Finland

Enjoy the
silence!

Inter-Cultural-Management 05 28 2010
Damian Martinez-Dreyer, Sren Wellhfer
ICM Finland
Geography

ICM Finland
Geography

Size of Montana (337,030 km2)

Lakes and forests (more than ), some
mountains, 8% arable land
Long cold winters, short mild summers
5,359,538 population,
80% south, 60% urbanized
Geography = Nordic people

ICM Finland
History

5000 BC: Finno-Ugric tribes

12th century: Swedish rule since, no nation

1809: Duchy of Russian Empire, unified
semiautonomous entity
National movement, Finish/Swedish language
official
1899: Russification, Integration
1919: Independence after short war
ICM Finland
History

1939-44: Germany's co-belligerent against Soviet Union,

Winter/Continuation war
1948: Treaty Soviet Union
1989: SU recognizes Finland's full sovereignty
1995: EU integration

Hero nation: cultural identity, persistent toughness

Religion: Lutheran (80%), Orthodox(10%)

ICM Finland
General attitude

High ideals, loyal, reliable, punctual

Honest, direct, tolerant, very low-context
Reserved, polite, quite, thoughtful, unemotional
in public
Unbureaucratic, informal
Equality, personal freedom, women's rights
Individualism, social responsibility

ICM Finland
General attitude

Traditional, yet modern and technological

Nature-loving
Proud of nation and heritage, modest,
Pessimistic, inferiority complex
Brink of Scandinavia and Europe

ICM Finland
Lutheranism and work attitude?

Many baptized (80% = 4.3 Mio.)

Very secularized society (Church/State)
It's proper to be Christian
Work ethic = morals and values of diligent work
Nordic people, historic struggles, National pride
sisu = <fin.> die trying against the odds
ability to sustain an action against the odds with courage
History, heritage, and national values shape work ethic,
not religion

ICM Finland
Empathizing with Finns

Modest
Low profile, never boast
Achievements in modest tone
Silence is positive, contemplative, relaxing
Clear goals and objectives
Individual freedom, self-respect
Subtle body language
Humorous on occasions, rather dry
ICM Finland
Business practices

Highly-competitive business culture

Punctuality
Dress properly
No small-talk
Good English
Respect opinions
Follow host in actions

ICM Finland
Business practices

Formal atmosphere softens in meetings

Women have true equal standing
No good team players
4/5 weeks of vacation during summer, avoid
travel
Sauna
Conversation topics: history, politics, sports,
technology, travel

ICM Finland
Management by motivation

Frank, open, direct (share your plans)

Modest, unemotional, objective
Talk slowly and listen
Precise, efficient
Relaxed about protocol and hierarchy
Honest, faithful, solid

Do never: Gossip, lie, insult culture & heritage

ICM Finland
Quality

Hight-tech society, highly industrialized,

high standard of living
Quietly efficient perfectionists
Emphasize quality, but not picky
Important for individual and society

ICM Finland
 Example of a Finnish presentation:

Product XY
Trollcorp.
Helsinki

ICM Finland
Product XY - Overview

Achievements:
Profitability 70% since inception (5 years ago)
80% of customer satisfaction
Quality of service deemed good in surveys

Objectives:
Return on investment must be increased
Product placement stabilization
Reduce marginal costs for serviceability
ICM Finland
Product XY - Development

Three autonomous working groups

A: Quality reinforcement
B: Customer satisfaction
C: Process rationalization
A

Goal:
Improvement
B Profitability margin
reconciliations
up by > 10%

C
ICM Finland
Finish communication explained

Silence is positive
Think quiet (silence again)
Only subtle bodylanguage
Be modest
Structured conversation, one voice at a time!
Speaking less is more.

ICM Finland
The GLOBE Study

438 Managers / seven companies

To study:
Social / Organisational cultural norms
Leadership norms

ICM Finland
GLOBE: Social Results
7

3.5

0
Uncertainity Avoidance
ICM Finland
GLOBE: The perfect Leader

Visionary
Integrity
Inspirational
Colaborative

ICM Finland
Kiitoksia paljon!

ICM Finland