Ethnocentric, Polycentric and Geocentric Mindsets

Communicating is something we do every day without giving much thought to the actual process. We learn how to communicate early on in life and our individual communication styles are shaped by our culture and upbringing. Therefore, communicating effectively with others, especially in business, can be complex given that we all communicate differently given our background. If this can be the case within our own American culture, it can be even more complicated to communicate and operate effectively on a global scale! Therefore, to be successful, it is imperative that leadership avoid ethnocentrism and instead, develop polycentric and geocentric mindsets

I used to have a coworker named Liz who fluently spoke English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. Her parents are Portuguese but she grew up in Venezuela and was raised by an Italian nanny. She has an amazing personality, is positive, bubbly and full of energy. She is also well-educated, with an MBA and years of experience working within the medical education industry. You would think she would be valued for her diversity and knowledge of various cultures, but unfortunately, due to the ethnocentric culture at our company, she was underutilized and undervalued.

For a business to successfully function internationally, internal capabilities, human resources and management strategies must be able to communicate and understand foreign markets (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). Ethnocentric ideologies which “deny the existence of uncertainty and the need to learn, expecting that existing strategies will effective in new markets,” can negatively affect leadership’s ability to learn how to operate successfully within the context of other cultures (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). For example, Target Corporation entered the Canadian market in 2015 with an ethnocentric mindset and did seek to understand Canadian market dynamics (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). Unsurprisingly, the company suffered losses and was forced to withdraw after only a year (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). This example demonstrates the importance of leadership’s awareness that other cultures necessitate different styles of communication and overall business strategies in order to be successful.

My friend Liz’s skillsets could have been better utilized to assist with the company’s international projects, which would have brought more value to the organization. This would have been representative of a polycentric mindset. Polycentric mindsets understand that what works at home will not necessarily translate in other cultures and unfamiliar markets (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). Leadership with polycentric strategies will be more successful than ethnocentric leaders since they are aware of other cultural dynamics and needs.

Better yet, would be a geocentric mindset. Geocentric leaders not only understand the need to implement different strategies internationally, but they also realize that “their greatest success is the combining of what is already known from home markets with what is being learned about success in the new foreign market” (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). Integrating ideas, strategies and communication methods that work in an industry’s home with methods known to work abroad is a great way to pool knowledge and resources most effectively.

Fortunately, Liz has found a new role in another organization that utilizes her cultural diversity and knowledge much more effectively. Ethnocentrism may have worked for businesses that operated within the context of one culture, but in order to grow, leadership must understand that they do not operate in a bubble. Globalization has necessitated inclusivity, diversity and the awareness that other cultures not only exist, but also operate differently than ours. It is imperative that leadership develop polycentric and geocentric mindsets in order to be successful globally.

References

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). Oxford: Routledge.