Overview
For the Anonymous case model, a sales manager at an international company that operates worldwide, was interviewed. The ethnicity and the culture he grew up in is Caribbean. In the Caribbean there are many people with different cultures, due to there being a lot of people with different origins.
This made it easier for the interviewee to work with people of different cultures, although, there are some things that he needed to learn in order to understand the people he worked with and worked for.
The interview questions were based how he address the inhibitive and prohibitive topics and situations amongst people with different nationalities in his team or company. Some of these Questions being; How does interviewee know or act to have a successful relationship with his customers and colleagues? What are the things he identifies within his work environment that has cultural limitations? How does the company manage fairness in multi-cultural settings? How do you navigate if there are miscommunications because of cultural or religion reasons within your team or customers? And what do you do to solve the problem because of the miscommunications? All of these questions are answered in this interview so we can know how an international company who works with different nationalities, cultures and religions in a successful way. This overview is to have a summarized idea of the interview.
The company the interviewee works for is very inclusive. The headquarter is based in the USA, but he is responsible for the sales in Europe and APAC. This means that the interviewee works with a lot of people with different backgrounds. When it comes to cultural limitations it can be understood on a case by case basis. For example, has the interviewee noted that people with a Latin-American background for are very polite but Dutch people for instance are much more direct. To have a successful relationship with people who have different backgrounds you have to understand their cultural perspective so you get to know what is inhibitive or prohibitive for them.
The company manages itself fairness in multi-cultural settings by offering trainings every year that are about how to conduct business with regard to morals, rules and law within the countries the employees work in. Furthermore, other things the employees of the company learn, is how to communicate the essence and values of the employees and where they can address their problems if there are any. The company has made a large department for HR so that everyone who feels harassed or has any kind of problem regarding their morals or other intrinsic or extrinsic issues can get help.
The way the interviewee navigates if there are miscommunications because of cultural or religion reasons within his team or customers, is simply by making sure each party respects the other. That way they create a band of trust and respect with each other to think twice before they misunderstand each other. But there is always a chance that people misunderstand each other. In that case they try to be as open as possible and to understand the issue from both perspectives. This helps a lot when it comes to solve the problem. Another way is to not discuss the problem but to discuss how they can understand each other in a better way.
The last question was if the interviewee could give advice about to other businesses or business students. ‘The more you learn about different cultures the more you will understand he said. ‘’Expand your own personality so it makes it easier for you to understand people. This way you can find a common ground to understand and respect each other’s cultures, morals and religions regarding doing business”.
Hofstede Dimensions
Geert Hofstede developed a six dimensions’ model to distinguish cultural values across countries.
The first dimension is power distance (PDI)
This dimension focuses on power distribution in a society. People from high power distance country accept a hierarchical order and would respect their boss or leader as a God. People from low power distance country can see their boss or national leader as their buddy. They expect an equal distribution of power
The second dimension is individualism vs collectivism (IDV)
Individualists focus on their personal goals. It is all about me, my business, my rights,
my image and my achievement. Whereas collectivists emphasize the importance of the group. It is about us. individual achievement is attributed to the effort of the group.
The third dimension is masculinity vs femininity (MAS).
It deals with gender issues in a society. It is based on the nature of male vs female or being tough vs being tender. In a masculine society, people seek competition and material rewards for success. To the opposite, people in a feminine society, prefer cooperation to competition. They emphasize caring, modesty and the quality of life.
The fourth dimension is uncertainty avoidance (UAI)
It examines to what extent people in a society feel comfortable with uncertainty.
People in a society with high score of UAI don’t like taking risks. They follow ridged rules to tackle uncertainty. People in a society with low score of UAI are more willing to try new things and take risks. They are flexible with rules.
The fifth dimension is long term orientation vs short term orientation (LTO)
People in a society which values long term orientation see great importance of tradition and history. They like to build up things and prepare for the future. People in a society which has short term orientation focus on the current enjoyment. It is more about the current concerns instead of the future issues.
The sixth dimension is indulgence vs restraint (IVR) People in a society with a high score of indulgence follow their natural drives of enjoying life and having fun. By contrast, people in a society with a low score of indulgence suppress or restrain their natural drives. They have strict social norms to regulate excessive desires for fun.
From Figure1, we can see both USA and Netherlands have low power distance (40 vs 38). Both USA and Netherlands get a score of 68 for IVR which indicates people in both countries follow their natural drive of enjoyment.
However, comparing with Netherlands, USA has a slightly higher score of individualism (91 vs 80). USA is a masculine society (68) which means people in USA are more competitive. To the opposite, Netherlands is a feminine society with a low score of masculinity (14) which means Dutch people are more concerned with the quality of life.
A significant difference between the two countries is that USA is short term oriented (26) whereas Netherlands is long term oriented (67). Dutch people value traditions and build up things for the future. Whereas Americans are more concerned with the current benefit.
USA scores 46 for uncertainty avoidance which means American people are less restrained with rules. They are more willingly to take risks. Whereas Netherlands scores 68 for uncertainty avoidance which means people in Netherlands pay more attention to rules. They are less likely to take risks.
Outcome
During the interview certain issues were also discussed, for example there can be miscommunication among team members. This can be due to the fact that there are different reference points based in culture and personality.
The interviewee discussed the challenges of having to navigate through such moments, but emphasized that keeping an open mind and being willing to compromise on both ends that’s the way to go. Furthermore, even though the company originates and the headquarters are located in the US, the office located in the Netherlands has a predominantly Dutch workforce, and although the similarities when comparing both countries through the Hofstede dimensions. It is still clear to see that there are some differences. And these differences can manifest themselves in small conflicts amongst employees or miscommunication or different expectations regarding a certain topic.
Possible solutions
The company that the interviewee works for has already taken the right steps in the right direction with regard to holding yearly trainings as well as special education trainings during specific months of the year (i.e. Black History Month, pride month etc.) to keep their workforce up to date with current information, because the world is ever changing. As well as allowing a platform or voice to those who may feel disparaged. Moreover, with regard to the interviewee himself in his smaller team, he has also stated that in order for there to be good teamwork there needs to be open lines of communication trust and respect. In order to achieve this, they make sure to regularly have meanings to ensure that everybody is on the same page. It is impossible to avoid situations of miscommunication altogether however with the right resources circumstances and a trusting environment this won’t be an issue.
Authors
Anda-yé Llewellyn (LinkedIn)
Student: International Business, Amsterdam University Of applied science
Block 4, Semester 2, 2022
Enes Kanyak (LinkedIn)
Student: International Business, Amsterdam University Of applied science
Block 4, Semester 2, 2022
Jinrui Constantin (LinkedIn)
Student: Click or tap here to enter text. Auckland university
Block 4, Semester 2, 2022