Cultural differences between France and America

Résumé du document

When companies from different origins are working together, often they meet problems of communication and misunderstanding. It is due to the difference of cultures and background of each part. We use the word cultural clash to define this type of bad interaction between two cultures. Cultural clash is the phenomenon individuals commonly experience when they are confronted with realities of a different cultural environment.

It describes the feelings of individuals when they meet different social norms, values, beliefs, and way of doing (De Cupua, Wintergerst, 2004). To resume we can cite these words from Geert Hofstede "culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster".

The case study given shows difficulties between two companies, the first which is American asked to the second one which is French to design a building for their company in France.

Extraits

[...] To highlight the 5 dimensions of Hofstede the following graph comparing these dimensions in figures could help the reader to understand differences between the two cultures. (geert-hofstede.com, 2010) If this case was turn in another way such as a French publishing company asking to Americans architects to design their building things would be different. First of all the French would may be not set up a dead line, but if there would be a deadline, Americans would have done the work on time but maybe not at the level of quality French would expect it and it could be a source of problems. [...]

[...] That led to say that USA is a monochronic culture while France is polychronic. For Americans to respect deadline is highly important, even if it means that not all of point of a project are checked. A no respect of the deadline means that they are not efficient that's why it's a priority. French, too, are interested in efficiency, but they don't give deadlines top priority like in USA. For the French, the emphasis is on quality and in the event that time runs short, they will use additional time to ensure high quality, while Americans are more likely to sacrifice various things such as quality, in order to reach the deadline. [...]

[...] Another solution could be to set up a Gantt diagram with the French architects to force them to respect delays. A Gantt diagram allows seeing graphically the steps of a project in time and what have been done by the team managing the project. Thanks to that you can plan deadlines, identify margins on tasks and an easy picture of delays or advancement of the work. Often this Gantt diagram is based on a PERT model (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) elaborated in 1956 for the US navy, a planification model estimating the time of each step to realization and the best order to do the complete task. [...]

[...] To resume we can cite these words from Geert Hofstede "culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster”. The case study given shows difficulties between two companies, the first which is American asked to the second one which is French to design a building for their company in France. But the French company doesn't respect deadlines given to American to deliver the project. As the French overcome the deadline, Americans executives calls them in order to know why they are late. [...]

[...] A Hofstede five dimension could be helpful for the companies to a better understanding of who is the other. These dimensions are: - Small vs. large power distance, means how much the less powerful members of institutions and organizations expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. - Individualism vs. Collectivism means how much members of the culture define themselves apart from their group memberships. - Masculinity vs. Femininity, define the value placed on traditionally male or female values. - Weak vs. [...]