Intercultural management (3)

Intercultural management differences Some underlying explanations...

Working with the French Doing business in France More to come

Working with the French....

For an American, working with the French has some good sides and some bad sides, with many differences. Among them, many Americans cite : The French do not organize meetings to reach a decision : they meet to exchange information, then the person in charge takes the decision... If you need to have a serious and/or difficult discusion with someone, you'll invite him/her for lunch and business lunches are an important part of corporate communication ; of course, be ready to drink wine... regarding meetings : French global companies are not very different from their American counterparts but some " traditions " may resist (particularly outside Paris). Among them : Beginning a meeting 15 minutes later than scheduled so as to wait for those who are late and who expected it to be (it is called the "quart d'heure marseillais" or "parisien" or "wherever") : most participants are surprised when the meeting starts just on time. Interrupting the speaker or speaking about a topic which is not on the agenda (when there is an agenda) Forgetting to summarize the conclusion and/or to circulate a memo about the conclusion after the meeting... French meetings are often more creative : take advantage of it! The French are more flexible and creative and they do not feel bound to a previous decision ... Surprisingly enough for most Americans, the productivity of the French (when they work) is higher than the productivity of the Americans ! The French do not like clear procedures : they want to maintain some form of " grey zone " and do not believe that it is right to use always the same and only way to do the same things ; organizational charts and objectives are not clear... Michael Johnson writes "One quality the Mediteranean peoples have brought to the world is the ability to live confortably with inconsistency. The Greeks have it, the Italians have it and certainly the French do. To northern Europeans, this ability sometimes looks more like confusion, self-doubt or possibly mental illness. But it is not."

The French do not believe a win-win sitution can exist ("if you win, it means I lose") and negociations are always difficult when people do not try to reach a consensus... Only written commitments are serious : nothing oral is really binding and lying is no big deal ... Within the company, the French are less constrained by social codes such as "you must play golf with your boss", or "each of us must give $5 for this charity" etc... and they do not like to mix corporate life and personal life ; being invited at one's boss' home is the worst possible thing that may happen ! (read a funny anecdote about it) The French are much more sentimentally attached and faithful to their company : they like to put corporate relations on a personal basis... Top-down management : for the French, the Boss is the Boss and management is very autoritarian ("lick up and kick down") ; to understand this, learn about the " Grandes Ecoles " and the importance of diplomas... The French are highly polychronic : they love to do several things at the same time and they are good at that... Within the company, the French keep the doors closed (open floor offices are not popular), are reluctant to work in a team and information is often distributed selectively... They often consider reporting a sign of weakness and a risk : read about accountability In a nutshell it is a different world: for an American and it is hard to conceive that a country operating in the above way can be the fourth or the fifth world economic power ! To understand better, see a list of DOs & DONTs see bibliography about cultural differences the section about anti-Americanism. more about intercultural management differences try to answer the question : "do the French actually work?" (the answser being : some work a lot and others very little...) visit a guide of sites for managers More to come

USEFUL TIPS.... about writing a memo or a report : the French hate the way Americans write their memos and reports ; they think they are much too long with too many details, they do not put things in perspective and do not contain general ideas ("pas assez synthétique") ; the table of contents does not illustrate a clear and meaningful plan : it is more like a list of themes, with no visible structure. The French often think it is a vicious strategy to hide important things among piles of uninteresting details. Conversely, Americans probably hate French memos (too many ideas, not enough facts), pompous and not precise. If you write for a French boss, make it much shorter, with a very clear structure and a few general concepts to start with....

Intercultural management differences

Giant mergers across borders create major intercultural shocks. According to two French academics (Philippe d'Iribarne and Emmanuel Todd in Les Enjeux-Les Echos, Jan. 2001), this is how you can analyze some examples of trans-cultural mergers : Franco-Japanese (ex. Renault-Nissan) : the Japanese see the hierarchical side of French management but do not imagine how flexible the implementation of decisions can be. The French underestimate the sincerity of the consultation of the workers about management decisions. It can be difficult for the Japanese to admit authority from a smaller economic power but the French (like the British) can be much more successful in " colonial " situations (because of their flexibility) than the Germans (or the Japanese), much more rigid. The very successful French CEO, Carlos Ghosn, was an icon in Japan when he saved Nissan. Read our page ParisJapan and a column about how difficult it is for Japanese businessmen to adjust. Franco-American (ex. Vivendi Universal) : the French are considered both arrogant and weak. Arrogant because, in a meeting, they love to ask destabilizing questions, show they know a lot and have understood better. Weak because in the French culture, if you give too specific and clear directions, it means that you do not acknowledge the professionalism of the staff. In a French company, after a meeting, an American can never tell if a decision has been reached or not : for the French, " deciding " is giving the broad lines without getting into implementation " details ". In addition to that, contrary to the British, Americans do not respect French culture. See a short bibliography and read about Jean-Marie Messier. Franco-British (ex. Orange) : for the French, the British culture is very mysterious. The British can take the most brutal decisions with extreme courtesy and are therefore considered very hypocritical. But both cultures admit differences, as long as the French forget their obsession about the universal man (man is the same everywhere) and the British overcome the strong francophobia of their working class. A French disaster : read about Executive Life Visit a website guide for managers More about working with the French

Bibliography : for a look at cultural differences in corporate life with the French : Luigi BARZINI, The Europeans, Penguin, 1983 Yves DEZALAY, Marchands de droit - la restructuration de l'ordre juridique international par les multinationales du droit, Fayard, 1992 Edward T.HALL, Guide du comportement dans les affaires internationales : Allemagne, Etats Unis, France, Paris, Le Seuil, 1990 Edward & Mildred HALL, Understanding Cultural Differences, Intercultural Press Inc., 1990, Yarmouth USA. Richard HILL, Euromanagers and Martians, EP, 1994 Geert HOFSTEDE, Culture's Consequences : Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, Sage, 2002 Philippe d'IRIBARNE, La logique de l'honneur, Paris, le Seuil, 1993 Michael JOHNSON, French Resistance - Individuals vs the Company in French Corporate Life, Casell, 1996 Jacques LESOURNE, Le modèle Français : grandeur et décadence, Odile Jacob, 1998 Salvador DE MADARIAGA, Englishmen, Frenchmen & Spaniards, Oxford University Press, 1929 More to come... Useful links Communicaid is a global leader in the design and delivery of Intercultural Training Courses

USEFUL TIP.... There are always exceptions but many French people do not like to be blunt and say things outright in order to leave an escape route open to the other person. In this respect, they're almost Japanese. When in France, it's important to understand what ISN'T being said (le non-dit).... This is why, very often, the French are considered imprecise by Americans when they sincerely think that they have been very clear. DID YOU KNOW THAT.... ? Don't take it for granted that everyone speaks English : it is not natural to speak another language and when you have to, you are making a big effort (don't you notice that when you try your French ?) : therefore, you must realize that whenever you work with people who speak English with you, they would rather be speaking their own language : they are speaking English for your convenience ! In addition to that, you must remember (an US companies do not always do....) that in France or in a French company, it is NORMAL to speak French ! It is also legal and there are laws to abide by (Loi Toubon).

Underlying explanations : the consultants' views

Three well-known analyses of intercultural management by Edward Hall, Geert Hofstede and Philippe d'Iribarne illustrate the differences between American and French management styles : According to Edward T.Hall, intercultural differences in communication are based on the context, on time and on space : Understanding between people results from the combination of information and its context. Some cultures have a rich context (close links between people, high level of the unspoken/unsaid) : these cultures are highly " implicit " ; other cultures valuing communication only when it is very clear in itself are said to be " explicit ".

For " monochronic " cultures, time is seen as a tangible resource coming from the past and going to the future : it has value and can be measured in itself ; for " polychronic " cultures, time is seen as an element of several tasks which can take place at the same time and which are linked more by relation than by time. Interpersonal distance is limited by a sort of protective bubble around each person : entering it is an intrusion ; in some cultures, the bubble is very small, in others, very large. As compared to the USA, France is a highly contextual, polychronic and small-bubble culture.

	USA	Americans think that the French are...	France	The French think that the Americans are...
Context	low context like Germany everything must be clear everything is in the contract	disorganized unsincere not disciplined	high context like Japan a place must be left for adaptation and interpretation eveything is in the relationship	boring disrespectful not creative
Time	"monochronic" time is money exactitude is essential	not focused dispersed	"polychronic" schedule independent you can be late if you get a better achievement	too much into details bureaucratic
Interpersonal distance	"big bubble" avoid physical contact	touch you too much	"small bubble" security is being part of a group	arrogant and dominating

According to Geert Hofstede, there are five dimensions to assess cultural differences : Individualism (as opposed to collectivism), meaning more responsibility and a low level of affectivity A large hierarchical distance, meaning more centralization and less participation High control on uncertainty meaning low acceptability of the unknown of the future, leading to strict rules and little delegation

Masculinity (as opposed to femininity) as the sign of a high level of competitiveness and a value given to performance Long term (as opposed to short term), emphasizing the relationship more than immediate results As compared to the USA, France is a much more hierarchical culture with, again, a strong emphasis on the relationship, more feminine, valuing long term.

Click here for detailed figures	USA	American managers think that the French are...	France	French managers think that the Americans are...
Individualism	very high like UK, Netherlands responsibility of the manager	relying too much on the group (or the state) cowards	high like Germany, Italy loyalty to the company	selfish only bonus-oriented do not listen to others
Power distance	low like UK, Germany social mobility participative	authoritarian	high like Belgium, Portugal autocratic each one at his place	overfamiliar
Uncertainty avoidance	low like UK, Sweden it is good to take risks the boss does not have to be an expert	not enough delegative bureaucratic do not take risks	high like Belgium, Spain rules and structures must be respected the boss must be an expert	too aggressive take too much risks
Masculinity	high like Germany, UK, Italy individual performance	moody	average like Belgium, Spain harmony of relations	overcompetitive
Long term orientation	low profit oriented	underperform	average market share oriented	not faithful to the company

Philippe d'Iribarne's analysis emphasizes the concept of "honour" which values unselfishness and grandeur. For instance, delegating responsibility and then controlling it is considered perfectly normal in the USA and absolutely insulting in Spain (and in France).

This is another example of the logic of the contract as opposed to the logic of the relationship.

USEFUL TIP..... Responsible ? To better understand the French, always remember that in France, you rely on the King to protect you against any danger, including yourself, like parents do with children. A large part of the so-called bureaucracy is designed to force you to do things that are in your own interest. An example : in France, it is very complicated to create a company and to hire someone or hire yourself. Why ? Because you have to comply with many differents rules, including contributing to public health and retirement programs to ensure that, if you're sick you'll have the best medical care and when you retire, the maximum possible pension. It is unthinkable to say : " well, if people do not participate in these programs, they won't benefit from them : that's all ..." ; if someone took this risk and got caught, his compatriots would march in the streets " to defend his rights " : the collectivity (i.e. the State) should have forced him to be protected.

Doing business in France

In spite of its often poor (popular) image, foreign investors like France and generally acknowledge the following main strengths : skilled manpower, high level of education and research, excellent infrastructures, central location in Europe, quality of life. Read about the strengths and weaknesses of France !

France is at the top of the list of countries receiving foreign investments (currently #3). With around a third of the total, the USA are (consistently) the first investor in France : see detailed figures. Main sectors ar : software and IT service, commercial and financial services, .... More to come : still under construction....

More intercultural and more and still more... To French society To table of contents Back to home page	For more on intercultural differences, order Harriet Welty Rochefort's books : "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999 "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001 More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming events, testimonials, etc..)	site still under construction
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