Cultural Disorientation

While working in multinational companies, we have to work with people in different countries (remotely or onsite) who have different cultural background than us and different work ethics altogether. The difference is not only in terms of behavior but also in terms of languages, words, attires and habits. Not only multinational company employees, but many other professions in government, private and public sector also require understanding of different cultures. Students who go abroad for studies and the frequent travelers also have to study these cultural differences.?

Basically, the point of view of a person depends a lot on culture of his country and his surroundings. On micro level, the influence also depends upon region and religion. A culture of a country influences a lot on work culture of a company. Few more factors which get influenced are rules and regulations, leadership styles, mission, vision, values, communication styles etc.

A cultural disorientation is the feeling of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that might be experienced when visiting or living in a new environment or country. However, if a person already knows the cultural differences well in advance, the cultural shock that person receives is very less or none when he travels to another country.?

Let us take an example:?

Indians are known for their laid-back approach to punctuality. However, in Japan, one of the biggest culture shocks is that, if someone mentions a meeting time, it's expected to be adhered to the exact time. While in India meeting times are flexible and if someone joins late, it is considered as a normal.?

So let us start an interesting journey of understanding cultural differences across countries based on below factors.?

(1) Decision making:?

There are two type of decision making styles:?

Consensual and top-down.

Consensual decisions are democratic and majority decides what to do.?Consensus decision-making is a powerful process that fosters collaboration and collective ownership within a team or organization.?It involves all group members, ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard.?By considering diverse perspectives, trust is built among team members.?Inclusive decision-making leads to better quality outcomes and a sense of ownership.?

When team members actively participate in decision-making, they feel more committed to the implementation of the chosen course of action.?Work teams become more engaged when they have the opportunity to create their own goals, projects, or action plans.?Consensus decisions empower the group or community to move forward together.?

Consensus decisions result in a united front because everyone agrees to support the chosen solution.?Employees feel involved and invested in the decision, leading to better follow through.?However, consensus decision-making does not always lead to good decisions, especially if the group is relatively homogenous.?In some cases, the desire to reach consensus may result in compromising the quality of the decision itself.?Those with more power or influence within the group may leverage their position to sway decisions using power dynamics.

In top-down style, decisions are taken by leaders without taking inputs from individual contributors. It creates distrust among employees for their leadership and suppresses the creativity.?

Advantages of a top-down decision making approach is that it ensures alignment with the organization’s overall goals. It provides a clear chain of command, allowing everyone to work toward a common objective. Employees receive explicit goals and expectations. This clarity helps them focus solely on their work tasks. However, it can discourage creativity and proactivity.?

When decisions come solely from the top, innovative ideas from employees may not be fully explored. Employees may feel disempowered due to limited autonomy. A rigid top-down structure can lead to unhappy team members who crave more independence.

If "Consensual approach" is kept at left-end and "top-down approach" is kept at right end on a measuring scale, we can consider Japan first starting from left, then Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, UK, USA, Brazil, France. Here, we reached the middle of the scale where USA, Brazil and France are neutral. That means they use combination of both types. Then comes Italy, Russia, Nigeria, China, India.

This, we can represent in below way:

[Consensual] Japan, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, (UK, USA, Brazil), France, Italy, Russia, Nigeria, China, India [Top-down]

(2) Behavior of leaders or bosses:

The way leaders behave varies from country to country.

There are two leadership approaches or styles:?

Egalitarian or equable and Hierarchical.?

In Equable style, bosses and subordinates are treated equally. Opinion of every subordinate is valued and acted upon if valid. This makes work easier and chances of success of a project is more but it may delay the work sometimes.?Advantages of this culture is that all workers contribute equally and share recognition for success. Individual accountability is promoted, and workers have more freedom. Egalitarian or equable styles save costs by avoiding perks for top-level workers.?

Managers work in efficient spaces identical to other workers, reducing expenses. No special cabins are built for managers. However, without careful planning, an egalitarian leader invite problems due to a lack of leadership. Individual workers must take initiative to address issues, as there are no authority figures. Recruiting skilled candidates for central positions may be challenging.?

Workers adapting from hierarchical backgrounds may struggle with the egalitarian structure. Comfort levels vary for both high-level managers and entry-level employees.

While in?Hierarchical style, status of top authority is considered very important. Boss's word is considered as final. The idiom: "The boss is always right" has been emerged from this very leadership style. And it is multi-layered or multi-levelled. One leader has to agree and follow its leader. Then high-level leader will have to follow what his/her leader has told.?

Even if your point is right and logical, whatever your boss says is considered important and correct only because he/she is a boss. But such styles have advantages like the hierarchical structures enable specialization within roles and employees focus on specific tasks, leading to expertise and efficiency. it divide employees into teams and departments. Being part of a department fosters team spirit and loyalty.?Management effectively delegates tasks using their authority, ensuring operational efficiency.

The measurement scale:

[Equable] Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Israel, Australia, Canada, Finland, (USA, UK, Germany), Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Mexico, Russia, China, India [Hierarchical]

(3) Trust:

There are two types of trusts. Task-based and relationship-based.?

In task-based approach, when a project starts, project manager (and team members) build relationships only for the particular project work. Once the project finishes, the relationships are dissolved.?

In this approach, people do not meet each other outside work. They don't build personal relations. Only they behave professionally. No one cares about what someone does in out of office working hours. No team member helps other team member if he/she is technically weak in some area. Relationships are built fast but not long lasting. The trust is only during and confined to work.

While in relationship-based approach, People trust each other even outside work. They spend time together outside working hours also. In this approach, relationships are built slowly but are long lasting. These relations doesn't get dissolved even after project is finished. The trust is forever.?

Here employees can become friends and exchange personal information with each other. Their families get together and celebrate some festivals together. However, the downside of this approach is that, once such personal relationships are formed, someone can take disadvantage of this relations to procrastinate their work or put their workload on someone else.?

The measurement scale:

[Task-based] USA,?Denmark, Netherlands, Australia,?Germany, Finland, (UK, Poland,?France), Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, China, India?[Relation-based]

(4) Way of communication:?

There are two types of communications: Direct (explicit) and indirect (implicit).

Direct communication: Whether we have to give any feedback (even if it is a negative feedback) or openly disagree with someone, in this type of approach it is done directly with neither polishing of good words nor using harsh words. The direct communication should be constructive and not destructive or discouraging. It is a clear and straight forward communication.?

In the workplace, direct communication helps clarify who has the authority to give instructions and what the instructions are.?A manager directly communicates expectations to an employee: “Your report was well-researched, but I need you to include more statistical data in the next one.” This specific feedback guides the employee on what needs improvement. A team leader says, “Our team meetings start promptly at 9:00 AM. Please be on time.” This direct statement establishes a boundary and emphasizes punctuality.?

During a performance review, a supervisor tells an employee, “Your attention to detail is excellent, but consider being more concise in your emails.” This feedback is actionable and specific.?A colleague says assertively, “Could you proofread this document by tomorrow morning?” The request is straightforward and respectful.

Indirect communication, is not saying what a person is thinking. Instead they use gestures, tone of body language to communicate their true meaning. Indirect communication examples are: Sighing loudly in frustration instead of telling a person you are disappointed,?rolling your eyes when you are upset but not voicing anything.?

Instead of directly asking to adjust the office temperature, someone might say, “It’s getting quite warm in here,” implying a desire for cooler conditions.?For avoiding Confrontation, rather than directly addressing a person who left the lights on, an indirect communicator might say, “Someone forgot to turn off the lights.” or when frustrated with a colleague, they might choose silence or avoid interaction instead of voicing their feelings directly.

The measurement scale:

[Direct communication]?USA,?Denmark, Netherlands, Australia,?Germany,?Finland, (UK, Poland,?France), Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, China, India?[Indirect communication]

Some key strategies to consider while studying cultural differences are:

Open Communication:?Establish clear channels for open dialogue, ensuring that team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and concerns.

Cultural Intelligence:?Develop an understanding of different cultures, their communication styles, and work ethics to foster a collaborative environment.

Team-Building:?Engage in activities that promote team cohesion and help team members appreciate each other’s cultural backgrounds.

Inclusivity:?Create an inclusive atmosphere where diversity is seen as an asset, and all team members feel valued and respected.

Training:?Provide cultural awareness training to help team members recognize and address unconscious biases.

Adaptation:?Encourage team members to adapt to the cultural norms of the team while preserving their own cultural identities.

What if people from different countries and culture are working in same team together at one place in one project?

Team members from various regions provide insights into local markets, consumer behavior. Diverse perspectives foster creativity and innovative problem-solving. Different cultural backgrounds bring fresh ideas and approaches. However, varying norms related to hierarchy, decision-making, and work-life balance may clash. Differing conflict resolution approaches can create tensions.? Multilingual teams can communicate with a broader audience and navigate language barriers more effectively but language differences, communication styles, and non-verbal cues can lead to misunderstandings.?

Exposure to diverse work styles enhances adaptability and flexibility. However, if we educate team members about each other’s cultures and communication styles and encourage active listening and empathy to understand diverse viewpoints, and establish clear channels for communication and decision-making, then the diverse team can excel in their work beyond expectations.

The examples given in this article are based on various studies and doesn't mean that it exactly applies in every situation. Because nowadays, people migrate across countries and it is diluting the cultural difference to some extent. The examples given does not intend to blame or criticize any country for any misconduct.?

This article is written to understand the cultural differences so that you can get an understanding of their surroundings and background while working with people in different countries. You can consult your HR department for guidelines about work ethics and culture of the employees of another country with whom you are going to work! In the given examples, it is not feasible to include names of all countries.