Leading across cultures is now an essential managerial capability. Working with China, India, Brazil, Russia and countries in Eastern Europe is increasingly important for companies seeking good levels of qualification, technical capability, language skills and low wages.

Cheap, ubiquitous telecommunications are spurring global business growth by fast removing barriers to international competition. Companies are regularly disaggregating work and spreading it to places around the world where it can be most easily done. This brings new challenges for leaders who have to deliver results in new cultural settings.

East meets West

Research reveals many cultural differences across the globe. For example:

Individual vs collectivist: in collectivist societies such as South America and Asia, relationships are critical. Eastern cultures are concerned with promoting harmony and avoiding conflict, while their Western counterparts are more direct, unemotional and individualistic.

Tacit vs implicit: Eastern cultures prefer to gain knowledge through relationships of trust and take time to understand tacit information. But countries such as Germany and Scandinavia prefer formalised, explicit messages - many Western organisations use manuals, templates and briefings. Pioneering countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA prefer clear, direct communication that can feel incredibly insensitive to those from China or India.

Humility and ‘face': the Chinese, for example, prefer to understate personal successes. As the Chinese saying goes: "Let others say you're the best, don't show it yourself." Paying respect is essential in collectivist societies - not just to individuals, but also to groups. Westerners rarely understand the depth of the shame related to ‘losing face' and may seem arrogant and insensitive.

Leading change

Cultural differences have huge implications when leading business change. Scandinavia, the USA and Netherlands for example, readily accept ambiguity, tolerate novelty and encourage initiative. This means leaders can expect even radical change to occur relatively quickly.

In SE Asia, people respect past leaders who have influenced the company and any change must be seen as consistent with their values. Change here needs a longer, slower time frame and the change must build on past successes.

European and North American organisations expect engagement and a collaborative approach to change leadership. In contrast, Russian employees expect strong leaders with a top-down style. Employees here are often surprised at the informality of Western leaders, who are seen as lacking authority, less in control and uncertain about direction.

The danger of ‘culture'

Of course, there are dangers in talking about ‘culture' - it leads us to generalise and stereotype. We are all ultimately individual and every culture contains multiple layers. However, understanding ‘culture' at a generic level provides an understanding of our own cultural ‘lens' on the world - the beliefs we have grown up with in terms of how the world works.

Once attuned to the differences, what particular aspects of your own style do you need to adapt? Learn to spot rising frustrations and avoid repeating your message if things are not happening. Instead ask yourself, ‘How could I behave differently to achieve the objective?'

"If you're going into China to do business and sent off your briefing papers in advance, unless people are very accustomed to working with international companies they're unlikely to read them. They'd think you rude because they want to get to know you first." 

Dr Christine Daymon, Reader in Communication and Management, Bournemouth University

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