Is it a cultural thing?

Dear Valérie,

I am an international attorney from Washington state. Like you, I am well aware that culture matters when engaged in an international transaction... I see myself as someone who displays the global mindset you talk about in your column. Last month though, I had an unpleasant experience while organizing a conference in Brazil and I wonder if you can explain to me what I might have missed when engaging with Gilberto.

Gilberto is someone who has joined my network of conference organizers recently and who has a decent command of English. At previous meetings, he had claimed to have much experience in conference organization, and I knew of at least one successful conference he had been involved in. Prior to my arrival, we had talked extensively on the phone for months and I had given him all the directives, budget guidelines, etc. on how to organize the conference, which targeted the international business community of the Amazon region countries with regard to the requirements of international environmental treaties.

When I arrived on location, a day prior to the conference, nothing was ready and I was informed that we were suddenly way over budget. He had hired all of his buddies to set up the gig instead of hiring conference center personnel, as we had previously discussed. He was planning on bringing his own booze to the cocktail party and having his friends do the service “to save money.” The day of the event, the place was buzzing with people, but nothing was getting done on time or in line with expectations. Then, after the event, Gilberto went behind my back and recommended the services of a local international attorney to the potential clients I had developed by speaking at the conference.

I was shocked to realize that this person could not follow direction, had zero loyalty and was so unscrupulous as to undermine the efforts he was paid to set up in the first place. Would you say that this is a cultural trait or mainly the characteristics of a bad apple? Brazil is a very important country for my practice…

Christopher

Dear Christopher,

I suspect that Gilberto is a bit of both: a bad apple and the by-product of his culture. Organization in Brazil can be lackadaisical and following orders often a challenge. Moreover, this is a culture of opportunities and self-positioning. It is also a culture that relies heavily on relationships, just like the Chinese do through guanxi.

I am not surprised that Gilberto had to bring his network into the equation, as he owed them loyalty first, since they are his clan. I also suspect that he is green as it gets when it comes to working with Americans from the northern part of the Western Hemisphere. He has done to you what is typically done to Brazilians everyday because loyalty outside of the clan makes no sense, especially in a city as crowded and challenging as Sao Paulo. It is a harsh environment where people survive because of their network and because they take care of one another. Unfortunately, Gilberto did not have the good judgment to see you as someone who could benefit his network long-term, but rather as someone he could take advantage of today, thinking that he would probably never hear from you again. He was also likely offered a commission for positioning the local attorney instead of you, allowing him to collect money on both ends.

This is an unfortunate situation, but it is not uncommon. The chances you could repeat it are high. My suggestion to replace Gilberto is to find someone who has experienced life in the United States or Europe. That person should come recommended by someone who is well adjusted to the North American way of doing business. There is a Brazilian expat community in Portland and in Seattle, and several of them work for large multinationals. I would suggest some networking through the expat group InterNations, as most of those Brazilian expats will probably still have relatives and friends in Brazil who could fit the bill. This would allow you to bypass the masses and find someone qualified and loyal to develop your business in Sao Paulo.

Indeed, hiring someone who speaks English is only one side of the coin, but understanding the American culture and seizing the expectations American business people have is even more critical. Make sure the new person masters both sides of the coin.

Hope this helps!

Valérie

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Leading with cultural intelligence

Valérie Berset-Price, owner of international business consulting firm Professional Passport, is the expert behind the Vancouver Business Journal’s advice column: Going Global: Business insight on an international scale.

Dear Valérie,

For the past twelve months, my company has been involved in cross-pollination exercises with our Chinese and Brazilian partners. As such, we receive engineers from those two countries in an effort to share best practices and understand each other's culture better. While the engineering skills of our guests are very good, they never speak their mind and remain mute while in meetings, which tends to defeat the purpose of having them around. Could you give me some pointers on how to change the dynamics around and find a way to benefit from their views?

Karl

Dear Karl,

Ah, if only those engineers would come with a barcode that one could scan to discover how to operate them! All jokes aside, your challenge summarizes well one of the biggest obstacles companies worldwide face: how to interact effectively with people who come from different cultures.

My recommendation is to get some training for you, your visiting staff and your local staff on how to lead with cultural intelligence. This will give you the tools to understand how to clearly communicate across cultures and develop a global voice. In those classes, you will learn that Brazil and China are cultures where a strong hierarchy prevails. As such, people are taught not to speak unless spoken to first, never to disagree with a superior, and not to take the floor unless you can develop on a subject and answer any question that may be thrown at you. 

In contrast, in the U.S. from a very young age people are taught to speak their minds, to brainstorm, not to be afraid of being wrong or of asking a question that might sound stupid, etc. It is a flat, egalitarian culture where everybody has a shot. It’s a unique culture that differs from the one your Brazilian and Chinese engineers grew up in; and even though they may appreciate the opportunity to speak up, they don't automatically know how to do it. Changing their cultural lenses requires an environment in which they feel understood, safe and supported. There must be some demonstration that there will be no professional or personal repercussion for criticizing a process or questioning a decision. 

We’re all products of the culture in which we grew up; recognizing our own cultural DNA and being able to examine how our culture shaped our behavior, expectations and wants is a mesmerizing exercise that will greatly assist your employees in developing some key and useful skills for the 21st century.

Hope this helps!

Valérie

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Becoming a global bridge

Dear Valérie,

I am writing to you from Buenos Aires. I came to Vancouver to spend the Christmas holidays with friends and stumbled on your column at their house. I don’t know if you’ll be able to help me, but in my country, I am the chapter president of a global association headquartered in the U.S.A. Last year, the person I report to with regard to chapter relations changed. I am now dealing with a lady out of the Netherlands. My communication with her is abrupt, and I always feel as if she is suspecting our chapter of cheating or deceiving the association in a multitude of ways. I really dislike the way she talks to me via email. We communicate in English, a foreign language for us both, which I suspect contributes to our problem. I am at a point where I am considering resigning from the position even though the association is very dear to me and important to my country. Before I resign, I thought I would check with you and see if there is any cultural misunderstanding that I should take into consideration instead of taking my communication with this lady too personally. Thank you very much in advance for your assistance.

María Inés

Dear Maria Inés,

I am very sorry to hear about your dilemma but very pleased to see questions for my column coming from as far as Argentina!

You are very right in suspecting that the root of your uneasiness with your new direct report from the Netherlands is rooted in cultural differences. Very few individuals have been trained to communicate with people who come from a different culture than their own; even fewer are aware that the way they communicate is ineffective (and sometimes even offensive) outside of their own physical borders.

In the Netherlands, people are extremely direct in their communication and tend to be misinterpreted by other cultures as harsh, unfriendly and critical people. To Dutch nationals, the line between business and personal matters is clearly delineated, and they seldom feel compelled to include warm chit-chat in their communication. They are all business.

In the Argentine culture, business and pleasure blend easily; people value quality time with one another, and flexibility toward deadline and punctuality is much greater than in the Netherlands. Hierarchy is also more in effect in Argentina than in the Netherlands. Argentineans are used to being talked to with respect for the social level they occupy, while in the Netherlands – an extremely egalitarian culture – people don't attach much importance to class. Thus, Dutch people tend not to be very ceremonial and to say “the truth” (or at least circumstances as they see them through their own lenses), unaware that they may offend.

Becoming a global bridge is part of the challenge people experience worldwide. We are now forced to interact with people from other parts of the world, to realize that there are some strong differences between us and them, and that our style does not automatically work globally. Someone who has been properly trained in behaving as a global bridger, will for example, leave his or her Skype application open for several hours while working when trying to reach someone for a meeting that had been scheduled for 2 p.m. PST, understanding that making it at 7:00 p.m. on the dot in Argentina might be a challenge. The person will then focus on the fact that communication took place instead of nagging the other for 15 minutes about being late.

Not being able to display that type of flexibility (or worse, immediately assuming that the other person forgot or is inconsiderate of the other person's time) only widens the divide between cultures. To be aware of those cultural subtleties requires either personal exposure to them or solid training, outlining how one must flex, adapt and adjust to meet the other person halfway and create the needed climate of trust and respect all human beings crave the world over.

My recommendation, Maria Inés, is to talk to your direct report and make her aware, in a non-threatening way, that her communication style makes you feel unfit. Do mention that you are both using a language that is not yours to communicate, which may contribute to misunderstandings. Being Dutch, she will appreciate your directness and your willingness to find a solution. I can guarantee you that the Dutch national in question has no idea she's making you feel the way you do and that she might even be responsible for your resignation at some point. She would probably be horrified to know this. I suspect she will respond positively to you approaching her.

Hope this helps!

Valérie

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Establishing price in a foreign market

Valérie Berset-Price, owner of international business consulting firm Professional Passport, is the expert behind the Vancouver Business Journal’s advice column: Going Global: Business insight on an international scale.

Dear Valérie,

My company is interested in selling our line of food products internationally. We keep receiving emails from potential foreign distributors, and we decided that in 2013 we would take advantage of this opportunity to make up for the soft domestic market we're still experiencing. As the person in charge of setting up our international structure, I am wondering how we should go about establishing prices in countries that have a different standard of living than ours. Do you have any recommendation or scale that other exporters follow with regard to international price structure?

Thank you!

Steve

Dear Steve,

What you are referring to is the purchasing-power parity index (PPP), which shows that a Starbucks Latte might be 40 percent more expensive in Geneva, Switzerland, than here in Vancouver. PPP, also often used under the name of “The Big Mac Index,” is the tool economists use to equalize the economic fluctuations that exist between the different currencies countries use throughout the world.

The best way to establish the price of a product or service for a foreign market is, however, to visit the country of interest and find out how similar products are priced. This exercise allows for so much more than the establishing of price. It allows for great observations on how the product is distributed, packaged and marketed to the foreign client. Taking the time to visit the country of interest will provide you with a much deeper insight into the cultural mores and shopping habits of your potential customers than establishing the price from afar through an economical tool.

I hope this helps!

Valérie

Do you have a question for Going Global? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please note that the Vancouver Business Journal and Valerie Berset-Price reserve the right to publish your letter or an edited version in all print and electronic media.