The Economist intelligence Unit (EIU) released the Women’s Economic Opportunity Index in June, which measures women’s access or lack thereof to a number of economic and other opportunities in 113 countries. Here are a few excerpts from the report, which is available by clicking on the link above.

At the start of the 21st century women are not just enfranchised and fully engaged in the workplace, but leading global corporations and countries of every size. Germany’s Angela Merkel, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi are three among many.
…
Women, on average, earn 75% of their male co-workers’ wages, and the difference cannot be explained solely by schooling or experience. In many countries, women have fewer educational and employment opportunities than men, are more often denied credit, and endure social restrictions that limit their chances for advancement. In some developing countries women still cannot vote, own property or venture outside the home without a male family member.

While culture is mentioned only a few times throughout the report, it pervades the roles applied to women in any country. An understanding of the cultural context within which women act seems important to an understanding of the immense challenge associated with developing gender equality in countries with severely restricted economic opportunity for women. See below for the way the report defines this and a summary of the countries on both ends of the spectrum.

Women’s economic opportunity is defined as a set of laws, regulations, practices, customs and attitudes that allow women to participate in the workforce under conditions roughly equal to those of men, whether as wage-earning employees or as owners of a business. The result is a new ranking of economic opportunity for women in 113 economies. Sweden, Belgium and Norway occupy the top spots in the Index. These countries have particularly open labour markets for women, high levels of educational achievement, and liberal legal and social regimes. However, the index tells other stories as well. Hong Kong (China) performs best in the Asia region, ranking in the top 25% in most categories. Mauritius is Africa’s best finisher; its labour policies are among the most favourable to women in the region. Excluding Canada and the US, Brazil edges Chile and Mexico for the best score in the Americas. Eastern European countries, especially Bulgaria, have particularly balanced labour-law protections, although retirement ages for men and women are often different. Tunisia comes first in Northern Africa, and Sri Lanka in Southern Asia.

What part does culture play in this complex picture?

RW3 CultureWizard

Chief Learning Officer published a story highlighting the increasing importance of “pull” technology for organizational learning, which is “a mechanism that allows people to find and access relevant resources at the point of need.” On the other hand, “push” technology has been the standard training method in the US and in many other countries, where learning is pushed to individuals from the institution through scheduled, formalized training. The drawbacks of the latter are heavily based on the fact that forecasting needs and demand for information is challenging.

‘In a world of pull, it’s about helping people to develop the capabilities to become leaders in their own context so when they’re confronting an unexpected challenge they have the initiative and the questing disposition that will make them want to embrace that challenge and find creative ways of overcoming it and addressing it, and in the process learning from that experience,’ [John Hagel] said.

Online learning platforms like CultureWizard are examples of technology that allow individuals to pull or search for information they need. The material is accessible whenever and wherever through an internet connection. Even a simple Google search, which most professionals use several times a day, is reflective of the approach many are accustomed to taking to learn.

However, according to the article, organizations looking to integrate a “pull” learning strategy should beware:

Cultivating a proprietary knowledge stock is bound for failure. Instead, organizations should focus on creating effective knowledge flows that allow people to learn faster and replenish knowledge stocks at an accelerating rate.

How do you feel about formal, classroom training in comparison to “pull” learning? Do you see the “pull” approach becoming the new standard?

Charlene

RW3 CultureWizard

The chart above was used at an INSEAD conference on international management to demonstrate the different ways US Americans, Brazilians and Japanese would negotiate by counting the incidence of various verbal and non-verbal actions. It is surprising to see how the subjects observed from the US and Japan are much closer to each other than they are to the Brazilians in terms of behavior.

We can see how the idea of personal space is very different in Brazil because of their inclination to physically touch their colleagues during the negotiating process, while silence was employed on a frequent basis by the Japanese and not at all by the Brazilians. Interruption, rather, resembles a sign of great interest and enthusiasm for the Brazilians, while silence has a similar affect within the Japanese context.

Can you add to this chart with your own experience? What have you found unique about these three cultures during the negotiation process?

In Paris, a veritable celebration of mistakes was hosted last week by a group of academicians from a number of France’s educational institutions. The Guardian writes on the concerns of many professionals in the education field:

…The French school system is leaving children bereft of creativity, flexibility of thought and – crucially – confidence in their own mental abilities…’A large part of the French school system is based on the idée reçue that errors are negative, when in fact it is by this very process of learning … that you make progress,’ said Maëlle Lenoir, of the Association Paris Montagne.

French history is full of great inventions and inventors, artists and architects, too many to mention here. How long has this style of teaching been in practice?

The article gives a few “great mistakes” to demonstrate the power of making errors, like Columbus’ search for India, which led him to the Americas. According to the article, many young French students fear answering questions incorrectly, and are afraid of taking risks. Many of our beliefs on these issues stem from culture, which is instilled in all of us from a young age, and especially at school. Now, educators in France are looking to change these ideas with the hopes of increasing students’ propensity to be innovative and creative. The event’s leaders “hope to demonstrate to young participants the potential wonder of making mistakes through a series of science-based workshops.” This festival strives to give young students the courage to think creatively, without worrying about making mistakes.

In the US, for example, asking questions, intense curiosity and failure are all seen as important learning experiences. Curiosity can lead to failure, but failure is one way of learning, and can also lead to breakthroughs in all subjects (e.g. via the trial and error method). In the professional realm, many managers expect failure before mastery, and employees can easily recover from a loss of face due to mistakes, so long as they learn from them. Conversely, in countries like China, where the learning process is heavily based on rote and process, mistakes can cause significant loss of face, and failure is often very difficult to recover from.

What is your experience as a schoolchild? Do you remember having exploratory activites in class, like “show and tell,” were you expected to learn through repetitive action, or was there a different method?

We’re interested in hearing from you.

Charlene

RW3 CultureWizard

Click here to read an interesting story in the People’s Daily that stems from the time zone difference between China and South Africa, where the World Cup is being held this year. The games are so important to many workers in China, they spend all evening watching the game, and have been experiencing extreme fatigue at the office in days following major matches.

What do you think of their strong desire to watch the games?

As we all know, India is generating computer scientists and engineers in huge numbers. Without question, India is already a technology powerhouse. Just look around the city and you’ll see that any player of consequence has facilities here or nearby. Many of these companies spend time on training and cultural integration because India’s education system, while turning out terrific engineers and computer programmers, stills leaves them with a cultural gap that presents a challenge to Western managers. And, nowhere is this more pronounced than in the way hierarchy manifests itself in the workplace.

This isn’t surprising because Indians are raised to have profound respect for parents, teachers and authority in general. When we teach culture, we often talk about the impact of religion and cultural heroes on cultural values of a country. There’s an illuminating Hindu tale about two brothers—Lord Ganesha and Lord Subramanya (Kartikya) who went to Lord Shiva to settle a dispute. The elder, wise lord gave them each a vessel filled with oil and asked them to travel around the universe without spilling a drop and that would settle the argument. Kartikya set about on his journey around the world and proudly returned showing how he had, indeed, not spilled a drop of oil. His brother, Ganesha, took the vessel and carefully walked around his parents and said, “My parents are the entire universe.”

Lord Ganesha

This devout honoring of parents transfers to teachers, leaders and the overall hierarchical structure of business. Of course, the Indian business leaders we work with realize that egalitarianism and being able to question business leaders is an important part of the business scene, and in general, they master the ability to function in an egalitarian environment. However, the deeply seated cultural values imbued in childhood are still present.

We saw this in an interesting way. While in Bangalore, we met with several clients. One of them described different brainstorming sessions, telling us an Indian leader will come to a brainstorming meeting with PowerPoint slides and charts because the leader is expected to have an underlying wisdom and expertise, so it would be inappropriate for him to walk in and “shoot from the hip.” While he will ask his subordinates for their ideas, he comes prepared with well thought-out concepts himself.

Charlene

Bangalore Skyline

“This is India,” our guide said to us, and indeed it is as different from New Delhi as I could imagine. The streets are wide; there are actually traffic signals and signs that say “Obey Traffic Rules” (which, of course, is relative). It is evident from the cars and billboards advertising international shops that this is a wealthy city.

Bangalore, The Silicon Valley of India

The Silicon Valley of India is laced with trees—Jacarandas, Acacias, Ficus—colonial-vintage buildings, and broad parkways feeding into congested roads where traffic snakes by. Entire clusters of glass high rise buildings form mini software cities, representing every major developer I’ve heard of and dozens that I’ve not. Driving through those areas, you feel you’re in familiar surroundings with coffee shops, global brands and men in crisply ironed shirts on motor bikes heading to work.

This is the India we hear about.

Charlene

Perfection is this Wonder of the World. It is take-your-breath-away awe-inspiring. This monument to eternal love (actually a mausoleum built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan who was inconsolable when his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal died) took over 20 years to build and employed over 20,000 builders and craftsmen.

Begun in 1631, the architecture is the most magnificent symmetry I’ve seen. It’s lyrical and mesmerizing, and as you get closer to the monument you realize why 20,000 workers took decades to carve the 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones into tiny flowers and mosaics. The marble is translucent and sensuous, changing color depending upon the lighting. Passages from the Koran decorate the outside. It’s pure perfection.

Charlene

From Delhi to Agra

Almost 6 hours to drive 120 miles! It defies words to describe the scene because so much of the experience comes from being immersed in it for hours.

People, people, people. A continuing, seemingly never-ending stream of humanity and the only comparison I have is the movies of refugees trudging across a border. But these are not refugees. They’re workers in their vibrant colored shirts, women in their saris of brilliant magenta, turquoise, iridescent yellow. The colors jump out at you against the ground, which is a persistent canvas of brown. These are people going to work, constantly on the move.

Animals begin to appear. First, an occasional dog and cow and then small groups of cows begin to intermingle with the people on the sides of the road. Lean-tos and blue plastic tents pepper the sides of the road, three-sided shelters that serve as stores and sleeping facilities appear. It’s interesting at first—even though I tried to mentally prepare myself with reading and movies—but the interest soon becomes the overwhelming understanding that I could pass millions of people if I stayed on this road long enough. The endlessness of the parade of hardships becomes oppressive.

GLNA Institute of Technology, Mathura

And, yet, as evidence of the growth of India, of its burgeoning importance in the world, of its enormous educated numbers, there are also rows and rows of heavy equipment—tractors and lorries for construction. Even more promising and imposing are huge white buildings representing educational institutions, scientific research facilities and medical centers.

It’s as if two eras are co-existing in this geographic space.

Charlene

It’s 8:30am on Saturday, rush hour on the road from New Delhi to Agra. I’m in Faridabad right now, in traffic that can’t quite be called chaos because people have an intention and they are trying to get to work, but frenzied, and you sense there are no rules.

People have warned me about the traffic and the roads in India, especially this one, but I’m from Los Angeles, so how surprised could I be, right?

We just passed an open bed truck with at least a dozen day laborers—men and women—sitting in the sun. Hundreds, thousands of bicycles and mopeds weave through the lanes with overflowing buses, tuktuks (three wheeled miniature taxis), oxen with carts, Toyota’s and huge lorries (trucks). The road is paved, but lanes are non-existent. It is a bizarre notion that this clogged artery really delivers people and goods to their destinations.

It becomes wild, like the most fantastic gridlock nightmare an American urbanite can imagine. We were on a divided two-lane highway when suddenly we came to complete standstill. There was an army convoy on the opposite side of the road that had stopped the traffic flow. Why did it make our side cease to move? Bus and truck drivers decided our side—heading in the opposite direction—would actually move faster. So, they crossed over to our side of the road and took one lane—head-on. They created a lane going in the opposite direction! Motor scooters, bikes, tuktuks (we counted 12 people inside and one person on top) joined the trucks and buses in the parade. Going fast, too.

What did traffic on our side of the road do? No problem. We created an additional lane where people were walking, animals were moving, cars were parked! No one seemed the least surprised this was happening. The amazing thing is that the road wasn’t strewn with bodies. And in spite of it all, and all the horn-honking, I didn’t sense any road rage.

Charlene

There is a legend (that I will check out) that there are seven cities of Delhi—having changed throughout history by different rulers and different groups. New Delhi is also a city under construction (or reconstruction). It is teeming with activity; construction everywhere, in an effort to get ready for the Commonwealth games in October. There are laborers here from all over India to help with the building. Unfortunately, you can see them living in tents alongside the construction sites. They move from job to job as one site finishes and the next commences.

Amid the dust of construction and heat, beautiful parks, large historical buildings and tree-lined streets abound.

Charlene

I’m off to India—the largest democracy in the world, the birthplace of Buddhism and Hinduism, and home to almost 1.2 billion people. Enigmatic to Westerners and yet a culture that we feel we know a bit. We also take for granted that high tech programmers are very likely to be from India and many of the call-center operators we interact with everyday will have an Indian accent.

It has offered the world the heights of spirituality and the brilliance of Gandhi alongside unimaginable poverty.

I’m off…and it’s sure to be life changing.

Charlene

RW3 CultureWizard

In a recent feature in the New York Times on the top paid Chief Executive Officers, a mere 6 out of 200 were women. I’ve listed their names and companies below:

+ Andrea Jung, Avon Products
+ Ellen J. Kullman, DuPont
+ Brenda C. Barnes, Sara Lee
+ Indra K. Nooyi, PepsiCo
+ Patricia A. Woertz, Archer Daniels Midland
+ Susan M. Ivey, Reynolds American

In the US, an egalitarian society, this statistic is a sign of the stronghold cultural norms have on positions of leadership. Furthermore, the vast majority of men in the list of C.E.O.’s are Caucasian with anglophone surnames. What is the underlying cultural message this report sends? Let us know what you think.

Charlene

RW3 CultureWizard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RW3 CultureWizard Launches State-of-the-Art Online Cultural Learning Platform

Responding to demand by multinational organizations for global business skills development, RW³ CultureWizard, the pioneer in online cultural learning, has created a cultural e-University

NEW YORK, New York—March 15, 2010—For the first time, businesspeople can establish a personalized online learning curriculum that responds to their individual business needs and challenges. CultureWizard 3.0 allows users to customize the learning track for their specific global business needs, learn and practice skills at their own pace and in their preferred learning style.

“Today’s adult learners expect information to be available to them as they need it and when they want it,” explains Michael Schell, RW3 CEO and President. “They look for information to be tactically applicable to real-life business situations. In a contemporary organization, everyone’s work requires sensitivity towards and awareness of culture and diversity. Everyone also needs skills that will enable them to transcend intercultural challenges and achieve their business objectives.”

Cultural dexterity is not intuitive, but it is learnable. CultureWizard 3.0 is an affordable, accessible platform through which everyone can become culturally competent. It contains a variety of training tools and informational components, all designed to provide users with the answers they need to be most productive and effective in their global companies. Users can frequently reference CultureWizard as their business need arises.

Amongst the most popular learning courses are a complete cultural training course, a self-assessment and culture calculator, a global teams tool, a virtual teams course, an assessment tool for international assignees, a global leadership course and culturally-based information on 135 countries.

Contact: Charlene Solomon
Charlene.Solomon@rw-3.com
+1 (212) 691-8900

About RW³ CultureWizard
RW3 spearheaded the cultural e-learning field in 2001 with ReloWizard, an online relocation facility, and reinvented the intercultural training model with CultureWizard. Today, RW3 continues to lead the industry in innovation with CultureWizard 3.0, a powerful resource that cuts the cost of traditional, in person training by supplanting it with a cadre of web-based tools, virtual classrooms and other cultural resources.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit RW³’s website

AFP

As 2009 comes to a close, perhaps the most important global event of the year is taking place now in Copenhagen at the climate summit. As we want to bring you a variety of viewpoints through the CultureWizard Digest, the following is a gathering of several different perspectives on the summit from around the world.

Guardian & Mail, South Africa: ‘Climate code red’ at UN talks, warns Nigeria

The Australian: Australia offers climate olive branch

Telegraph, UK: Copenhagen climate summit: Ed Miliband admits failings

Al Jazeera, Qatar: On board the climate express

The Globe and Mail, Canada: African countries stage three-hour boycott in Copenhagen

People’s Daily, China: Copenhagen, developing nations are unhappy

Chinaview: China says rich countries responsible for slow Copenhagen talks progress

What are your thoughts on the various perspectives these newspapers bring to the discussion surrounding this summit? Leave us a comment, we’re interested in hearing your thoughts.

Charlene

RW-3.com