Cross Cultural Management

INFOSYS

Infosys’ effective process to cope with the cultural issues in a transition to the Global Delivery Model.

Facilitates smooth functioning of cross-partner teams.

Promotes better understanding of work culture

differences, awareness and appreciation of different

cultural backgrounds.

The Organizational impact of offshore and near shore

development leaves a footprint on process orientation,

collaborative working styles and project management.

Deals effectively with all three kinds of change.

Infosys conducts extensive Cross-cultural Training of staff covering

Cultural acclimatization,

Client business and organization overview,

Technical environment and processes specific

to the client,

Creating non-intrusive interactions for the

client

Infosys has developed a unique 4-step Communication

Understand the offshoring process,

Understand their offshore partner

Collaboratively improve project

management skills

Draw up a strategy for continuous

process improvement

Step 4: Continuous Improvement Of Customer - Facing Process

Step 3: Optimize skill in Collaborative Project Management.

Step 2: Preview User Experience, For Managers & Customers New to Offshore.

Step 1: Position Relationship & Partner, Keep people up to Date.

Infosys' 4-step Communication Approach

Cross - Culture Coaching is the key for International Success

Executive development = Personal skills development

The critical challenges:

Increase the revenue growth

worldwide through the development of a

strategy-based program for building global

leaders.

Organization's leaders, managers and key

employees must learn to do things differently in

new markets.

Bottom-line Benefits Gained from the use of Applied Behavioral Sciences:

Developing practical ways of studying culture change

and adaptation and human social behavior for groups

both small and large in an organizational setting.

Executive / Cross Cultural Coaches pay attention to

the informal as well as the formal, to the cognitive

and the emotional, data  focused on the here and the

now, and on the unique as well as the patterned. 

Focus on specific personal skills

sets or behavioral aspects

directly affecting  successful

integration of new cultural skills

To achieve bottom-line beneficial

outcome & to produce a

challenges and constructs

practical, applicable solutions in

productivity or profitability .

Example; Participant's in Dr Skiffington's

Master Coach Course learn how to:

Develop an evaluation (ROI) architecture that

includes business goals, initiative objectives, and

evaluation objectives

Calculate the ROI and ROE

Use various types of hard and soft data collection

plans

Use intake and outcome assessment

Calculate ROI for both observable (behavioral) and

inferable (developmental) changes

Convert data to monetary, production values and, 

Identify direct bottom-line program effects and flow-

on intangible benefits etc

Building an Integral Behavioral-Based

Framework for developing Global Leaders

Develop and cultivate complex cross-cultural relationships

in a global setting.

Motivate people of different talent pools, backgrounds,

disciplines and generations,

Develop a framework for effective problem-solving across

cultures. 

Assess the current culture, understand the leadership role

in the change process required for high performance.

Implement self change and change in the people 

Design effective systems and structures, overcome

barriers, 

Decrease resistance and create an environment of

driving change and commitment to high performance

Leading Change Control and change emotions. Emotions are cultural

phenomena. Each person's experience of emotion

has individual features, culture shapes the occasion,

meaning, and expression of affective experience.

How to assess actions and social activities

Activities and values define the kinds of things that

people think about, perceive, imagine, remember,

speak, and feel..

Acknowledge Value and behavior differences  &

learn adaptive behavioral pattern. 

Consistency

New patterns of thinking and behaving

A leadership group that is able to; change their

people-related behaviors and business-related

behaviors, adapt itself across borders and cultures

and change infrastructures and systems to suit.

 Using Six Sigma in Europe: A Cross-Cultural

Perspective

Six Sigma is about

Organizational Improvement.

Six Sigma focuses on process

improvement, design and

management.

It is as much about people's

behavior as it is about the

behavior of processes.

The behavior of processes

from the behavior of people

cannot be separated.

National Cultures and the Route to Change

Organizations change is influenced by their predominant

national culture.So, Six Sigma has implications for how

companies ascribe status, recognize performance,

structure reporting lines and communicate.

Fons Trompenaars: Four primary organizational archetypes

depending on the degree to which organizations are

Decentralized or Centralized, Informal or Formal.

Different Techniques for Success

The Netherlands / Germany

Organizations are more centralized, collective

effectiveness is the objective of organizational

improvement.

Raising the capabilities of a work team, department or

business unit is the focus.

Singling out individuals for recognition via special training

or certification risks creating an elite group who will be

resented by their peers.

The power of Six Sigma is in improving everyone's

effectiveness by creating a culture of process discipline.

Southern Europe

Business organizations are like families.

Power for the good of the group is ascribed by virtue

of knowledge. Senior managers have to internalize,

then personalize, the change for themselves and

those for whom they feel responsible.

In France, it means spending plenty of time

educating Senior Managers about the leadership

aspects of Six Sigma before ever picking process-

based projects.

SwedenAn organization is a vehicle through which the individual

expresses him- or herself and can realize his/her full potential.

To generate enthusiasm for Six Sigma, one must anticipate

the question, "How will Six Sigma help me be more

creative?" The answer is, "When half of today's problems

are avoided through better processes, you will have

more time to be creative!"

Six Sigma frees up the capacity of individuals to grow and

learn. Its success depends on it.

Six Sigma Starting Points and Approach

Depending on the geographic region in

Europe, the starting point and approach to

implementing Six Sigma must be changed.

Generating genuine enthusiasm for Six Sigma

means putting it in the right organizational

context and communicating accordingly.

Cultural differences call for these different approaches:

In a French company, build awareness among

Senior Managers and all employees before

rolling out Black Belt or Green Belt training.

Develop measures and actions to improve

employee satisfaction.

In a German company, clearly define who is

responsible for Six Sigma and how it fits with

other initiatives. Use Six Sigma as a means to

elevate collective performance through the wider

application of advanced process methods.

In a British company, link Black Belt and Green

Belt appointments to career development for

high-potential managers. Use Six Sigma to

communicate good ideas upward and provide

recognition

Summary: Universal Applicability, Individual Implementation

Six Sigma is universally applicable, though how one

communicates the purpose of it and implements it should differ

depending on the predominant national culture.

Companies operating in Europe should beware of

implementation approaches that are based on a U.S.-style

emphasis on the capability of talented, well-trained individuals

to get results "no matter what it takes."

CEOs should develop an explicit leadership strategy to

introduce Six Sigma as a vehicle for strategic organizational

change.

Bear in mind these pointers:

Take stock early on of who is involved and how to motivate

them to change.

Be sure to incorporate “Soft Skills Training" (e.g., facilitation

and change management) in the Six Sigma curriculum.

Train teams as well as individuals to build the capability of

groups and their commitment to implement and sustain

improvements.

Be aware that teams from different countries will progress at

different rates.