parties kept taking non-verbal and verbal communication patterns personally. With the lack of awareness of each other’s cultures, this had negative impacts.

The company has constructed several rules in order to prevent the emergence of prohibitive and inhibitive behavior, which is why the company has strong policies against certain issues such as, racism, discrimination and sexism on the work floor. The just called rules are examples of prohibitive and inhibitive behavior.

Outcome

Power distance

With a Montenegrin power distance score of 88, and a German power distance score of 35, the two countries are quite far apart from each other. Power distance illustrates the low acceptance of equality and therefore a less presence of inequality within society (Hofstede, 2002). Montenegro on the other hand is comfortable with the idea of inequality within society, which translates on the workspace as well. In Montenegrin culture, a hierarchical order in which everybody has a certain place is not questioned and generally accepted without any further justification (Hofstede, 2002). Germany has low-context communication, meaning they are very direct, as opposed to Montenegrin high-context which holds a sort of ambiguity that can be clarified through context.

During meetings, the consultant perceived the German clients to be somewhat rude in their communication as he mentioned that it seemed that they had no ‘filter’. He was used to a more subtle way of communicating and often took the verbal and non-verbal communication from the German end personally. Occasionally, this resulted in meetings getting overheated with the need of resuming at a later point when both parties were cooled off. When the meetings resumed later on, the consultant and his German client found out that it was just a misunderstanding due to improper interpretation of communication.

Early on in the business-relationship between the two, the consultant mentioned that he felt a certain unease in the meetings. The (company) culture he was used to was not reciprocated by his German clients and as a form of respect (due to the high power-distance), talking back was unheard of for him (prohibitive). As his experience with them broadened and he got to learn about German culture, he adjusted his attitude and communication in the meetings. He can now finally communicate with them more freely and with mutual comfort.

Individualism

On the dimension of individualism, the companies are very unalike again. With a score of 67, German culture believes in refraining from becoming emotionally dependent of groups, organizations or other collectives (Hofstede, 2002). Instead, they are usually focused on taking care of themselves. Opposed to the Montenegrin score of 24, which indicates a collective culture. They lay emphasis on the whole group such as, an organization or family and usually build relationships with kindness and rituals (Hofstede, 2002). On the work floor, this translates in an understanding and warm atmosphere, in which employees are comfortable in expressing even (personal) problems and generally take care of each other as well (professionally). In German professional culture, mentioning personal problems during work is prohibitive and therefore, it is important that both parties understand their differences in individualism to forecast what to expect from each other.

Masculinity

On the dimension of masculinity, the issues experienced by the company and their partners during negotiations are vastly diverse.  Since the company is based in the Netherlands and with a score of 14 in Masculinity, contrasted to a score of 66 for Germany and 48 for Montenegro, an understanding develops toward the hostility being experienced during the meetings. Further the German culture is “driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organizational life.” (Hofstede Insights, n.d.).  This reflection of the German culture is very similar to that of the Montenegrin culture, therefore the need for interpreters and/or translation services for meetings is needed to avoid misunderstandings to avoid up flairs of emotions.

Uncertainty Avoidance

The scores for uncertainty avoidance provide insight into the degree of certainty about the future.  With a 90 score for Montenegro, and 65 for Germany, this is an indication that in the case study’s experience of intercultural dialogue, both parties require certainty in order for a partnership to be developed or established.  This is a reflection of the culture where any uncertainty is avoided at all cost for these countries.  Also, these cultures would source the necessary tools and mechanisms to predict the future or influence it, so as to avoid unpleasantries, which the consultant noticed in each other’s way of communicating. Both parties were continuously thinking of problems that might occur ahead in time and how to possibly tackle them. Leaving things for the unknown is really a prohibited practice in both cultures, which is some of the reasons why the two parties did work well together.

Long term orientation

This dimension describes how societies maintain links with “ past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future” (Hofstede Insights 2021). Additionally Hofstede Insights (2021) defines that societies prioritize these present and future goals differently. Montenegro scores high 75 on long-term orientation as well as Germany 83. Here both societies have a pragmatic orientation towards the future and are eager to put effort into planning and preparing the future. This common orientation refers to the willingness to still continue consulting meetings, despite the unease of cultural differences and in-comprehensiveness, to plan and achieve the planned outcome. Despite the differences, both societies want to perform for future results, showing “perseverance in achieving results” (Hofstede Insights 2021). It also relates to the above described uncertainty avoidance dimension.

Possible solutions and best practices

In international contexts, cultural differences play a major role. They are reflected in any kind of reaction, understanding of respect, timing, way of communicating and behavior. In our interview, the example of business meetings for consultants and their clients has been explained. It was possible to see main differences in communication patterns which resulted in major in-comprehensions and frictions. These meetings have evolved towards more open discussions with attention being placed on intercultural backgrounds, which was the company’s best practice. Therefore, the company has established rules and procedures and also prepared the consultants to the cultural aspects of their clients before attending the meetings. In the end it resulted in more attentive consultants that were less worried about offending their partners and scared to create an atmosphere of unease, negatively influencing the service offering and business environment. Overall, clients have also been addressed surveys to see if their satisfaction increased since these measures have been instaurated, resulting in a positive response. In conclusion, making companies present in international settings and their employees attentive to cultural differences and instauring measures, will create favorable environments, enhance business settings and increase customer satisfaction.

Student Authors

Lucie Lehmann
Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego
Semester 2, Block 2, 2021

Nukutau Pokura
Auckland University of Technology
Semester 2, Block 2, 2021

Kenza Alaoui Mdaghri
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Semester 2, Block 2, 2021