Cross-cultural Competence, Part 1 (The Middle Way)
Do the right thing, not do things ‘right’. The host for this episode is Jay Fidell. The guests for this episode are Russell Leu and Chang Wang.
Global operations, international business transactions, and cross-border project management require a certain level of cultural competence. This cultural competence refers to not only an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds but also a conscious awareness of “we don’t know what we don’t know.”
A Chinese executive resigned from a U.S. company’s China office; when asked why he left, he answered: “You always do things right, but you don’t do the right thing.” He was referring to many U.S. firms get locked into a very rigid, bureaucratic decision-making structure, and they have trouble innovating.
That Chinese executive’s comment also resonates a common phenomenon affecting international businesses in China in recent years: innovative and creative Chinese talents are less willing to work for a foreign company where they are constantly misunderstood and underappreciated.
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