In the lecture, the author first shared his experience working for a foreign company with operations in Serbia, and how he got on with his plant manager by using a tactful method in his conversation regarding diverse cultural differences. Then, he focused on the three main approaches to succeeding in cross-cultural corporations. The first strategy is to be aware of the cultural disparities. The author suggested that people should work on the cultural aspect, which has influences on the field you want to collaborate in so that you can foresee the negotiation process, and get a better deal. The second stage that is cited is to appreciate the dissimilarities between societies, meaning that you have to adjust your viewpoint in acknowledging these differences. The final core step to benefit from the contrasts and come to agreement, also considered a big challenge to everyone working in a multinational business, is to reunite all the differences. When it comes to the idea of someone having a different background, people tend to be unwilling to accept it into practice, which is known as “not-invented here” syndrome. The suggested solution is that people should put effort in finding the common perspective regarding the factors needed to achieve mutual goals. Last but not least, the speaker emphasizes that the afore-mentioned ways play an important role in people’s management skills when working in a cross-cultural environment.
Reflection
After listening to the audio, I find it really informative and easy to understand as the speaker provided me with useful method and a wide range of examples based on his experiences, which helps me get to know how to work more effectively with people from various nationalities, and raise my awareness of the importance of cultural differences as well. We are living and working in a global society. Current businesses are well intertwined and much more diverse than in the past, people are likely to cooperate with others to increase their chance of success and expand the market. As a result, acknowledging and valuing the distinctions can help businesses get top-notch results, as when getting caught up in trouble, people from different cultural backgrounds will have different outlook, different problem-solving, which brings myriad benefits. I realize that being a student at ULIS is a chance to access various cultures to embrace all the differences. This can be an advantage to set my very first step for my future career. I will apply my cultural knowledge I have learnt based on the three stages provided by the author into international business cooperation and relationships to find a common perspective, so that we can reach the decision and get benefit in the long run. Moreover, if I have a chance working with people from multicultural backgrounds, I will value and foster their ideas, and take all of them into consideration so that they will be confident to share their ideas and feel respectful.