Importance of Intercultural Skills
Why do some businesses fail when they expand internationally?
by Alice Arandia
I have often heard people say they failed in international business due to supply chain issues, a poor economy in the new market, cash flow problems and a lack of resources among other things. All these factors may well have caused problems, but there are other factors that are often ignored.
International business usually involves building teams of employees from lots of different backgrounds, and in different locations. For this to be successful everyone needs to have well developed intercultural competence skills. But what is intercultural competence? It is quite simply our ability to interact with each other effectively with respect and understanding, irrespective of our cultural differences. I’d like to emphasis the word ‘effectively’. This is because we may have the best intentions, but we don’t always take the time to truly understand other cultures.
Awareness is one key component of cultural competence, but alone it does not make us competent. We may be aware that we must not sound discriminatory in our language, so we display the right attitude, yet if we don’t have knowledge, we will not develop an understanding of culture, or the skills to be culturally competent. Together awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills make all the difference. It should be noted that we will never be fully culturally competent; it is a never-ending learning process... but that becomes second nature once you are aware of the importance of cultural competence.
To start with, consider how clearly do you understand your own culture, and how this impacts your perception on way of working or behaving. We can’t assume that ‘our way’ is the standard; there is no ‘standard’. Once you recognize this you will understand that others may not share your perspective. This then means you don’t make assumptions based on your personal values, beliefs, and norms, but accept that there are many ways of seeing the same scenario. No culture is right or wrong either, just different.
I left Scotland age 20, and have lived in Bolivia, Trinidad & Tobago, Ghana, and Kazakhstan. Having spent much of my adult life outside of my home country I didn’t think my Scottish culture had much influence over my behaviour. But once I started studying culture and social anthropology, I realized traits in my perspective that were linked back to my own culture. Trust me, I have made my fair share of mistakes along the way… like the time I showed up at a party on time to find the host wasn’t even dressed, when I walked into the office in Bolivia and sat down without taking the time to greet everyone, or when I was seen as a “fool” for smiling too much in Kazakhstan..the list goes on. That’s ok though, we won’t always get it right, but we can learn from our experiences.
So, if you are working in a multicultural environment, ask yourself:
How does my cultural background affect the assumptions I make?
Is my client / colleague sharing my perspective, or do they see things differently?
How can cultural awareness improve my marketing?
How can cultural competence improve the way I communicate or interact with others?
Working in multicultural environments enriches our lives, and our business. Many studies have identified noticeable benefits such as increased innovation, and creativity, as well as a market increase in productivity when we work with people from different cultural backgrounds. So, this isn’t just a “nice to have” skill... it is a necessity!
