| Frequently
asked questions
Here
is a list of things clients usually want to know. Can a two-day cross-cultural training seminar bring about changes among the participants? What is the real meaning of culture? Why is intercultural communication different from that in the normal workplace? Americans and Germans seem quite similar. Why are there so many intercultural problems?
Can a two-day cross-cultural training seminar bring about changes among the participants? Yes, it can! By teaching concepts of culture and stereotyping, as well as the different communication styles of Germans and Americans, people leave the workshop with a whole new way of looking at the world. "Gee, I didn't realize I was so American!" is something I hear a lot of. Likewise, "Mensch, ich wusste nicht, dass ich so deutsch war!" This heightened consciousness is brought about through lectures, group discussions, case studies and role-playing. The participants not only gain cognitive knowledge, but also begin to emotionally experience what intercultural competence really means. According to a recent study on why international joint ventures often didn't succeed, only 30 percent of failures were attributed to problems of planning, technology, finance, etc. - the so-called "hard" factors of business. Fully seven out of ten failures were directly traceable to the behavior patterns of those in management positions - the so-called "soft" factors. What is the real meaning of culture? Culture is a system of assumptions, values and meanings, shared by a specific group to help deal with the problems that life presents. In another words, it is "the collective programming of the mind". From the day we're born, we begin learning a cultural system. By the time we're young adults, the socialization process is so deeply ingrained that we're unaware of the power culture exerts on our perceptions and behavior. (Europeans often confuse the above with another definition of culture, which is the improvement or refinement of the mind, emotions, manners, etc. It is precisely this meaning they use when making the stereotypical statement, "Americans have absolutely no culture!") Why is intercultural communication different from that in the normal workplace? Assume you're a German working in a German office. Because of your upbringing, you automatically--and unconsciously--share a lot of values and assumptions with your colleagues. These are social reflexes and they affect everything from basic attitudes and behavior to facial expressions, body language and, of course, words. If you were to find yourself in an American environment, however, not only would you not share the same mother tongue, many of your ideas about proper communication would be "wrong". For example, it's
considered normal in Germany to flatly state that a co-worker is making
a mistake. "That is the wrong way to do it. You are doing it backwards."
It's not personal, it's just that errors should be avoided. In the U.S., that translates as "Why is this German so hard-hitting and harsh. Doesn't he know what diplomatic means?" Not surprisingly, Germans don't understand why American bosses are always complimenting their employees on a "job well done". It would be abnormal for the job not to be done well. If the people involved are not aware of these different communication styles, it's almost certain that any German-American joint venture will be marred by tense - and unproductive - relationships Americans and Germans seem quite similar. Why are there so many intercultural problems? Despite wave upon wave of immigration, dating back to the middle of the 19th century, American culture retains its Anglo-Saxon background. And the latter half of that equation - Saxony - is, of course, a region in eastern Germany. This means Americans and Germans are similarly pragmatic in the way they do business. Both cultures are monochronic, concentrating on one activity at a time. Both value punctuality and are results-oriented. Because of these common traits, Germans and Americans expect each other to think and behave the same. Except they don't. This is what what intercultural trainers call the "trap of similarity". An example of how differently Germans and Americans think - and how important these differences can be - concerns the role of manager. Americans think the job consists of motivating workers, controlling quality and making sure a job is done properly. Germans expect a manager to distribute tasks, then take a hands-off approach. In Germany, workers are trained to solve problems themselves; tasks are seen as a challenge to their acquired skills. That some person should have to "motivate" them is an insult to their professional pride. Because that simple term - manager - was not understood (and because no intercultural training was done), Volkswagen's attempt to set up a "Rabbit" assembly plant in Pennsylvania in the early '80s was doomed from the beginning. The managers, from Germany, assumed American workers were as well-trained as their German counterparts. But American auto-workers don't spend a couple of years in technical school, aren't privy to the world-famous German Dualsystem. They normally don't expect to take the initiative, nor do they anticipate that their manager will only give them instructions, making them responsible for creative problem-solving. Assembly-line jobs are seen as bottom-rung employment, albeit well-paid. In the end, these new Volkswagen workers felt "ignored" by their foreign managers and were happy to do as little as possible. The result was, not surprisingly, a shoddy product. The plant was eventually closed. Nearly a billion dollars was lost. Fifteen years later, Walmart's efforts to establish a foothold in Germany have been running into severe intercultural problems. Unilingual American managers were parachuted in and immediately bought a chain of stores, transforming them into Walmarts. Not knowing the real estate market, they paid, according to Manager Magazin, twice what they should have paid. They also insisted on applying American methods with German employees. This has exacerbated the well-known schism--collectivism versus profit-as-king--between German and American business philosophies. Finally, the American managers were replaced with a German CEO, but according to Manager Magazin, four years in Germany have cost Walmart a billion dollars. A final note regarding
the trap of similarity: watch out for what I call "the perversity
of fluency"! Germans, as a whole, are very good with foreign languages
and virtually any educated person speaks English well. Also, thanks to
American film and television, not to mention pop music, Germans usually
understand both "the king's English" and U.S. slang. But being able to
imitate John Wayne doesn't make you a cowboy. |