Culture workshop

David Mitrović - Data engineer, Grundfos

December, 2018
Used materials for workshop

Understanding Cultures
Peter Olfs
until retirement: Siemens, Senior Director Corporate Communications International
June 2013

Working in an international team

Maria Prahl
Partner on Working Between Cultures - for a diverse & inclusive society, Program Coordinator on TUM
July 2013

Living & Working in Denmark

Conny Oppel, Eszter Rasmussen & Martin Wind – Lærdansk Consultant
Agenda

• Questions for you

• Danger of a single story

• Culture workshop

• Dimensional model

• Final words
Questions for you

• What successful cooperation in international teams means to you?

• Izvrsenje zadataka, razumevanje, isti ciljevi, bez pritiska, medjusobno razumevanje, postovanje,

• What are biggest challenges you see in an international environment?

• Svako gleda svoje dvoriste, nerazumevanje zbog jezicke barijere, nema povratne informacije, nisu uskladjeni
ciljevi, nemaju isti pogled na posao…

• Experiences you bring?

• Treba nauciti kako kao osoba funkcionisu, teska saradnja sa nemcima, spanci, italijani, iranci lakse je s njima
raditi, turci hoce da “zavrnu”, ne ulazite u posao sa italijanima, sa nemcima procitaj ugovor u startu

• Expectations from this workshop

• Recepte, kako da se postavimo, kako se boriti protiv stereotipa
The danger of a single story

What are Chimamanda`s massages for us?

Predrasude su jako opasne
Nije istina sve sto je napisano (novcic ima
dve strane)
Treba gledati I Russia today CNN

www.ted.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
For a fast career . . .

. . . . it is not enough to be an excellent engineer or financial manager

(there are a lot)

You need to be an excellent engineer or financial manager

with the additional ability
to manage teams and projects in different cultures
(this type of manager is rare)
Culture?

Sometimes it is easy to guess

Where are we?

A meeting is scheduled for 10:00 A.M.

It is 9:58 A.M. – all folks are there and the meeting has already started

We drive through a residential neighborhood with nice houses

All homes have huge garbage containers

We watch two business men in black suits

They bow three, four, five, times before they address each other
Even with very simple things
behavior can be very different:
Culture:
Where users go for support with their new cell phone

100%

90%

80%

70%

60% ask vendor

imitate

50% read
read & try
40% trial & error
ask friends
30%

20%

10%

0%
China India Italy Germany
Let me get more systematical:
Here are some (hard) facts:
• many countries
• many more different languages
• unclear decision making process
• unclear media landscape
• the time difference
• ....

And here is culture (=soft facts):

• different values
• different codes of conduct
• different responses
• ....
The many countries
• When it comes to business, there is no ‘Europe’ and no ‘Asia’
A comparison between Europe and Asia
A comparison between North America and Europe
(maps have same scale)
A comparison between Europe and Asia
(maps have same scale)
The many countries . . . . .

• There is no ‘Europe’ and no ‘Asia’

-- both regions are built of a large number of very different countries
European Union: 28 countries, 24 languages
Europe: ~50 countries, 37 languages (>1 mio. people), 55 languages (>100,000 people)

• The only more homogeneous region is

Latin America
• Africa is even more complex than Europe or Asia

• All countries have different - stages of economic development

- stages of political development
- legal systems
- regulatory bodies
• Many of these countries are not homogenous
• Most of these countries have a very long history
Just as an addition
another important aspect
-- a hard fact:
The density of the global population
The many - and difficult - languages
• European Union has 28 countries with 24 languages

• It is rarely as easy as it is between Spanish and Portuguese

• India has 23 official languages and another 100+ languages/dialects

• In Belgium, French and Dutch language need to be equally treated

• In Japanese some different words sound the same

• The Japanese language is so difficult that about 100 years ago the emperor was thinking to switch from
Japanese to English

• A Beijing citizen has a hard time to understand a cab driver in Guangzhou

• Even a German guy from Berlin may experience situations in Munich

Culture: how the people behave
Just a few points:

• The easy-going U.S. American

• The formal German
• The “closed” Englishman
• The “distant” Japanese business man

• U.S. boss needs to know the details

• Germans seem to be rude at times
• In the U.S., suing is almost a sport - and a good business
• A German teacher looks for mistakes
Behavior: what Europeans are NOT known for

A selection . . . . .

• The Germans are not know for their humor

• The British are not known for their cooking habits

• The Irish are not known for their soberness

• The Finns are not known for being talkative

• The French are not known for their controlled driving

• The Austrians are not known for the patience

• The Italians are not known for their controlled manners

• The Greeks are not know for being well organized

. . . . . how European perceive each other

Culture: The values

For a Chinese his/her network “Guanxi” is a higher value than a contract

For most Asian people age and position are extremely high values

For an American cheers and praise is a must

For a Chinese money, success, and status are high values

For a Hindu mental balance is the striving

For people living in war zones it may just be to survive . . . .

Culture

• Is the net of implicit rules within a group

• System of Values in a group, gives orientation

• Tells about expectations and behaviours within a group

• Culture is dynamic and hybrid

Not everything is Culture!
Direct and indirect communication
Direct and indirect communication

• How do people criticize each other? In a direct or indirect way?

• Do people criticize each other in team meetings?
• Who is (not) allowed to criticize whom?
• How do people that are criticized react? Do they seem offended?
• Who criticizes whom?
• What do you think: What is more important in your team at work: A “good and fruitful discussion” or a pleasant
atmosphere?
• How are successes and failures communicated?
• Is criticizing seen as a constructive form of feedback?
Individualism and Collectivsm
Individualism and Collectivsm

• How do people spend their lunch breaks? Alone or in groups?

• Who belongs to certain groups? Everybody or are group separated by hierarchies? (e.g. team assistants,
interns, etc.)
• Do people meet only for team meetings to exchange ideas in their work fields? Or do they work together in
more general terms?
• Do people spend time together after finishing their daily work? (drinking a beer together, having a barbecue,
bowling, etc.)
• Is there a special dress-code I have to wear?
• Are performances seen as individual or as team performances?
• Do relationships in teams tend to be of a more private or business nature?
Monochronic or polychronic?
Different styles of planning
Monochronic or polychronic?

• How do people work? Are they doing one thing at a time or several things at the same time?
• How are team meetings organized? Are they strictly following an agenda?
• Punctuality at meetings: Do people come late? How do they behave when they are late? When and how do
they apologize?
• How do people start working on a team project? Do they create an operating schedule in the beginning?
• Do private meetings have to be planned in advance? If so, how far in advance do they have to be planned?
• Are private and business life strictly separated? Or do they interfere?
• May I address my boss at anytime or do I need an appointment?
Power Distance
Power Distance

• How should I address my boss? (formal/informal)

• Which responsibilities does he/she has? Which are my responsibilities?
• How formal are team meetings in general?
• Are autonomy, independent work style and initiative valued?
• Are team members’ proposals discussed in team meetings? Or is the team not allowed to make proposals?
• Am I allowed to criticise my boss (publicly)? Am I allowed to discuss with him/her?
• Which style of leadership is appreciated? (authoritarian vs. cooperative?)
Uncertainty Avoidance
Uncertainty Avoidance

• Do work results have to be documented? Is anybody controlling them?

• Time and place for work: Are they prescribed? How flexible are the working hours? Is teleworking allowed?
• Are rules applied to everyone?
• What is more important: Rules or relations?
• How do people deal with tasks and projects which are hard to predict and to plan?
Consequences for you?
Learn a foreign language?
You have two choices
- you want to hide in a lab or office
and become an unknown engineer or accountant or
- you want to become a international recognizable engineer or manager

To become a international recognizable engineer or manager means to be able

- to understand
- to adapt
- to mediate
- to facilitate
- to deliver

• It is almost imperative to have deeply dipped into at least one other culture
• because employees with this experience are much more effective,
as they watch and listen much more closely
Advise for you:
In addition to your normal education
(don’t neglect your major!)
you need to learn more about the world outside your country

• learn at least one foreign language

• to learn about the culture of this country
language is the most powerful vehicle
to understand the various facets of culture
Which language makes most sense?
Here is way to go about it:

• select a culture which is quite different

• select a language which not too difficult
• select a country which is a substantial global player
where you can learn business as well

By the way:
• to learn a language means sweat - you can do 80% at home
• to understand culture means listening and sensing and creeping into the other’s skin - at home you will not
achieve more than 20%
More specific matrix with countries
of at least medium importance and learning potential

Area Culture Language Economic importance Total learning potential

Europe
Spain different easy low - medium low - medium
France different difficult medium medium - high
Germany different difficult very high high - very high
Italy different difficult medium medium - high
Russia different very difficult medium low - medium
Middle East
Israel very diff. very difficult medium medium - high
Arabic very diff. extr. difficult low - medium low - medium
Asia
China very diff. extr. difficult very high low - high
Japan very diff. extr. difficult very high medium - very high
Korea very diff. difficult high medium - high
Dimensional model
First, we learn three basic dimensions – length, height and width

Then, new dimensions are coming, like density and further on – weight

And if we add to all of this dimensions like speed and acceleration we have cinematics, adding mass and force –
we are coming to dynamics

Thermodynamics – more dimensions like temperature, pressure, volume, enthalpy, entropy etc.

All of these dimensions, by measuring them, we are describing something – object (shape, how it looks like etc.),
process (why is something happening, what is going on etc.)…
But what about human beings, how many dimensions we have?
All dimensions mentioned in previous slide, and who knows how much more!!!

Now, imagine, how difficult is to describe some person???

Dimension model - Culture
Likely, we have a culture!

Culture is set of measured and common dimensions of some nation or other group of people.
Understand the differences, act on the commonalities!
Final words
5 Strategies

• Meta Communication
• Speaking about roles, expectations explicitly
• Speak about the situations in which certain behaviour appears
• Appreciative and empathic communication
• Observations, e.g. following the guideline in your transfer books

10 Rules

• Go there yourself
• Ask and listen
• Ask your colleagues, employees, peers, Chamber, Embassy, countrymen
• Understand the decision-making process and the role of media
• Look for a person who has lived in your country
• Understand the agenda of you partners
• Allow a lot of time with your interpreter to make him/her understand
• Try to build good contact with your partners
• Allow time and more time
• Again: Ask and listen