70% of failures are directly due to “soft factors” .

1. 70% of failures are directly due to “soft factors”.

2. How do people understand one another when they don’t share a common cultural experience?

3. Americans and Germans?

4. Similarities • Anglo-Saxon background • monochronic • direct and honest • being on time • competitive and practical

5. The Trap of Similarity

6. Wal-Mart’s billion euro fiasco in Germany arrogance and ignorance managers culturally naïve, simple-minded driven by “time is money” didn’t create enough economies of scale

7. The unconscious projection of values is the source of cultural mishaps.

8. The Cardinal Rule

9. Understanding oneself and one’s own culture

10. Who understands others as well as oneself will be granted success in a thousand encounters. 3000 year-old Chinese proverb

11. “Culture hides more than it reveals and strangely enough what it hides, it hides most effectively from it’s own participants. Years of study have convinced me that the real job is not to understand foreign culture but to understand our own.” Edward Hall

12. Culture ? Life style of a people, I.e. the learned and shared patterns of beliefs, behaviors and values of a group of interacting people. (Bennett) Culture is the collective programming of the mind. (Hofstede) Culture is the water we live in. It surrounds us and defines us. (Chinese definition)

13. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The Declaration of Independence, 1776

14. Think about your own culture How did socialization take place in your own life? Try to recall some of the behaviors and values you were taught early in life. How do they affect you now?

15. Culture is to us what water is to a fish.

16. Culture is like an iceberg observable Not observable

17. Observable Not observable • • Manners • Clothes • Food • Newspapers, books • Monuments • Rituals, festivals • • History • Friendship • Time and space • Negotiation style • Communication style • Solutions to problems

18. Interculturalcommunications Everything is relative — no right or wrong solutions

19. Cross-cultural success Understanding the inner logic of a culture

20. The Four Secrets of Effective Global Managers They “know that they don’t know” Assume difference until similarity is proven, not the other way around. 2. They emphasize description Observe what is actually said and done rather than interpreting or evaluating. 3. They practice role reversal (empathy) Attempt to understand an international situation through the eyes of others. 4. They treat explanations as guesses, not as certainty. Check with colleagues from home and abroad if guesses are plausible.

21. Definition of a theory • mental viewing of how something might be • not meant to be exact

22. German American (Ger) (Am) Serious Easy-going Ger stereotype 3 Ger exception 2 Am exception 4 Amr stereotype

23. Hofstede’sDimensions • • Individualism / collectivism • Respect toward hierarchy • Desire for structure • Masculinity / femininity

24. Individualism Collectivism • • “we” society • group identity • important: harmony • relations over tasks • extended family • • “me” society • self-identity • important: pro-active • tasks over relations • success of individual

25. Individualism Collectivism GRE JAP ITA FRA PORT GER CAN SLO NETH SING GB KOR PL USA 0 20 40 60 100 80

26. More Hierarchy Less Hierarchy • • Inequalities not OK • Privileges/status not OK • Boss democratic • Flat hierarchy • Staff gives advice • • Inequalities OK • Privileges/status OK • Boss paternalistic • Strong hierarchy • Staff follows orders

27. More Hierarchy Less Hierarchy ITA USA FRA JAP NETH PL SPA GER SIN GRE GB POR SWE SLO 20 40 60 80 100 0

28. More Structure Less Structure • • Uncertainty O.K. • Willing to take risks • Non-orderly situations • Hope for success • Rational generalists • • There must be order • Many rules • Consensus • Desire for security • Experts und knowledge

29. More structure Less structure SLO PL KOR ITA SWE GER SPA SIN GB NETH JAP CAN POR FRA USA GRE 0 20 40 60 80 100

30. Should a manager have precise answers to subordinates’ questions?

31. Should a manager have precise answers to subordinates’ questions? 78% 66% 53% 46% 44% 38% 28% 23% 18% 17% Yes: DEN NETH USA GB CH BEL GER FRA ITA JAP

32. Understanding new behavior D = detect I = interpret E = evaluate

33. American meetings • An informal, relaxed attitude • Confident, positive approach • Brainstorming • Come to the point quickly • Active participation • Give credit for others’ achievements (piggyback)

34. Working on Projects Germans Americans Americans Germans tend to…. tend to think tend to…. tend to think PROJECT...collect “Why are they …chat informally “Why aren’t they IDEA information doing this?” about an idea doing anything?” PROJECT …get down to “They are cold and …begin with small “They are wasting MEETINGS business unfriendly.” talk time.” …present detailed “How can they …begin with “ They are not plans discuss the details brainstorming prepared for the at this stage?” meeting.” …express criticism “They don’t like …be enthusiastic “They are not openly each other.” about all the ideas sincere.” PROJECT …work individually “They don’t …hold frequent “They are too PROCESS on the tasks communicate or meetings; change many meetings; we assigned to them work as a team.” tasks as circum- can’t get our work stances change done.” believe clearly …believe continuous defined milestones contact guarantees guarantee success coordination

35. Cognitive Styles of Germans and Americans Interaction with reality, extracting, organizing and applying knowledge BASIC Germans Americans OUTLOOK tend to be more cautious, conceptual tend to be more optimistic, pragmatic OPENING Do we really need…? Can we have…? QUESTION ACQUIRING Structured way of knowing Hypothesis, testing way of knowing KNOWLEDGE Want solid theories, coherence Speculate with probabilities, risk taking Deductive: acting on the basis of one’s Inductive: understanding a situation through thorough understanding of the situation experimentation Declarative thinking: focusing on Procedural thinking: focusing on how to get description and explanation of situation things done Gather information from experts, logical Active experimentation: learn from peers, analysis of ideas brainstorming, “think out of the box” Importance of background information Importance of measurement data, and facts (historical context, “Zeitgeist:, sociology) (how tall, how much, statistics, etc.) APPLYING Development of strategic analysis Ability to get things done KNOWLEDGE Systematic planning Trial and error, learn by doing, can do Decisions are binding Decisions are guidelines

36. Masculinity Femininity • • Good working atmosphere • Care for others • Harmony • Solidarity • Modesty • People over materialism • • Performance • Polarization • Assertive • Competitive • Displaying success • Materialism over people

37. Masculinity Femininity USA GB NETH FRA CAN SLO GER ITA SPA PL SWE SIN JAP POR KOR GRE 0 20 40 60 80 100

38. Culture is communication Edward Hall

39. Hall’s Definition Culture determines the style of communication: indirect or direct

40. Direct (low context) Indirect (high context) • • Explicit • Context not important • Thinking-focused • Result-oriented • Masculine • • Implicit • Context important • Feeling-focused • Relationship-oriented • Feminine

41. Direct Indirect ITA NETH PL GER SPA FRA CH USA GB JAP 0 20 40 60 80 100

42. German directness British indirectness Jürgen wird an die Decke springen. Jürgen might tend to disagree. Kommen wir gleich zur Sache. I was wondering if could talk. Du sagst nur Blödsinn. I am not quite with you on that. Das kann nicht wahr sein. Hm, that’s an interesting idea. Wir werden dies nie unterschreiben. We’ll have to do our homework.

43. Monochronic Polychronic • • One activity at a time • Schedules very important • Task-oriented • Linear • Punctual • • Parallel activities • Plans are changed • Relationship-oriented • Interruptions • Punctuality unimportant

44. Monochronic Polychronic ITA NETH PL GER SPA JAP FRA CH USA GB 0 20 40 60 80 100

45. Lesson to be learned • US-German communication and co-operation • might not be as simple as it appears — • especially for Germans

46. Why do we stereotype?

47. Why do we stereotype? Natural impulse to categorize when reality is too complex to handle.

48. Stereotypes are helpful when: • consciously aware it’s a group norm • descriptive and not evaluative • modifiable

49. Cross-cultural perceptions perception of Americans perception of Germans • • process-oriented • • specialized, expert • • systematic, orderly • • precise, data-oriented • too formal • direct • • unstructured • energetic • first-name • seem happier • overly self-confident • narrow perspective of world

50. Visitors’ perceptions of Germans Those who speak German Those who don’t speak German • • perfectionist • slow to get to know • meticulous about deadlines • systematic, orderly • fair to a fault • eager to do right • • excessively detailed • • standoffish • • pushy • • stubborn • obsessed with rules • afraid of making mistakes