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The Culture Map
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This is an entire coverd document about the book "The Culure Map" written by Erin Mayer. I spent a lot of time writing this.
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Decoding how people think, lead, and get thingsdone across cultures.
Victoire Beaujean
THE CULTURE
MAP
Erin Meyer
,Erin Meyer – The Culture Map
Erin Meyer is a Minnesota-born American author and a professor of Cross-cultural management at
INSEAD in Paris, one of the world’s leading international business schools.
Introduction
Navigating Cultural Differences and the Wisdom of Mrs Chen
Erin Meyers gives 2 examples of how cultural differences can impact international business.
1st situation Bo Chen case
Erin Meyers had a session in Paris with one of the top executives at Peugeot Citroën, preparing him and
his wife for their upcoming move to Wuhan, China. Bo Chen, a 36- years old, Paris-based journalist
from Wuhan, volunteered to act as a Chinese cultural expert for the training session program, that would
be a success for Meyer’s firm because it would be hired to provide the same service for another 50
couples later in the year.
Meyer had already preparatory meetings with Chen asking him to prepare 2 or 3 concrete business
examples to illustrate each cultural dimension that she would be covering during the program. Meyer
thought that Chen was perfect for the job: he is “extraverted, articulate and very knowledgeable.
However during the session and the explanation of Meyer about the cultural dimensions. Chen didn’t
open his mouth or made any movements or reactions, completely silent/mute and motionless. He began
to speak after Meyer called on him, telling if he would share some examples. In his case Chen was not
a problem, it wasn’t his personality. In fact Chen is not a shy or introverted person. Culture is the point.
➔ Cultural stereotypes:
Asians: tended to be quiet, shy or reserved. Less forthright about offering their individual
opinions in team meetings. Yet the cultural stereotypes does not reflect the actual reason behind
Chen’s behaviour: Chinese people are good listeners and they leave a few more seconds of
silence before jumping into the conversation.
So Chen was waiting patiently and would have spoken only if Erin had called on him or an appropriate
length of pause had risen.
The most important thing is to be aware of the cultural context in order to be more prepared to recognize
the different cultural expectations around communication.
2nd situation Sabine Dulac case
Sabine Dulac, a French finance director for a leading global energy company, was called for a two-year
assignment in Chicago. Erin Meyer called both her American boss (Jake Webber) and later Dulac
herself. After her performance review, Webber said that on one hand she was incredibly energetic
(positive feedback), but on the other hand he didn’t like the way she’s working: made calculation errors,
sloppy spreadsheets, comes to the meeting unprepared (negative feedback). However Dulac didn’t pay
attention to the complains of Mr. Webber.
In this case national stereotypes may be more confusing than helpful:
➔ National stereotypes:
French: masters of implicit and indirect communication, speaking and listening with sensitivity
and subtility.
Americans: masters of explicit and direct communication.
So again, the problem of misunderstanding or miscommunication is linked to the cultural
difference between the two. (It’s not a matter of incompatible personalities)
French: positive feedback is often given implicitly, while negative feedback is given more
directly.
USA: the opposite.
, So for Dulac the negative feedback sounded very minor. The solution is to simply explaining what you
are doing and be aware of this cultural tendency.
This book provides a systematic, step-by-step approach to understanding the most common business
communication challenges that arise from cultural differences and offer steps for dealing with them
more effectively. These strategies are a useful tool to improve effectiveness at solving the most thorny
problems caused by cross-cultural misunderstandings.
The vast majority of managers conducting business internationally have little understanding about how
culture is impacting their work. Subtle differences in communication patterns may be small. But if you
are unaware of these cultural differences and the strategies for managing them effectively, can
demotivate your employees, frustrate your foreign suppliers etc.
It’s important not to focus on individual differences but on cultural differences. Of course individuals,
no matter their cultural origins, have varied personality traits but this doesn’t mean learning about
cultural contexts is unnecessary.
Erin Meyer developed an 8-scale model:
Each of the eight scale model represents
one key area that managers must be aware
of, showing how cultures very along a
spectrum from one extreme to its opposite.
These eight scales will help you to improve
your effectiveness. By analysing the
positioning of one culture relative to
another, the scales will enable you to
decode how culture influences your own
international collaboration and avoid
painful situations.
Each scale positions 20 to 30 countries
along a continuum (country positions on
each scale). The country position on the scale indicates the mid-position of range of acceptable or
appropriate behaviours in that country. Both cultural differences and individual differences impact each
international interaction. The culture sets a range, and withing that range each individual makes a choice.
It’s not a question of culture or personality, but of culture and personality. The eight scale can help to
understand such differences and evaluate individual choices within a broad cultural context.
Another crucial factor in understanding the meaning of the eight scales in the concept of cultural
relativity. In examining how people from different cultures relate to one another, what matters is not the
absolute position of either culture on the scale but rather the relative position of the two cultures. It’s
this relative positioning that determines how people view one another. (In comparison to your own
country)
So cultural relativity is the key to understanding the impact of culture on human interactions. If an
executive wants to build and manage global teams that can work together successfully, he needs to
understand not just how people work from his own culture experience people from various international
cultures, but also how those international cultures perceive one another.
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