Expanding overseas is an expensive task. Companies invest in logistics, lawyers, new marketing campaigns, sales strategies and the list continues. Having invested heavily, you do not want your market entry to fail. Yet, for three out of four overseas subsidiaries, failure is the reality. A core reason is that companies overlook the human aspect: the need to adjust to cross-cultural differences.
For this article, we can understand culture as the shared expectations of a group on how to communicate. When expanding overseas, many business owners underestimate the different expectations that exist between cultures. They have often never lived outside their culture and are therefore unaware of how such a system has even influenced their own behaviour. As Cynthia expressed in her blog “Bridging the Cultural Divide”, culture is like the air we breathe, it’s a key part of life, but you can’t see, smell, taste, touch or hear it – it’s just there.
A prime example of underestimating cultural differences is the failure of American company Walmart to capture the German market. Many American customs were not welcomed. Greeting customers upon entering the store, for example, was not perceived as an act of friendliness, but as an invasion into their privacy. After struggling to succeed for nine years, Walmart closed its operations there. If you are expanding to Germany or already there, the following tips will help you to avoid such failure.
Honesty is key
Australian positivity confuses Germans
Phrases become popular in a culture because people can relate to them. Alaska Natives, for example, have over 50 words for “snow”. In Australia, a popular phrase is “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don´t say anything at all”. This reflects their tendency to not discuss negative things. When someone asks upon meeting you, “How are you going?”, responding with complaints will most likely startle your counterpart. Instead, the common response is a variation of “I´m fine. How are you?”, to which the person responds with a variation of “I’m fine too”. The parties may dive into small talk, during which negative experiences are rarely discussed. Australians are so focused on positivity that they have a “R U OK?” day to remind people that it is okay to be unwell and to share this.
Such positivity confuses most Germans. They often perceive Australians to be “superficial”. If you use the feedback burger, for example, they will generally not understand the diplomacy of starting and ending with something positive. Instead, the amount of positivity tends to confuse them into overlooking the criticism and instead believe that they are performing well. This is because Germans, on average, expect honesty. Also, as one of the most performance-oriented cultures in the world, they would rather learn how they can improve than be flattered with your compliments.
Don´t take it personally
Be Honest, Not Modest
Despite the greater negativity in Germany, one can still receive positive feedback. The truthfulness of its content will be the most important factor. An article by Deutsche Welle, a state-owned news broadcaster, provides an example of an American lady who taught English in Germany. One of her students told her: “You’re skinny for an American”. She explained to her classroom that this would be an insult in the United States. It means that the people in her country are fat. The class was confused. Honesty is the greatest compliment. Americans are generally overweight, and the teacher was skinny.
If you offer an authentic compliment to a German, studies show that they often respond by saying “yes” in agreement. Do not misinterpret this as a lack of modesty. The humility of most Australians in responding to a compliment by denying it, accepting it but reducing its importance or by returning one, results from a sensitivity to how compliments raise one’s social status. Being perceived as successful is undesirable in a country where the Tall Poppy Syndrome – the tendency to deliberately disadvantage successful people – is more prevalent than most countries, especially Germany. There, hierarchy remains a long-accepted norm of the country.
