Preventing culture clash

At the humorous level cultural differences provide very funny stories. But when shock becomes clash levels of efficiency are hit and companies as well as individuals can suffer.

There are only three things wrong with the Americans : " they're overpaid, oversexed and over here ". is the epigram which immortalises the culture clash between the British and the Americans during World War II.

The war may be over but in many British businessmen's eyes the clash between Brits and Americans goes on. Culture clashes are not exclusive to UK/US relations. Tensions manifest themselves whenever an expatriate from on culture goes to live and work in another.

These tensions and clashes can translate into a considerate drop in efficiency to the expatriate employee - as much as 50 per cent in the first few months _ say Paris-based consultants Inter Cultural Management Associates, ICM has produced a wealth of case studies showing just how badly clashes between cultures can affect not only the expatriate worker but also international businesses.

Take the following example. The chief executive of a US multinational arrives in Paris to meet the managers of the French company it has just bought. His address to the audience of expectant French employees is couched in the language of transatlantic " direct management ".

" Gentlemen ", he begins, " there are two types of men in this room : those who will stay with us and those who will leave ". In the US such a message would be interpreted as a ritual gauntlet throwing - a direct appeal for commitment to the new challenges ahead. In France it is decoded as a redundancy announcement. The result is trade union agitation and an immediate confidence crisis.

Direct management, direct trouble

Difficulties are often exacerbated when cultures appear close or not too dissimilar. The impact on efficiency may not be as severe but the difficulties can be more insidious.

David Ellison, the director of the Centre for International Briefing at Farnham Castle, likens it to an invitation to dance. Imagine, he says, being asked to dance the paso doble by a Brazilian : " You'd probably refuse to do it in public until you'd had some lessons first ". But you wouldn't have the same inhibitions if asked to waltz by an American - only to find yourself tripping over your partner's feet and feeling embarrassed in public because the Americans dance the waltz very differently from the British.

The problem is that where expatriates going off to Moscow may be given all sorts of help, those going an to apparently similar culture, such as the US, are far less likely to get any help on how to cope.

Clashes come down to subtleties like the level of individualism in British and American cultures. " The Americans like to think they're team players but they aren't really. They are individuals within teams. At a very early age they are taught to strive to be winners. Impossible dreams are fundamental to their culture. They believe anyone can be president ", says M. Ellison.

The American approach is very " unforgiving, brusque, and open to the point of rudeness in the eyes of the European ", he adds. By contrast the English and Europeans are better team players because they have collective sensitivity and tend to think about the impact of what they do on other people - " although compared to the Chinese and Malaysians the British are roaring individualists ".

British humour may at best irritate and at worst offend

The efficiency of the UK expatriate in the US may only drop by 10 per cent to 90 per cent, but American culture demands 100 per cent efficiency immediately says Mr Ellison. It may be better in these circumstances, he says, " to go to your boss and stay " I want to observe for a while " but it's hard not to be intimidated ". The temptation is to dive in without assessing how things are done in an attempt to be seen to perform. " This can do a lot of damage ", he adds.

Not that the cultural clash is one-sided. Expatriates have to consider their own cultural prejudices, and their own impact on their hosts. " Cultural differences are not because the host country is being bloody minded ", says Mr Ellison. Nor should they be dismissed. Cultural misunderstandings often end up in an impasse with the expatriate ending up cross, angry and frustrated and blaming his host country workers for being either lazy, inefficient or unbusinesslike. What he has to do is apply a little moral relatively. He must realise that different cultures apply different priorities and, for instance, have different notions of time.

Time is the subject of many a joke. When the Spanish ambassador said to his Irish counterpart : " Tell me, do the Irish understand the Spanish concept of " manana " ? His Irish counterpart replied doubtfully, " Yes, but nothing so precise ". But time is also a tool to gain power - for instance, making people wait is either rude or a strategy to assert superiority.

Take your time

Time is also the source of huge frustrations. Marc Raynaud, director of ICM, reminds expatriates of the African notion of time where " just now " means nothing more urgent than some time in the future.

Again, says Mr Ellison, what comes as more of a culture shock is the difference between the notions of time in cultures which are apparently close - for instance, an American's sense of time and a Frenchman's : " the French are likely to be far less committed ".

Clearly there is danger in applying national caricatures and stereotypes, and expatriates are likely to find them increasingly irritating when applied to them, whether it's the British stiff upper lip or football hooliganism. Indeed, breaking down prejudices can create considerable pressure on the expatriate.

Yet nationals do display some common characteristics. The British tendency, says David Ellison, is to use British humour which may at best irritate and at worst offend. " People in the Middle East don't understand the British lack of taboos and how the British can joke about religion, sex or politics ", he says. But the expatriate needs to understand the Arab attitude to religion and women, or he could end up in goal he adds.

ICM's Marc Raynaud agrees and warns : " Until we come into contact with another culture, we are often blissfully unaware of our own cultural identity " - wherever we come from.

He goes on to highlight gaps in perception between the French expatriate and his host country workers - which anyone who has worked with the French may enjoy : " Regular studies on the image of businessmen abroad show that, as far as top management is concerned, the image of the French executive is not all that positive. This comes as a surprise to many of our [French] compatriots ".

But his comment applies to any expatriate. As he says : " An expatriate is not a messiah figure, eagerly awaited by the local population, and what he says will not automatically be taken as ex cathedra. This attitude, embarrassingly common among some French executives, may explain why our image abroad leaves a lot to be desired ".

M. Raynaud reckons the most important quality of an expatriate is not technical brilliance " but adaptability ". Second is technical brilliance, third is mastery of the language.

Top tips

There is one more thing expatriates and companies should seriously consider before leaving home for it can have a greater impact on performance than any of the above.

Before anything else, M. Raynaud urges would-be expats to consider the impact of a move on their spouses. " The experience of countless expatriates has shown that an expatriation can bring a close-knit family even closer, but it can rarely solve pre-existing family problems. A partner who has had to leave a job ... or a family ... will be even more frustrated and irritated by myriad local problems encountered in a new country, not to mention the feeling of being in a " fish bowl " all the time. A marriage which is already unstable can be completely shattered by the experience".

Surveys consistently show that the single biggest factor in failed expatriations is unhappiness of spouses whose problems tend to be much greater than those of their working partners

" It's undoubtedly more difficult for spouses ", say s Mr Ellison. " They don't have the same support structures and routines. Often they are left at home, not speaking the language, having to get used to domestic staff for the first time, or dealing with local telephone company engineers. And the vast majority of spouses don't get any help from their partner's employers ".

There are four phases of adaptation to a foreign culture, M. Raynaud reckons :

M. Raynaud comes up with some useful tips on how to cope with moving jobs :

David Ellison adds :

Inter Cultural Management Associates (ICM) is a Paris-based consulting firm which since 1983 has helped managers and organizations work effectively across cultural orders, be they national, corporate or functional.

Inter Cultural Management Associates

2, rue de l'Eglise ­ 92200 Neuilly sur Seine

icm@icmassociates.com