In a Financial Times article, an INSEAD professor writes about the changes that are crucial to the future of MBA programs.

“Two things need to change. MBA programmes need to become more global. Our research shows that high performance is evenly distributed across the world. Business schools thus need to scour the globe for role models, innovative ideas and the best students. The MBA curriculum and experience needs more global cases, more discussions of multicultural issues and more comparisons of international ways of doing business.”

This sounds a lot like what NYU’s Stern School of Business is trying to do. Are you in an MBA program that explores intercultural business skills and offers multicultural business projects? Do you agree that cultural competence, the ability to effectively communicate and work across cultures, is an important attribute of a modern MBA graduate? Let us know.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Sean

RW3 CultureWizard

A compendium of current news and headlines with commentary providing unique cultural insight into global affairs, business and daily life around the world.

Check out CultureWizard Digest #23 here!

* The Winter Olympics and Globalization
* Female Bankers in India
* Changing Attitudes in China
* Taciturn Toyota Culture

CultureLinks
+ China’s Candidate for Global Gay Competition
+ NYU’s New Global Focus
+ Mumbai’s Luxury Car Show

CultureTips
+ Greece
+ Egypt

RW-3.com

A compendium of current news and headlines with commentary providing unique cultural insight into global affairs, business and daily life around the world.

Check out CultureWizard Digest #21 here!

* Climate Summit News Wrap-up
* Entrepreneurial Spirit, New Jobs
* Interpreters in Afghanistan
* How to Create Global Leaders

CultureLinks
+ Expat Explorer Survey
+ “Western men are doomed”
+ Managing Multicultural Teams

CultureTips
+ Afghanistan
+ Mauritius

RW-3.com

A recent Fortune article recognizes that companies that are best at developing leaders are those that have taken a long term perspective with their employees. To ensure the quality of their leadership, companies invest in their most promising candidates by requiring them to go on global developmental assignments. Most return with global, cross-cultural skills to effectively build the company’s presence in the global marketplace, which is where most now look to for revenue.

IBM came in at number one in the world for developing leaders in Fortune’s “Top Companies for Leaders” in 2009. One of IBM’s Corporate Service Corps teams was assigned to market locally crafted Ghanaian products around the world. The job “stretched me in a way we all absolutely need,” and “it gave us a shake in perspective,” said one of the team members.

“Developmental assignments like his are among the most important tools that great companies use to build leaders — and that average companies rarely use at all,” according to the article.

“The importance of such assignments and how they’re being adapted to pay off in today’s global economy are two of the strongest messages emerging from the research behind our new ranking of the world’s Top Companies for Leaders.”

International assignments have had a history marked with a mixture of success and failure, but perhaps this doesn’t need to repeat itself because you can learn the skills to adapt to other cultures, and to be successful in a global function. Individuals must spend significant time learning how to adjust their behavior to successfully interact with people from around the world (and before this, to recognize that there’s a cultural gap between themselves and their counterparts in other countries). Intercultural learning is another investment that many global companies make to prepare their leaders-in-the-making, especially in tandem with global assignments. Another key point is that as the global marketplace has grown, companies are recognizing how crucial it is that their leaders understand the range of global markets in which the company operates.

Click here to jump to the article.

Sean

RW-3.com

An Indonesian blogger who works in the IT industry posted some very lucid thoughts on what it means to work on a multicultural team, how this impacts companies who use offshore vendors and how cultural awareness will lead to productivity gains.

“When companies outsource human resources, one of the criteria it looks for is a cultural fit. Often candidates who are capable of topmost positions are often eliminated on the ground of cultural mismatch as they are unable to justify themselves to be adaptable to a different set of cultural attributes.” In other words, technically qualified individuals have not been successful when they lack cultural awareness.

The blogger recommends the following:

“Acclimatize to the different…culture” and “accept the opinion of others gladly. This does not mean that you should hamper your work. You should be able to influence the other person too towards one’s own opinion. You need to understand the language, working style, religion and many more things need to be understood and taken up in order to get the work done.”

Learning culture is not a simple process, but one that takes effort and much observation. “Gain insight into the other culture: This requires an ample of hard work and this will also take time…to gain knowledge of the living and working style.”

How do you feel about the importance of culture in the workplace?

Click here to read the blog post.

Charlene

RW-3.com

In China last week, President Obama used a combination of diplomatic finesse and technological know-how to invite a question from an online viewer via Twitter regarding China’s “great firewall,” or its strict internet censorship policies (click here to read about it in the New York Times). His indirect communication style helped him to convey the message in a subtle way, which appeased his young audience without offending China’s leaders. “Face” is one of the most important cultural concepts in Asia, and President Obama successfully avoided damaging his Chinese counterpart’s “face” while addressing an important, sensitive topic.

Read an opinion piece in the South China Morning Post that highlights Obama’s non-confrontational and culturally sensitive approach to Asia.

Click here to watch CCTV’s (China Central Television) coverage of President Obama’s arrival to the Chinese capital and initial meeting with President Hu Jintao. We found it interesting that the broadcaster in this clip emphasized how he shortened his stay in Japan and South Korea, but did not change his schedule in China. What kind of culturally-rooted communication style is this broadcaster using, and what is he implying? What other thoughts do you have about the tour in Asia?

Since cultural understanding is crucial to international relations, we are offering our next Pocket Guide in the series, which is on China. If you’d like to receive this, please click here.

Charlene

RW-3.com

+ Culturally and emotionally, Argentines often appear more European than Latin American. Most Argentines are of European descent, unlike other Latin American countries where European and Indian cultures are more mixed.

+ While Argentines are more group-oriented than North Americans, they are less so than their South American neighbors. In fact, one of Argentina’s favorite symbols is the gaucho — the legendary plainsman who is an independent, brave, loyal and generous warrior.

+ Argentines believe in being open and direct, yet pride themselves on being tactful and diplomatic. Their communication may also be indirect, elaborate, and complimentary. Argentines are warm and effusive and do not hide their passion or sentimentality.

+ Argentines prefer not to disagree in public, so do not misinterpret situations where no one challenges your statements or opinions. Decisions are often based upon the personal preference of the decision maker, which is why spending time to develop trust and personal relationships is crucial.

+ Avoid high-pressure sales tactics, which are seen as confrontational.

+ Business attire is conservative, yet stylish. Argentines may judge people on their appearance, especially their shoes. Leather goods are extremely important among Argentines.

- from RW3’s CultureWizard® Country Profiles

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+ Confucian thought influences the position of the individual in Korean culture. It is a system of behaviors and ethics that stresses the obligations of people towards one another based upon their relationship. The five basic relationships are:

Ruler and subject
Husband and wife
Parents and children
Brothers and sisters
Friend and friend

+ Chusok is a Korean holiday of giving thanks. It occurs during the harvest season and Korean families thank their ancestors for providing them with rice and fruit. On Chusok, people cook and set out food to celebrate their ancestors.

+ Kibun is a word with no literal translation; the closest terms are mood, feelings or state of mind. If you hurt someone’s kibun, you hurt their pride and cause them to lose dignity and face. Korean interpersonal relationships operate on the principle of harmony. It is important to maintain a peaceful, comfortable atmosphere, even if it means telling a being slightly untruthful.

+ In business, for example, a manager’s kibun is damaged if his subordinates do not show proper respect. A subordinate’s kibun is damaged if his manager criticizes him in public.

+ Greetings are friendly and follow strict rules of protocol. The most common greeting is a bow accompanied by the phrase “Anyanghasaeyo,” which literally means “Are you well?” and is generally translated as “Hello.” Many South Koreans shake hands with foreigners after the bow, thereby blending cultural styles.

+ Most executives’ offices are not on the same floor as their staffs’. Seniority is equated with rank and authority and demands strict conformity to a meticulously prescribed protocol. At the same time, South Koreans are amenable to adopting Western concepts of management.

+ Since this is a hierarchical culture, most decisions are made at the top and then given to the employees to implement.

- from RW3’s CultureWizard® Country Profiles

RW-3.com

At a media conference in New Delhi this week, Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, said “We feel that solutions which have been devised by us around the world, cannot be imposed here. The company needs to find unique solutions for India.” She also noted that the country was in the top three markets for the company, and that they intend to foster a cultural awareness of India to produce the most relevant products. For global corporations, culture becomes an ally when marketing and selling to diverse populations. We’ve seen how PepsiCo approached China (click here to read a related post).

What do you think it takes to achieve success in the Indian consumer market?

Click here to jump to the article on the Hindustan Times website.

Josh

RW-3.com