When people are unaware of how cultural differences play out at work and trading, their cross-cultural incompetence can impact adversely on productivity and commercial success. In particular, it is important to appreciate the distinction between high and low context cultures. The former places emphasis first and foremost on building relationships and trust, while low context cultures see efficiency as the primary driver.
Let me illustrate the difference between high (Latin, Asian & African countries) and low (North America and Northern European countries) context cultures by two recent experiences.
My partner and I have just holidayed in Spain at a cortijo (a Spanish farm house used for bed and breakfast) owned by an English couple (low context culture). They lived in a cortijo directly adjoining the one we were renting. During the week we stayed there, they never endeavoured to meet us despite their being at home during the entire period of our stay and it being the end-year festive season.
Instead, there was a manual in our cortijo which informed us of how we should deal with any situation that might arise. We were told by an email in advance that we would find the keys under a stone in the garden and to post them through the letter box at the end of the driveway when we left. All of this worked wonderfully efficiently; but there was no relationship building at all between customer and vendor.
By contrast, I recently did a piece of work with a client in Japan (high context culture). I was in Tokyo for four days. During the first three days my client insisted on spending the whole of the time taking me sightseeing with different members of the Japanese team that I would be working with.
On the 4th day, we very efficiently and effectively did all the work that needed to be done before I returned to England. The client had made sure that in the first three days I had the opportunity to build the relationships with, and gain the trust of all those involved in the decision-making process. That is why we could achieve all the deliverables so effectively on the last day.
It is essential to understand the different behaviours associated with high and low context cultures in order to successfully manage and do business with people from these two backgrounds.
In effect, the business cycle begins at different points. People from low context cultures seek efficiency first and relationships develop later. People from high context cultures place the emphasis on building relationships first before conducting business.
Ian Dodds Consulting has considerable experience of helping clients add commercial value to their business efforts by training their managers in the effective management of, and the way to do business with, people from both high and low context cultures. These are critical skills in our increasingly multi-ethnic cities and a global marketplace where people regularly work and do business with others from both high and low context cultures.
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