CQ: The New Mantra for the Global Manager - Satarupa Sen Bhattacharaya

In April 2005, I had the good fortune to be present at a speech made by R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director of Tata Sons Ltd. at a Mumbai seminar on “Indian Business in a Global World.” With characteristic spontaneity and insight, the speaker shed light on the qualities that go to make a truly successful global manager. Citing the example of the merger between Swedish pharma firm Pharmacia and American firm Upjohn in 1995, he explained how cultural adaptability could play a decisive role in personal as well as organisational success. This merger, predicted to be a winner, almost failed initially due to the inability of its first Chairman to deal with cultural differences. It was only after the Board brought in a new person at the helm that there was a turnaround; his urbane style, cultural flexibility, impartiality and adaptability to circumstances were the key contributors to a significant improvement in overall performance and morale. Cultural intelligence, therefore, is a skill that no manager can do without in today’s increasingly borderless business world.

The progress made by the ‘Indian multinational’ in recent times is widely acclaimed. More and more Indian firms in a variety of sectors such as information technology, auto-components, energy, textile and food products are making forays into global markets, thereby necessitating efficient integration of activities across national borders. It has become imperative for companies to deal with clients and customers from different cultures on a regular basis. Moreover, cross-border M&A activity on the Indian corporate front, in respect of both inbound and outbound deals, has also been frenetic in the recent past, thanks to greater availability of cash in Indian markets, a booming economy and a general confidence in Indian enterprise. The Economist reported 115 foreign acquisitions during the first 9 months of 2006, totaling to a value of $7.4 billion. All of this emphasizes one inescapable fact: the contemporary manager can no longer afford to bank on technical competence alone for success; moving out of one’s comfort zone and communicating aptly and effectively in culturally diverse business settings has become a prerequisite for upward growth in any managerial career. Usha Venkatachalam, who has years of experience in corporate training and leadership development in multinationals as well as leading

B-schools, opines, “Knowledge of alternative etiquette and customs can undeniably make or break a deal in today’s international business environment. Knowing how much to say or what to say in an interview, observing the rules of turn-taking and interruption in a meeting or being able to draft a business document with the reader’s cultural background in mind could mean upward mobility and achievement in the corporate world. On the other hand, cross-cultural gawkiness could lead to a loss of business or even a derailed career.”

Bridging the cultural divide is as much about paying attention to small details of etiquette as about gaining an overall perspective on how people perceive and value things in a different culture. Thus, while small tips like “present and receive items with both hands when in China or South Korea” or “do not rush through a meal in France” are useful and go a long way in preventing embarassment, what is perhaps more important is a thorough comprehension of and empathy with the broader business culture that prevails. This requires advanced powers of perception and is often termed Cultural Intelligence or CQ. Such awareness not only helps business managers tide over individual day-to-day situations, but also enables them to take a broad, strategic world-view of things and harness the true benefit of diversity, which is the potential arising from coexistence of multiple perspectives.
With increased elimination of boundaries in business and burgeoning population of expatriate workers across the globe, cultural sensitising has become synonymous with managerial efficiency. Consider hailing from a business culture as in the United States where the 360 degree feedback process is largely in vogue. However, if you are taking charge of operations in a more conservative setting, it may not be wise to assume that the feedback process is, by default, the most open-minded approach and, hence, ought to be introduced. Subordinates in a setting such as this might not consider it appropriate to assess their superiors and the latter might culturally be conditioned to thinking that their workers are in no way qualified to evaluate them. As a manager, you would do well to first gauge the prevailing cultural climate before you implement such a system.

Often, cultural awareness also gives you important knowledge of the market that you will be operating in and drives innovation.  Harvard Business School Professor and co-author of the book “Managing Across Borders,” Christopher Bartlett notes an interesting example in this regard in an interview in the HBS Working Knowledge forum. Pointing out that country and culture differences should be leveraged to gain positive results, rather than be viewed as impediments, he cites a case relating to Procter and Gamble in Japan. P&G managers in the country noted that traditionally, Japanese women attached a lot of importance to make up and spent a sizeable amount on cosmetics. This awareness led them to launch an expansive R&D mission in Japan, instead of simply marketing their existing products with Japanese labels attached to them. Thus, they came up with a whole new range of elite skincare products that was eventually introduced in other parts of the world, as more and more country managers recognised the potential of the products in the setting in which they carried out business. Thus, attention to country-wise cultural detail can, in many cases, fuel innovation and entrepreneurship.

So, what can the young manager today do to enhance his CQ and gain a competitive edge in today’s multicultural business environment? It is not enough to read the booklet containing the dos and donts in the alien culture that you are about to be a part of. The key to success in diverse environments is open-mindedness and a respect for diversity. Each society has its own customs and mindset and, more often than not, a lot of these extend into business space. It is easy for an, “us vs. them” situation to develop and the only way to avoid that is by legitimising differences. As Professor Bartlett succinctly says, the global manager’s work today is more about managing context than content. Managers need to recognise opportunities arising from cultural differences and, for that, it is essential to establish social ties in the new environment and value the insights that such interaction provides.
Opting for formal business education may be helpful in some ways, though, as Prof. Venkatachalam rightly points out, “experience or immersion in the target culture definitely is the most effective way of understanding something as elusive and dynamic as culture.” While classroom teaching cannot substitute experiential learning, a big take-home from an MBA in a reputed institute is the exposure that it affords in terms of diversity in the classroom. Most executive programmes encourage participation from managers having a wide variety of backgrounds, each bringing his distinctive experience to the class. As a result, the education received from such programmes goes a long way in inculcating a cosmopolitan orientation, which is so essential for high CQ. It also gives the participant an idea of how things are done in different cultures and what he needs to do to evolve as an effective global manager. Take the example of Kenji Nogata of Japan from the MBA Class of 2006 at IMD, Switzerland. It was only after coming to IMD and interacting with people from different nations and walks of life that Kenji realised that Asians had a rather introverted, discreet way of doing things. To succeed in the western world of competition, one needed to be more assertive, communicate forcefully and figure out a way to make one’s presence felt.

There are also specific programmes that work on the well-founded assumption that working effectively with and understanding people from different cultures is a kind of ability that can be developed through training. However, one needs to choose wisely, as Dr. Madan Pillutla, Associate Professor at the London Business School cautions, “There is a wide disparity in training programmes on cultural awareness.  Those that are good have been developed from a sound understanding of basic psychological and anthropological research.  These tend to focus on issues that people need to pay attention to if they are to succeed in any new culture …such programmes tend to be scientific and very useful.  But I have seen programmes that are nothing more than a collection of war stories about working in Japan or China or India. These programmes are mere musings of people who have had a chance to work in these different countries and don’t qualify as generalizable principles.”

Finally, however, it is your own attitude, intuition and flexibility of character that can guide you most effectively. Dr. Pillutla has an extremely valuable observation to make in this regard : “I am not convinced that cultural sensitivity is something special and distinct from interpersonal skills.  If you have good interpersonal skills, it should translate across cultures.” Thus spending time with people having different cultural backgrounds, observing, developing patience and tolerance, avoiding ethnocentricity even in your regular social life are virtues that stand you in good stead as an individual communicator as well as a business manager in the era of globalisation.