11 Productivity: effective, efficient or empathetic

Research has shown that ... [cultural] values affect ... all forms of organizational behaviour...

Nancy Adler

The dictionary definition of productivity concerns a measure of the efficiency of production: the amount of work achieved in a given unit of time. This assumes an interpretation of the value of time and that a measurable amount of work is the objective – a very Western approach – rather than the satisfaction of passing the time in harmony or without riding roughshod over nature. In our cross-cultural setting, let’s revise the meaning to ‘how things get done’.

This instrument compares and contrasts three ways to differentiate the way organizations make things happen: effective (outcome driven); efficient (process driven) or empathetic (people driven). When working across cultures, with a deadline to meet and things not progressing as quickly as you might like, it is worth spending a few moments to consider these differences.

Japan: Genchi genbutsu refers to getting your hands dirty – how leaders identify or solve immediate problems. Western managers often mistake this for micro-management: constant and unprincipled interferences with the process. However, these principles are used as tools to shepherd processes and productivity.

Culture crash

The NASA project was well underway with two more years until the launch of the next space station mission. However, undercurrents of tension seemed to be forming between the US and the German teams. Indeed the German team were really starting to resent American interruptions and interference as these were beginning to seriously erode their schedules. ‘All these on-track meetings!’ exclaimed one German scientist. ‘What are they for? We know what we are supposed to be doing, we know when it’s got to be done by, we’ve got the project plan in place, everything is going to schedule – and then we have to stop everything just to have a meeting to see if everything is going to plan. Well, it is!’

Culture tip

Productivity is a result of motivation and what motivates an American does not necessarily motivate a German and it more than likely won’t motivate an Arab. The US, the Anglo-Saxon countries and the Finns focus on being effective: they are outcome driven. The ‘Euro-rationals’ (the Germanic cultures) focus on being efficient, on orderly process. They like Alles in Ordnung. You might easily hear a German employee saying something like, ‘I am paid to write this code. I do not need to speak to others to write this program.’ He is being typically German. He wants to be left alone to get on with the task because he has gone into detailed planning to get to this stage; he likes being efficient, focusing on the ‘how’ and not the ‘what’. The Americans and Brits are so focused on being effective and achieving the outcome that they need to be assured that milestones and deadlines are being achieved; they focus on the ‘what’ and not the ‘how’.

‘What happens when you do not adhere to these rules of engagement? You get resisted and blocked. When you’re all functional and process driven you’ll get a certain reply, of course. But you won’t get full cooperation.’

Culture crash

Patrick Gruhn arrives in London to meet with his prospective Kuwaiti clients. Negotiations had been taking place for months. They are at the final stages; it is time to talk serious money and production.

Patrick is somewhat surprised when he finds their meeting is taking place in a hotel lobby and not a private meeting room. He is there to present the project plan, agree the timeline and all the necessary steps for project completion, so undeterred he makes a start. Within moments tea is being served, and then everything stops. One of his clients takes a phone call. Shortly afterwards more people turn up and join in the conversation. They are offered tea. Patrick has no idea whether they are colleagues, friends or family, or all three. Even with all these people around, every now and again, his clients ask him questions that need a confidential answer, one that he is uncomfortable about giving in these circumstances. Ninety minutes after his arrival he still has not had the privacy, seclusion and attention he needs to speak about the project. He has to leave...

Culture tip

It is important to be tolerant in business meetings when dealing with Arab executives. Meetings tend to be considered as social occasions where business parties can talk about other issues as much as they talk about business. Having a focused and a serious business meeting might therefore make the Arab party feel uncomfortable and not encouraged to develop a business relationship. In addition to having flexible agendas, professional business meetings are not private; they are often in public spaces, or the door is left open and there may be many interruptions. Meetings sometimes appear to be social occasions with oblique references to the task at hand. Arabs, Indians, and most Asian and African cultures get things done empathetically. These are people – not task – driven cultures.

Culture crash

The next quarterly meeting of the three-year aid project that the Norwegians were financing in Guatemala was about to take place. This would be the sixth meeting and, in spite of plenty of encouragement from the Norwegians, the Guatemalans had not yet managed to write up any of the meetings’ minutes, which had caused the Norwegians to have to write them. Back in Norway, these minutes were an essential part of the process of understanding how the project was progressing, what the next steps were and how the money was being spent; part of monitoring and control needed before the next release of funds. Sigvor, the locally-based Norwegian manager, implored the Guatemalans to write the next set of minutes as she was due to leave the country, and without future minutes the funding would stop. As Sigvor took her place around the table and called the meeting to order, she was astounded to see the minutes of the meeting already typed up and placed in front of her.

Culture tip

It’s a wonder that any meeting is ever successful when we realize the variety of expectations that different nations have about their purpose. For Norwegians, a meeting is to account for what has been achieved and agree what needs to be done, by when and by whom. It is run with an agenda that is followed, and people leave with delegated tasks and deadlines that all coincide with an overall project plan (efficient). The minutes are important in documenting this process and the decisions taken. For the Guatemalans, a meeting is about showing continued support and informing others about what decisions have been made informally before the meeting takes place (empathetic). In the culture crash, the Guatemalans have no concept of the purpose of the minutes; even when told they still cannot figure out the Norwegian’s logic. Guatemalan planning is ad hoc; subordinates are told what to do and they prefer verbal communication to written (‘my word is my bond’), and so do not place much credence in pieces of paper. So, what are minutes for?

‘In the US there is a great deal of specialization with experts at all levels. Mexican employees are driven to be flexible rather than specialized. Job descriptions are therefore much vaguer.’

Cultural insight

To understand how things get done in Japanese companies, reflect on nemawashi: the principle of informal consensus (see Planning). Once everyone agrees, the physical process of ringi-sho begins; the final formal step to getting things done. Ringi-sho is an approval document sent to upper management on a new business proposal such as bringing in a new supplier. It goes from the lower to the upper level. If there are five people above the issuer of the ringi-sho, all five must read, study and stamp an approval seal on it (the Japanese equivalent to a signature). With all seals obtained, the issuer gets it back and can then begin. This process binds everyone together before anything takes place. The issuer of a ringi-sho issues it only when she or he knows that it will be approved by all concerned within the company. The Chinese have a similar system whereby an idea is given ‘the chop’ – the seal of approval.