Transcript Culture

Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
When is cultural knowledge particularily important ?
- The more important the area is to you
- Cultural distance is large
- Your business faces hard competition
- The customer is experienced and knowledgeable (or NOT!)
- The customer has a strong decision-power
- There are only a few external (= international) rules
- When the customer does not understand his need
- The longer you intend to work there, joint-venture, construction etc.
- The more complicated your product is
- The longer it takes for the customer to make a decision
- The more you have to interact with many persons/organizations
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Success in working within different Cultures
Values & Attitude & Moral Code
Modesty, respect, honesty
…treat the others as…
Personal & professional commitment to your work
Knowledge
Understand the Concept of culture
Self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-awareness
Know the host country… …and her Culture…
Skills
Intercultural Communication
Adaptation Skills
Organizational Skills
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture Values & Attitude & Moral Code
”Do onto others what you wish them to do to you”
…”You” are the customer... =>… think that you are actually serving yourself
Be positive. Make an effort to talk, understand and give help.
Relate at a personal level, make friends, create social networks.
Show willingness in trying to use the host language
"State of mind":
high tolerance of ambiguity
non-judgemental
open-minded
field-independent
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Knowledge
Background :
Facts are the same for everyone in all cultures.
The differences lie in the –interpretations- of these facts!
People are all the time interpreting and choosing sides,
(not logically ?)
…and… …making decisions…
Frustration : …mismatch of facts and their interpretations…
Cultural features e.g. :
…norms, values, symbols, rituals, traditions, …what is right / wrong…
What things are noticed ?
How are they interpreted ?
What is selected to be presented & how …strength, limits, covered… ?
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Knowledge
=> Family, Professional, Organizational, National Cultures
Inherent
Individual /
Personal
Same biological
background
Aquired
Can quickly adopt
to new environments
All collectives have Slow development
Tribe/Organization same social & mental ”Living Being”
Sub-culture
…info, power, decisions…
base-structure
All cultures have
Local surrounding
Universal
the same Base with
and environment
Pan-human
growth possibilities
mold and direct
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Knowledge
Culture : Model of the world (abstract & material) that is
shared by the members of a society and that play an
enormous role in their understanding of that world and
how they live and behave in it.
Culture is an organic entity like the human body.
If you want to change (improve?) anything in a given culture, be prepared
to spend much - …and even much more,
in your endeavours.
It is much easier to change yourself.
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Skills
Communication & Interaction skills (e.g.):
being a good listener
pls. check listening
being able to get the message through in a manner that is
adapted to the listener(s) ability to use this information
Relationship skills (e.g.):
show interest and empathy to the other
ability to show respect and politeness
allow the others to “save the face”, keep their pride
Multicultural teamwork skills
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture Comm. & Interaction Skills
Elements
Responsibility of the Interaction
(Personal &. Professional)
Good-Will, caring
Respect other people
Responsibility of own emotions, thoughts and acts
Hear correct – understand correct
(Don´t talk while listening)
Bring up the important issues – honesty
(Be discreet, White Lies.. )
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Relationships
B-to-B, means that the relations are of the type :
Network-Network.
pls check the DMU.
List of Relationship characteristics
Co-operation (between everyone)
Longevity (hit and run…)
Dependency (network like)
Power
Adaptation (learning…)
Trust, Risk (both parties)
Close / Superficial (personal/prof.)
Formality (legal…)
(misuse…)
frequency, regularity, intensity, attraction PERSONAL
etc. etc.
Veikko Laine
Export
Marketing
Adaptation
"...the capacity to adjust personally so that s/he is
content and generally at ease in the host culture."
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture Organizational Skills
Ability to interact with people of another culture in a way that
earns their respect and trust, thereby encouraging a cooperative
and productive workplace that is conducive to the achievement
of professional and assignment goals
If you cannot express your plans in writing and No:s, then they are
not clear enough nor accurate AND you cannot estimate the results
of your work NOR improve your actions
Primary Key Figures
Secondary Key F1
Secondary K F2
Secondary K F3
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Export, general
To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail !
Don´t dream, accept the hard facts !
Costs :
Product idea
1 Unit
Screened product idea 10 Units
Prototype
100 Units
Marketing
1000 Units
…export= much, much money, work, time…
and REAL JOY of SUCCESS !!
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture
Export, general
To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail !
The most important AND most expensive task
of any Marketing is : information distribution
a) From the Customers
b) To the Customers
Most of the culture-related information is
non-verbal, implicit…
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture Non-verbal, implicit info
E.g. decisionmaking
West : time… linear (= money),
Far-East : time…,
Africa : time ?,
…”logical sequence”…
…”holism” & harmony…
1) Human Relations & ”nice” 2) task under work…
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture Non-verbal, implicit info
E.g. China
Some ”rules”
Nothing is easy
Something to think :
Guanxi, relationship
Renqing, another currency
Mianzi, keeping face
Baojiang, praising
Everything is possible
Western business logic…
Project… deadlines… ??
You must persist – things will happen
NEVER show your frustration
Patience is everything
”You don´t know China” = they disagree
”New regulation” = …the agreement…
”Internal regulation” = you are wrong
”Basically no problem” = BIG PROBLEM
”Yes” = I heard you
Ethnic Chinese control 60–100 % of the economies in S-E Asia
Export Marketing
Culture Non-verbal, implicit info
Veikko Laine
The structure of a language ~ the way these users think
Comparison
Indo-European & Finno-Ugrian
Bertolt Brecht : ”Finns are silent in two languages”
- honest, helpfull, no structural racism, low hierarchy, organized society
technology based thinking, weak service culture,
not yet so international
How to co-operate with Finno-Ugrian people ?
Don´t take silence as negative, …hostility or arrogance
Don´t wait any feed-back
Don´t repeat too often
Don´t self-celebrate
Don´t interrupt
Veikko Laine
Export Marketing
Culture Non-verbal, implicit info
The structure of a language ~ the way these users think
What Finno-Ugrians ought to do :
Answer with more than one word (
…Y / N…
)
Rehearse small-talk, prepare subjects for one to discuss about
-repeat, get enchanted, open up, praise, express your gratitude
SHOW positive interest, …don´t only think, contemplate
Start using body language,
become conscious => rehearse
Communicate, be expressive