Cultural difference can work to improve business

Fons Trompenaars says companies need to integrate opposites, writesJoe Humphreys

A work colleague comes up with an idea you don't like. Should you: (a) congratulate him, (b) demur or (c) run him out of the room?

According to management guru Mr Fons Trompenaars, it all depends on where your colleague is from. If he is American, he may appreciate honesty. If he is Japanese, he may not.

"With Asians, relationship comes first," he says, suggesting the best approach is to imagine that you and your Japanese colleague share a matrimonial bond.

"If you are in love with your wife and she asks 'what do you think of this dress?' you reply, 'yes, what a nice dress'. You don't criticise."

The Dutchman, who has written several books on cross-cultural understanding among business people, should know what he is talking about. He first began researching the area 25 years ago when, while working for the multinational Shell, he undertook a PhD on cultural difference within organisations.

Now he heads up a consultancy, which advises companies such as Bombardier, Heineken and Merrill Lynch on subjects from mergers and acquisitions to globalisation. His latest book, Business Across Cultures, has just been published and, this week, he will be in Ireland to spread the word about his brand of cultural understanding.

"We take what we call the three Rs approach: recognising cultural differences, respecting, and then reconciling," he says.

"Most people in the field do not go beyond recognition." Why? "Because respect is difficult. You have to unlearn, and then you have to find reconciliation. For example, the French love to centralise, the Swedish love to decentralise. Depending on where you are from, you will be taught either to decentralise or re-centralise from childhood onwards, right up to the MBA."

Traditionally, he says, managers tend to approach the problem linearly, trying to impose one solution over the other.

"But what we have to learn instead is to integrate opposites," he says. His philosophy could be described as "Eastern", although he prefers the term "Hegelian" - "bringing synthesis and antithesis together".

He cites US President George Bush as a the worst role model for managers because "he understands only one side, and you have to deal with both. Mr Bush says: 'you are either with us or against us'. But a good leader would never say that."

His plea for cultural respect is not about idealism but ensuring businesses maximise their potential and, he says, even monolithic companies like McDonalds have taken the message on board.

"McDonalds is selling a part of America. But it also has a sophisticated system in place where it can try out local types of food and, if they are successful, they will be brought home. In this way, you find best practice locally and then move from local to global."

He cites Dell as another company that has successfully reconciled cultural differences and "value dilemmas" thrown up by Web-based sales. By establishing customer service teams with local knowledge that can be contacted through local phone numbers, the company has "succeeded in combining the personal touch with the internet".

As well as advising companies about doing business in foreign lands, he offers lessons on dealing with a multiracial workforce and multiethnic society at home. Ireland, he says, may be heading the way of the Netherlands, where "in 2020 at least 60 per cent of Dutch cities will have more non-Dutch people than Dutch". Tensions that have surfaced in the Netherlands can be avoided here, if the Irish use "their fantastic talent for making people communicate with each other", he adds.

"This is a good quality to have because groups run into trouble if they don't talk."

Mr Fons Trompenaars presents a seminar on "Managing Business Across Cultures" at IMI, Dublin, on Thursday, February 12th. This is a joint IMI/Enterprise Ireland event supported by The Irish Times. For information call Freefone IMI 1800 22 33 88 or see www.imi.ie