Intercultural Competence or how to avoid putting you foot in it!

Intercultural Competence or how to avoid putting you foot in it!

I recently read an article by Jochen Mai, founder and editor-in-chief of the Site karrierebibel.de, about the importance of intercultural competence in a world that is growing together. There are different ways to be successful in a global working environment. Many companies have locations abroad, by or sell across continents and often people from a wide variety of countries work together. As a result, the juxtaposition of native and foreign cultures is inevitable.

Jochen Mai points out: “Success is based on a high level of intercultural competence, cooperation and mutual understanding. After all, where different backgrounds meet, there is no shortage of possible blunders. Dealing with other cultures, observing peculiarities, knowing the customs, values and traditions of different countries, helps to enhance output.”

This probably sounds obvious however even large multinational companies sometimes forget to take the above into consideration as www.translate-trade.com reported with among others the three below examples and adding: “Rookie mistakes can have several different reasons. They could, for instance, result from cheep and/or bad translations or be based on incorrect and limited market analyses.”

Coca Cola, Pepsi and Fiat have already shown how not to do it. The Chinese market in particular seems to repeatedly push companies to their limits when it comes to intercultural marketing.

Bite the wax tadpole!

The Chinese characters and their pronunciation caused an embarrassing mishap at Coca Cola. Chinese characters chosen sounded like the brand name when pronounced. The problem was that they had a different meaning and that was "Bite the wax tadpole".

Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.

The joy over Coca Cola's initial failure in China didn't last long at Pepsi, who also made an embarrassing translation error. The slogan "Pepsi brings you back to life" was translated to "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave".

Richard Gere drives a Lancia Delta to China.

Richard Gere is world famous. He is considered a supporter of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, who is not held in good esteem in China. Fiat, which also sold models in China, made a serious mistake when it engaged Richard Gere as an advertising ambassador for a commercial and let him drive from Hollywood to Tibet. The result in China : not only Internet users ran up a storm against the Italian car company.

Hard facts are not always enough for success.

Imagine you are launching a new type of space-saving microwave oven. It is certified to be big enough for even a Christmas turkey by several different market researches and you may have optimised and started your production already. Going ahead with sales, also in the American market, you notice that for American consumers, it just doesn’t look like it’s big enough and finally you don’t sell any at all in the USA. Nobody was asked for before. The Miele company was finally successful by simply upsizing its product especially for the USA market.

These are just some excerpts of embarrassing or unsuccessful moments. While the Chinese market seems to be predestined for mistakes, companies planning businesses in other countries are of course not protected from similar faux pas. It's not just about localization of marketing and product adaptations for different markets with different cultural backgrounds and social conventions. Even in the immediate neighbourhood, there are behaviours and habits that are very different from those in one's own country.

Intercultural traps are omnipresent where communication is unavoidable. Jochen Mai lists many examples of this in his guidebook about etiquette and rules of social behaviour. Like this one:

Food has a central role in France.

Many negotiations are combined with a meal, even if there is little time people like to go to a bistro. However, there are few things to consider. Business discussions never take place during the meal, only when a coffee or tea is served at the end. If you enter a restaurant, wait to be assigned a table. You may drink wine with your business meal but of course, it should be enjoyed in moderation. Avoid loud toasts, in France, the glass is raised in a hushed voice and a toast is merely implied. Remember, the French kiss on the cheek among friends and acquaintances does not apply in business!

Punctuality is not as important in France as in other places. However, this only applies to private appointments, where a quarter of an hour late is absolutely common. For a business lunch in a restaurant you should arrive on time.

Anyway, whatever happens, as a sign of diplomacy, you probably can score points by admitting mistakes on your part. Apart from the countries where loosing face could fatally be a crucial mistake.

If you have any examples in mind, don’t hesitate to share them with us with a comment. Good for learning and a smile to brighten up a dull day is always welcome.