Preparing for Global Success
Daimler is preparing its people for such success on a global scale. In recent years, Daimler has been in the process of outsourcing financial accounting functions from multiple countries to the Philippines. People who have processed accounting functions in Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea are working with counterparts in the Philippines to transfer knowledge about such processes so that they may be consolidated in the Philippines. The Daimler Corporate Academy has launched a Corporate Awareness Training (CAT) series in response to this business decision.
Of course, “Adding value by consolidating functions involved a lot more than changing organizational charts” stated one of the consultants invited to facilitate the process. “The human side of that diagram is the tricky part.”
The Relationship Between Business and Cultural Competence
When the concepts of “business” and “cultural competence” find their way into the same conversation, the question of how the two are mutually-relevant is often asked. It’s a reasonable question. How is it that the objective, quantifiable bottom-line of business is partnered with the subjective, qualitative learning journey of cultural competence? In this “unlikely” marriage, is the explanation simply that opposites attract?
The relationship between good business and cultural competence is vital because business is necessarily driven by people, and people are necessarily driven by culture. In basic terms, culture is the set of beliefs, values, assumptions and behaviors generally shared by a specific group of people. Organizational culture characterizes an inanimate and “imagined community” of people within an organizational context. Despite the undeniable power of organizational culture, organizations are necessarily powered by people. People—and their culturally-informed perceptions and practices—drive business even as they allow themselves to be driven by it. Those who know that people are more powerful than the organizations within which they work are the same change-makers who invest in the development of the people who bear the fruit of business success.
Balancing Global and Local
While business may be considered a science to some, the human management of business is an art. Tokyo-based intercultures consultant, Joseph Shaules, who was also on the Daimler consulting team, was familiar with the scenario. Speaking to the Daimler case within the general context of international business, he stated, “This is part of globalization, right? This is global companies trying to find the right synergy integrating unified global systems and local markets and local staff.” When asked what he learned from his participation in the Daimler series, Joseph shared: “If things were easy, there wouldn’t be cross-cultural consultants. Every time [one engages with an intercultural consulting project] you see very smart people, very competent people who are struggling. And, the situations they’re in are very challenging. I’m always learning about their industry, their job, strategies that companies are trying out in their trying to get ahead. [As an intercultural trainer] you get an internal peek at the challenges of trying to get international companies to achieve this synergy.”
Meet the Facilitators
Additional intercultures consultants who have served to facilitate training sessions thus far for the Daimler transition include Taruni Falconer and Karen Huchendorf in Australia; Keith Teo in Singapore; and PD Dr. habil Claude-Hélène Mayer, PhD and Kathi Tarantal in South Africa. In the span of 16 months, they have collectively facilitated the following trainings:
- Sept. 2012, Melbourne: A total of 33 participants from the Philippines and Australia
- April 2013 at the Singapore Flyer[ii]: A total of 28 participants from the Philippines and Singapore
- Oct. 2013, Pretoria: A total of 45 participants from the Philippines and South Africa
- July 2013, Tokyo: A total of 16 participants from the Philippines and Japan
The CAT Program at Daimler
For Daimler, the transition of accounting functions was a corporate business matter for which they chose a people-driven solution. The selection of the names for related learning processes, “Daimler Corporate Academy” and “Corporate Awareness Training” (CAT) are revealing of Daimler’s priority to orient employees into their corporate culture. The anticipated CAT outcomes were clearly linked with business objectives: Participants were to “recognize the importance of being aware of different factors to work successfully internationally, and have procedural methods for their cooperation/ project/ situation in mind and agree on a commitment” (Daimler Corporate Academy, Detailed CAT Concept). A definition of success factors for enhanced cooperation within the stakeholder groups was desired so that leadership could realize successful completion of their plans for consolidation. Further, it is not surprising that a corporation whose organizational culture is significantly influenced by German national culture selected a German-based consultancy to trust with the management of the global complexity they experienced.
The Influence of Culture
If the cultural differences and need for cultural competence between work teams were not obvious before the training, they became apparent in the initial hours of the one-day training sessions. The following incidents demonstrate the permeating influence of culture within Daimler’s participating business groups, as observed by trainers.
In Singapore:
- The Filipinos were teased by the Singaporeans for their food culture of eating balut (or balot), a developing duck embryo that is eaten in the shell. “Who would eat duck fetus!,” teased the Singaporeans…until the Filipinos challenged the Singaporeans to do the same. Keith commended that, “From [one] Southeast Asian country to another Southeast Asian country, people don’t know each other well even though we are from the same part of the world.” He suggested a common platform (e.g., a love of food culture) to start dialogue. “From there, hopefully,” said Keith, “they will launch into deeper conversations.”
In Melbourne:
- According to Karen and Taruni, “The Team Leads had different objectives [for the training], reflecting their own cultural backgrounds and the teams they [were] leading. The Filipino Team Lead wanted to break the ice; the Australian Team Lead, to deal with defensiveness/ resistance to working together.”
In Pretoria:
- Approximately 80% of the 50 participants were South African. According to Claude-Hélène, “the South African context…was a challenge because in post-apartheid South Africa, people across cultures are just in the process of learning about members of different cultural groups.” Claude-Hélène also shared that, “In fact, the training was inadvertently scheduled on a Muslim holy day. That could have been considered upfront, not to affect Muslim participants.”
In Tokyo:
- Participants were asked to stand and take out whatever they use to plan their daily schedules. The Japanese looked at their bags to retrieve their planners. “The Filipinos remarked on the fact that every single Japanese had one.”
With the perceived oddities, culture-driven tactics, inadvertent oversights, and business culture assumptions listed above, Daimler would have been preparing to fail if they had failed to prepare. Instead, Daimler’s preparation of the people that run their business demonstrated an investment in their greatest asset.
And, the Beat Goes On…
The next half of this two-part article will examine how the consultant team carried out Daimler’s business objectives for the training series in ways that uniquely fit the “cultural competence gap” within each training group. How is mutual confidence and trust built between two teams of different national cultures when one group is uncertain of their job security, and the other is uncertain of how to understand their new job from someone who works and communicates differently? How can training for a multi-national, multiethnic and multi-racial group be navigated when one country alone experiences persistent ethnic and racial divides? How does a group made up of relatively conflict-avoidant people begin a conversation about managing conflict in the workplace? These are the real and relevant questions that link international business with cultural competence. “The word ‘international’ sounds cool,” said Joseph in an interview for this article, “but the reality is you’re always dealing with a gap between people…There are always unknowns. It’s very difficult to turn that gap into synergy.”
All consultants cited in this article are partnered with intercultures.
- Taruni Falconer is a culture coach and intercultural communication professional based near Melbourne, Australia. She has 30 years experience in the field.
- Karen Huchendorf is a culture competence coach has practiced in the intercultural field since the mid-1970s. She is based in Coffs Harbour, midway between Sydney and Brisbane.
- PD Dr. habil Claude-Hélène Mayer, PhD is an intercultural consultant and professor of Management and Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She splits her time betwen Pretroia and Grahamstown, South Africa and Frankfurt, Germany.
- Dr. Joseph Shaules is an intercultural consultant and professor. He is based in Tokyo, Japan, where he lives with his wife.
- Kathi Tarantal is a cultural and diversity consultant and trainer with 17 years experience. She lives near Johannesburg, South Africa with her family.
- Keith Teo specializes in intercultural consultancy and training. He is based in Singapore, and enjoys his 40 weeks of travel every year, meeting people, discovering cultures.
The above article was included in the Apr. 2014 intercultures e-newsletter as the first of a two-part article on a multi-year training series carried out by Daimler[i].
[i] Daimler AG is a German multinational automotive corporation. Daimler AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. By unit sales, it is the thirteenth-largest car manufacturer and second-largest truck manufacturer in the world.
[ii] Singapore Flyer: The world’s largest Ferris wheel.
Picture Credit Title Picture: Getty Images.