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Every organization has its own culture which comprises the values and beliefs that are created and adopted so everyone within the organization knows what is expected and how to behave.  Organizational culture establishes the context for everything about the company, such as its people, products, expected outcomes, innovation, and competition.  These values and beliefs become second nature and employees function with the implicit knowledge that “this is how it’s done” here.  Just as with organizational culture, when working across borders, it’s necessary to be aware that national cultural values and beliefs will differ.  Managers need to be able to anticipate these differences by appropriately responding to nuances in communication and expectations for behavior.

Problem

The incident with the USA and Chinese meeting:

MISTAKES: They accidently sat the lowest ranking person on the team in the place of power where the top executive would sit – which should have been at the other side of the room not facing the window but the door. Serving only water and not tea signified lack of planning and respect since any respectable meeting had the finest tea served.  And team members were not there to greet and introduce themselves one by one, which showed lack of respect on your part.  Name cards with title and rank should have been at every guest’s seat.  The final straw was that your senior leader – the CEO – did not make it to the initial meeting.

The USA team had no idea about their mistakes and didn’t realize that something seemingly innocent as these actions create all types of problems when establishing trust in order to build relationships with the Chinese. These egregious errors – from a Chinese perspective – demonstrated lack of care and respect and signaled that the USA counterparts could not be trusted in a work relationship.

Solution

In this incident it was important for the USA team to learn culture specific information on how to do business with the Chinese.  Cultural consultancy and training services were provided to enable various functional teams to understand the basics of interacting with Chinese counterparts.  We focused on the cultural, historical, and social reasons behind the behaviors, such as: 

Chinese business relationships are built on respect and long-term development of relationships.

Tea should be served and is symbolic of goodwill and good manners – no matter how high-end the bottle of water is, it is not the same as serving tea. Tea culture in China has a long history and both the act of serving and the time spent simply talking (not just about business) is critical to developing a foundation of trust within the relationship.  There is no business without trusting relationships.

In business meetings, the most important person must be given the best seat, and everyone is expected to introduce themselves and their title. The same is expected of you and your team.  And it is more appropriate that the important guests sit facing the door, otherwise it is seen as a lack of trust.  In ancient times, the emperor always sat facing the door in order to be ready to brandish his sword should an enemy enter.

Both sides (head person in charge) must also make speeches about their company and its importance in the industry and its accomplishments. So, when the CEO didn’t show up this insulted the head of the Chinese delegation.

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In the signature course you’ll learn about Bill Gates, who made a cultural faux pas when he met the President of Korea...and why this mattered.

I can be your guide and provide you with the tools to point you in the right direction.

One of the questions that often comes up is, "Should we see difference?"  There are two schools of thought.  One is that drawing attention to differences is demeaning and should be avoided; the other is that being free to openly ask questions and discuss issues can help with cohesion and understanding.  The latter is effective when there is trust so that individuals can ask questions without being judged.  It provides an opportunity to find similar frames of reference and respect the differences.

Problem

The case of the non handshake:

MISTAKES: Mistakes were not necessarily made.  This was a situation where the outcome of the new hire - a woman meeting her colleagues -  did not match her expectations of what she considered appropriate behavior when a male colleague declined to shake her hand.  She was flustered, embarrassed, and felt slighted.  Because she felt slighted, she coped by internally finding fault with his appearance.  He had "funny hair" and "strange threads" poking out of his clothes.  After all he was strange.

What happened?  Isabella had just met a colleague of hers who was an Orthodox Jew.  In addition to the yarmulka (small cap) on his head, he also hair ringlets at his temples and strings hanging out of his shirt.  These are called tzitzit which are part of a garment (tallit), or prayer shawl.  The strings are a constant reminder of the Ten Commandments.

Handshakes are common when meeting or greeting.  However, in certain cultural contexts it can be taboo, such as touching between men and women except for their spouse. It’s a way of maintaining clear boundaries and showing respect for the religious considerations of marriage.  In conservative Jewish law, there is a belief that touch between men and women is so sacred and significant, that it must be safeguarded because of the power of touch.  While not shaking someone’s hand might seem insignificant or even odd if you are not familiar with this practice, the Torah’s teaching on this matter demonstrates the sensitivity that men and women should show each other in respecting personal space between the sexes.  It is meant to respect, not to reject.  

Solution

The goal was to help this client feel more confident in herself and to not pass quick judgement in order to:

• Understand her own culture.
• Recognize diversity and try to learn about other cultures.
• Practice cultural empathy.
• Practice switching frames of reference.

Talking about differences can bring relief to people who are terrified that they will ask the wrong question and be labeled as insensitive or ignorant.  When managers of multicultural teams build trust, people feel free to be themselves. When questions are asked with good intent and a sincere desire to understand, everyone grows in the process because they are allowed to be curious.  It's a tricky process to create such an environment; however, people can flourish when they discover things about others and themselves in a safe environment.  They learn that they can make mistakes - and when done in a spirit of curiosity and sincere desire to know - it can be powerful.  

Coaching sessions helped Isabella discover what made her have such feelings of rejection and why it bothered her so.  She was also able to identify why she was uncomfortable with the young man's appearance. She began to explore ways to learn more about her colleagues and then take steps to interact with those with whom she felt uncomfortable. When she discovered there was nothing wrong with her - or her colleague - she became excited to learn about him and they became friends.

An interactive group session also helped the team explore its diversity and use it as an advantage for appreciating everyone on the team.  We used an assessment tool that enabled them to learn about each of their tendencies toward cultural difference and commonality and then work on building knowledge, checking attitudes, and developing skills for interacting with difference within their group.

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In the signature course you’ll be provided with global examples and learn how world views can be invisible forces that impact our lives and professions.

I can be your guide and provide you with the tools to point you in the right direction.