I will say up front that I represent a publisher who specializes in international business, cultural, trade and logistics reference titles.
We do a fair amount of outsourcing business overseas, with in-house editors to assure consistency. We found that most companies overseas were very interested in our business, and the main issues were in the "day to day" operations. Our editors recognize that each country has it's own 'style', and a short course in their business and social culture smoothes the way considerably.
For example, we often had the feeling that we were the new in-law being accepted into their family business. Many cultures place great emphasis on being part of the family, and to neglect to ask about their family can seem somewhat crass to them.
Another difference is how to deal with problems. A case in point was two outsource projects, one in the Philippines and one in India. In both cultures, we had to be sensitive to their sense of pride and honor. Often, we had to find ways of presenting our problems with their work in a way that gives them an honorable solution. Sending an email saying "Thank you for this excellent draft. In the next draft, please double check your spelling." instead of saying "This is riddled with misspellings, please correct".
We've had our problems, but overall, we've had great success in this area. It's more a matter of learning the cultural differences and tailoring your interactions than viewing them as landmines.
Roy Hinkelman
eCommerce Director
World trade Press
________________________________
www.WorldTradePress.com/Short_Course_Series.html (international biz publications)
www.BestCountryReports.com (business, cultural & travel data - retail)
www.WorldTradeRef.com (trade and logistics data - subscription)
www.GlobalRoadWarrior.com (business, cultural & travel data - subscription)
Update below: Do IT need managers need a crash course in India and China culture? My hunch is that they will as companies increasingly source to India and China.
And the consensus appears to be that culture is a major hang-up. With that in mind here are some items to add to your reading list:
First up is 10 things you should know about working with an offshore team from TechRepublic. To me the culture issue is the biggest (and the problem is every culture will be different). Consider a company that offshores to India, China and Hungary. That’s three distinct cultures to learn.
An excerpt:
#3: Cultural communication differences can create confusion
This probably is not true of everyone in India, but there does seem to be a tendency to avoid giving negative responses. And if you’re dealing with junior individuals, they may not speak up on an issue without permission by a supervisor.
“Yes” is a word you are likely hear quite a bit. If you ask your offshore counterparts if they can have a task completed by the end of business tomorrow, and they say “Yes,” you may not have received the response you think. While you think you heard “Yes, it will be done,” they are more likely saying “Yes, I understand” or “Yes, I’ll do my best.” Understand this subtly of communication, and things will go much smoother.
In addition, Jason Busch and William Busch have a thought provoking post on their SpendMatters blog. In it, they connect the dots between the opening ceremony of the Olympics (lip synching and fake fireworks) to what we can learn about sourcing. Today, manufacturing is sourced to China. In the future, your IT infrastructure may land there too.
An excerpt:
If China grows up to become more than just a global sourcing superpower, it will have to realize that it can’t fool the world even if thinking that doing so is in everyone’s best interest. Those who are tricked will inevitably assume that something is askance in the future. In the West, we are accustomed to leveling with our peers and contemporaries — especially in what I’d term ‘good supplier relationships’. We put almost everything out on the table, then manage and measure through scorecards and other means. Sure, there’s posturing, but intentional disingenuousness is scorned. In good Western-style relationships, there’s no room for hiding truth, even if one party believes it will lead to a better end game for both. Ask yourself: how would you feel if a Chinese supplier cut corners or substituted materials without telling you? If you’re sourcing from China and you’re not on the ground with your suppliers everyday, I can almost guarantee this has happened.
Jason adds that the events he mentions aren’t just the result of poor judgment. There are also cultural issues involved. Food for thought as you understand your offshore operations.
Update: Vinnie Mirchandani, who negotiates outsourcing and software licensing deals for a living, noted that before you outsource anything you should know the culture and conduct a well structured site visit. And the latter is critical. He notes that a structured on-site visit reveals “nuances like when you go to India try and visit in evening so you can catch live support of European and U.S. customers, frequent fresh air breaks given jet lag (and) kick infrastructure tires.” On the cultural front, Mirchandani walks clients through the cultural, political and economic overview of the target country before going for a visit.
