Managing Across Cultures: A Learning Framework

Meena S. Wilson, Michael H. Hoppe, Sayles

• Editorial: Center for Creative Leadership Press
• Año: 1996
• ISBN:
  9781604918045
• Categoría: Business
• Categoría: Leadership

Managing in a multicultural setting can be very challenging. Culture strongly influences how people behave and how they understand the behavior of others, and cultures vary in the behaviors they find proper and acceptable. This report--which integrates work done by experts in the fields of anthropology, cross-cultural psychology, and international business management with CCL's perspective on how executives learn from experience--describes the cultural values, often unconsciously held, that underlie work in the U.S. and provides managers in the U.S. with a structured way of learning about the value preferences of people from other cultures. Examples drawn from workplaces around the world aid in applying the framework.

Using the Framework

Cultures evolve and are heterogeneous, interactive, and dynamic. The world is being reshaped by a large number of major events and trends that have occurred over the last ten to fifteen years such as the opening of former socialist economies; widespread privatization in many countries; the political disintegration of some nation-states; the relative decline of the economic hegemony of the U.S.; the development of new communication technologies; forced and voluntary migration; the changing role of women; accelerating attention to environmental concerns; and an increase in terrorism, violence, and crime (Behrman, 1995). Given this state of flux, it would be a mistake to think that your objective as a manager should be to use this learning framework to construct a neat model of a cultural group.

Nevertheless, using the framework can help you become aware of the dynamics of cross-cultural interactions, thus aiding you in managing them in the workplace. The four-step procedure described below will help you apply this framework.

1. Use the seven dimensions to observe your own and others’ preferences in three domains of human behavior: relating to others, accomplishing work, and responding to change.

2. Construct a provisional hypothesis, or stereotype, by drawing on various sources of information, projecting how people from a particular culture are likely to behave.

3. Test and modify the hypothesis continually, based on your experiences.

4. Challenge yourself to grow personally by recognizing that your effectiveness as a manager depends on your ability to genuinely appreciate values that seem opposite to your own.

Use the Seven Dimensions

The first three dimensions encompass dilemmas that emerge when relating to others. These dilemmas, which represent opposing value orientations, are observed in the following behaviors:

1. Source of Identity. Do individuals define themselves by separating from or integrating with a group? Which of their group affiliations are most important to them—their religion? country? profession? employing organization?

2. Goals and Means of Achievement. Do the actions of individuals focus on achievements or relationships?

3. Orientation to Authority. How do individuals behave toward people who have greater or lesser status than their own?

The next three dimensions encompass dilemmas that surface when accomplishing work. The following behaviors are indicators:

4. Response to Ambiguity. Do individuals take on undefined tasks and use experimental methods or do they seek out defined tasks and use traditional methods?

5. Means of Knowledge Acquisition. Are individuals more likely to reflect or to act?

6. Perspective on Time. Is their use of time urgent or relaxed?

The final dimension encompasses dilemmas that emerge when responding to change or progress.

7. Outlook on Life. Do individuals seek control over events or do they favor accommodating themselves to events? Do their activities have a primarily economic or human focus?

By using these questions to query yourself and observe others, you can train yourself to detect how value preferences vary. Table 2 is a useful guide to behaviors and other indicators that can help you do this.

Construct a Provisional Hypothesis

The clues you uncover using the framework will assist you in predicting the behavior of cultural groups as well as individuals. It will guide you as you: (a) make observations of other cultures and individuals; (b) inquire into the behavior differences that are experienced when interacting with people different from you; (c) reflect on your own preferences and values; and (d) take actions that are situationally appropriate and stimulate further learning. As you apply this framework to various situations, you will gather information in a variety of ways that will enable you to construct as accurate a picture as possible of differing value orientations.

Test and Modify the Hypothesis Continually

Managers who are comfortable and communicate effectively with people of any culture seem to think about their relationships with people differently than most managers; they are willing to get to know and enjoy people who are not the same as they are (Hoopes, 1979; Ratiu, 1983).

For such managers, a general profile (for instance, the provisional hypothesis or stereotype that is constructed by using the framework) is continually tested and modified. The general profile is simply a “first best guess” (Adler, 1991, p. 72).

One-on-one interactions are then used to construct a more accurate description of the other person. These descriptions are not an explanation of the culturally different person from your own point of view but rather a sight line into his or her behavior from his or her point of view. After all, in most situations, adults in general seek to act effectively and present themselves in the best possible light. Over time, multiple cumulative interactions lead to cultural insight.

Challenge Yourself to Grow Personally

The person-to-person relationship is primary. The exchange between you and the other person is designed not to control the behavior of the other person but to understand it. The challenge is not to come to a quick conceptual conclusion abou...