Working in a Cross Cultural Environment - Harnessing it for an Effective Organization Farrah Qureshi 19th March 2009.

Working in a Cross Cultural Environment - Harnessing it for

an Effective Organization

Farrah Qureshi19th March 2009

Structure of Presentation

Setting the Context

Our Diversity and Cross Culture lenses

The World Bank Temperature Check

Harnessing it for Effective Organisations !

The Diversity & Inclusion Window

diversity diversity challengeschallengeshiddenhidden

blindblindopenopen

Not on the radar

screen No

problems here !

World Class Leader

Inclusive culture

Magnet for talent

Talent Retained and

Managed

Goals achieved

Cascading through

the business

Building Accountabi

lity

Leaping to Success

Beginning the

journey

Picking up

Momentum

World Bank and D&I Journey?

Diversity and Inclusion Drivers

Enhance / Engagemen

t and Responsive

nes

Active Management

of International

Talent Management

Credibility and Licence to Operate

Poverty Focus / Client

Oriented

Quality of Problem Solving

and Innovatio

n

Intergration of

Diverse staff

Reputation for

Excellence and

Innovation

…Networked Economies

Communications

Technology

Global Mobility

Globalization driven by…..

Global Migration Trends 2001 - 2015

North America

Head in the sand

Its not my

problem!

Neck on the line

Strategic Business

goal

It’s the way I do things round here!

Active advocate cascading through

the business

When I have time!

When we get a legal

case or a grievanc

e

Where are you?

The Biggest Challenge –Changing Mindset

CountryKnowledge

Skills SexualOrientation

CrossCulture

Perspectives

BusinessExperience

Hobbies

EducationalBackground

FaithReligionLanguagePassionGender

ThinkingStyle

LifeExperience

PhysicalAbilities

Ethnicity

CommunityExperience

Nationality

PersonalStyle

Age

Diversity

Dimensions of Diversity

Meet Paul…

Who am I?

You have 5 minutes to ask me as many questions

as you like.

Your main task is to find out the following:

From a CULTURAL POINT OF VIEW –

what percentage does your Speaker feel

British or Pakistani?

How we think and learn

How we interpret actions and interactions

How we relate to time

Our sense of identity

Our sense of social affiliation

Core beliefs and values

Ethics and morality

Biases & prejudices

How we communicate (language)

Which language we speak

Habits & Mannerisms

Dress & appearance

Food & Eating Habits

Religious Practices

Work habits & practices

Choices & Actions

INVISIBLE VISIBLE

Sexuality

Nationality Religi

onLanguage/s

Family StatusAspiratio

ns

Education

Talents

SkillsWay of Thinkin

g

Values

Beliefs

Life Experiences

Gender

Colour

AgeCulture

Waterline of

Visibility

The Iceberg of Culture

My Lenses and Filters

My Gender

My Age

My Experiences

Culture

My Organisation

My Religion

My Parental

Status

My WorkContent My

EducationMy

Conditioning

Race

My Relationshi

ps

The people I socialise with

The attitudes of my family and

friends

The Iceberg of Culture

Culture

hides more than it reveals, and it hides most effectively

from its own participants ...

Edward. T. Hall

Levels of Culture

National

Professional

Organisational

Departmental

Individual

EXPECTED

REINFORCED

REWARDED

LINEAR-ACTIVE

Talks half the time

Does one thing at a time

Plans ahead step by step

Polite but direct

Partly hides feelings

Confronts with logic

Dislikes losing face

Rarely interrupts

Job oriented

Sticks to facts

Truth before diplomacy

MULTI-ACTIVE

Talks most of the time

Does several things at once

Plans grand outlines only

Emotional

Displays feelings

Confronts emotionally

Has good excuses

Often interrupts

People-oriented

Feelings before facts

Flexible truth

REACTIVE

Listens most of the time

Reacts to action

Looks at general principles

Polite, indirect

Hides feelings

Never confronts

Must not lose face

Doesn’t interrupt

Very people-oriented

Statements are promises

Diplomacy over Truth

Types of Culture

What colour are you?

Slide Title

Main text

RE-ACTIVE

MULTI-

ACTIVE

LINEAR

ACTIVE

JapanSingapore

BELGIUM

Austria, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia

USA

Australia, Denmark, Ireland

France, Poland, Lithuania

Russia, Slovakia

Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta,

Cyprus

HISPANIC AMERICA,

ARGENTINA, MEXICO

Saudi Arabia, Arab Countries

IranTurk

ey

INDIA

IndonesiaPhilippin

es

Korea, Thailand

China

VIETNAM

CANADA

UKGERMANYSWITZERLAND, LUXEMBOURG

Sweden, Latvia

Finland,

Estonia

Hong Kong, Taiwan

MODEL CREATED BY

RICHARD LEWIS

Sub-Saharan Africa

BRAZIL, CHILE

Creating Value with Diverse Teams in Global Management

EQUALISERS

DESTROYERS

CREATORS

Source: Prof Joseph Di Stefano; Prof Martha Maznevski International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne and University of Virginia

Meetings

Linear Active Cultures

Meetings

Multi-active cultures

Meetings

Reactive cultures

Creating Value in Diverse Teams: The MBI Approach

MAPUnderstand

The Differences.

Define the territory

Draw themap

Assess the terrain

BRIDGECommunic

ate, take

differences into

account.

Prepare the ground

Decenter to other shore

Recenter to span

INTEGRATE

Bring together

and leverage

the differences.

Manage participatio

n

Resolve disagreeme

nts

Build on ideas

CREATE VALUE

Develop and execute high

quality solutions effectively

Journalists organised a competition to write an article about Elephants.

There were entries from various countries…..

What were the article titles?

England Hunting Elephants in East Africa

France The Love Life of Elephants

Germany The Origin and Development of the Indian Elephant from 1200 to 1950 (600 pages)

America How to Breed Bigger and Better Elephants

Russia How we Sent an Elephant to the Moon

Sweden Elephants and the Welfare State

Spain Techniques of Elephant Fighting

India The Elephant as a Means of Transportation before Railroads

Finland What Elephants think about Finland

…Cultural differences in practice

“Finger lickin' good”

or

“Eat your fingers off!”

Kentucky Fried Chicken in China!

Chinese translation also proved difficult for Coke!

Ke-kou-ke-laOr

“Bite the wax tadpole"

/“Female horse

stuffed with wax"

Burger King had to withdraw thousands of ice-cream cones because the design on the packaging

resembled the Arab word for Allah.

A Costly Cone!

Whiskey brand Southern Comfort has

apologised to the Hindu community for using the ‘Goddess

Durga’ in its posters.

Southern Comfort

The World Bank Temperature Check

Statements

AGREE

MIDWAY

DISAGREE

Temperature Check Questions

The World Bank values all of its employees for their contributions.

My potential is realised and I feel valued. In the World Bank progression is based on

who you know rather than what you know.

People with disabilities are encouraged in the organization.

In the World Bank we value all our nationalities.

The contribution of all ages is valued in the World Bank.

Temperature Check Questions

Part 2 have the same access to promotion opportunities as Part 1 staff.

Our senior Leaders are great role models for D&I.

I am an active champion for Diversity and Inclusion.

W

M

3E

What do you see?

Do you recognise any of these behaviours?

Members seem to be waiting for the team leader to give them more direction than the leader thinks should be necessary. Members complain about one another but aren’t willing to give feedback or put the issue on the table. In meetings, dominant members sometimes repeat what has just been said by less-dominant members. A member from a minority group, who should be doing well, is struggling. Members verbally deny or claim to be unaware of any diversity issues within this team or partnership.

My Personal Iceberg

Experience

Values

Attitudes

Beliefs

Prejudices

Experiences

What I say/ What I do

ExperiencExperiencee

ValuesValues

AttitudeAttitudess BeliefBelief

ss

PrejudicePrejudicess

ExperiencExperienceses

What I say/ What I What I say/ What I dodo

Do you recognise these ?

Have a conservative, predictable, organisational pyramid. Women and ethnic minorities are under-represented, particularly at the management level. Newcomers are encouraged to assimilate, conform, “fit in.” Compatible style is often more important than results. Failure to fit in has serious consequences for your career. Up and coming fast-trackers are simply younger versions of those already in power. Even if you recruit difference we expect them to fit in to your prevailing norms, thinking, and working practices. Say that we want fresh thinking and new ideas – but just do it in a the “way we have always done it.”

Case Studies: Is This Dignity?

Example Organisations

Career Progression

Line Management Lottery

Longer hours /WLB/ promotion

Lack of open and frank discussions

Discomfort around self-promotion – especially for women/National staff

Asia-Pacific

Diversity intent:Increase number of local employees in leadership.

Progress over last 5 years:

32% overall improvement -- to 82% leadership positions occupied by Asia Pacific Nationals.

South America

Diversity intent:Increase representation of women in professional and managerial roles.

Progress over last 5 years:

Overall improvement of 5% -- to 34% women in salaried roles. Implemented flexible work practices.

Europe / Russia / Middle East / Africa

Diversity intent:Increase representation of women in professional and managerial roles.

Progress over last 5 years:

Overall improvement of 52% -- to 21% women in professional and managerial roles. Flexible work practices has supported diversity intent.

Diversity is Central to our Brand

Diversity makes business sense- UBS

In 2008, PepsiCo had its best year ever:

Cross Cultural teams working effectively Most diverse workforce Most diverse product portfolio Greatest innovation Greatest growth

Diversity and Inclusion work!!!

The Bottom Line

Focus on bringing about change from the inside out

Level of Commitment(Heart)

High

High

Low

Organisa

tion

Personal

Not recognised

Level of Involvement (Action)

Crisis Management

Ad hoc approach

Policies

Management Processes

Part of the culture

Ignore—“not on the radar”

Lip service

“When I have time”

Active advocate

Role model

Neck on the line

Bought in andseeking involvement

The Role of Leadership

Key Success Factors

Start at the Top - No Sponsorship, No Change

Set Vision - No End Goal, No Journey

Communication - No Understanding, No Change

Recruitment - No New Approaches, No Change

Engage all - No Involvement, No Change

Flexible Working - No Consistency, No Cultural Change

Educate all - Same behaviours, No change

Metrics - No meaningful measurement, No change

Integrate with business - No Fusion, No Change

The Longest Journey

. . . The reward is in the experience

Concluding Thoughts

“Be part of the change you wish for”

Mahatma Gandhi

Q&A