Cross-Cultural Trust, Cross-Cultural Dispute Resolution: Global Goals

Dear friends,

Now seeems to be the time to write to you about the ultimate importance of working toward Cross-Cultural Trust which leads to the opportunity for Cross-Cultural Dispute Resolution.  We in our global work place, our global living place, are now interacting constantly through the various means like the e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, YouTube, video conferencing and many more. 

As we have discussed in past blog entries,  each of us carries within us the values of the national culture where we were born and/or grew up.  These national cultural values drive us to make the choices we make on a dailky basis, to vbalue whagt we value.  The national cultural values differ from one national culture to another.  Sometimes these values differences are great like from the north to the south pole, and sometimes these national cultural values differences are small, and perhaps difficult to identify.  The daily connection each of us can make with individuals across the globe from where we are living, or working, does highlight, bring to the forefront, hit us right between the eyes, with the differences among national cultural values.  The constant communication also can highlight the misunderstandings that can and do occur between individuals from differing cultures, trying to communicate with each other. Communication e.g., one individual talking, writing, sharing photos, sharing videos in our constant global connectivity, may not then really "communicate" with another individual, because a wall of cultural misunderstanding can easily arise from the differing national cultural values, blocking both individuals' desire to "communicate".

How can we begin to take down the walls built by cross-cultural mis-understandings?  How can we then build stronger, more enduring pathways to real communication?

One way I suggest is to begin by hononring who each of us is culturally. What values are within us that write/direct the way we may choose to speak, and/or make any series of choices hourly?  Daily?  Then when we( knowing we bring with us our national cultural values, mindset) are going to try to truly, honestly communicate with an individual or individuals from another culture, shouldn't we then learn  the cultural values that drive/direct that other individual's choices on an hourly, daily basis?  I am suggesting that having "cultural integrity" in our communication with those of other cultures , means we must knowingly take who we know we are into the communication, with respect (not buy in) for the other national cultural values that will drive the responding communication.  This will help both sides trying to communicate sculpt their initial comunication and all responses in  a manner that sets up the communication to be genuine, truly reaching the other individual.

More later on this set of thoughts!!!  The more we can genuinely communicate, with respect for cultural differences, the more can begin to build the cross-cultural trust and thus opportunity for cross-cultural dispute resolution necessary for improving the odds that we in our constant connectivity globally do honestly COMMUNICATE.

Warm regards,

Jane

Jane E. Smith
LiSimba Consulting Services, Inc.
www.lisimba.com
Telephone:  612-802-1240

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An Answer to the June 7, 2012 FT article," A Conversation that Translates"

Dear friends,

I write today, after a break writing webinars and other braodcast materials, to share an answer to an article in the FINANCIAL TIMES, June 7, 2012, p. 10, "A Conversation that translates".  This article directly talks about the concerns that we here at LiSimba Consulting Services, Inc., are excited about and passionate about resolving, namely cross-cultural concerns in our global working world.  The article opens with a lead statement: "For global companies, creating an approach to risk that resonates across cultures can be a challenge,...."  Yes indeed I agree fully.  Whenever we work to effectively communicate across national cultures, we must follow the BEST PRACTICES, as are discussed earlier in this blog.  These BEST PRACTICES were published by the American Bar Association in the Spring of 2009, in the Third Edition of THE ABA GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS.  The chapter that I wrote in this book that head on addresses this FT article is, "Minimizing Risk:  Best Practices for Managing Cross-Cultural concerns in Global Contracing".   Of course risk is a powerful topic for those corporations and those individuals within those corporations doing business which involves working across national boundaries.  The article quotes a professor at INSEAD, a graduate business school in Europe, saying, "The perception of risk and uncertainty is very different across cultures,".  He has taken the words right out of my mouth.  There is no answer in this article to the concerrns raised. During the many webinars that I have  broadcast  since 2006, and before speaking publicly and with clients,  I have offered a functioning, effective answer on how to minimize the risk that exists when we work outside of our national culture.  I created the BEST PRACTICES, from my working experiences, research and edeucation,  to directly and effectively address a full answer to the concerns discussed in this FT article.  The BEST PRACTICES do translate into effective cross-cultural communication on a daily basis on global worksites.  For a more complete initial answer to the concerns raised in this FT article, tune into the CMIDaily.com series on cross-cultural conerns, with a beginning boradcast date of June 14, 2012, 10:00 am CDT. On the CMIDaily.com webiste, click on "Webinars" and scroll down to see the series of webinars I am offering, through a collaborative relationship with CMIDaily, with differing dates for each aspect of risk and cross-cultural concerns, to allow for ease of access.

I look forward to hearing from you during the broadcasts, or to hearing from you on this blog, or through my other e-mail address, jsmith@lisimba.com

Jane

Jane E. Smith
LiSimba Consulting Services, Inc.
  Empowering Cross-Cultural Relationships for
       International Business Success
www.lisimba.com
Telephone:  (+) 612-802-1240
Facsimile:  (+) 952-472-2681

Cross Cultural Concerns in Today's Cross Border Transactions

Dear friends,

So much of the discussions at the Paris meeting of the Section of International Law and Practice of the ABA last week was about the buying into a foreign country's economy through a merger, acquisition, joint venture, working alliance or other form of structuring such a working arrangement. Much of the talk is about the chioce of law and how critical that choice is, or about the financing for the deal, or about the details in a long document that will clearly describe the working relationship that will exiswt among the parties to the cross border transaction.

The key words for me are "cross border" as immediataely I am made aware of the fact that two or more nations will be trying to work together to create a working opportunity that has the potential to offer a secure stream of income/profit for all parties as well as future work opportunities that can flow from the present one being created. The light in the midst of all of this talk and opportunity then is the application of the Best Practices for Managing Cross Cultural Concerns in Global Contracting. It is absolutelya fundamental to apply these Best Practices to better assure the present and ongoing success of the global contracting work.
Will you please write to me to share why this is so? I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm regards,

Jane

Jane E. Smith
LiSimba Consulting Services, Inc.
Building Relationships for International Business Success
www.lisimba.com
jsmith@lisimba.com

Best Practices in Managing Cross Cultural Concerns

Dear Friends,

I have just completed five days in Paris France, where I attended the Fall Meeting of the Section of International Law and Practice of the American Bar Association. I am a member of this Section and as always I learned so much about what is going on in our global legal world with up to date information on many parts of our global business world.

What was most interesting to me is that through all of the discussions on mergers and acquisitions, mediation and any other type of legal activity that is going on in our global legal world, there was little if any understanding that at the base of each cross boarder opportunity for work is the glaring need for effective management of cross cultural concerns among the varying national cultures represented through the parties to each "deal".

I am reminded of a statement by Mr. Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, when asked about cross cultural concerns when creating a global "deal". Jack said in a July issue of Newsweek magazine in 2007 that in the heat of the deal, one forgets about such things as cross cultural concerns. That was clear in these meetings I just attended as the talk is all about the national and internatinal law that can be used when creating the deal. Nothing was said about the greatest risk of all that can and does undermine the benefit of the bargain for parties to the bargain, the cross cultural risk, which is at the heart of each cross boarder deal created. It is the cross cultural concerns that can and do then undermine over 80% of the cross boarder deals created globally. Jack's own commments came back to bite the deals that he created for GE. Many of his deals have failed financially as well as in terms of maximizing the present and future work opportunities existent in each signed global contract.

So as you read this blog entry, please look back at the earlier entries on this blog and apply the Five Best Practices for minimizing risk in managing Cross Cultural Concerns in global contracting.

I look forward to hearing from you readers and your comments.

Warm regards,

Jane

Jane E. Smith
LiSimba Consulting Services Inc.
Buildling Relationships for International Business Success
www.lisimba.com
jsmith@lisimba.com
Telephone: 612-802-1240

Inernational Litigation and Mediation-Cross Cultural Aspects

Dear friends,

Today we will carry on looking at Best Practice Number One and its application to international litigation and mediation. As I said in the earlier blog entry on this topic, each nation's culture is supported by its legal system. Following on this idea, each nation's culture is fundamentally supported by its core values as I have discusssed on this and other blogs before. It is the differing values held by a culture and those who live within that culture and thus by a nation that can create difficulties in understanding another nation and the people of the other nation's culture. Values are at the very core of every culture. The layers that are more visitble of that culture are the "practices", including the culture's rituals, heroes and symbols, which are the most visible. If the values of one national culture are almost 180 degrees different from those of another national culture, then the "practices" of the very differing cultures will also be 180 degrees different.

I suggest that in an early simplistic application of Best Practice Number One (THE ABA GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS, A Comparison of Cross-Cultural Issues and Successful Approaches, 3rd Edition, Chapter 8, Jane E. Smith, "Minimizing Risk: Best Practices in Managing Cross Cultural Concerns in Global Contracting", p. 159-187, May 2009, Section of International Law and Practice, American Bar Association.), each participant in an international legal dispute apply Best Practice Number One first to themselves to better understand their own culture and its values and then apply the Best Practice to each national culture participating in the international litigation dispute. With the cultural values understandings that can come from such application of Best Practice Number One, there is increasing opportunity that the dispute may settle in manner that is least costly financially to all parties, with great opportunity to settle the dispute with bridges of mutual understanding and respect built.

For more information on this topic, please feel free to contact me personally. I will continue with this topic on this blog, discussing the opportunities that the Best Practices Method offers for meaningful resolution of international litigation and meditation, in regard to the cross cultural concerns that exist.

Warm regards,

Jane

Jane E. Smith, Esq.
LiSimba Consutling Services, Inc.
Building Relationships for International Business Success
3305 Eagle Bluff Road
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55364
USA
www.lisimba.com
Telephone: 612-802-1240
Facsimile: 952-472-2681

A Continuing Understanding of the Cross Cultural Aspects of International Litigation and Arbitration

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Cross Cultural Aspects of International Litigation and Arbitration

Dear friends,

I am inspired by the Spring 2010 issue of International Law News, Section of International Law, American Bar Association, Volume 39, No.2, to write this series on the Cross Cultural Aspects of International Litigation and Arbitration. The final line on the front page of this issue says, "This issue revolves around these practical examples of clashing legal cultures."

I suggest that there is no need to understand the various legal cultures in our world as "clashing". The word "clashing" sets up a battlefield outlook on the differences in the legal cultures in our world. Perhaps a more workable way to "see" or to understand the various legal cultures in our world is to apply the Best Practices method that when followed creates a mutually repectful approach of working together as differing legal cultures in any venue. The Best Practices method thus allows for building bridges of understanding and a collaborative approach for situations where the legal systems of various countries and thus the underlying national cultures meet to resolve disputes that have arisen.

Today I will begin to apply Best Practice Number One to the varying legal cultures in our world, a fundamental beginning toward our goal of resolving disputes in a mutually respectful manner leading to building bridges of ongoing workable understandings among varying legal cultures.

A national legal system whether based upon civil or common law, essentially supports the nation's culture, especially the nation's cultural values. Cultural values are best understood when one understands the core of a culture is its values. Those cultural core values inform the culture's rituals, who its heroes are, the cultural meaning of its valued symbols. When one is working in a foreign legal system, foreign to one's own national culture and legal training, it is fundamental to being successful in representing one's client in the foreign legal culture, to understand what the foreign culture's core values are and how they give meaning to the daily and highly valued cultural rituals, culturally valued heroes, and the symbolic meaning of cultural words, behaviors, pictures and things. (Hofstede, Geert; Hofstede, Gert Jan, CULTURES AND ORGANIZATIONS, Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill, 2005).

A brief example can be seen in a scenario where a person from a national culture where the individual is highly valued is sent to work in a nation where the group is valued over the individual. Perspectives based upon differing values, from the outset are quite different. When a dispute arises from the work setting, the most sound approach is to have informed the person sent to the foreign work setting of his/her own cultural values and then informed him.her of those of the people living in the nation where he/she will work. With such cultural understandings learned before entering the foreign work setting, disputes can be approached and worked through in a more time saving, relatinship building and thus cost effective manner. The greatest benefit that can flow from such cultural understandings is building the bridges of mutual understanding and respect that can then bolster all present and future work settings in the foreign location.

I will follow tomorrow with a more detailed application of Best Practice Number One. The Best Practices to which I am referring can be found in the ABA GUIDE TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS, A Comparison of Cross Cultural Issues and Successful Approaches, Third Edition, Section of International Law and Practice, American Bar Association, May 2009. Please see Chapter 8 for a fuller understanding of what I have written on Best Practices for global work settings.

Until tomorrow, warm regards,

Jane

Jane E. Smith, Esq.
LiSimba Consulting Services, Inc.
Building Relationships for International Business Success
www.lisimba.com
jsmith@lisimba.com