Upload
others
View
2
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
1
When Cultures Collide
Sally March
Cindy Morrison
Volker Pasternak
Nitish Singh
Outline• Introductions
• Quiz: How U.S.–centric is your E&C program?
• Practical examples of resistance to U.S. programs and a look at the United States from abroad
• Understanding the why: sociological, philosophical and normative underpinnings of cultural barriers
• Framework of how to adapt for any country ‐‐with practical solutions
2
Introductions
• Cultural Background of Presenters (and Audience)
– Where were we born, raised and educated?
– Where have we lived and worked?
– Do we have a belief system or creed?
– Share a bit or our life experience
– Share the social context
• Provides Perspective
• Highlights Potential Bias
Quiz
3
Quiz (Part I)
1. Do you emphasize personal accountability in your Ethics & Compliance (E&C) training/communications?
2. Do you use “you” over “we” in your E&C training/communications?
3. Do your E&C training/communications include American idioms (e.g. smoking gun, face the music, louder than words or 800 lb. gorilla)?
4. Does your company highlight and/or recognize individual achievements in global communications?
Copyright © IntegTree (2014)
Quiz (Part II)
5. Do your Code of Conduct and E&C communications require employees to report misconduct?
6. Does your company culture encourage employees to use first names instead of last names/titles?
7. Do you use the following words in E&C training/ communications: greatest, best, number one, super?
8. Do you use an American–oriented representation of cultures in photos/scenarios in your training?
Copyright © IntegTree (2014)
4
Quiz (Part III)
9. Do you require employees to annually certify they are in compliance with your company’s Code of Conduct (or Ethics)?
10. Do you offer E&C training in English only?
Copyright © IntegTree (2014)
Potential Cultural Risk to E&C
Low, if you scored 4 or less
Your E&C training/communication is somewhat culturally sensitive to your non‐U.S. employees.
You may benefit from tweaking your E&C program to customize it for your non‐U.S. employees. This may result in a more effective program.
5
Potential Cultural Risk to E&C
High, if you scored 5 or more
Your E&C training/communication may appear U.S.‐centric to your employees in other countries. Your program emphasizes U.S. cultural values, such as:
– individualism, – task‐orientation, – risk‐taking, – informality, – achievement, and – emphasis on rules.
These values are not universal across cultures and countries, and may have potential for creating confusion and miscommunication.
Potential Cultural Risk to E&C
High, if you scored 5 or more
From a risk management perspective, cross cultural miscommunications may significantly increase your compliance risk.
To mitigate your international compliance risk, we recommend you analyze your E&C materials for cultural sensitivity.
6
Quiz (Caveats)1. Consider cost of cultural customization:
– Small to mid‐size operations
– Less than 5% of workforce (or 50 employees) outside U.S.
– Most non‐U.S. employees based where English is an official language and with familiarity with U.S. culture
2. Consider advantages of promoting U.S cultural values
– Want to attract workforce with affinity to U.S. culture
– Want to have seamless U.S. corporate culture worldwide
3. Consider non‐negotiable values (more later)
– Firm belief or convictions in elements of U.S. cultural values
– Rejection of elements of non‐U.S. values
Copyright © IntegTree (2014)
Practical Examples
7
Example #1
“If you witness misconduct, it is your obligation to report it to the Legal Department or call the Company Hotline.”
Difficult in countries with traumatic totalitarian past (denunciation, government intrusion, travesty of justice)
Examples: Germany, Czech Republic, Chile
Example #2
“When providing gifts, meals or other entertainment to our business partners, the threshold of US$ 25 per person may not be exceeded.”
Difficult in countries with strong cultural tradition of hospitality and generosity combined with high living expenses in major metropolitan areas
Examples: Japan, China, Brazil
8
Example #3
“We value diversity and do not discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation or transgender status.”
Difficult in countries with traditional concepts of gender and sexuality, often reinforced by religious belief systems
Examples: Arab World, India, Russia, Japan, Africa
Example #4
“What acts can constitute a hostile work environment and be considered harassment, even if appearing welcome?
– jokes about Mexican food to a Latino co‐worker
– asking only female co‐workers to make coffee
– telling a female co‐worker that she looks attractive in her new dress
– teasing a male co‐worker for refusing beer, red meat and high carbfoods because he is “on a diet”
Check all that apply.”
Difficult in countries with traditions of cultural stereotypes and countries that pride themselves in their “robust“ sense of humor (will be dismissed as “political correctness”)
Examples: Most countries
9
Example #5
“We are dedicated to know and comply with all laws and regulations in the countries we do business.”
Difficult in countries with notorious bureaucracies, inaccessible/poorly‐drafted/overreaching rules and a culture of flexible interpretation/non‐enforcement of rules
Examples: Procurement in Latin America, short‐term work visa in France, VAT registration in Italy. Beware irreconcilable conflicts of laws.
Example #6
“The Employee acknowledges that employment is at will and can be terminated at Employer’s discretion.”
Difficult in industrialized countries with strong social democratic, socialist or other cultural traditions that emphasize employee rights or lifetime employment
Examples: Sweden, Germany, Japan
10
Example #7
“You hereby agree that you have no expectation of privacy when using your office phone, email or internet activity, and that the Company can scan your office computer and cell phone at its discretion.”
Difficult in industrialized countries that recognize individual liberties and seek to limit the powers of corporations
Examples: EU countries
Practical Examples
Other Audience Examples?
11
Why do we need to be sensitive to different cultures?
• E&C programs are about influencing behavior. Behavior is the intersection of personality and culture.
• How can we get the message across if we don’t know our audience?
• Worse, how can we get the message across if we have alienated our audience before we begin?
Understanding the Why
12
The Social Science Behind Different Cultural Norms
Political/Historic: Look at US from Abroad
Philosophical: Universalism vs. Relativism
Sociological: Norms vs. Enforcement
Normative: Different legal systems/laws
How Organizations Really Work
The Formal Organization
The Informal Organization
Political
Cultural
13
The Cultural Iceberg
The Cultural Iceberg
Japanese response to the Potsdam Declaration in July 1945, leading to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• The Japanese Premier announced that the Cabinet had taken a stance of “mokusatsu” which has no exact translation in English, but can be translated as “making no comment” or “ignoring”.
• The Japanese Cabinet intended the former meaning, and not the latter, as they wanted more time to discuss and decide their response, which included a surrender…….
14
Mapping Culture‐‐Past Research• Cultures can be broadly divided into a few main cultural values.
• These values can help with a basic assessment of how best to localize for various countries (Hofstede, 1980).
• Individualism‐Collectivism
• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Masculinity‐Femininity
• Instant Gratification vs Delayed Gratification
Hofstede’s Model of Cultural Differences
Frank & Toland, Educational Technology & Society 5 (3) 2002
16
E&C Framework and How to Adapt
• Leadership and Governance (we dislike “Tone from the Top”)
• Risk Assessment• Policies & Procedures (including Code of Conduct)• Education & Communication• Channels for Raising Concerns• Monitoring• Investigation• Response and Lessons Learned• Assessing effectiveness of the program
Steps for Localizing E&C Programs Step‐1: Cultural Sensitivity
• What we call i18n
• Assess critical national cultural issues which may impact your program
• Assess international employee moral intensity around your key guiding values in the E&C program
• Extract key cultural sensitivities that make a specific ethical or compliance issue more or less complicated
17
Steps for Localizing E&C Programs Step‐2: Cultural Awareness
• Keep all base materials culturally neutral
• Role‐playing to identify cultural idiosyncrasies and enhance awareness.
• Use of locally relevant examples of cultural models to build awareness
• Avoiding counterproductive moral judgments (such as, ‘you are wrong and I am right’)
Steps for Localizing E&C Programs Step‐3: Assessing Ethical Judgments
• For sake of efficiency do a sampling of international employees:
– Develop scenarios, surveys and role plays to assess what international employees will do when confronted with specific ethical or compliance challenges
18
Steps for Localizing E&C Programs Step‐4: Implement Culturally Customized Training Program
• While your core values will remain the same, they would now be presented in a local platter
• Embedding your core values and polices within the deep cultural insights and contexts you have identified from previous stages
• Then use the knowledge of countries’ educational systems, cultural learning styles, and cultural communication styles to start disseminating the message via training, documentation and web learning.
Putting Theory into Practice
• Act local, think global
• Regional Managers– Identify conflict with Company policies and culture
– Educate local employees based on understanding of possible conflict and/or confusion (“train the trainer”)
– Develop compliance network
• Understand challenges managing multiple replicas of your corporate E&C program
19
Appendix
Reasons for Localizing E&C Programs
• Difference in Ethical Motivations
• Miscommunicating Values
• Ethical Decision Making – based on culture
• Cross‐National Differences
20
Value Consistency
• A value system in its own right is internally consistent when its values do not contradict each other, and its exceptions are abstract enough to be used in all situations and consistently applied.
• Is your Code culturally neutral while still reflecting your organization’s values?
Culturally Neutral Style
• Is this realistic?
• Size matters
– more employees, higher impact