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Making International Remote Teams Work
International companies are geographically and culturally dispersed. In some cases, the importance of a company's original zone of activity has been economically outweighed. Powerful sub-groups have emerged, their results heavily influencing strategic decisions. Using their difference as an advantage, these groups often deeply altered the internal balance of power. This evolution, a consequence of internationalisation, has in turn generated the structural evolutions we have been experiencing since the mid-eighties: Creation of lines of products, of divisions by activity, all international.
Brutally, the mono-cultural, ethnocentric logic that prevailed within the zones is shattered. Confused managers now have to find their ways through the complexities of three interacting and potentially conflicting cultural levels - national, corporate and functional. They have to deal directly with distant, unknown and different counterparts who are also desperately trying to survive the torments of such complex structures.
Gradually, the way in which power was exercised changed from giving direct orders to engaging in permanent negotiation, where the different parties within the group have to seek mutual agreement and draw up internal contracts to satisfy everyone. Forcing the way doesn't stand a chance any more. Therefore, knowing the other person and understanding his or her culture, values and behaviours, becomes a considerable advantage.
Why Communication is Essential
Everyone must know where the enlarged company is going so they can help get it there. Changes in structure, procedures and methods should be communicated at every stage of implementation. But this isn't enough. Consultation across the company is also essential. When planning change at high levels, it is worth listening to what middle, junior and supervisory management have to say, as they are not only closest to the customer, but also to the internal workings of the company. But this still isn't enough. Communication and consultation processes also must be adapted to the particular characteristics of corporate and international cultures. Doing an internal culture audit of each company in the early stages will highlight the differences in attitudes and expectations, and give a realistic picture of what those characteristics are.
In cases of integrating cultures, three fundamental conditions are required:
1) Clarifying the objective
First of all, it must be made clear what the objective and philosophy of the new situation is. Organized around trades, lines of products or world markets, the new dimensions of the organization go right across the group's traditional geographic structure. Poorly defined in terms of responsibility or decision making, they immediately trigger strong political reactions within national or regional structures.
2) Negotiating its implementation
To successfully introduce and implement a complex structure, it is recommended that some of the systems not be imposed, but rather designed and negotiated in part by those who will be applying them. In regard to non-negotiable principles, these should be implemented according to a calendar or modalities that best suit the particular cultural environment.
3) Accompanying change
This means assisting the implementation process by preparing managers for their new international exposure. Cultural aspects are at the very heart of this process. Giving orders, negotiating, communicating, controlling, delegating, deciding: These are the manager's daily lot. From one day to the next, the manager suddenly finds him- or herself having to do all these things with, and for, faraway collaborators for whom these words may convey totally different meanings and behaviours. Where, for example, an American or British manager will expect direct feedback and suggestions from his collaborators, a Chinese or Indian manager will feel insulted and take them as an affront.
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