Archives for October 2014

Brazil gained its independence in the 1800’s. It became a true federal republic after the military rule ended peacefully in 1985. Central America countries have been controlled by political and military powers which for many decades which have failed. In 1990 the military dictatorship was replaced by a new president, Fernando Cardoso. During his term he created many economic and social reforms which are still in place today. The only way these countries can survive is by working together to overcome poverty, illiteracy, and violence. Local business leaders and global managers have succeeded in raising the standards and quality of living.

The Federative Republic of Brazil is Latin America’s largest economy. Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and fifth largest in the world. According to bbc.com, Brazil’s economy unexpectedly notched up a growth rate of 0.7% in the last quarter of last year. (No Author, bbc.com, 2014) This was a surprise even for the government due to the economy shrinking in 2013. Many economists had expected it to shrink again and fall into recession. There is a 6.3% jump in investment this year which will give Brazil businesses the confidence in returning the marketplace. (No Author, bbc.com, 2014) The country has maintained policies that control inflation and promote economic growth. The U.S. was Brazil’s second largest source of imports, accounting for 15% of total imported goods. (No Author, export.gov, 2014) Brazil’s economic growth consists mainly of agricultural and industrial exports. It is the world’s biggest exporter of sugar, chicken, beef, and coffee. Brazil Industry is developing at a fast pace and is enhancing the country. Major Brazil Industry is iron and steel, chemicals, petroleum, automobile assembly and cement making.

Surface level diversity affects the demographic differences that set U.S. and Brazil apart. This diversity between the U.S. and Brazil has market challenges as well as effective business relationships. Brazil has a large and diversified economy that offers U.S. companies many opportunities to partner and to export their goods and services. Doing business in Brazil requires intimate knowledge of the local environment, including both the direct as well as the indirect costs of doing business in Brazil.

Success in Brazil’s business culture relies heavily upon the development of strong personal relationships. According to Moran, one of the biggest mistakes that one can make is by assuming what works in one country could work in another.(Moran, 2014) For instance something as simple as greeting one another with a handshake could be misconstrued or taken as an insult. Brazilians are friendly people that hug and kiss to show their warmth and affection. If one didn’t take the time to better understand the culture it may potentially lead to a negative business situation. In most cases, U.S. firms need a local presence and should invest time in developing relationships through frequent visits to Brazil.

 

The concept of low and high context communication styles involves both verbal and nonverbal communication aspects. Brazilians are lower context people while U.S. and northern European countries are high context. Brazilians tend to use words profusely and at times disconnect their feelings. Although Portuguese is the official language there are many distinct dialects within different parts of the country that cause verbal noise to the encoder. At times the nonverbal forms of communication will carry more weight than actual words. For example Brazilians are touchy and make eye contact as means of communication. If one is of the same status of the Brazilian then they make direct eye contact throughout the conversation while someone in lower status will keep their head down and make very little eye contact. There are many common cultural characteristics that can cause issues and ruin relationships.  Moreover, there are many barriers that could pose threats so it is wise to learn all the language barriers as well as other formal and informal cultural differences.

References:

No Author, Brazil’s economy grows at twice the rate expected. Date Retrieved: October 18, 2014., http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26368704

No Author, Doing Business in Brazil. Date Retrieved: October 18, 2014., http://www.export.gov/brazil/doingbusinessinbrazil/index.asp

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2011). Managing cultural differences: Leadership skills and strategies for working in a global world. New York: Elsevier.

Central America is primary small nations and territories that speak mainly Spanish, but also a few other languages. There are actually more countries and territories in this region than in North and South America combined even though the amount of land is far smaller. According to lesson 9, simple country borders can often lead to cultural differences, and there is a great degree of diversity in Central America. (Redmond)

We know Walmart as an American multinational retail corporation. The first Walmart store opened in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. (No author, Walmart.com) Walmart has imposed courses and programs (Best Practice Study) to overcome barriers of global diversity and conflict to become an international success. It entered the Central American region in 2005 which became Walmart Centro America in 2006. In 2009, Walmart Mexico acquired Walmart’s operations in Central America from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and two minority partners. In 2010, Walmart Mexico became Walmart de Mexico y Centro America. (No Author, Walmart.com)

In order to interact with people in a certain region a leader must build knowledge on that particular culture. Walmart created, “The Best Practice Study” program which focused on building hard to find information on (1) History and Culture; (2) Demographics; (3)Legislation; and (4)Best Practices. The study would also need specific diversity, cultural and legal information about each country. This kind of information was not immediately available. (No author, diversitycentral.com) They would have to build a customized information base if they were to increase their knowledge and understanding of diversity and inclusion in the countries the company did business.

Walmart in Central America and Mexico has built an accelerated development program that focuses on discovering the personal and professional potential of the participants. Walmart planned and designed this course of action to stimulate thinking and reflection on its impact when developing balanced teams within Walmart. This was designed to focus on the businesses best practices, case studies proving the direct link between Bias reduction and a sustainable, profitable business. (No author, globaldiversitypractice.co.uk)

Walmart’s strength is leadership and executive population to leverage the benefits of diversity and inclusion and be role models. According to walmart.com, the Global Diversity Practice were commissioned to deliver diversity and inclusion interventions ranging from Gender Equity, inclusive leadership and unconscious bias. Walmart Centro America is committed to maintaining a diverse work environment in which all associates are respected and appreciated. Lastly, a big concern for Walmart in Central America is to allow woman to work and get their hands on some earnings. Women’s growing participation in the workforce had a major role in poverty reduction in the region. Without their work, extreme poverty in the region in 2010 would have been 30% higher. (No Author, Worldbank.org)

Walmart has had success internationally as they have provided leaders as role models, decrease bias, increase gender bilingualism and become more inclusive leaders. Walmart has adapted the course to be relevant to the local perspective which has provided added credibility and relevance to close the gap of differences between groups and better understand international culture.

References:

Redmond, Brian (2014) Lesson 9, pg. 2. Central America and Mexico. The Pennsylvania State University World Campus

No Author, (2014) Walmart Best Practices Retrieved: October 24, 2014. http://diversitycentral.com/blog/developing-a-truly-global-diversity-inclusion-strategy-a-walmart-best-practice

No Author, (2014) Global Diversity: October 24, 2014. http://www.globaldiversitypractice.co.uk/portfolio/walmart/

No Author, (2014) Gains in Latin America: October 24, 2014. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/08/29/women-play-key-role-in-economic-gains-in-latin-american-and-caribbean

In general there have been hopeful signs of Pan-American synergy in the twenty-first century.  The reduction of trade barriers and fiscal deficits, the increase in economic and social collaboration for the development of human rights and the overall peace between the nations has laid the groundwork to decrease the poverty gap and increase the awareness of the effects of globalization.  (Moran, Harris & Moran. 2011)

Pan-American synergy has a long history starting with the creation of the OAS through a series of Pan American Conferences from a US sponsored effort cumulating in the OAS Charter being signed in Bogota, Columbia in 1948.  Its general principles were established from the Monroe Doctrine and it sought to establish peace, collective security in and for the Western Hemisphere, and encourage economic, social and cultural matters (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014).  During the early 1900’s, the United States expressed their sincerity of being a collaborative member of the Pan American Union by withdrawing Monroe Doctrine as applied to Latin America and repealing the Platt Amendment. In 1939, Roosevelt declared that the United States would work with all Latin American peoples to establish economic solutions and prior to World War II, the US implemented it’s “Good Neighbor Policy” in order to offset any possible influence by Germany. It must have had some effect as we entered World War II, the United States and Latin America were a very much aligned but unfortunately when the groups came to the table in 1947 to sign a pact of military defense the common objectives of economic, social and culture matters promised earlier by the American government were forgotten(Padilla, 1954).

Padilla, 1954 claimed that the root of Latin America’s great evil was poverty.  In his declaration of the Meaning of Pan Americanism he wrote of the importance of the creation of the economic cooperation with investment accountability and responsibility of an Inter-American Bank which could create and maintain the interest needed to maintain trade agreements (import/export) which had been affected by both African and Asian undercuts.  The United States at the time was trying to fight the global efforts of the Russian and Chinese government and some Latin American countries like Argentina viewed this as a threat to their existence and further disassociated them for fear of Soviet regime.

The OAS continued to try and create and maintain Latin American and Caribbean socioeconomic and cultural development.  They worked hard in the early half of the 20^th century help maintain peaceful accord in Latin America through various efforts such as the resolution of the Soccer War between Honduras and El Salvador, supporting Kennedy and the US by revoking Cuba’s membership, and promoting democracy and trade with efforts to monitor and safeguard fraud and the creation of the Alliance for Progress.  In 1971, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights was established (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014).  Today the OAS has a four pillar approach to helping their member countries maintain a level of cooperation and accountability.  Through democracy, human rights, security and development they develop tools to impact legislation and cultural education.  Moran et al, argues while the OAS has created a ground for synergy, globalization in today’s world has brought increased support for the South American Community of Nations (SACN) and could potentially be a more effective organization.  Still, the OAS continues to give voice to civil society and through its various strategic partnerships like PADF and private sectors should remain a positive force for the Latin American states in encouraging human rights and economic prosperity.

The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) was established in 1962 as an affiliate of the Organization of American States (OAS). Created with private enterprise to provide an NGO to assist the least advantaged people in Latin America and the Caribbean in support of the Alliance for Progress initiated by the Kennedy administration (PADF, 2014), its pioneered one of the first micro-lending programs and over the past 50 years it has helped to strengthened thousands of Latin American civil society groups and expand alliances with government and corporate donors to facilitate human rights, community help and support victims of natural disasters.  PADF’s programs have generated thousands of jobs, saved lives and property, protected vital natural resources, upgraded skills training and medical services, and improved conditions for thousands of disadvantaged Latin American and the Caribbean people(PADF, 2014). Another affiliate of the OAS is the “Trust for the Americas” which promotes the social and economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Contemporary leaders have to be able to build bridges between the realities of both past and future in order to fully cultivate a synergistic mindset (Moran, 2011).  They need to be able to envision and translate hemispheric solidarity.  They must recognize the national and international differences and be able to accept cultural transformation that is beneficial for the greater good of the Pan-American culture, whether it be indigenous people or the corporate private sector in order to guarantee multinational sustainable solutions (PADF, 2014).  Without this general cooperative approach and acceptance to change all areas of need will not be addressed.  Education and the spread of technology, multinational corporate responsibilities and the overall care for humanity must continue to be at the forefront of organizations trying to accomplish goals for the common good (Moran, 2011).

References

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2011). Managing cultural differences: Leadership skills and strategies for working in a global world. New York: Elsevier.

Organization of American States (OAS). (2014). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/20243/Organization-of-American-States-OAS

PADF.  Date N.A. About Us. Retrieved at: http://www.padf.org/pages/about-us

Padilla, E., (1954) The Meaning Of Pan Americanism. Foreign Affairs. The Council on Foreign Affairs.

Pennsylvania State University. (2014). OLEAD 497B: Lesson 8:  Chapter 11: Doing Business in Central and South America.  Retrieved at: https://cms.psu.edu

Fig 1.1 OAS provided by OAS.com

Fig 1.2 Good Neighbor provided by GDC.gale.com

 

By: Rob Weidamoyer

The syntax in the title is intentional- Are our rights wrong? The implication appears to be true when we consider how so much of what the Constitution provides for us as a free people seems to be intolerable and at the very least, offensive not in the rest of the world, but to those for whom our country is where they seek the freedom to communicate their disgust toward our insolent existence. What’s worse is that I’m not referring to anyone’s religion or faith, but those that would seek to tell free citizens that new music is too explicit, their skirts are too short or our respect for others is non-existent, felt from the playground to the workplace and every where in between. School administrators tell African-American girls they can’t wear bandanas, but cheerleaders can wear headbands. The marching band can’t play rock n’ roll, but the football coaches blast unedited rap through the stadium speakers. Girls aren’t allowed to wear shorts above the knee, but the dance department has costumes that make the performers appear nude.

How can certain groups be told they can exercise a right that is afforded to someone else in a country where everyone is supposed to be equal? Our students learn almost everything they know in school, including the double standards they experience on a daily basis like dress codes that tell girls they can’t wear things that will distract boys, because it’s ok to look trashy, just not in school (Glassberg, 2014). By that logic, shaming girls is way easier than teaching boys to control themselves and punish them appropriately when they do, without fear of repercussion from the state’s child welfare agency. The image below demonstrates how places like schools ironically forego educating their students on a subject in an effort to provide a more immediate way to pacify the irate.

This is not to say that men are always in the wrong, or women have no self-respect. The crux of the issue is a constant desire to keep everyone happy by somehow not generating a solution, but buying moral band aids in bulk. The objectification of women shares the spotlight with those who may dress based on religious reasons, but are exempt from the dress codes to which everyone else is subjected. The bottom line is that over-the-top fixes of today infringe upon rights established from eternity. If anyone is allowed to wear something on their head, everyone should be allowed to follow suit. If music is deemed inappropriate for one organization, it should be banned district-wide.

Something like Cultural Synergy (Moran, Harris and Moran, 2011) will never happen in places where individual rights are trampled to keep someone else from being offended, because the ability to be offended is also a right. However, those who are offended are not immediately afforded extra rights to shame or belittle those whom offended them into changing their position or ways to accommodate someone else. A free country implies that everyone is free, all the time, without fear of prosecution for those freedoms granted to them by their own existence and protected by the law. If character content is a pillar of those charged with providing examples for our youth, then why is it that these individuals are somehow allowed to dictate who wears what, listens to whom or enjoys anything because it fits a larger, more important image that has no place for individual freedoms.

All of this occurs while these same micro managers boast that nothing ever goes wrong and the standards set by those before you that used to be allowed to enjoy all the things we now consider objectionable are a thing of the past and will stay there because humans don’t evolve and as the world gets more difficult to navigate. Shielding a cultures youth from the realities of the world only cripples them for life by not providing the tools and resources they need to survive.

 

Reference:

Image- http://beautyisonlyskindeep13.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-recent-yearbook-craziness.html

Moran, R.T, Harris, P.R, Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World,. Oxford: Routledge

Redmond, Brian (2014) Lesson 2, pp.1,5. Introduction to Culture. The Pennsylvania State University World Campus

Lauren Glassberg (2014). Female Students Nationwide Protest Against Sexist Dress Codes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://7online.com/education/female-students-protest-sexist-dress-codes/339009/. [Last Accessed October 11, 2014].

Moran 2011 citing R.D. Lewis on page 257 reminds us that the Muslim religion expresses open tolerance for other faiths and enrichment of coexistence is the rule rather than the exception. Additionally, the famous term “jihadist” terrifies people and they associate it with external violence to non-Muslims. When in fact a true “Jihadi” is the person who does “jihad” against his inner evils such as greediness, lust etc. basically a battle against what is known as the seven deadly sins. This week we learned about how Islam isn’t simply a religion but a way of life. There is no separation of church and state like we have in USA. What many people fail to understand is that Islam is a religion of peace not war. Many people have a stereotype of Muslims as terrorists. This stereotype is actually untrue. The religion of Islam actually teaches peace and tolerance just like most other religions around the world. The problem is that many people’s exposure to Islam came on September 11, 2001, in New York City. This is what is known in psychology as the availability heuristic: calling up a known event to form an opinion even when the information is atypical (Lesson 7:The Middle East Focus on Saudi Arabia, 2014).Even the common greeting amongst Muslims “As-salamu alaykum’’ literally translates to May peace be upon you. For the past decade, the media has been full of how women in the Middle East have been oppressed because they are forced to wear a headscarf and are not allowed to work.

 

What the people don’t realize is that Islam considers the women and men as apples and oranges. Two different entities not to be compared. And if they were to be compared, women would always come out to be on top. Over fourteen hundred years ago, Islam gave Middle Eastern women rights that women in the west have only recently began to enjoy. In the 1930’s Annie Besant observed, “It is only in the last twenty years that Christian England has recognized the right of woman to property while Islam has allowed this right from all times. Both men and Women are equally encouraged to seek knowledge despite the stereotype that women are not allowed to study. The prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Education is compulsory for every Muslim.” Indeed the literacy rate for majority of the Middle Eastern Countries are quite high as compared to other countries. For example according to the CIA World Fact book, 87.2% of the total population is literate. Out of that, 90.8% are males while 82.2% are females. Job training and education have become a focus on the government. One of the recent developments is the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (CIA, n.d.). Thus doing people should be eager to do business with middle easterners but a lot of them aren’t. Why you may ask? Islamophobia is the reason in my opinion. Some people blame it on 9/11 but in my opinion, the roots of it go further deeper. 9/11 just added fuel to the fire.

 

In 1993, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee confronted the Walt Disney Company about Anti-Arab racist content in its animated Film Aladdin. At first Disney denied any problems but eventually relented and changed two lines in the opening song. Members of the ADC were still unhappy with the portrayal of Arabic characters and the referral to the Middle East As “Barbaric”. According to Wikipedia, America rebuilt and Americans came together after 9/11. In doing so, however, Islamophobia and anti-Middle Eastern sentiment imbedded itself into the American Psyche. Furthermore, America was put on high alert. We had been attacked and we felt as though we may be attacked again at any moment. To this day, no one can sit in an airport, on a bus or subway, walk in a mall or be in any other public space without constantly being told to keep an eye out for “unattended bags” and “if we see something suspicious, report it.

Thus cross-cultural learning is a must and not be taken lightly. The Latin term “Ignorantia juris non excusat”: ignorance of the law excuses no one applies here. The media is filled with stereotypes about Islam and with it the Middle East. Take the recent example of the debate between Bill Maher, Raza Aslan and then Ben Affleck who read up on it instead of just believing the stereotypes ((Link to video provided in References). One example he provided to defend his position about Middle Eastern people were the rules of War in Islam:

References:

Article & Video: Bloomberg, A. (2014, September 30). Reza Aslan Blasts Bill Maher, Media For ‘Unsophisticated’ Reporting On Islam. InHuffington Post. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/30/reza-aslan-bill-maher_n_5907612.html

Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ). ( n.d. ). The world factbook. Retrieved at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

Pennsylvania State University. (2014). OLEAD 497B: Lesson 7: The Middle East:  Focus on Saudi Arabia. pg. 2 Retrieved at: https://cms.psu.edu

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. Oxford:Routledge. pg. 25.

Picture retrieved 1 from Wade, L. (2012, February 22). DEFINING WOMEN’S OPPRESSION: THE BURKA VS. THE BIKINI. In Social Images . Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/02/22/questioning-definitions-of-freedom/

Picture retrieved 2 from Facebook.com

Picture retrieved 3 from Bloomberg, A. (2014, September 30). Reza Aslan Blasts Bill Maher, Media For ‘Unsophisticated’ Reporting On Islam. InHuffington Post. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/30/reza-aslan-bill-maher_n_5907612.html

Women’s Rights in Islam (n.d.). In Islamic Information & Services Network of Astralasia. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.iisna.com/articles/pamphlets/womens-rights-in-islam/

 

 

Early in my career when I was a new manager I had a young employee who was of Middle Eastern descent, he himself was born in Houston, TX but his Mother and Father were from Pakistan.  He was a decent employee, not necessarily the best of the bunch and not the worst.   On my team was another older man that was from Egypt who had immigrated to America as a young man in the early 1970’s.  We had a very culturally diverse team ranging from Indians to Africans & Middle Easterners to New Jersey natives.  I called our team the melting pot and we often discussed cultural aspects of one another’s backgrounds to learn how to work better together.

One of the employees was a young man from Pakistan who was a devote Muslim who followed the “Pillars of Belief” (Moran, Harris & Moran, 2011).  He was very loving of his father who was sick with Alzheimer’s and often left early on Friday’s from our office in Dallas to care for him and his mother in Houston.  When I first met this young man he was reserved but boastful about accomplishments but not to the point where he was arrogant or hubris.  He enjoyed movies and the arts.  His wife (who was a Dallas girl that he met in college) was a young girl of Christian descent that stayed at home and took care of their newborn.  I’d often find that he was tardy to the office and because we were a 24 x 7 operations and performance team, it tended to slightly disrupt the synergy of the team as there were runway and preflight checks (these were our terms for checking the alarms and performance of the network).  Although, it wasn’t optimal for the team, I typically let it slide as I knew he had a sick Dad and a young newborn and I remembered the balance of life and work that my manager had given to me when I was in the same situation.  His life was highly influenced by his Islamic religion and philosophies and we spoke about it often so I could learn more about him.

The older gentleman from Egypt was a Coptic Christian and was also very devoted to his church and his religion.  His family was his life and he was often taking time off to spend it with his wife or children on vacation days to help at church outings.  He enjoyed studying and teaching (he taught math at the local community college).  He was very proud and extremely focused on how well he was perceived by me, the team and strangers as well.  He typically operated better as an individual than a team player.  Again, like the younger employee he was often tardy and overall had a very laissez faire attitude about deliverables.

Both of these employees I inherited from another manager during an organizational change and were based in Dallas, TX and sat close by in cubicles and because they supported a specific geographic of the network they had to work closely to support different initiatives and were required to back each other up on all runway and pre-flight activities.  This in itself created a manager’s worst nightmare team dynamic; both employees who back each other up are tardy!

During the first summer that I had the team I noticed that there appeared to be conflict between the two.  I immediately called the old manager and asked him if he ever witnessed this and if it was ever an issue and if so why didn’t he disclose it.  His answer was exactly how I thought it would go, something like, “Oh Yeah, those two….ha ha….Good Luck with them, they’re like two old ladies bickering constantly.”  I thanked him for being so forthright when the team was transferred to me.  Quite honestly he was a terrible leader and I was given his team as part of his demotion so it wasn’t a surprise at all.   He gave no me no background on what fueled their contempt for each other but my gut told me to dig in with the two guys and get it squashed before it got out of hand.

I flew to TX in August of that year and met with each one of them and asked them to bring me up to speed with their workload and how they were generally doing.  We of course did this during weekly team meetings but this was more to see if I could get to the bottom of their strife.  Both one of them spoke poorly of each other and although they both had the same overall level of responsibility and about the same level of output, both told me that they thought that they had exceeded the other in performance and results.  Neither one of them mentioned any issues about their own performance except for the older gentleman who told me that he thought he probably could create a less stressful environment by not letting things aggravate him so much.  Well, the alarms were going off in my head and I knew that there was certainly something going on at a much deeper level than what they had told me.

Next I brought them into the room together and asked them if they could both present the current state of their geographic area.  It was probably the coldest, non-synergistic exchange of information that I had ever seen.  When they were done, I asked them to sit down and express to me how they thought the presentation went.  The young man went first and he spoke very highly of the older man and showed him a lot of respect and conversely the old man showed the young man the same level of appreciation and kindness towards his presentation and work.  Next I asked them to tell me about their interaction on a day to day basis and if there was anything I could do to help them.  Not a word was spoken and then I asked if they minded if I spoke to them openly and candidly behind shut doors.  They obliged and I proceeded to discuss what I perceived to be some sort of conflict between them and it was obvious to me and to other members of the team.  They warmed up to the conversation when I engaged them further by stating that it’s become so evident that I think it’s beginning to affect the team results. I kept it high level and didn’t accuse anyone or embarrass anyone as this is typically not effective in managing resources.  I backed it up by encouraging constructive dissent and getting things out in the open was good for the soul and typically solved issues.

The flood gates didn’t exactly open but it seemed to create a safe place for both of them to remove their embedded cultural limitations and to start having helpful dialogue about what was bugging them.

The young man told me he often felt pressured to fix issues that were the older gentleman’s responsibility when he was out and that he was always late.  I almost choked but kept my thoughts to myself.  The older gentleman angrily responded that the younger man was always taking time off and that he didn’t have an appreciation for urgency and, “who the heck is going to do all the work when (name redacted) goes to Hajj!”.

Again I had to keep my face straight to make sure I wasn’t influencing the conversation but for me that was the point.  They both went back and forth on some other things and I asked them if there was any resolution that they could recommend.   I reflected on what they said and asked them if they had any other comments or suggestions before we finished.

After a few minutes I saw a smile appear on the young man’s face.  He said, “You know, I’m late sometimes and I could be more urgent at times.”  I still didn’t say anything.  The older man’s face relaxed from the stress of the conversation and he said, “We’ll I guess I could be more punctual as well and I’m sure that I can cover you when you make your pilgrimage”.  It was the ‘ah-hah’ moment.  I looked at both of them and without batting an eye said, “My work here is done!”

Six Months Later…

The two men created a system by which they worked a process whenever they knew that each other had a holiday or personal time off and made sure that if they were both scheduled to be out that I was made aware of the need for further coverage by my other teams.  The rest of the team noticed an overall improvement in their day to day interactions with both of them and although their individual output or their method of approach didn’t change much they improved as a team and consequently brought more success to the overall team and me as a manager.  Interestingly, Moran 2011 citing R.D. Lewis on page 257 reminds us that the Muslim religion expresses open tolerance for other faiths and enrichment of coexistence is the rule rather than the exception.  I still can’t wrap my hands around whether there was a cultural issue, personality issue or some buried availability heuristics, but in the end it didn’t really matter because the overall course was corrected.  The dynamics between the two were good and the dialogue was open and healthy and made them closer.

References

Pennsylvania State University. (2014). OLEAD 497B: Lesson 7: The Middle East:  Focus on Saudi Arabia. pg. 2 Retrieved at: https://cms.psu.edu

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. Oxford:Routledge. pg. 257

 

In previous lessons we learned about the Hofstede and the effects of what we learn as children through our environment and how they affect how we are today and how we interact with other cultures. There are some interesting theories and practices about how to identify different cultures and how to engage and interact with them in order to achieve results. s’ dimensions of national culture and the relationship between organizational culture helps us to understand how we can’t easily change the way we may react to difference and conflict they are embedded in our unconscious; suggesting that the need to be cognoscente of how to potentially “unlearn” things in order to be successful in dealing with foreign cultures.

Fons Trompenaars is an organizational theorist and author. He and Charles Hampden-Turner were co- authors of the Trompenaars’ model of national cultural differences.  Through their simple approach below in Fig 1.1, they help people in organizations understand the business value of understanding cultural differences and how to integrate them into a common purpose.   They suggest that learning to recognize cultural differences, respect those differences and how to reconcile the cultural differences will help people to realize the full potential of a diverse organization.

Fig 1.1

One of the crucial underpinnings of how to do be successful in communication across organizational cultures is to realize the fundamental gaps in between these cultures. Rather than trying to decode “why” they do it, which is something that we typically try to accomplish in order to justify our own assumptions; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner suggest that it’s more important to learn what affect our beliefs have on a culture in order to understand how to communicate and interact in such a way that you realize who you’re talking to before it’s too late.

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner have suggested that there are four corporate culture models that can help to identify and clarify emerging organizational structures and is based on two specific dimensions – people vs. tasks and the egalitarian vs. hierarchical nature of the organization. Once again to use this effectively in communications one should study how each model can affect the way you interact and help you to avoid cultural gaffes that could prove to be detrimental to your business by allowing your own cultural beliefs to get in the way of the message.  The cultural models are based on the data collected and defined by the seven key dimensions or what they call “dilemmas”. In the second edition of their book “Riding the Waves of Culture” they presented the basic types of corporate culture and how to interpret the intercultural relations.(See Figure 1.2)  While I will not get into each of the dimensions of culture it’s important to recognize the basis for their data and how it helps to define the 4 different models.

Fig 1.2

The first model is called the Guided Missile.  It describes companies that are managed mostly by objectives and that nothing can stand in the way.  It also employs matrix management structure with balanced score cards.   It gives the individual a great sense of ownership and potential satisfaction of a “win”.  On the down side it can foster the pursuit of separate agendas and stressful targets and matrix management structure may work for some let’s say in the Netherlands and US but not for Italians or Parisians.  People who want to communicate effectively with organizations that exhibit this behavior need to think tactically and align themselves with project goals.  They shouldn’t lose sight of the big picture and they must think realistically about setting expectations.  Change is typically embraced as tasks and reporting structure is constantly evolving.

Second is the Eiffel Tower and is likened to typical hardened bureaucracy where the infrastructure’s power is directly related to the importance (and/of) the position. Task and accomplishment outweigh the concerns for relationship and adherence to the rules and recognition of hierarchy are extremely important.  Strong and effective, these company cultures are typical in France and Germany.  The downside of this corporate culture was evident when Volvo and Renault car companies attempted to merger.  Volvo sent their most senior staff to get the job done and because the Swedish counterparts were treated as upper management by the French engineers instead of collaborators the deal fell apart.  This could have been easily avoided had the research been done to understand the different communication necessary to make this successful.

Familial cultures, evident in South America, India and the Far East and employs a respect not only for family but for anyone that has a deep roots in their successes.   Managers tend to make decisions not only on their bosses recommendations but also on others who have influenced their careers and whom they honor.  It’s built on reputation.  Someone that is familiar with this culture stresses loyalty and seldom expresses disloyalty as they are frequently rewarded not necessarily for job performance but remaining loyal to their management.   When communicating with this cultural group one needs to be able to communicate using examples rather than by instruction, interweaving in stories and celebration creating high context.

Finally the incubator model which is the most revolutionary of the models deals with self expression. This culture is the most egalitarian style of management and is often a very loose structure with ideation being a key performance indicator.  Companies in Silicon Valley, like Google use this approach.  They reward on merits of thinking about the next best idea and are typically composed of Gen X and Gen Y employees.  Remember that low-synergy cultures tend to be highly individualistic, which can lead to more creativity and freedom of expression (Redmond, 2014).   To talk to these folks, it’s imperative that you don’t BS them.  You need to tell it like it is or don’t say anything at all.  Although this cultural model is great for ideas, there is a downside to this methodology.  If you have ever been in a room with these people and been lucky enough to be the main focus of communication; you probably called it “herding cats”.

Fig 1.3

The research provided by Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998) suggests that when two cultures blend, they will have to figure out ways to manage the disparate perspectives and self-organize to develop synergistic solutions which allows global businesses to communicate and compete better. Stated another way, it’s imperative to find a key operational model that creates synergies between the groups in order to meet the challenges and opportunities that a multicultural workplace presents.  It’s necessary to collaborate and have cultural alignment.  Multinational changes are happening at such a rapid rate as companies look to be more efficient and reduce overall costs and a failure to understand the social, political and cultural issues will prevent growth, learning and overall synergy.

References

Pennsylvania State University. (2014). OLEAD 497B: Lesson 6:  Cultural Synergy pg. 4 Retrieved at: https://cms.psu.edu

Schmidt, W., Conaway, R., Easton, S., Wardrope, W., (2007) Communicating Globally. Chapter 3:  The Concept of Cultural Synergy and the Global Organization. Sage Publications.

Trompenaars Hampden-Turner. (2014). Website: About: Retrieved at: http://www2.thtconsulting.com/about/#about-approach

Wright, M., (2007). Cultural Barriers to Internal Communications Retrieved from: http://www.simply-communicate.com/news/cultural-barriers-internal-communications-0

Figures 1.1 and 1.2 reprinted from Trompenaars Hampden-Turner. (2014). Website: About: Retrieved at: http://www2.thtconsulting.com/about/#about-approach

Figures 1.3 reprinted from Schultz (Date n.a.) Quizlet Website on Management Retrieved at: http://quizlet.com/12500879/info

 

By: Rob Weidamoyer

Defining the interactions of different groups or ideas and calling it Cultural Synergy (Moran, Harris and Moran 2011) puts a simple label on a complex event, but how many of those cultures are inherently synergistic? Is it more difficult for certain cultures to find a synergy between themselves and another group because the culture itself lacks the belief that benefit could come from such a meeting, or is there just a general unwillingness to cooperate because the culture is too egocentric to see beyond it’s own existence? Smaller, contemporary, man-made cultures suffer from this aversion toward welcoming anyone with differences because the materialistic need for instant gratification has become the driving force in our on-demand society where the individual is always more important than the team.

ESPN’s Sports Center spends so much time reporting on individuals with nicknames like “King James” that clearly have no loyalty or concern for the good of their peers, that it’s not unusual to see those who idolize that player worrying more about how they look when they play a game, rather than how they’re playing. Fundamental skills are pushed aside for flashy moves and trash talk; things that can’t be taught in a classroom, but are the most effective tools in keeping those using them out of school. When was the last time a player’s union of athletes that children everywhere look up to fought for contracts with better health benefits, not just more money?

Cultural Synergy displayed by the players union clashed with that of the team owners because both groups wanted more money, not less and the owners wanted the players to make less as compensation for new salary cap and luxury taxes being imposed on franchises. The synergy within each group was high, but so inclusive that they had no chance of coming to a true compromise, so each group ended up getting only half of what they wanted, the start of the 2011-12 season was delayed and no one suffered more than the fans who missed 16 of the 82 scheduled games that year (Staudohar, 2012).

The below image is a humorous, but accurate illustration of the situation:

The lack of synergy wasn’t just felt by the fans, but others who suffered greatly because the players couldn’t get by on a little less of the millions they were already making. Instead of making sure everyone that enjoyed or earned a living of basketball was working together, some less obvious suffering also occurred at the hands of the players. Somehow players making 20 million dollars a year think teams that lose a few million because the players are greedy shouldn’t be complaining.

Folks that have way more legitimate complaints due to a lack of athletic synergy:

1. Restaurants near stadiums – Restaurants located close to NBA stadiums rely on the spike in pre and post game business. Some even hire extra help to prepare for the start of the season. Imagine a single mother losing her job because of the greed being shown by the NBA players  (Jant, 2011).

2. Retailers – Many retailers will be hit by the cancellation of part of the regular season (Jant, 2011).

3. Others – Everyone from ticket sellers to the companies that supply the stadiums with toilet paper to the guy that runs the pop machines in the stadiums (Jant, 2011).

4. Even local governments will also see a noticeable drop in tax revenues (Jant, 2011).

Telling someone that makes $10 an hour they’re now going to make only $9 is devastating, but telling someone that makes ten million they’re only making nine million has much less of an impact. If basketball’s culture as a sport was less about money and more about the road to success, lockouts would never happen because everyone would be looking out for the best interest of the game and it’s effect on their fans. Creating a culture whose synergy comes from doing the right thing for everyone instead of doing something right for yourself could use visibility like that of major sports to influence the rest of the world and maybe promote a more helpful, supportive existence. Instead, we’re left to endure a world where students can’t walk down the hallways at school without being laughed at because they don’t have the newest version of someone’s signature basketball sneaker that the player themselves never even wears.

 

Reference:

Jant (2011). NBA Games being Cancelled- Basketball Lockout News. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bettingbasketball.org/betting-news/130/nba-games-being-canceled-basketball-lockout-news/. [Last Accessed October 3rd, 2014].

Moran, R.T, Harris, P.R, Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World,. Oxford: Routledge

Redmond, Brian (2014) Leadership in a Global Context. The Pennsylvania State University World Campus

Staudohar, Paul D. (2012). The Basketball Lockout of 2011. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2012/12/art3full.pdf. [Last Accessed October 3rd, 2014].

There was 1 out in the bottom of the 8^th inning in game two of the American League Divisional Series.  The Orioles were down 6-3 with an inning.  Delmon Young steps to the plate with bases loaded and a chance to be the hero.  Delmon Young is just a bench player, his role isn’t important right?  We’ll get to that soon enough.

How often does synergy play a role in your life, at work and home?  You probably don’t think about it often but you are synergizing at work every day.  As defined by Steven Covey and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “the sum is greater than all its parts”.  To me, that is the definition of a “High-Synergy Society”.  High-Synergy Societies are when groups come together to use resources, share wealth, are cooperative, nonaggressive and look for a mutual advantage.

The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s not caring. Unfortunately, the opposite of High-Synergy Societies is what’s known as a Low-Synergy Society.  Low Synergy Societies are uncooperative, antagonistic and self-centered mentality.  They often think with a “win-lose” mentality. A win-lose mentality occurs when there is only one person will come out victorious or in other words, got what they wanted.  Why is this bad for a global leader trying to be successful in business?

A win-lose mentality may get you to the top. However, in the process, you have stepped on everyone to get there.  People remember the way they are treated by their boss or co-worker.  Why would they want to work for someone that always has the win-lose mentality?  The answer is simple, they wouldn’t. Approaching anything in life, especially global leadership takes a win-win mentality.  Using all of your resources and bringing staff together will not only make your job easier but you will be more successful.  Sometimes working together as a team takes courage.  You may not get all of the glory that you would like but in the long run it will pay off in bigger ways.

Without synergy where would any sports team be?  They would have to be golfers because to be a team you must be able to synergize.  Delmon Young sat on the bench for 8 innings and became the hero. He is the ultimate team player, which, in a way, is synergy.  Delmon could be a starter on many teams but he chose Baltimore to fill a role.  He filled that role and more today!  The “team” won.  One player never wins a game.  He or she might make the team’s chances of winning better but it takes a team to win.  This easy lesson can be applied to companies all over the globe.  Working together and creating synergy is what it takes to be an effective team (company).  Effective teams (companies) win. Period.

Let’s go O’s!!!

Moran, R.T, Harris, P.R, Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. Oxford: Routledge

Covey, S. R. (2004). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Restoring the character ethic. New York: Free Press.

https://sites.psu.edu/global/2014/10/03/248/