Читать книгу HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Across Cultures (with featured article "Cultural Intelligence" by P. Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski) - Harvard Business Review - Страница 11

At the end of 1997, U.S.-based Merrill Lynch acquired UK-based Mercury Asset Management. At the time of the merger, Mercury was a decorous, understated, hierarchical company known for doing business in the manner of an earlier generation. Merrill, by contrast, was informal, fast-paced, aggressive, and entrepreneurial. Both companies had employees of many nationalities. Visiting Mercury about six months after the merger announcement, we were greeted by Chris, a Mercury personnel manager dressed in khakis and a knit shirt. Surprised by the deviation from his usual uniform of gray or navy pinstripes, we asked him what had happened. He told us that Merrill had instituted casual Fridays in its own offices and then extended the policy on a volunteer basis to its UK sites.

Diagnosing Your Cultural Intelligence

THESE STATEMENTS REFLECT DIFFERENT facets of cultural intelligence. For each set, add up your scores and divide by four to produce an average. Our work with large groups of managers shows that for purposes of your own development, it is most useful to think about your three scores in comparison to one another. Generally, an average of less than 3 would indicate an area calling for improvement, while an average of greater than 4.5 reflects a true CQ strength.

Rate the extent to which you agree with each statement, using the scale:

1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree.

______	Before I interact with people from a new culture, I ask myself what I hope to achieve.
______	If I encounter something unexpected while working in a new culture, I use this experience to figure out new ways to approach other cultures in the future.
______	I plan how I’m going to relate to people from a different culture before I meet them.
+ ______	When I come into a new cultural situation, I can immediately sense whether something is going well or something is wrong.
Total	______ Total ÷ 4 = Cognitive CQ
______	It’s easy for me to change my body language (for example, eye contact or posture) to suit people from a different culture.
______	I can alter my expression when a cultural encounter requires it.
______	I modify my speech style (for example, accent or tone) to suit people from a different culture.
+ ______	I easily change the way I act when a cross-cultural encounter seems to require it.
Total	______ Total ÷ 4 = Physical CQ
______	I have confidence that I can deal well with people from a different culture.
______	I am certain that I can befriend people whose cultural backgrounds are different from mine.
______	I can adapt to the lifestyle of a different culture with relative ease.
+ ______	I am confident that I can deal with a cultural situation that’s unfamiliar.
Total	______ Total ÷ 4 = Emotional/motivational CQ

Chris understood the policy as Merrill’s attempt to reduce hierarchical distinctions both within and between the companies. The intention, he thought, was to draw the two enterprises closer together. Chris also identified a liking for casual dress as probably an American cultural trait.

Not all Mercury managers were receptive to the change, however. Some went along with casual Fridays for a few weeks, then gave up. Others never doffed their more formal attire, viewing the new policy as a victory of carelessness over prudence and an attempt by Merrill to impose its identity on Mercury, whose professional dignity would suffer as a result. In short, the Mercury resisters did not understand the impulse behind the change (head); they could not bring themselves to alter their appearance (body); and they had been in the Mercury environment for so long that they lacked the motivation (heart) to see the experiment through. To put it even more simply, they dreaded being mistaken for Merrill executives.

How would you behave in a similar situation? The sidebar “Diagnosing Your Cultural Intelligence” allows you to assess the three facets of your own cultural intelligence and learn where your relative strengths and weaknesses lie. Attaining a high absolute score is not the objective.