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On the other side, a Russianperson would probably contact someone high in the hierarchy on the Dutch side. This isbecause in The Netherlands people from lower hierarchical levels can make decisionstoo, whereas in Russia the full power lays in the top. In Russian business culture there isa very strong hierarchy. Status is determined by age and position.
In Russian companiesemployees do not question managers and managers do not question executives.Subordinates listen to and do what their superiors order them to do. Where the Russian160culture is very hierarchical, Western-European countries, such as The Netherlands andGermany, are more equalitarian. In these countries it is normal that employees havefierce discussions with their managers, who are open to receive feedback/criticism. Agedoes not play such a prominent role as in Russia. Organizations are more decentralised,which means that decisions can be made also by people from lower levels. Power is notcentralised as in Russia. In Russian companies, the most powerful and senior peoplemake all decisions and the rest of the employees does not have much power.This case can be confirmed my personal experience.
My mother works for an ITcompany and Russia is one of the countries they do business with. Recently, she neededto solve something quite urgently. She decided to contact the head of the departmentand within a few hours everything was solved. In the past, when she was not so familiarwith the Russian business culture yet, in similar situations she used to communicatewith people from the lower level.
However, soon she discovered that Russianemployees do not have the power to make decisions as is common in Western cultures.She found out it is far more efficient to contact people from higher levels in somesituations. In the Western-Europe, this approach would probably not succeed. Highmanagers would probably reject you or maybe forward you to someone lower on theladder.Case study #4: Managing Time in a Cross-cultural groupCase study by Master Student I.
Virani from the United Kingdom, Spring 2017This semester, 1 worked on a project with a Russian exchange student named Paula aspart of a course I was taking at the University of Economies (VSE). lt was a projectwith several deliverables due throughout the semester, and it was worth 60% of ourfinal grade. Aside from learning course material, it was a valuable opportunity to learnabout cultural differences between Russia & Canada as well.Our cultural misunderstanding was rooted in how Canadians and Russians perceivetime. To start, I had difficulty contacting Paula to make any concrete plans for meetings161or next steps.
We would often have to schedule and re-schedule meetings 3-4 times inorder to actually meet up in person. As a result of the constant change in plans, 1 becamefrustrated and dismissed Paula as lazy and unreliable. On one particular occasion, Paulacancelled an important meeting, but then spent a few minutes explaining that it wasbecause her mother was in town. 1 was surprised that the arrival of family would take upPaula's entire day to the extent that we could not meet.When we actually had meetings, Paula and I also had different approaches.
1 intended todiscuss the tasks in order and deal with one thing at a time, but Paula was the exactopposite. She shifted conversation from one area of the project to another,simultaneously discussing many different tasks and ideas. lt was overwhelming tryingto discuss everything at once and 1 felt like we were not getting anything done. Myfrustration meant that I was unwilling to accommodate Paula's ways, and I stubbornlytried to focus on one step at a time.Having taken this course, 1 can now understand why Paula and I had these culturalmisunderstandings.
Russians and Canadians view time differently - while Russians viewtime as fluid, Canadians view time as fixed. As for meetings, Russians do not planmeetings several days in advance and it is not uncommon for them to cancel meetingsdue to family interruptions (such as a visiting family member). Russians value theirrelationships, so they are very willing to make time for those interruptions if necessary.As well, they are externally orientated and believe that no matter how much they plan,they cannot know for sure what they will be doing at a set time in the future.
As well,Russians are polychronic while Canadians are monochronic - leading to the challengesPaula and I had when focusing our project. Paula is more culturally used to multitasking and managing many parts of the project at once while I am focused on stayingon track and in order.To improve this situation for others in the same position, 1 would recommend that otherCanadians become more sensitive to people from polychronic cultures. This meanslearning to be flexible and patient when meetings are sometimes later or rescheduled. Iwould also recommend following up on meetings 3-4 times, and making "blacks" ofyour day available in the event that a meeting has to be moved by an hour or so, last-162minute. To manage multiple deliverables, 1 would break projects down into manageabletasks with clear timelines that you explicitly discuss with your group members early onin the project.Case study #5: Cross-cultural Marketing analysis of project between Russia andBelarusExtract from Cross-cultural Marketing report handed in at Plekhanov University by MSstudents Perfilyeva and Mirikova about a project of selling Russian made watches toBelarus.
November 2014Culture analysisThe Hofstede DimensionsPower distanceThis dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – itexpresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Powerdistance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions andorganizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.We believe that Belarus is a nation where power is distant in society. The discrepancybetween the less and the more powerful people leads to a great importance of statussymbols.
Behavior has to reflect and represent the status roles in all areas of businessinteractions: be it visits, negotiations or cooperation; the approach should be top-downand provide clear mandates for any task.IndividualismThe fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence asociety maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people ś self-image isdefined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist societies people are supposed to lookafter themselves and their direct family only.
In Collectivist societies people belong to‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty.163We believe that the Belarus have collectivistic culture. So relationships are crucial inobtaining information, getting introduced or successful negotiations.
They need to bepersonal, authentic and trustful before one can focus on tasks and build on a careful tothe recipient, rather implicit communication style.MasculinityA high score (masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven bycompetition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner/best infield – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organizationalbehavior. A low score (feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values insociety are caring for others and quality of life.
A feminine society is one where qualityof life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. Thefundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) orliking what you do (feminine).We believe that Belarus is a feminine nation. Belarusians at workplace as well as whenmeeting a stranger are rather understate their personal achievements, contributions orcapacities. They talk modestly about themselves and scientists, researchers or doctorsare most often expected to live on a very modest standard of living. Dominant behaviormight be accepted when it comes from the boss, but is not appreciated among peers.Uncertainty avoidanceThe dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals withthe fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just letit happen? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt todeal with this anxiety in different ways.
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