An article in the Washington Post notes the growing dominance of Wal-Mart stores in countries outside the US.

The company…opened its annual shareholder meeting last week with Bollywood-style dancers, Asian balancing acts and Brazilian martial artists representing some of the 14 foreign countries in which Wal-Mart operates. Last year, its international division topped $100 billion in sales for the first time and this year it is expected to surpass the United States in number of stores.

We’ve written about the company’s successes and failures in countries around the world, and it has learned to embrace the cultures of its customers in a truly robust fashion. Ultimately, Wal-Mart has found a way to bring value to its global audience in a culturally aware way, which has influenced its success.

Have you been to a Wal-Mart business outside of the US? We’d love to hear about your thoughts on the approach the discount retailer takes and its reputation in the countries it currently operates in, e.g. Argentina, China, Mexico and the UK. Let us know what you think.

Click here to read the full article, “As growth in U.S. slows, Wal-Mart puts more emphasis on foreign stores”.

Paul

RW3 CultureWizard

“Behavior and communication are interpreted through a cultural filter. As global thinkers with international and multicultural experiences increasingly interact with each other in the business world, opportunities for misunderstanding and communication breakdowns increase. Dubberke offers methods for identifying cultural clues among your colleagues and clients and how to best use them for addressing communication issues.”

RW3 CultureWizard

“In terms of lessons for managers elsewhere, one of the most important things is that Indian leaders lead with a sense of social purpose,” said Peter Cappelli, professor of management at Wharton University of Pennsylvania.

“He said every leader interviewed gave a specific social purpose as being the goal of their business. Those purposes ranged from improving healthcare in India, to getting cell phones to people who don’t have access to communication tools, and proving to the international community that Indian companies can lead in IT.”

Motivation in India tends to be fueled by social purpose, along with the well-being of one’s family and work-life balance. Building this purpose into the mission or function of each person’s role within a company reaps true benefits in India. However, would this motivate workers in other parts of the world?

Training and development is also a very important part of working at an Indian firm. “IT firms typically allocate 60 days of formal training for new hires and companies often spend months training even experienced workers hired from other firms.” Given the surge in offshoring and outsourcing over the past years, intercultural and language training have surely been a large part of this.

The article also states that U.S. companies don’t invest in their employees as they do in India, considering the lost investment should the employee quit. Does your organization invest heavily in training and development? What are the expectations of new hires? What kind of training options are on offer?

Click here to read the CNN article online.

RW-3.com

Paul

RW3 CultureWizard

* Canada is #1 overall place to live as an expatriate
* Australia comes in at #2 and Thailand at #3
* China, UK, Russia and India scored poorly for quality of life
* In terms of making local friends, UAE was at the top and Brazil at the bottom
* Expats joined the most local community groups in Singapore, and the least in Bahrain

* In general, expats experience a higher quality of life
* Large salaries and a high standard of living aren’t mutually exclusive

Most interestingly, “…the luckiest expats for finding love were found in Thailand – some 47% admit finding love since moving to the country. This is in stark contrast to the worldwide average of just 20%.” Since the experience is different for everyone, it would be interesting to see a detailed breakdown of responses according to respondents’ country of origin. This could help readers understand how the results would match their own national and cultural background.

Where have you had the best and/or worst expatriate experience? How has culture played a role in your experience?

Paul

RW-3.com