On the website of Fortune magazine, Anne Fisher discusses the art of global management with Charlene M. Solomon and Michael S. Schell, co-authors of the book Managing Across Cultures: The Seven Keys to Doing Business with a Global Mindset.
According to Schell, global companies require managers who are trained to acknowledge and adapt to cultural differences.
He says: "If you want to advance in a global enterprise, that cross-cultural understanding has to be part of your toolkit."
He adds: "In most companies, productivity is no longer measured by how many widgets you turn out. When the 'product' is innovation and intellectual contribution, the only way to maximize that is to understand how to communicate in a given cultural context."
Solomon says there are mistakes that are frequently made regarding different cultures, times and deadlines.
She explains: "In Spain or Saudi Arabia, for instance, meeting times and project deadlines are seen as approximate and flexible. Being late isn't a big deal. An American manager, or a Swiss or Japanese one for that matter, will often cut short a phone call or a meeting in order to be on time for the next one, but in many parts of the world that is regarded as unforgivably rude.
"So when dealing with colleagues or employees in another culture, you need to understand how they see time."
Solomon adds that American employees have more autonomy whereas in India or Mexico the decision-making process is much more hierarchical. Also, there is more of a reliance on 'gut-feeling' in the US whereas people in Germany and Britain are more risk-averse.
The challenge is to train people to recognise these cultural pitfalls.
This isn't always easy. Schell warns: "Even when you spell it out, people often will deny that there are any real differences, or they will just go ahead and act as if they don't see any."
How to be a better global manager
Anne Fisher, Fortune, 09/07/09
