The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

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Meyer suggests that most cultures that disagree openly are equally open with their emotions, while disagreement-avoidant cultures are emotionally reserved. However this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule: While all of us express emotions in our faces and mannerisms, their frequency and intensity is dictated by culture. (Shortform note: The rules that govern these norms are known by psychologists as “ cultural display rules.”) Strategies for Disagreeing Across Cultures

Ms. Meyer is a professor at INSEAD, one of the world’s leading international business schools. Her research is focused on determining how the world’s most successful global leaders navigate the complexities of cultural differences. Her framework allows executives around the world to pinpoint their leadership preferences, and compare their methods to the management styles of other cultures. This helps them navigate complex leadership issues, negotiate successfully across cultures, and solve issues that require years of experience. As a result, this book is one of my most prescribed books for leaders facing cultural challenges. For this last category, we did not use it when comparing the aforementioned cultures however it is important when presenting your ideas. This is a great book to read if you are struggling with leadership or business issues across cultures. It provides you with the tools needed to navigate complex leadership challenges and to achieve the desired business outcomes.In The Culture Map, we read about a successful Norwegian manager who is biking to work every day. It is nothing out of the ordinary since Norwegia is an egalitarian country, and biking to work like everyone else perfectly fits to the culture. Top-down: The decision comes from authority and the results are communicated to lower levels (for example China). In the former cognitive trust is dominating. I trust the other person because based on his past actions I believe he is capable of doing the job. My trust comes from my head. Relationships are built through business interactions.

On the other hand in countries where a strong organizing power/state was not always present through the ages, people had to rely much more on themself. They have a different approach to time as well. Meyer divides disagreement styles across two extremes: “confrontational,” which we’ll call open disagreement, and “avoids confrontation,” which we’ll call disagreement-avoidant.

PDF Summary Epilogue: What to Keep in Mind to Work Effectively Across Cultures

High-context: Communication is nuanced and has multiple layers. Messages are signaled but often are not explicitly written or said out loud. This type of communication requires "reading between the lines". (for example Japan) A work colleague recommended this to me. I generally struggle with non-fiction, unless it is a topic that really, really interests me. Work-related literature is even worse. However, if you work in an international field and frequently deal with other countries and cultures, this book offers some eye-opening insights. High relationship-based scale – Countries such as Brazil and China form trust on the basis of shared personal relations and experiences. Such cultures believe that a trusting partnership needs time and effort to be nurtured.