CASE: "GALDERAMA: Cross-cultural Relations between French, German and British Managers in an International Company"

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CASE: "GALDERAMA: Cross-cultural Relations between French, German and British Managers in an International Company"

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[...] The French managers are seeing the British as an imperious people, so the British managers are seeing the French as a nationalistic people. Perception of French and German managers on each other A general feeling from the French managers is expressed, they imply, that working with the Germans was not too unpleasant as an experience. They can seem rule-based, but at least they are easier to understand than the British. The Germans as they are sometimes unpleasant. Their way of communication tends to be more like orders. [...]

[...] Expatriates generally do not have any special intercultural training and must learn to manage cultural differences within their teams little by little. The intervention of a cultural mediator. It helps to make the meeting fruitful and constructive, rather than leading to the polarization of the cultural groups involved. Thus, this approach consists in supporting an intercultural team in the development of acceptable ways of doing things for its members. After the team has started working together, a first meeting leads each participant to identify the incidents that he considers critical to the team's operation or that cause him to be misunderstood. [...]

[...] From the perspective of the company GALDERAMA, why are these cultural differences a problem for the company? This cultural difference can lead to a general lack of understanding between the three nations. Because of an incomprehension of the British, French, and Germen managers that has to do with the feeling that they remain different of each other's, despite ententes cordials, rapprochement and other diplomatic man oeuvres. Occasional miscommunication and misunderstanding can create conflict between the employees. The conflict may stop the realization of a project, managers could take wrong decision and strategy. [...]

[...] Perception of French and British managers on each other The French managers have kind of a negative impression about the effectiveness of the British managers. They view them as they lack effectiveness to carry on the policies, although they may be effective to help to determine them. They think that they are kind and friendly but not a hard-working manager as they stop working to early compared to the French managers. The British managers, had problems to deal with women with a similar or a higher position in the hierarchy. [...]

[...] What would you do to avoid or solve these cultural issues at GALDERAMA To adapt to a better understanding with your international colleagues, here are what I suggest as tips: Let your colleagues speak in detail without interrupting them unexpectedly Repeat what your colleague told you to be sure you understood Plan of actions: Intercultural training is a solution to deal with the cultural differences that cross them. Thus, there are manuals and guides for managers to help them better understand interculturality. The training also consists of language courses, introductory programs for foreign cultures or seminars but it remains insufficient to "train intercultural". There is "learning by doing". This practice consists in sending its managers to its subsidiaries abroad as "expatriates". [...]