How to Adapt Your Behavior Across Cultures - Essay Example

Book Review: Global Dexterity: How to Adapt Your Behavior Across Cultures without Losing Yourself in the Process of the of the University – Date - Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.Introduction 3 2.Key Observations 4 1.1Understanding Global Dexterity 4 1.2Diagnosing and defining a new cultural code 5 3.Major Learning 6 3.1Overcoming Personal Challenges by customizing one’s personal culture integrating the learning through rehearsal 6 4.Conclusion & Recommendations 7 4.1The Way Forward – A Plan for Progress 7 References 9 1. Introduction The following review of Andy Molinsky work, “Global Dexterity: How to Adapt Your Behavior Across Cultures without Losing Yourself in the Process”, will include a summary of the book’s contents, with a special focus on its strengths and weaknesses. In this thought-provoking piece, the author has outlined a vivid approach of how economic concept of globalization cuts across cultural divides and boundaries. In this book, the author applies a very practical approach of a Japanese business case to explain on the problems and prospects of communication across a cross-cultural management. It expands beyond the realm of merely acknowledging the differences but adapting to the cultural context, not at the cost of authentic self-interests. It can be intriguing and extremely frightening as people are expected to expand beyond their comfort zones. This relates to a special skill that is critically important for managing and communicating on a regular basis in business. Andy Molinsky calls this global dexterity. This book encompasses some key aspects of adapting the appropriate behaviour for a new cultural context, while retaining the authenticity and grounded approach of one’s traditional beliefs. The outputs of more than a decade of research, teaching, and consultation with the managers and executives, has indicated on this essential skill that enables one to adapt to switching environments and overcome the psycho-sociological barriers of a cross-cultural work environment (Holden, 2002). This book is more of a guidebook and can steward a mentoring process to build confidence among people who go out to work in a foreign environment, without letting themselves loose in the process. In the following sections, the essay tries to review the critically emergent issues through the discourse of the book and analyse them in the light of their potential benefits for students, pursuing higher education and nurturing a desire to work in foreign settings. The field of organizational research and cross-cultural communication does not consider the psychological perspectives of expatriate settlement and adjustment in a foreign setting. This book is a breakthrough invention in this direction to pave the way to further research on cultural dexterity. 2. Key Observations The major themes of discussion in this book revolve around the key concepts of, explaining on Global Dexterity, Psychological Challenges of Global Dexterity, Diagnosing and defining a new cultural code, Overcoming the challenges by customizing one’s personal culture and integrating the learning through rehearsal. This book concludes by providing a plan for charting the progress over time. 1.1 Understanding Global Dexterity According to Molinsky, Global dexterity relates to ability to adapt to varied cultures without losing individual authenticity in the process. For a person entering into a foreign culture, through work or stay, are likely to experience situations where one’s comfortable self is put to question and test. For example, for an American-born executive, working in Tokyo, he has to learn to communicate with his immediate Japanese employees. In that case, the person’s causal and natural style of exclaiming needs to be adapted to as been practiced in Japan. For a new entrant into the culture, this might be a little cumbersome or even embarrassing. In such situations, it is necessary to be able to shift one’s cultural perceptions in an effective manner, appropriate to the new setting, while preserving one’s sense of authenticity. The author calls it “fitting in without giving in. This psychological behaviour of “switching” or “adapting” to a new cultural setting has the ulterior motive of teaching people how to adapt to new business environments across cultures and not compromising their authenticity at the same time. 21st century analysis of globalization by Thomas L. Friedman, views the world as a evened-out -playing field like structure, wherein all competitors have similar opportunities. That is to say that in the present order of viewing the “World Is Flat” (Friedman, 2005), links to the perceptual connection among companies, countries and individuals to remain competitive in a global market. The geographical and cultural differences do not matter in this case. This book further extends beyond the usual theoretical premise of cross-cultural communication to individual preferences where people in businesses are capable of moving around smoothly and seamlessly fitting across different cultures. Through simple display of etiquettes and learning mannerisms of how to bow or shake hands helps professionals in performing well in the work environment and earning good feedback. 1.2 Diagnosing and defining a new cultural code There is not much research performed on the psychological processes involved on expatriate’s adjustment in a new organizational setting. The problems of cognitive dissonance in adopting a culturally different environment, affects their professional outcomes or sets in a tendency for easy departure. Situational and individual differences influence causal cultural relationships (Hofstede, 1993; Maertz, Hassan & Magnusson, 2009). The key differences between western styles of management with Asian cultures have been critically treated by Molinsky in this book with the help of cultural codes. For example, the western working culture treats subordinates as equal to their bosses in decision-making, while the Asian Chinese cultural codes are variedly hierarchical. Here, the national culture of any country, such as India, Germany, China, doesn’t matter in determining the cultural code and is dependent on other factors (Mahadevan, 2013). There are other factors of regional differences, organizational culture of the concern and the personal background of the individual who interacts in the culturally varied environment. For someone doing business in China or India, knowing the Chinese or Indian mentality is necessary. Also, it matters where the business meeting or interview is being held, whether in a rural village in the Sichuan Province of China or a shinning and towering office space in Shanghai. Another factors is of organizational culture, that directs on how an individual interact with their bosses at Google is quite different from how you interact with your boss at Microsoft or Intel. Meetings at traditional, bureaucratic organizations would be different from the ones held at small start-ups. On a final note, the personal background of an individual, who is interacting with partners in the foreign setting, becomes another determinant his cultural adaptability. For example, one who has to deal with a core ethnic group will have different experiences than while dealing with groups of people with varied experiences. 3. Major Learning 3.1 Overcoming Personal Challenges by customizing one’s personal culture integrating the learning through rehearsal The best strategy is not to “fake” adapting to the new culture by acting as this might create indifferences. This is because one really needs to learn and internationalise a new role in an effective manner in the new setting by being true to oneself. One also needs to find a way to modify the role to be proficient yet authentic in cross- cultural setting. It begins by immersing oneself in the foreign culture with the right preparations. One needs to learn on how to behave in a particular foreign cultural environment. The business elements of giving feedback to a peer, or pitching in a business environment, or even when negotiating a deal, one needs to attentively apply the typical cultural characteristics and then try out with the improvised behavioural approach in real situations to see how it feels. The next course of action would be to welcome feedback on the applied foreign ‘script’ to adjust and customize on the style. Usually, a trusted feedback comes primarily from the colleagues, who familiarise a person with the new cultural norms and the possible challenges that one can face. It is advisable to identify a mentor who is aware and compassionate about the probable challenges one might face and provide concrete advices on smart adaptation in the foreign environment. There is a difference between a written and actually communicated message in a cross-cultural environment as people interpret it as per their convenience. The channel of communication is broken when one stops learning. Assumptively, people with an inherent capability to gauge “cultural intelligence” or “global mindset” would be the most successful. Molinsky, in his book, ascribes it to the principle of cultural dexterity that enables people to learn about the foreign setting to well adapt to it. 4. Conclusion & Recommendations 4.1 The Way Forward – A Plan for Progress This book is an actual accolade of the author’s year long experience in different cross-cultural environments, from his education days till present times, as an educator and a practitioner. One message draws clear that with proper motivation and the tools as outlined in the book, any worker can effectively perform in a foreign cultural setting. As the way forward for students pursuing MBA (Masters of Business Management) and want to work in foreign cross-cultural settings, the programmes only prepare them to come and explore foreign cultures. It is only through real-ground experiences in challenging environments that helps students to actually perform in such settings. The skill of global dexterity is critical for small businesses as the cultural differences could be well implicated in a small organizational structure. The tools and perspectives explored in the book could pave the way forward for building research in the realm of organizational development for large and multi-national organizations. References Friedman, T. L. (2006). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. London: Macmillan. Hofstede, G. (1993). Cultural Constraints In Management Theories. The Academy of Management Executive, 7(1), 81-94. Holden, N. (2002). Cross-Cultural Management: A Knowledge Management Perspective. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Maertz, Jr., Hassan, C. P. A. & Magnusson, P. (2009). When Learning Is Not Enough: A Process Model of Expatriate Adjustment as Cultural Cognitive Dissonance Reduction. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108(1), 66-78. Mahadevan, J. (2013). Performing Interplay Through Intercultural Simulations Insights On Tacit Culture In A Taiwanese–German Management Team. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management. 13(3), 243-263. Molinsky, A. (2013). Global dexterity: how to adapt your behavior across cultures without losing yourself in the process. Harvard: Harvard Business Review Press. Read More