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Gislen Cultural Challenges seminar
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- 2. Who am I? • Studied engineering at Chalmers for 1 year in the early 1980’s • IT experience from Sweden from the 1980’s and early 1990’s • Went to India in 1993 and started Gislen Software • Broad personal experience of Requirement Acquisition, Software Architecture and design and development • Education B. Sc. Economics and M. Sc. Informatics • Researched cultural challenges as well as challenges between Agile development and TQM 2
- 3. Gislen Software • Gislen Software works with well known Swedish and Norwegian clients such as TNS-Sifo, SKF, SAS, Swedish Match, ABB, PostNord, Q-Free (Road Toll) and Fara (Public Transportation) • Also with various start-ups; Intreat, ArchOver • Green field Development mainly in Microsoft Dot Net, Apple and Android technologies • Integration Services using Tibco and Biztalk
- 4. How others see Sweden... “Effectively a one-party state – albeit supported by a couple of shadowy industrialist families – for much of the 20th century, "neutral" Sweden (one of the world largest arms exporters) continues to thrive economically thanks to its distinctive brand of totalitarian modernism, which curbs freedoms, suppresses dissent in the name of consensus, and seems hell-bent on severing the bonds between wife and husband, children and parents, and elderly on their children. Think of it as the China of the north.” The Guardian 27/1/2014
- 7. Agenda • Challenges • What is culture • Cultural dimensions • Some typical challenges • How to mitigate and get result • Anecdotes and experiences will be mentioned throughout
- 8. Challenges with outsourcing • Non defined expectations • Unclear requirements • Poor governance • Cultural challenges
- 9. BUT WHAT IS CULTURE?
- 10. What is culture? “The total way of life of a particular group of people.” “Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another.” Geert Hofstede, 1980
- 11. In principle ... there is a generalized framework that underlies the more apparent and striking facts of cultural relativity. All cultures constitute so many somewhat distinct answers to essentially the same questions posed by human biology and by the generalities of the human situation. ... Every society's patterns for living must provide approved and sanctioned ways for dealing with such universal circumstances as the existence of two sexes; the helplessness of infants; the need for satisfaction of the elementary biological requirements such as food, warmth, and sex; the presence of individuals of different ages and of differing physical and other capacities. Clyde Kluckhohn, 1962 What is culture?
- 12. What is culture? Cultures consist of behavioural patterns that can be identified and measured. These patterns form a framework for analysing cultures. You can use the framework to your competitive advantage to promote trust and predict how people will respond to situations. Geert Hofstede, 1980
- 17. Clashes Indian/Asian Swedish/Western Hierarchial Flat Learning through listening Learning through questioning and dialogue Management resp for outcome Management resp for supervision Worker resp. to do what told Worker resp. for outcome Focus on great past Focus on exciting future Collective improvement Individual achievement
- 18. Model for how we understand and act 18 Δ Individualism Δ Face saving behaviour Δ H/L Context Geogr. distance Δ Time Zone Δ Uncertainty Avoidance Psychic Distance Stimuli Decision maker’s sensitivity to PD stimuli Δ Power Distance Perceived Psychic distance Managerial Decisions Education International Exprience Age Δ Education system Having worked with your culture before Δ Legal System Source: Dow & Karunaratna & Gislen
- 19. How to understand the constructs • Cultural dimensions can be used to understand your own and others culture, but the individual variation is huge so don’t stereotype • People relate to some kind of norm in society • India is a very heterogeneus culture and is changing • Most studies were done in 60-70 and the people participating may not have been representative
- 20. Cultural Dimensions • Economic, technical and cultural development • Proximity (Hall) • High/Low Context - Implicit/explicit communication (Hall) • Individualism – Collectivism (Hofstaede) • Power distance (Hofstaede) • Masculinity vs. Femininity– Quantity or Quality of life (Hofstaede) • Uncertainty Avoidance (Hofstaede) • Long Term Orientation / Pragmatic Versus Normative (Bond/Hofstaede) • Indulgence vs. Restrain (Minkov/Hofsteade) • Diffuse vs. Specific (Trompenaar) • Attitude to time (Trompenaar) • Attitude to environment (Trompenaar) 20
- 24. Political correctness – in Individualistic cultures...
- 28. Impact of UAI & PDI 28 From Hofstede
- 31. Similar patterns • High Power distance – Latin, Asian and African countries • Low Power distance – Anglo, Nordic and Chinese countries • Individualism – Western countries • Collectivism – Rest of the world • Masculinity - Japan, Germany, Austria and Switzerland • Femininity - Nordic & Netherland, moderate in France, Spain, Thailand and India • Long term orientation – East Asia • Short term orientation – Anglo, Muslim, Latin America and Africa • Indulgence – Latin America, Parts of Africa, Anglo world and North Europe, • Restrain East/South Asia, Estern Europe and Muslim world
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- 35. Swedish culture • The Jante law • Group mentality • Very dependent of what others think about you • Lagom • Very Informal (flat organisations) • Humility and simplicity • Love of nature • Extremely well planned • Introspective • Secular Society • Intolerant to differences • Very calm (no temper) • Understates ability • Down to earth • Good design • Delegated authority • Low profile & withdrawn • Good quality (without defined processes, but may not like to define them) • The Royal Swedish Envy • Caring Society (Folkhemmet) • Egalitarian society • Faithfulness • Punctuality • Direct communication (mostly...) but less direct when it comes to criticism than US & Norway • Managers gives directions rather than orders, does not oversee and control • Extremely honest culture but not always straight • Good English skill • Few but long term friends • Not very good at small talk
- 36. South Indian Culture • Happy • Relationships / Community • Simplicity • Stretchable time perspective • Not introspective • Religious • Tolerant • Generous • Fatalistic • Superstitious • Overstates ability • Good English skills • Honest (but not always straight) • Loving • Hierarchical • Outspoken • Managers needs to give orders, monitor, check and look after • Face and self-esteem • Culture is much more Indirect • Bad to say no, nalekee may mean no... • Small talk first during meetings • Often missing the last touch • Good quality (with defined process) • Not talking while eating
- 37. Conclusions • Understanding and respect differences • Walking half way each • Discuss the differences - If there is a problem, speak! • Main dimensions Power Distance, Individualism & Uncertainty Avoidance • The impact of High/Low context • Tacit Knowledge & Assumptions 37
- 38. QUESTIONS We can do it together!!!
Editor's Notes
- MikaelWhat do you think of when I say cultural challenges?The word can actually mean; Historical cultural era, High culture (Music, Theatre, Dance Art, etc.), bacteria culture and National cultures.Background;Q-Free, Trondheim, VanithaCultural Challenges in IEEE conferenceNo work done on best practicesWe have studied subject over more than 6 monthsNot cover etiquette, table manner, dress code, how to say namastee as the Air India Maharaja, Dress in Dhoti, Elephants or sculptures or anything else we heard through the grapewine...
- Just to shock you a bit. Maybe not typical, but the rest of the world don’t really dislike us, but not everyone approves...http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/27/scandinavian-miracle-brutal-truth-denmark-norway-SwedenConsider recent controversiesPhysical punishment of children – different cultures value individual freedom against the rights of the state while Swedes generally think the state should interfere. Note that a lot of people in countries without such legislation think physical punishment is wrong, they just don’t think the state has any rights to interfere unless it reaches a certain level. Current discussion reg. Olympic games in Russia and Rusian legislation against homosexual acts in public versus cultures where intimacy is not shown in public. In Rusia (and in India) the general population (and the state) is very tolerant to what is done in private, but there is a general intolerance for showing any kind of intimacy in public. In both these cases the general view in Sweden is in sharp contrast with the majority of the worlds population. But we cannot understand other cultures unless we understand that the people in other culture consider their views rationalMy point is not to speak about right/wrong here, but to show that others would consider our views as interference and even insulting if we don’t try to understand their underlying paradigms and motivations. In both cases the cultures may agree in cause much more than what is understood in the public debate, while the clash is more about the states role. There is often a correlation between the states view and the culture.
- Ït’s not easy to melt in or behave the right way.Comment – if you are poor it doesn’t matter, and if you are rich it doesn’t matter.Indians looks up to White people unlike Chinese.
- MikaelCulture is ambiguous, Cultural research must take into consideration that we perceive reality differently. In fact we even perceive cultures differently – my own culture is perfectly normal, but someone else’s culture is strange, at least that’s the way we perceive it.Do you know that there would be no health faucet or mugs in Swedish toilets????When we speak about Indian or Swedish culture, we don’t try to say that there is ONE SINGLE DISTINCT culture in any of these countries, there are vast regional, community and individual differences.You may be Indian but not behave typical.But you have to somehow relate to a norm, even when you break that norm. If you break norms too much you will stand out.Why you have to learn to understand culture is not only because of the others feeling comfortable getting to know you, but also for you to feel comfortable.If you can’t eat with knife and fork and ask to eat with your hand it is not a cultural problem (you may come across as exotic), but you may feel uncomfortable not being able to dress, behave and move around as what is perceived as normal when you are in another country.
- Mikael - Ambiguous definition ……
- Mikael ----
- Ethnocentrism The idea that your culture is superior and that all other cultures are to be judged by your culture’s standardStereotypes Assumes that every member of a culture is virtually identical.Generalizations Recognizes that people from the same culture share similarities without ever becoming identical to each other.History of cultural studiesNiccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) in his (in-)famous work “Il Prinsipe” (The Prince) mentions the challenges related to ruling a people when language and institutions differ compared to those of the ruling nation. One of his suggested solutions to the problem is that the ruler should live in the country. Other historical writers, such as Michel de Montaigne who lived 1533-1592, and Blaise Pascal who lived 1588-1651 also mentions cultural challenges. Such that people on either side of the Pyrenees differ.Modern study of culture was really started by the early Social Anthropologists. They initially mainly studied small ethnic remote groups of people, and only much later research on culture of the type we will discuss in this paper were performed. The perspective that people in one nation state would have a national culture is a modern early 20th century concept and one early anthropologist who influenced late 20th century research is Margaret Mead. While regional cultural aspects truly have old origins, many early social scientists considered nationalistic ideology to also be an old concept, but (Gellner 1983) states that nationalism first developed in Germany and France at the time of the French revolution and therefore instead is part of modernity.
- History of cultural studiesNiccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) in his (in-)famous work “Il Prinsipe” (The Prince) mentions the challenges related to ruling a people when language and institutions differ compared to those of the ruling nation. One of his suggested solutions to the problem is that the ruler should live in the country. Other historical writers, such as Michel de Montaigne who lived 1533-1592, and Blaise Pascal who lived 1588-1651 also mentions cultural challenges. Such that people on either side of the Pyrenees differ.Modern study of culture was really started by the early Social Anthropologists. They initially mainly studied small ethnic remote groups of people, and only much later research on culture of the type we will discuss in this paper were performed. Famous anthropologist B. K. Malinowski (1884-1942) did his legendary early field work at the Trobriand Islands during 1915-1918. Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-2008), father of modern anthropology, argued that the "savage" mind had the same structures as the "civilized" mind and that human characteristics are the same everywhere.[7][8] These observations culminated in his famous book TristesTropiques, which positioned him as one of the central figures in the structuralist school of thought, where his ideas reached into many fields in the humanities, as well as sociology and philosophy. Structuralism has been defined as "the search for the underlying patterns of thought in all forms of human activity."The perspective that people in one nation state would have a common national culture is a modern early 20th century concept and one early anthropologist who influenced late 20th century research is Margaret Mead. While regional cultural aspects truly have old origins, many early social scientists considered nationalistic ideology to also be an old concept, but Gellner (1983) states that nationalism first developed in Germany and France at the time of the French revolution and therefore instead is part of modernity. In earlier times if you lived in a border area, unless you belonged to a noble family you probably did not know where you belonged and probably moved between and perhaps even used that in your favour.Modern research – mainly;Edward HallClyde KluckhohnHofstaede (et al). IBM study 1967-1993, replicatedTrompenaarWorld Value Survey
- World Value report, claim two dimensions explains 70% of differences. I doubt it....
- It is very easy to stereotype cultures, or to believe that my own culture is superior.We need to learn to understand that humans are very similar even though they behave differentlyWe need to learn to avoid judging or looking down to othersAnd we need to learn to not assume that everyone in a culture are the same, individual differences are big.Some good words to rememberEthnocentrism The idea that your culture is superior and that all other cultures are to be judged by your culture’s standardStereotypes Assumes that every member of a culture is virtually identical.Generalizations Recognizes that people from the same culture share similarities without ever becoming identical to each other.¨ “One is likely to seriously misinterpret other cultures if one evaluates them solely in terms of one’s own values, expectations and behaviour”Stephen J. Perkins, 1999MikaelCultural relativismThe principle that we should not judge the behaviour of others using our own standards of culture, and that each culture must be analysed on its own termsBut important to understand that most moral values are similar across cultures and religions.
- VanithaDifferences between Asian and Western culturesHow we prefer to be organisedHow we learnWho is responsibleIf we suggest or give ordersHow we look at timeHow we relate to othersOf course these are not always as extreme and our industry is much more western than the society as a wholeAlso there are big differences within Western cultures,If comparing Grece with US, then Grece would be much more similar to IndiaAlso in general – Europe and India are culturally closer in many ways than either of them are to the US.
- MikaelDow & Karunaratna created a model which I have modified somewhat based on my own research. The main factors are a number of factors where there is a difference. The larger the difference the more important the factor. But we would only worry about how the factors influence specific situations.However it is important to understand that the decision makers exposure and experience also matters. If a manager is very experienced on how to deal with cultural difference then the cultural difference will matter less. It is also important to understand the subjective perspective – it is the managers (or the actors) perceived psychic distance which matters, not the real.
- VanithaMikael to Demonstrate proximityJens Hugs … Mikael to hug anand
- MikaelAnecdote reg. University in FranceBrits, French and Germans
- Scores around the worldPower distance scores are high for Latin, Asian and African countries and smaller for Anglo and Germanic countries. Uncertainty avoidance scores are higher in Latin countries, in Japan, and in German speaking countries, lower in Anglo, Nordic, and Chinese culture countries. Individualism prevails in developed and Western countries, while collectivism prevails in less developed and Eastern countries; Japan takes a middle position on this dimension. Masculinity is high in Japan, in some European countries like Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and moderately high in Anglo countries; it is low in Nordic countries and in the Netherlands and moderately low in some Latin and Asian countries like France, Spain and Thailand. Long-term orientation scores are highest in East Asia, moderate in Eastern and Western Europe, and low in the Anglo world, the Muslim world, Latin America and Africa. Indulgence scores are highest in Latin America, parts of Africa, the Anglo world and Nordic Europe; restraint is mostly found in East Asia, Eastern Europe and the Muslim world.
- Ancient rootsLatin Countries –Roman empire – central authority and strong law -> High power distance and uncertainty avoidanceChinese – also strong central authority but governed by men rather than law -> Power distance but weak uncertainty avoidanceGermanic/anglo – never established strong enduring central authority -> lower power distance, varying uncertainty avoidanceAncient roots of cultureThe grouping of country scores points to some of the roots of cultural differences. These should be sought in the common history of similarly scoring countries. All Latin countries, for example, score relatively high on both power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Latin countries (those today speaking a Romance language i.e. Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian or Romanian) have inherited at least part of their civilization from the Roman empire. The Roman empire in its days was characterized by the existence of a central authority in Rome, and a system of law applicable to citizens anywhere. This established in its citizens' minds the value complex which we still recognize today: centralization fostered large power distance and a stress on laws fostered strong uncertainty avoidance. The Chinese empire also knew centralization, but it lacked a fixed system of laws: it was governed by men rather than by laws. In the present-day countries once under Chinese rule, the mindset fostered by the empire is reflected in large power distance but medium to weak uncertainty avoidance. The Germanic part of Europe, including Great Britain, never succeeded in establishing an enduring common central authority and countries which inherited its civilizations show smaller power distance. Assumptions about historical roots of cultural differences always remain speculative but in the given examples they are plausible. In other cases they remain hidden in the course of history.
- Learning by listening vs. learning by questioningLearning by-heart vs. Learning conceptsAcademic vs. PracticalHigh vs. Low importance for degreesKnowledge gathering Vs. Knowledge application
- Ontology – What is knowledgeEpistemology - How can we know what we know.Michael Polanyi, tacit knowledge, truth through debate and not through supression of different oppinion. In response to Nazism and Stalinism.A lot of knowledge cannot be expressed in words but have to be experiencedAll explicit knowledge is based on such underlying knowledgeThis kind of knowledge can be learned by working together and doing thingsGut feelings, assumptionsCycling, swiming
- Mikael
- Mikael