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3. Hit the Road, Jack(ie), Tips for the Backpacking Project Manager (part 2of 4)

Hit the Road, Jack(ie),  Tips for the Backpacking Project Manager (part 2of 4)

At the end of the introductory article on cultural awareness in the last SIG newsletter, I asked you to think about what culture means to you, and promised to take you on a journey. 

One last definition of culture, this time from anthropologist James Spradley: “Culture is the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and generate behaviour.” 

With this in mind, let’s go and armchair-travel. 

PART 2 
At the end of the introductory article on cultural awareness in the last SIG newsletter, I asked you to think about what culture means to you, and promised to take you on a journey. 

One last definition of culture, this time from anthropologist James Spradley: "Culture is the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and generate behaviour." 

With this in mind, let's go and armchair-travel. 

Imagine that you are offered a Project Manager position in your dream location: Rarotonga, the largest of the Cooks Islands.

What do you consider the most important question that you have to ask yourself before accepting this position?

Think about the following: 
• Your native language may not be spoken here (even though English is prevalent)
• The climate can be hot and humid, with a real danger of cyclones hitting the island around January
• The food is based on fish and vegetables, and you may not be able to get your favourite food stuffs on the island
• You may have to live in a tiny bedsit, that could cost just as much as your current abode, while you are earning a lower wage • There is only one disco on the island
• The circumference of the entire island is 31 miles/50km, with a total of 18000 inhabitants, and the nearest big cities (Auckland in New Zealand and Sydney in Australia) are well over 4 hours flight time away
• Cultural differences are many and varied, nothing moves very fast, and the technical infrastructure is basic
• etc

Still interested? Good! So, before you sign on the dotted line, ask yourself: "How adaptable am I?" 

Other self-awareness questions to ask yourself when thinking about working abroad would be:
• What common ground exists between the people I will be working with and myself?
• How do I translate my cultural awareness and knowledge into functional skills that I can use on the project?
• How can I continue to refine my skills and to develop my level of cultural competence and adaptability?
• What are my primary cultural orientations?
• How do they affect the way I do business?
• How do I differ from my mainstream culture and mainstream business culture?

PICTURE HERE 
CAPTIONWaste Management Project Sign in Rarotonga

After all this soul-searching, let's now look at the following behaviour patterns:

• Rules vs Relationships
• Individual vs Group
• Neutral vs Emotional
• Specific vs Diffuse
• Achievement vs Ascription of Status

We will look at these behaviour patterns in a business context, and will explore how we can reconcile differences in behaviour, which results in a win-win for all.

Rules vs Relationships (Universalism vs Particularism)
The question at the heart of this dimension revolves around whether rules or relationships regulate workplace behaviours.

Example: If you are a universalist, you will follow societal or work rules in your life and work; a particularist is concerned whether or not the needs of people, particularly those people closest to him or her, are being met.

Reconciliation: If you tend to follow rules and processes to ensure consistency and equity, you should become less rigid and bureaucratic when dealing with a particularist. Where flexibility and adaptability to particular situations is encouraged, a sense of core values and direction would reconcile differences with a universalist.

Individual vs Group (Individualism vs Communitarianism)
The individual-collective dimension describes differences in how people view the focus of their work: as a fundamental, solitary, individual activity, in which credit or blame, reward or punishment, falls on the individual; or as a collective or team enterprise, in which the group receives credit, blame, reward or punishment

Example: In Hofstede's study, the US is the most individualistic country. Those coming to work in the US from any other country, discounting individual differences, might therefore feel themselves relatively unsupported upon their arrival.

Reconciliation: Where individual freedom and responsibility are encouraged, becoming less self-centred reconciles differences with individuals who work for consensus in the interests of a group. Where group behaviour is priced over individualism, avoiding conformism and speeding up decision making time would be considered reconciliatory behaviour.

Neutral vs Emotional (Neutral vs Affective)
This dimension relates to the display of emotion at work. Those who are from cultures that do not show much emotion at work, e.g. people who do not talk about their health or lack thereof, are ‘neutral'; those who do show emotions at work are ‘affective'.

Example: 
Anglo-Saxon and Asian cultures generally are considered emotionally neutral cultures, i.e.
• Thoughts and feelings are not readily exhibited
• Self-control and coolness/stoicism are admired
• Physical contact and strong body language are discouraged
• Formal conversations are often held in a monotone
• Held in emotions may sometimes explode
Latin and Middle Eastern cultures are typically emotionally expressive cultures, i.e.
• Uninhibited emotionalism
• High contact/touch relationships
• Enthusiasm and emotional effusiveness
• Spontaneity
• Love of arguing
• Passionate

Reconciliation: Neutral cultures can look for clues of emotions that are displayed and assess their importance, whereas affective cultures can reconcile differences if they are clear in their message and prepare their subject matter well when dealing with neutral cultures.

Specific vs Diffuse
This dimension distinguishes between people who make many friendships, which are normally brief and superficial, and those who make very few but very deep friendships, which last for many years.

Example: In workplaces where specific relationships are prevalent, friendships may be instrumental and serve to enable participants to accomplish goals. In organisations and societies where diffuse relationships are more common, there is a clear divide between acquaintanceships, which are the norm, and friendships, which are exceptional and significant, and take long to develop.

Reconciliation: Where product quality Is of utmost importance, this can be used as a basis for building relationships, whereas where the quality of relationships is of uppermost importance, good relationships can form the basis for endorsing product quality.

Achievement vs Ascription of Status
This model describes the difference between those who value achievement as the primary dimension of success, and those who value not only achievement, but also the background of the colleague, his or her education, other attainments, and even the reputation of the family or extended family itself. In cultures where status is ascribed based on experience and connections, the present skills level should be evaluated to challenge the status quo.

Example: In parts of Europe, there is still a special cachet for those who are considered to be of aristocratic background, and in Islamic cultures, those who have been on the Haj or pilgrimage, are often accorded a higher status.

Reconciliation: Where status is achieved based on skill and recent performance, evaluating past performance can reconcile differences.

In the next newsletter I will provide some examples of Pluralistic Cultures, Extended Family Cultures, and Community Cultures, and then we will dive into High and Low Context Communication.

Links to learn more about cross-cultural communications can be found here: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosscultural_%20communication.

TO BE CONTINUED...

The listing is based on the model of culture with seven dimensions, which was developed by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden- Turner as per below:
1. universalism vs particularism
2. individualism vs communitarianism
3. neutral vs affective
4. specific vs diffuse
5. achieved status vs ascribed status
6. time orientation
a. past- / present- / future-orientatedness
b. sequential time vs synchronic time
7. internal vs external orientation

iFons Trompenaars is an author in the field of cross-cultural communication. His books include: Riding the Waves of Culture (highly recommended), Seven Cultures of Capitalism, Building Cross-Cultural Competence and 21 Leaders for the 21st Century.

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