Building Intercultural Competence

Being able to identify cultural difference and shift perspectives is a powerful skill for successfully managing intercultural situations and working globally.

As intercultural researcher Geert Hofstede says, “the trouble with playing soccer is the presence of the other team; it is much easier to be in a business environment where everyone thinks the same…..the competition is in the area of mastering cultural differences and some organizations are better at it than others. The champions are those who can master it.”

To truly operate as a global company, employees must develop intercultural competence. IOR’s Working Across Cultures program identifies employees’ work style preferences -- with the option of using an assessment tool -- and compares them with those of international colleagues to launch discussion about the way culture impacts workplace behavior.

Through discussion, analysis of dimensions of culture, and interactive scenarios, participants explore differences in workplace behavior and begin to find answers to the critical question, “who adapts to whom, and to what extent?” in order to achieve individual, team, and company goals.

Working teams who participate in the program together develop a common language of culture that enables them to discuss intercultural challenges and focus on solutions as a team.

Example: By developing an understanding that many Taiwanese are greatly influenced by hierarchy, maintaining harmony, and a strong need to preserve “face,” a German company operating in Taiwan realized that their perception that their Taiwanese colleagues were withholding information was not accurate; instead they were uncomfortable sharing information in the direct way that the Germans found comfortable. By changing their approach and conducting small, one-on-one meetings with their Taiwanese colleagues they were able to begin to gather the feedback they needed. The change was small, but powerful; it felt inefficient to them at first, but had long-term benefits. From that experience the team began to consider ways in which their Latin American colleagues may have to adapt to doing business in Germany, and the way the German team would have to adapt behavior there.