Culture Clash
Culture Clash
'Eighteen thousand feet last weekend," John Reardon told Vishnu Sharma during a shared coffee break. John and Vishnu worked for an engineering firm in Kathmandu, Nepal, and John was referring to the altitude he had reached on his last mountaineering venture. After more talk about recent weekend activities, John mentioned that a new manager had been hired. One culture’s nepotism
is another’s group loyaltyHe told Vishnu that the new hire was the nephew of the company vice president, and that several highly qualified university graduates had been passed over. John said, "Where I come from, British Columbia in Canada, such a hire would be a problem and the vice president would be accused of nepotism." Vishnu said, "I know all this, and in fact I was on the hiring committee that recommended the nephew."
John and Vishnu are bringing different cultural perspectives to this discussion. John comes from an individualistic culture where the emphasis is on the person and his or her skills, abilities, and potential contributions to the workplace. "Family connections" are less important, and there are often laws that prohibit hirings based on family relationships. Cultural values include the strong possibility of overcoming a modest family background if people are willing to work hard and to develop skills attractive to the job market.
Nepal is a collectivist country where group norms, family obligations, and long term loyalties are valued. The nephew is considered an acceptable hire because, in the ideal case, he will be loyal to the company and will work hard to please his influential uncle. Even if his qualifications are inadequate today, these can be upgraded with mentoring and training programs.
Executives will view these activities as good long-term investments since the nephew will stay with the company for his entire career.
This incident and analysis developed from discussions with D. P. S. Bhawuk, University of Hawaii College of Business Administration. He suggests that people consider what will happen if the uncle supports another candidate. Who can call him on the phone or barge into the uncle's home to voice complaints? Will older family members make comments such as, "The great company vice president won't help his nephew! Isn't he forgetting that we took care of his wife and children while he was studying for his master's degree in the United States?"
Not all cultural differences are easy and comfortable to analyze, but if people can put themselves in others' shoes, the reasons for culturally influenced behaviors will become clearer.
The purpose of this column is to increase understanding of human behavior as it has an impact on the workplace. Special attention will be given to miscommunications caused by cultural differences. Each column will start with a short example of such confusion. Possible explanations will be offered to encourage thought about these issues.
Richard Brislin is a professor in the College of Business Administration,
University of Hawaii. He can be reached through the
College Relations Office: cro@cba.hawaii.edu