Cultural collaboration needs insiders

Globalized business demands more cultural wisdom than ever before, and the wise businessperson will seek the help of cultural insiders to negotiate effectively.

Every culture views decisions differently. Collectivist cultures make decisions as a group, while Individualistic cultures make decisions alone, perhaps with input from others. When the two cultures come together, there can be miscommunication.

Erin Meyer makes clear in her diagram that cultures can view decisions between two parties in opposing ways (Getting to Si, Ja, Oui, Hai, and Da. Harvard Business Review)

For example, a Japanese businessman might value stoic communication as a measure of professional practice. He may carefully word his disagreements so the other party does not experience shame. On the opposite end, a Russian businessman may value frank communication as forthright and fair. He may speak his mind immediately and with expressiveness. When you put the two of them into a negotiation, miscommunication and offense is likely without each understanding their differences. The Japanese man may assume his Russian counterpart is rash and unprofessional because he speaks forthright, and not recognize this is his way of demonstrating integrity and willingness to engage in discussion. The Russian man may likewise assume his counterpart is hiding the truth from him, but he must learn to see that he seeks to honor and respect him.

Perhaps never in the history of the world have business people had so high a demand to learn, not only the company’s culture and that of its host country, but also the culture’s of its global clients. The competencies one may develop in a certain cultural context cannot be relied upon when entering a new context, and this is likely to happen on a regular basis for any entrepreneur who seeks to make a multi-national impact. Therefore it is more imperative than ever for the entrepreneur to enter relationships with people of other cultures with all the more readiness to observe and learn.

While this may be good advice, the differences are unlikely to be overcome in a few sessions with a cultural client. The wise entrepreneur may also enlist the help of a national to understand what’s happening from their cultural viewpoint. This inside voice can define actions that appear counter-intuitive to the observer, and give foresight into how the entrepreneur may engage appropriately in future encounters. Not only does this save the entrepreneur time, he may also keep more clients.

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