THERE ARE MANY uncertain factors, but one day you’ve made up your mind and you start preparing an action plan. The action plan is about investments in various ways: marketing, new housing, knowledge transfer, etc. I would like to remind you of one thing when you prepare your action plan. Include the intercultural aspects and prepare your staff for how to deal with them.
WHEN SETTING UP business abroad you often consider cultural aspects to take care of themselves. However, experience shows that when you work proactively on dealing with cultural differences, you also benefit from them. This could result in many creative ideas and a lot of energy brought to your company.
START BY INCREASING your awareness of cultural differences. There are two, sometimes several cultures to incorporate on a new joint platform and that is why you need to be prepared to take care of existing potential.
THE MOST EXCITING about this process is how much you learn about your own culture. By meeting new cultures, you get perspective on your own. Things and behaviour you take for granted are suddenly challenged.
CONSIDERING THIS, you will get an idea of how to deal with the cultural part of your action plan. Make a list of things, when and where to tell your staff about the expansion abroad, who to involve and when. Should you tell them at an early stage or when the decision is made? Should you tell everybody at the same time or a few at a time? Consider company values vis-à-vis the new unit. Which are the consequences if your company represents a flat organisation and the new unit has a more hierarchic structure?
OTHER MATTERS ON YOUR LIST could be how to set up meetings with representatives from your own and the other culture. Where should the meeting take place? Who should attend? How do you communicate before the meeting? How do you carry out the meeting? In what language? What are your views on the environment and how do they affect trips to and from the meeting? Etc.
AS I WROTE in the introduction, it all starts with increasing your awareness of cultural differences. The more aware, the more you will discover. It is not until you are humble enough to realise that your own culture is not always the best that you start respecting other cultures. This is coming a long way.
Good luck!