Intercultural Management Competence:
E x a m p l e s ...
... for the development of Intercultural Management Competence for project managers:
Some days ago your company got an important project in Caucasus. You are the project leader. You want to prepare your project team to work at an optimal level with your customers and business partners in the host country. You apply for a training course that deals with the specific intercultural issues in the region you are going to deal with.
… or …
Your company was sold to a Canadian enterprise some weeks ago. The first meeting between your management team and the responsible managers from Canada was marred by confusion, misunderstandings and the first conflicts. You want to lay the foundation for better cooperation in the future. You suggest to your new boss in Quebec that the senior management from both companies do a workshop together. The subject is the intercultural differences between Germany and Canada and the possible consequences for management processes.
What they have in common is …
…that cooperation between employees from different cultures is especially successful in project environments when all parties are aware of the impacts of their own culture as well as the culture(s) of other participants on their thinking, evaluating and acting.
If not, the assumption is that our own perspective, our own values or our own behavior is “normal” and “good". All the “other members” have to do is to “accept” our views. How could that be so difficult?
This attitude often leads to considerable conflicts and breakdowns in projects.
E x a m p l e s ...
... for the development of Intercultural Management Competence for project managers:
As Senior Vice President you have decided to transfer certain production processes and services from the parent company to international partners in southern Europe. In order to prepare the team responsible for implementing the decision well and establish support systems, you decide to offer your team individual intercultural coaching. You start off with a one-day Kick-Off workshop in order to put all the team members on the same page and address the issue of goals and procedures relevant to all.
... or ...
Some days ago your company got an important project in Caucasus. You are the project leader. You want to prepare your project team to work at an optimal level with your customers and business partners in the host country. You apply for a training course that deals with the specific intercultural issues in the region you are going to deal with.
… or …
Your company was sold to a Canadian enterprise some weeks ago. The first meeting between your management team and the responsible managers from Canada was marred by confusion, misunderstandings and the first conflicts. You want to lay the foundation for better cooperation in the future. You suggest to your new boss in Quebec that the senior management from both companies do a workshop together. The subject is the intercultural differences between Germany and Canada and the possible consequences for management processes.
What do these situations have in common?
What they have in common is …
…that cooperation between employees from different cultures is especially successful in project environments when all parties are aware of the impacts of their own culture as well as the culture(s) of other participants on their thinking, evaluating and acting.
If not, the assumption is that our own perspective, our own values or our own behavior is “normal” and “good". All the “other members” have to do is to “accept” our views. How could that be so difficult?
This attitude often leads to considerable conflicts and breakdowns in projects.