Global OD: From Diversity to Multicultural Competency Enrique J. Zaldivar .

Global OD: From Diversity to Multicultural Competency

Enrique J. Zaldivarwww.inspired-inc.com

© Copyright 2010. E. J. Zaldivar, Inspired-Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Introductions . . .

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(a “high-context culture” thing to do)

Please, introduce yourself by stating:

Your name;

The culture(s) you’d claim belonging to; and

Why are you here today?


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A conversation from three PERSPECTIVES . . .

Multi-national perspective

Multi-cultural perspective, in the U.S.

Organizational perspective (even when operating in a seemingly homogeneous environment)

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Imaginary Line Exercise

Please, stand up on a place in the line that you feel best reflects your own competence about performing effectively and successfully in a multicultural/multinational environment.


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Making the case for:Multicultural Competency

Why should we care about increasing our own multicultural competence?

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中國Zhōngguó

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THE WORLD


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REALLY ?


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THE WORLD ?


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THE WORLD ?


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THE WORLD ?


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THE WORLD ?


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We need a volunteer to:Please, draw a fish . . .

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A passage from . . .James Morier’s “The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan.”

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Small group exercise . . .

Why should we care about increasing our own multicultural competence?

(in other words)

Why is it important to become even more competent than we already are at performing more effectively and successfully when working: Multi-nationally (abroad); Multi-culturally (in the US); or Organizationally (mindful of organizational

cultures)?CBODN 2010

Purpose . . . Tap into your own skills and diversity awareness to take it a

step forward and develop your skill at performing more effectively/successfully in multi-cultural/-national environments

and, hopefully, also develop a life-long curiosity.

Increase your awareness of how your everyday thoughts and actions exist within a cultural context; the cultural dimension that inevitably informs our own Use of Self.

Place our own cultures into a meta-cultural context, to better understand the inherent biases we all bring to our human interactions, by introducing frameworks that improve our awareness, understanding and effectiveness of diversity & cultural competency.

Develop your confidence and commitment to apply these understandings and skills regularly, on your daily life, as well as on your own professional practices.


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Uniqueness in Mental Programming

PERSONALITY

Innate Inherited & learned

CULTURE

Cultural context Learned

HUMAN NATURE

Universal Inherited

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A model of culture . . .At the core: Basic assumptions about existence

In the middle:- Norms (laws & social control);- Values (shared ideals)

The outer layer: practices:- Rituals;- Heroes;- Symbols;- Products (artifacts); - Services (styles)

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Culture clash . . .

Practices/Behaviors

Norms & Values

BasicExistentialAssumptio

ns

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Normal (healthy) response to stress . . .

Biological responses to stress(hijacked amygdala): Fight Flee Freeze Appease

If a bio-reaction stops you … Notice your reaction Take a deep breath; relax your eyes and knees Ask yourself:

What just happened? What conversation blocker is causing my reaction? What is important right now?

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LAYERS OF CULTURE(SELF-REFLECTION EXERCISE)

DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES

National (background) / NationalityRegional / Ethnic / LinguisticRacial (ancestral)Generational / AgeGender / Sexual orientationEducational / ReligiousMental (IQ, EQ) & physical abilitiesOrganizational: field & hierarchySocial issuesSocial class (let’s use annual income): Poor (<30K); MCL (60); MCM (120); MCH (250); UC (1M); Rich (>1M)

Relationship with authority (social inequality)

Relationship between ind. & group

Concepts of masculinity & femininity

Ways of dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity (related to control of aggression / expression of emotions)

Long-term vs. short-term orientation

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Dimensions of societal cultural diversity

Relationships amongst people: Individualism vs. Collectivism - Group – Individual Inequality vs. Equality - Power distance Neutral vs. Affective - Masculinity – Femininity Specific vs. Diffuse - Uncertainty avoidance (losing

face) Universalism vs. Particularism - Relationships – rules Achievement vs. Ascription - How we accord status

Attitudes about time: Past vs. Present vs. Future - Long-term – short-term

orientation Monochronic vs. Polychronic - How we define & manage time

Attitudes about the environment: From within vs. From the outside - How we relate to nature

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Low Cultural Context High Cultural Context

CULTURAL DIMENSION

Abstractive (heterogeneous)

CHARACTERISTIC CULTURE

Associative (homogeneous)

Individualistic (earned status) SOCIAL STRUCTURE Collective (ascribed

status)

Objective (control of nature) PHISOLOPHIC OUTLOOK Subjective (harmony

w/nature)

Need for achievement (masculine) PSYCHOLOGIC FOCUS Need for affiliation

(feminine)

Analytic (realm of prose) THOUGHT PATTERNS Relational (realm of poetry)

Future orientation(mono-chronic) (non-sensual)

PERCEPTION Past/present orientation(poly-chronic) (sensual)

Competition / aloof(written/electr.) (impersonal)

INTERACTION Cooperation / involved(face-to-face) (personal)

It’s all about DOING(independence) BASIC VALUES

It’s all about BEING(interdependence/dependence)

Adapted from G. Weaver, 1998 b/

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To Do To Be


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Exercise: In small groups:Which organization is normal?

I) An organization is a system designed to perform functions and tasks in an efficient way. People are hired to perform these functions with the help of machines and other equipment. They are paid for the tasks they perform.

II) An organization is a group of people working together. They have social relations with other people and with the organization. The functioning is dependent on these relations.

“Culture still seems like a luxury item to most managers, a dish on the side.”

– F. Trompenaars

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Which organization is normal?

Organizations are primarily perceived as

systems in:

• USA• Netherlands• Saudi Arabia• Hungary• Uruguay• Poland• Russia• Czech Republic• Bulgaria

Organizations are primarily perceived as

social groups in:

• Portugal• Thailand• Venezuela• Japan• Greece• France• India• Brazil• Philippines

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Basis of organizational cultural diversity(a way to organize cultures in organizations)

Relationships between employees & their organizations: Attitudes about authority; Views about the organization’s destiny, purpose & goals.

equality vs hierarchy task vs people orientations

Family - Hierarchical & people oriented (person focused) Pyramidal - Hierarchical & task oriented (role focused) Objective - Egalitarian & task oriented (project focused) Existential - Egalitarian & people oriented (fulfillment

focused)

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National patterns of organizational culture

Adapted from F. Trompenaars, 1998 a/

FamilyOrganization

PyramidalOrganization

ObjectiveOrganization

ExistentialOrganization

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So . . . What to do about all this?

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“The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold

two opposed ideas in the mind, at the same time,

and still retain the ability to function.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Levels of Identity . . .

Mono-cultural

Bicultural Identity

Multicultural Identity

Transcultural Identity

The key to transcend from the current multicultural reality, andour own mono-, bi-, ormulti-cultural identity,to . . .

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Multicultural reality?

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Levels of Identity . . .

Mono-cultural

Bicultural Identity

Multicultural Identity

Transcultural Identity

The key to transcend from the current multicultural reality, andour own mono-, bi-, ormulti-cultural identity,to . . .

a truly Transcultural Identitylies in our capacity to developour Multicultural Competence.

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Developing our ownMulticultural CompetencyREQUIRES:

Self-awareness of our own cultural peculiarities

Awareness of cultural differences

Respecting cultural differences

Leveraging cultural differences (the power of diversity)

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In conclusion . . .

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Building on our own skills, and diversity awareness, let’s take it a step further by increasing our multicultural competency;

Assessing and increasing our own level of cultural self-awareness, the cultural dimension that inevitably informs our own Use of Self, increases our efficacy in today’s world;

Placing our own culture into a meta-cultural context, inevitably helps us understand the inherent biases we all bring to our human interactions;

Trying to become competent in the culture of another individual by simply learning the “tricks” for how to behave in that culture, without doing the inner work about understanding our own culture, is a fallacy; and

Increasing our sensitivity to the differences within each client system and between different client systems increases our professional effectiveness.


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Bibliography

a) Earley, P. Christopher & Ang, Soon. Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions Across Cultures. Stanford U. Press, Stanford, CA, 2003.

b) Hall, Edward T. Beyond Culture. Doubleday, New York,1976.

c) Hofstede, Geert & Gert Jan. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. McGraw Hill, New York, 2005.

d) House, Robert J. et. al. Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies. Sage, New York, 2004.

e) Trompenaars, Fons. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business. 2nd ed. McGraw Hill, New York, 1998.

f) Weaver, Gary R. Culture, Communication and Conflict: Readings in Intercultural Relations; 2nd edition. Simon & Schuster, Needham Heights, MA, 1998.

g) Zaldivar, Suzanne M. Change in Afghanistan: Contrasting Values and What is Essential about OD. OD Journal, 2010.

h) Zaldivar, Suzanne M. International Development through OD — My Experience in Afghanistan. OD Practitioner, 2008.

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Enrique J. Zaldivarwww.inspired-inc.com

Global OD: From Diversity to Multicultural Competency Enrique J. Zaldivar .

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