Mexican sombreros and Russian vodka
Posted on February 24, 2009
Filed Under Strategy |
This morning one of my new colleagues surprised me: she just arrived from Singapore in order to visit our Headquarters, get used to the local processes and get to know the people here. Until here, nothing out of the blue. The interesting part arrived when she mentioned that she was quite disappointed by the fact that her health insurance had not yet been arranged by our firm, and that the company policy that tries to promote the use of web tools and e-meetings, versus the traditional face-to-face appointments, was going to be a complete disaster and very counterproductive.
As suggested in a post published some days ago, virtual appointments are an increasing trend around here (i.e. Europe). This reduces costs and increases -somehow- flexibility. Despite of this, other areas in the world, and in particular Asia, are still reluctant to adopt this kind of tools, where their belief of “getting a first impression” is still strong enough to avoid phone and video conferences as a mean to introduce two possible business partners.
At the same time, health insurance in the Netherlands (as in most of the Western European countries and unlike, for instance, in Singapore) is a luxury that has to be acquired in a private way.
Globalization does not mean spreading your company policies and culture all around the world. It means, among other things, adapting your business to the needs of your customers/providers/partners (not making them adapt their own traditions to yours!).
Phillip II of Spain suffered the revolt of his territories in the Netherlands exactly because of this. Trying to suppress Protestantism, governing from abroad and pretending to impose Spanish traditions over the Dutch, made him lose the respect of this part of the Empire and was, in fact, the beginning of the decline of -as they called it- “the Kingdom where the sun never sets”.
You will face challenges when hiring people for your new branches, or partnering with companies in “unknown” territories. Your Human Resources department will probably receive questions that it has never heard, or even expected, before and your management will find itself in a position where its traditional and assumed views of how to lead a bunch of people are now confronted by different mindsets and ways of acting.
Don’t get scared, don’t panic. Adapt. If your Spanish-located workers need more than one hour for lunch, concede it. If your Indian people arrive past noon and leave past midnight, accept it. And if your colleagues in Saudi Arabia are not comfortable working with women… oh, wait!
In any case, this does not have to be confused with stereotypes! Respect ideas, investigate the local traditions and find out about regulations… but don’t visit your Russian colleagues with a bottle of Vodka in your hand or your Mexican partners wearing a colourful sombrero!
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