MAGAZINE ASSOCIATE PARTNER THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES OF NATIONAL CULTURE Leading and Managing in a Globalized World, an interview with Huib Wursten The story behind the book WALK THE TALK OUR ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE SCAN IN ACTION LEADING GLOBAL TEAMS A four-part series on how we are optimising our own Culture Create team spirit in your virtual team 1/ 2020 BY HOFSTEDE INSIGHTS1 In our first issue 03 THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES OF NATIONAL CULTURE 06 NOOR BANK - A SUCCESS STORY 07 A CHEERFUL JOB - A CASE STUDY 09 ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE - WALK THE TALK 13 HOW TO CREATE TEAM SPIRIT IN A GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAM 17 BUILD YOUR CULTURAL CONSULTANCY 20 NEWS AND UPCOMING SOLUTIONS 21 DOING BUSINESS IN PAKISTAN - A CUBE IN ARTICLE 25 NEXT TIME 24 MEET OUR ASSOCIATE PARTNERS 08 SHORT CASE STUDIESCONTRIBUTORS Dear Reader, Welcome to the first issue of the Associate Partner Magazine. This issue was started during the first weeks of confinement, and while our team adapted to our new normal, they created a collaborative project spanning over 12 countries to make this magazine happen. What made this effort possible was our organisational culture, the culture we have built over the years and are constantly adapting. We will share more about it in this and the upcoming magazines. Feeling a sense of belonging is essential, and as many of us work remotely we need to remind ourselves that we are essentially social creatures. It has, and will be more than ever indispensable to create working practices and a culture that effectively supports global teams, keeps them safe, happy, balanced and capable of doing great things while working remotely. The goal of the Associate Partner Magazine is to share examples of the impact culture has on life via stories written by our certified experts and our clients. We hope they help you and your team to build your best culture to perform. We wish to express our gratitude to all those who collaborated as the end result is in our view exemplary of what successful cross- cultural virtual collaboration can bring. Stay safe. Egbert Schram and the Hofstede Insights Team. We are thankful to all those who have contributed to making this magazine a reality. Special thanks to Pia Kähärä, Martin Karaffa, Salman Raza, Valerie Servant, Michael Siller, Navkaran Singh, Erika Visser, Huib Wursten, Mitri Häkkinen, Claudia Neiman, Alexandra Paksiova, Itzel Ruiz, Kari Säkkinen, Michael Schachner, Egbert Schram, Aitor Sevillano, Celia Zanin-Lassila and many others. Cover picture: Kähärä Images: Hofstede Insights, iStock, Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. On the cover: Huib Wursten and Pia Kähärä at the official The 7 Mental Images book launch, unfortunately Erika Visser could not be present. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Hofstede Insights or its members.3 Copyright Hofstede Insights. All rights reserved THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES OF NATIONAL CULTURE PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF? I was born in the Netherlands and Studied Educational Psychology. During my first career as a teacher at the Amsterdam Film academy, where I taught social sciences and started working with directors at the SFW - Foundation for Film and Science. I started my own change management company in 1983. In 1985, I was offered and accepted a position at the civil servant training institute for the Ministry of the Interior. It was there that I started questioning Management training as it was taught. At the time, Management training blindly adopted American ideas. This, in my opinion, simply did not work in the Netherlands. I started being more vocal about this and joined itim International (the predecessor of Hofstede Insights) in 1989. I worked with large, multinational clients such as IBM worldwide, Vodafone, 3M, ABN Amro-Bank, and JP Morgan Chase. I also worked with the IMF, where I delivered monthly workshops and seminars in Washington. It was during these workshops that I realized that, even though I had been talking about the Dimensions of National Culture, I seldomly ended up discussing the dimensions one-by- one. Instead, I always discussed them in combinations. That’s when I began to see some patterns. THE BEGINNING OF THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES I discussed my thoughts with the staff development head of the IMF, Dinah Nieburg, who I am still very grateful to. She suggested that I put my ideas on paper and even introduced me to a consultant who helped me with this. The work resulted in the first 5 of the Mental Images. The 6th Mental Image was added based on a consultation with Professor Hofstede. My customers and colleagues have helped me to sharpen the model and its implications. I always wanted to work with highly educated people, exchanging ideas and sharing critical opinions. This has fostered my response-based attitude towards consulting. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES AND PROFESSOR HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURE IN A BIT MORE DETAIL? The 7 Mental Images were developed on the basis of the first four of Professor Hofstede’s Dimensions of National Culture. Without the dimensions, the 7 Mental Images model is empty. In practice, the 7 Mental Images can only be understood through the consequences of the scores of Hofstede’s empirically tested Dimensions. But the Mental Images complement the model by explaining how the dimensions interact. In my work, it was often not possible to explain situations and behaviours by using individual dimensions alone. Also, country-by-country analysis can be too much for people working globally. The 7 Mental Images reduce the complexity of working with the around 200 cultures in the world. I feel the essence of the culture is easier to capture, remember and apply when you use Hofstede’s six Dimensions as combinations. THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES TODAY What are the 7 Mental Images? By Huib Wursten, interviewed by Pia Kähärä The story behind the book4 • Contest (“winner takes all”) Competitive cultures with a small Power Distance (PDI), high Individualism (IDV), high Masculinity (MAS), and fairly weak Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI). Examples include Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US. • Network (consensus) Highly Individualist (IDV) and low Masculinity (MAS), with a small Power Distance (PDI), where everyone is involved in the decision-making process. Examples are Scandinavia and the Netherlands. • Well-Oiled Machine (order) Individualistic (IDV) societies with a small Power Distance (PDI) and strong Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) have carefully balanced procedures and rules, but not much hierarchy. Examples are Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and German-speaking Switzerland. • Pyramid (loyalty, hierarchy and implicit order) Collectivist (low IDV) cultures with a large Power Distance (PDI) and strong Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI). Examples are Brazil, Colombia, Greece, Portugal, Arabic countries, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand. • Solar System (hierarchy and standardised job descriptions) This culture cluster is like the Pyramid, but more Individualistic (IDV). Examples are Belgium, France, Northern Italy, Spain and French- speaking Switzerland. • Family (loyalty and hierarchy) MY CUSTOMERS AND COLLEAGUES HAVE HELPED ME TO SHARPEN THE MODEL AND ITS IMPLICATIONS Collectivist (low IDV) cultures with a large Power Distance (PDI), where we can observe powerful in-groups and paternalistic leaders. Examples are China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. • Japan as the Seventh Mental Image (dynamic equilibrium) Japan is the only country in this ‘cluster’ due to the unique combination of dimensions not found in any of the before mentioned Six Mental Images. Japan has a mid-Power Distance (PDI), a mid- Individualism (IDV), a very strong Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) and a high Masculinity (MAS) score. HOW ARE THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES USED IN ORGANISATIONS? The 7 Mental Images provide companies the mid-way solution between globalisation and localisation that is often needed. They can, for example, be a great basis for a regional division. Multinational organisations often have regional centers for some of their operations. Instead of looking purely at geographical location, HR functions, customer service centers and other regional centers are all easier to manage within Mental Images where people have similar cultural values and behaviour. Of course, there are many things that can go wrong if you do not understand the cultural value combinations. For example, why has outsourcing services to low- income countries such as India not always been successful ? One of the reasons is that in Contest, Network and Machine clusters, people assume that employees who do not understand an instruction will show that they didn’t understand something and ask for clarification. This is not usually the case in Family and Pyramid clusters. When managers from Contest, Network and Machine cultures ask: “Are there questions” people tend to be silent. The key issue is that in Family and Pyramid cultures, superiors will 5 Copyright Hofstede Insights. All rights reserved leadership, outsourcing, recruitment and customer service in relation to the Mental Images, but writing a book would have been simply too time consuming. The articles I wrote did get daily hits from people all over the world, so the interest was clearly there. At the same time, some of my Hofstede Insights colleagues published books, referring to me and the 7 Mental Images. So, I realised that I needed to put all my thoughts on paper in a coherent way. Now that I am semi- retired, I decided to write my own book on the subject. I am grateful that my colleagues Erika Visser and Pia Kähärä helped me write this book. Their critical thinking, questions and comments, and editing the text to its final form have been invaluable in completing this project. It is fair to say that without their help this book would not exist. Also, many other colleagues at Hofstede Insights and numerous other people have helped me test my ideas and/or offered case stories for the book. for all and ensure its global success. Let me use HR as an example; when looking at different HR tasks, the approach to these tasks differs in each cluster. For instance, people behave differently in recruitment situations in different clusters. How you are expected to pitch yourself is also culturally bound. In some cultures you are expected to mention all your successes, in other cultures this is seen as boasting and is not appreciated. You are supposed to be modest. Other examples are training and onboarding. Here, as well, your approach needs to be adapted to cultural needs. The same motivators for job performance do not work the same way across cultures. WHY THE BOOK ON 7 MENTAL IMAGES? When I initially built the 7 Mental Images, I was busy being a consultant. I was helping clients and giving master classes on the topic to colleagues. I did continue writing papers on various business topics like discover if things were understood by conducting frequent inspections. The saying in these cultures is: “People only respect what you inspect.” It means that you have to check in practice and control what others are doing. This is very difficult for managers from Contest, Network and Machine cultures. They tend to rely more on the saying: “No news is good news.” The model can be applied in various industries, even in sports! We have implemented it in soccer where we worked with a lot of international coaches and players in understanding how to coach international teams, how to motivate players from different cultures etc. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TAKEAWAY OF THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES FOR HUMAN RESOURCES AND BUSINESS? In order to find relevant solutions, you must understand the differences between the culture clusters first. Only then will you be able to make your company a good place to work THE 7 MENTAL IMAGES OF NATIONAL CULTURE Leading and Managing in a Globalized World A book by Huib Wursten, edited by Erika Visser and Pia Kähärä . Get it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Vyve5l. The book can also be purchased as part of a consulting or training package. Ask your Hofstede Insights Consultant for more information.6 informed. The Bank identified a group of leaders from all levels, business areas and functions across the Bank who became known as the Culture Squad to get involved and work alongside the ManCom on its culture transformation journey. The Culture Squad became Noor Bank’s internal culture transformation consultants. They’ve also attended among other things the Hofstede Insights in-house Certification programme to learn more about the theoretical construct of culture, philosophies, culture dimensions and frameworks. Read more about this success story in the Banker Middles East Magazine*. following awards were won only two years since implementing the Bank’s 3-year turnaround strategy underpinned with its strong Vision, Mission, Purpose and Values: • Best Islamic Bank for Transformation and Strategy 2019 • Transformation Leaders of 2019 – John Iossifides (CEO) These awards are evidence of the significance of creating a purpose- driven organisation strengthened by a culture-led approach. TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE Noor Bank’s culture transformation initiative was planned with precision and didn’t follow a “big bang” approach, as in the case of most organisations. It followed a methodical process, and its transformation journey, with the culture factor at the core of the ecosystem, can be visualised by multiple concentric layers. It’s only through following this methodical approach that Noor Bank could define its optimal culture with precision to ensure delivery of its strategy. The success of Noor Bank’s culture transformation journey depended on collaboration and transparency. Thus, a robust, communication plan, based on authentic principles, was key to engage and keep all colleagues across the Bank The success of every change initiative and more specifically, a culture transformation journey depends on partnerships, collaboration and stakeholder management. The Bank needed a partner backed up by evidence-based research and practical experience to help with its culture transformation journey. Noor Bank conducted a market study on specialists in the field of cultural philosophies, methodologies, frameworks and tools. And, in the end, the Bank selected Hofstede Insights as its partner. Hofstede Insights was the only consultancy that offered a thorough analytical approach, backed up by evidence-based academic research together with a strong pragmatic business focus. Hofstede Insights Multi-Focus Model™ offers a data-driven, multi-step holistic, yet solution focussed approach to; measuring the Bank’s existing culture identifying the existence of subcultures across the Bank defining the Bank’s optimal culture to achieve its strategic goals THE RESULTS Noor Bank has recently won two awards at the highly sought after, and most respectable market-led Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) held in Cape Town. The “WE’VE CREATED A PURPOSE AND VALUES-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION WHICH GIVES EVERYONE A SENSE OF MEAN- ING TO THEIR WORK. OUR PEOPLE HAVE BECOME ENERGIZED AND COMMITTED TO THE BANK’S TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY, AND THAT MANIFESTED INTO HIGH PERFORMANCE.” JOHN IOSSIFIDES, CEO NOOR BANK In 2017 Noor Bank’s newly appointed ManCom (Management Committee) designed a 3-year turnaround strategy underpinned by a culture transformation plan. The culture plan aligned and enabled the Bank to deliver and execute against its new strategic objectives. Both the turnaround strategy and culture change plan played an equally important role in the Bank’s change agenda. HOFSTEDE INSIGHTS MULTI-FOCUS ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE ANALYSIS PRIORITISATION OF CHANGE INITIATIVES METHODOLOGY CERTIFICATION AND MENTORING OF THE INTERNAL CULTURE SQUAD FACILITATION WORKSHOPS TO CREATE CULTURAL KPI’S SERVICES PROVIDED *https://news.hofstede-insights.com/news/noorbank7 Copyright Hofstede Insights. All rights reserved Viktor spent many years as an actor in Moscow, living an artist’s freelance life. Now, he has a new challenge; a job with a large company. He’s the Acting Coach at the new Fairytale Park in St. Petersburg, a subsidiary of the American entertainment colossus Fairytale International LLC. He supervises the many character actors who wander around the park dressed in costume, speaking to children. They come from all over the world, and most of the actors see it as a stepping stone while they wait for their big break in movies, theatre or on YouTube. INTRODUCTION A few weeks into his job, Viktor’s American boss called him into his office, “We have a serious quality problem. In our exit surveys, we ask visitors to rate how happy the park has made them. Compared to parks in the United States, our Cheerfulness Ratings™ are very low.” The American leaned over the desk and scowled, “Viktor, our customers are waaaay NOT Cheerful™ enough!”, “Every manager must do his or her part to help. Please deal with your team and report back to me. Tell me why you think that the park has failed to make its customers cheerful.” ANNUAL REVIEWS Over the coming days, he has scheduled annual reviews for all of his staff. He imagines what his boss would want him to say to the actors. Viktor decides to instruct them that they should be more faithful to their character’s story, and improvise less. First comes Princess Perfect. She’s an Australian, and when she hears the criticism, she gets angry, “But I have so much fun with the little girls. I want to make sure the story touches their heart. I have to listen to their dreams and hopes, and respond to them.” Viktor thinks about what he should say to an Australian, “But our stories are tested over centuries, and little girls find them inspiring. Stick to the script,” he says. The Princess leaves unhappily. Viktor next evaluates Jupiter, a large dog who flops around the park acting like an innocent puppy. Jupiter is played by a French acrobat, since acting like a puppy requires a great deal of athletic skill and joint flexibility. Viktor tells him to stick with the arranged choreography. Jupiter thanks him for his feedback, especially how clear and actionable it is. He promises to do better. Jupiter leaps out of the room, almost knocking over the next employee, The Handsome Prince, an Austrian. Viktor delivers his message—to improvise less. The Austrian replies, haughtily, “I am the most qualified Prince that Fairytale Parks has ever employed. I have excelled at Prince University in steed-riding, charm and shining my armour. I know these stories inside- out. My acting cannot be responsible for the park’s poor performance.” the prince’s response surprises Viktor. Next comes the Giant Who Lives at the Top of the Beanstalk, a German. Viktor gives him the same instructions. The giant nods, and replies, “I will try to stick more closely to the script. But the script itself might be to blame. I find our scripts a little vague. We should hold a series of workshops for better scripts, which we can test objectively.” Later, Viktor has a meeting with his boss to report on these discussions. On the way, he checks his Twitter news-feed, and discovers that one of the employees has leaked to the press about brutal working conditions at Fairytale Park St. Petersburg. No doubt, his boss will link Viktor’s management skills to the leak, and to the park’s low Cheerfulness Ratings™. As Viktor rides the lift to his boss’ office, he tries to think of another explanation for the park’s poor score, which could take the pressure off him and his staff. A CHEERFUL JOB CASE STUDY REFLECTION Germany and Austria share many cultural traits. Why do you think the Giant and the Handsome Prince gave different answers to Viktor? Developed by: Martin Karaffa, Tadayasu Nishida, Irene Wang, Giuseppi de Palo.A BRIT HALFWAY TO PARADISE FROM UK TO PORTUGAL Oliver White arrived in Portugal to take the job of Retail Manager at Zol Oil Portugal. Oliver personified the British: he had studied at Oxford, loved cricket, and felt that most, though perhaps not all, non-Brits were somewhat uncivilised. In every sense of the word, Oliver was also a gentleman. He played things cool and believed that one should not impose himself on others. After all, he believed that we’re all equals and that only through exemplary behaviour, determination, and goodwill will you get people on your side. While Oliver loved to visit other countries, this was his first experience as an expatriate, and he had read a great deal about Portugal to prepare himself, as well as started learning Portuguese. Oliver never met his predecessor, a kind and elderly Portuguese man who had just retired, but after a few months he was able to start a discussion with his colleagues in Portuguese. Once he started his new job, Oliver soon found out that his Portuguese predecessor had not made an effort to implement the “open” culture that Oliver supported. How were Oliver’s changes perceived by the Portuguese? How was the communication between Oliver and the distributors? AN AMERICAN IN SLOW-MOTION FROM USA TO SWEDEN Jim Olafson arrived in Sweden to take over from his British predecessor as Retail Manager at AMP Oil. Jim was a typical American: cordial, fast, decisive, flexible, and with a positive outlook on life. It was Jim’s first experience as an expatriate, and he had really looked forward to it. Normally one was given little more than a month’s notice of posting to wherever it might be, but this time Jim was informed well in advance. Both Jim’s grandfathers came from Scandinavia and the idea that he would go back to live in the country of his ancestors thrilled him. While still in the US he took a Swedish language course and it turned out that he had a talent for the language. When Jim arrived in Sweden, he already spoke Swedish fairly well and it wasn’t long before it was hard to tell by his accent that he was a foreigner. His task, however, was not an easy one as his predecessor had accepted a plan drawn up by the Business Development Manager, who was another Brit. This happened just before both British Managers left the company and Jim started. The new plan envisaged the sale of almost 50% of AMP Oil’s retail outlets in Sweden because this 50% only counted for 10% of AMP Oil Sweden’s revenue. The General Manager of AMP Oil Sweden was not in favour of the plan, but it had the support of the AMP Oil Head Office which was, at that time, located in London. Therefore, the plan moved forward. How did the Swedes perceive Jim’s managerial skills? What caused the tension on both sides? 8Next >