[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Liam understood that cultural training affects the bottom line, espe-cially in this field.If Integreon’s employees didn’t understand culture,they couldn’t deal with clients—or with one another.Joyce Thorne,Integreon’s director of training and professional development, said,“Training is critical for a global knowledge and legal process organiza-tion because it enables our associates to work effectively with ourclients and each other.” She went on to say,“We approach training witha global vision, but with a local touch, recognizing that the professionaldevelopment required for associates in Fargo, North Dakota, is differ-ent from that needed in Mumbai, India.” Not only does the firm teachculture, but it also teaches important interpersonal skills such asassertiveness training and conflict resolution (see Chapter 13 for details).M A N A G I N G A C R O S S C U L T U R E S223For example, the company has off-site workshops where employees learninterpersonal skills, human behavior, general communication, conflictresolution, and assertiveness and build professional leadership skills.Liam was intent on building relationships with and among themanagement team that would create the underlying trust that wasnecessary for a global organization.He was building a corporateculture that mirrored his global mindset and in that process creatingthe relationships that Integreon would require to succeed.Integreon’s professional development training supports the corpo-rate culture and teaches employees how to work with one another andwith demanding corporate clients.The training teaches culturallybased expectations in regard to the clients and attempts to acknowl-edge but temper the individual’s cultural preferences so that theemployees can respond to a customer’s demands and one another’sneeds with fewer barriers that might prevent the mission from beingaccomplished.Through working in a company with a global mindset, Integreonemployees around the world have come to realize that the demands oftheir U.S.and U.K.clients are not an assault on their personal values,that harmony isn’t always going to be maintained, and that candor—however difficult—is critical for the success of the business outcome.All of this is part of Integreon’s global mindset.It’s not only reflective ofits CEO but is embedded in its corporate culture and is an inextricablecomponent of its success.What Is a Global Mindset?A global mindset is the ability to integrate everything you’ve learnedabout culture into your attitude and behaviors reflexively.It’s abouthaving the ability to read the visible clues of behavior so that youunderstand what may be going on under the surface and make use of thosecues in your actions and thoughts.You’re able to interpret behavior and224S O L O M O N - S C H E L Lknow what it means.Thus, when your French colleague gives a shrugof the shoulders to a statement you make or your Jordanian host takesyou by the hand, you know what it means without having to think orat least know enough to put it into cultural context and move onregardless of how foreign it may seem.In other words, it is like learning a new language.For a while youneed to translate sentence by sentence, and then you start to think inthe language in which you’re speaking instead of consciously translat-ing your thoughts.Having a global mindset is not necessarily new, butit has become increasingly important.Most of us know people who seem to have a knack for workingeffectively across cultures and managing effectively in multicultural set-tings.They seem to be able to address colleagues and situations appro-priately, retaining cultural sensitivity without sacrificing their personalvalues and styles.In spite of being multicultural, they’re congruent withtheir own belief systems and are consistent with others’ expectations ofthe way they will behave.In a globally connected world, this kind of skill is one to which allglobal managers aspire.Throughout this book, we’ve talked about thecultural dimensions: the values they represent and how important theyare.We’ve described the seven cultural dimensions as keys for under-standing the behaviors you’ll encounter.To gain a global mindset, youneed to meld your understanding of these seven dimensions with anongoing process of learning about the history, mythology, and heroesof the specific countries you’re working with because, like dialects in alanguage, each country is unique and has its own way of expressing theseven dimensions.Although the seven dimensions will give you a guide, to havea global mindset, you need to understand the individual countrybecause that will affect those values and behaviors profoundly.Forexample, the cultural dimensions won’t tell you why you can makejokes about the queen in England and why it is very bad manners toM A N A G I N G A C R O S S C U L T U R E S225joke about the monarch in Thailand.It won’t explain why you canmake a self-deprecating joke with your colleague in Japan but shouldnot do that in China.It won’t explain why cows are in the streets inIndia or why it’s difficult to find a cheeseburger in Israel.Thus, specificinformation about a country is very important to learn to develop atruly global mindset [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl odbijak.htw.pl
.Liam understood that cultural training affects the bottom line, espe-cially in this field.If Integreon’s employees didn’t understand culture,they couldn’t deal with clients—or with one another.Joyce Thorne,Integreon’s director of training and professional development, said,“Training is critical for a global knowledge and legal process organiza-tion because it enables our associates to work effectively with ourclients and each other.” She went on to say,“We approach training witha global vision, but with a local touch, recognizing that the professionaldevelopment required for associates in Fargo, North Dakota, is differ-ent from that needed in Mumbai, India.” Not only does the firm teachculture, but it also teaches important interpersonal skills such asassertiveness training and conflict resolution (see Chapter 13 for details).M A N A G I N G A C R O S S C U L T U R E S223For example, the company has off-site workshops where employees learninterpersonal skills, human behavior, general communication, conflictresolution, and assertiveness and build professional leadership skills.Liam was intent on building relationships with and among themanagement team that would create the underlying trust that wasnecessary for a global organization.He was building a corporateculture that mirrored his global mindset and in that process creatingthe relationships that Integreon would require to succeed.Integreon’s professional development training supports the corpo-rate culture and teaches employees how to work with one another andwith demanding corporate clients.The training teaches culturallybased expectations in regard to the clients and attempts to acknowl-edge but temper the individual’s cultural preferences so that theemployees can respond to a customer’s demands and one another’sneeds with fewer barriers that might prevent the mission from beingaccomplished.Through working in a company with a global mindset, Integreonemployees around the world have come to realize that the demands oftheir U.S.and U.K.clients are not an assault on their personal values,that harmony isn’t always going to be maintained, and that candor—however difficult—is critical for the success of the business outcome.All of this is part of Integreon’s global mindset.It’s not only reflective ofits CEO but is embedded in its corporate culture and is an inextricablecomponent of its success.What Is a Global Mindset?A global mindset is the ability to integrate everything you’ve learnedabout culture into your attitude and behaviors reflexively.It’s abouthaving the ability to read the visible clues of behavior so that youunderstand what may be going on under the surface and make use of thosecues in your actions and thoughts.You’re able to interpret behavior and224S O L O M O N - S C H E L Lknow what it means.Thus, when your French colleague gives a shrugof the shoulders to a statement you make or your Jordanian host takesyou by the hand, you know what it means without having to think orat least know enough to put it into cultural context and move onregardless of how foreign it may seem.In other words, it is like learning a new language.For a while youneed to translate sentence by sentence, and then you start to think inthe language in which you’re speaking instead of consciously translat-ing your thoughts.Having a global mindset is not necessarily new, butit has become increasingly important.Most of us know people who seem to have a knack for workingeffectively across cultures and managing effectively in multicultural set-tings.They seem to be able to address colleagues and situations appro-priately, retaining cultural sensitivity without sacrificing their personalvalues and styles.In spite of being multicultural, they’re congruent withtheir own belief systems and are consistent with others’ expectations ofthe way they will behave.In a globally connected world, this kind of skill is one to which allglobal managers aspire.Throughout this book, we’ve talked about thecultural dimensions: the values they represent and how important theyare.We’ve described the seven cultural dimensions as keys for under-standing the behaviors you’ll encounter.To gain a global mindset, youneed to meld your understanding of these seven dimensions with anongoing process of learning about the history, mythology, and heroesof the specific countries you’re working with because, like dialects in alanguage, each country is unique and has its own way of expressing theseven dimensions.Although the seven dimensions will give you a guide, to havea global mindset, you need to understand the individual countrybecause that will affect those values and behaviors profoundly.Forexample, the cultural dimensions won’t tell you why you can makejokes about the queen in England and why it is very bad manners toM A N A G I N G A C R O S S C U L T U R E S225joke about the monarch in Thailand.It won’t explain why you canmake a self-deprecating joke with your colleague in Japan but shouldnot do that in China.It won’t explain why cows are in the streets inIndia or why it’s difficult to find a cheeseburger in Israel.Thus, specificinformation about a country is very important to learn to develop atruly global mindset [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]