Cross Culture Training

Part A

Introduction

Culture

Culture in general is concerned with beliefs and values on the basis of which people interpret experiences and behave, individually and in groups. "Culture" refers to a group or community with which you share common experiences that shape the way you understand the world.

The same person, thus, can belong to several different cultures depending on his or her birthplace, nationality; ethnicity, family status, gender, age etc.

Culture is a group, which shapes a person's values and identity. A single term used to define a particular culture is often exclusive. Cultural identities can stem from the following differences: race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, country of origin, and geographic region. Culture is the "lens" through which you view the world. It is central to what you see, how you make sense of what you see, and how you express yourself.

[Source: Richard Mead 1994 2nd edition page 3 - 6]

Training

Training is an element in the whole process of selecting and supporting the manager and his/her dependants at a local or overseas post. The employees may be expatriated to work in a subsidiary, an international joint venture or in some other overseas operation.

A study by Tung (1982) indicated that only 32% of the United States firms surveyed that they had formalized training programs to prepare the managers and their families for expatriate assignments. In contrast 69% of the west European companies and 57% of the Japanese provided such training. The Japanese companies provided training for operatives and for language training. The study shows that the more rigorous the training the more the greater will be the success.

Why Cross Culture Training is important?

Today the business is increasingly global. Managers have to deal with the individuals from other national cultures. When an employee is sent for overseas assignment he / she has to know the different aspects on that particular culture, hence for this training has to be done for the employee as well its spouse and family.

Understanding the values, attitudes and behaviors of people in various countries is key to knowing how to do business with them. The idea of cross-cultural training may still be new to some, but many organizations that have been operating in the international arena for the last decade and have come to embrace the values of such training. These organizations have learned the merits of cross-cultural training. With this type of training, work can go more quickly and smoothly and companies avoid costly mistakes. Cross culture training is important for the spouse and its family members because training has to be imparted to them to face in the new culture.

[Source: Richard Mead 1994 2nd edition page 405 - 410 ]

Why Cross Culture Training is ignored?

Black and Mendenhall concludes that the most companies in the U.S doesn’t provide training programs is because that they do not believe in cross culture training programs and the top level management thinks that the fundamental reason behind the lack of the training seems to lie in the sane assumption that causes American corporations to look only at the domestic track records and to ignore cross culture related skills when selecting expatriate candidates. The assumption is that good management is good management and therefore an effective manager in New York or Los Angeles will do fine in Hong Kong or Tokyo … (pp 178-9)

[Source: Richard Mead 1994 page 405 - 415 ]

But management practices are not same everywhere and the manager who understands the need and values of the workforce in the Culture X may be unable to recognize the needs and values in culture Y. A good domestic track record is not good predictor of overseas success.

There are various types of training that can be given to the expatriate family and spouse when sent for an overseas assignment. Domestic information and cross culture arte the training programs that can be given to the spouse and family. Domestic information and.

a) Domestic information

b) Cross culture training

Domestic information

The manager and spouse are briefed on the issues like accommodation, Details of school, hospital, medical professionals, and social services etc in the new environment.

The spouse must have greater need of training and briefing on these topics than the manager. The information that is given must be practical and to date. A scenario can be seen below as to why the domestic information has to be update.

Before leaving for Libya in 1970 a British professional was told by his head office that electrical consumer goods cannot be purchased on Benghazi. He therefore invested a part of his relocation allowance in purchase and shipping a refrigerator. On arrival he had seen that in the two years since the briefing notes had been formulated a number of Japanese makes were readily available in high street stores.

Ideally the manager and spouse are sent on information trips to the host country before the assignment. This gives them the opportunities not only to inspect the local organization but also ...