The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

ErinMeyer

• PublicAffairs (2014年5月27日発売)

感想・レビュー・書評

[poderosa2さんの感想 · 2015年7月22日]

　この異文化論はとてつもなくおもしろい。著者は、グローバル企業のエグゼクティブに異文化リーダーシップのトレーニングを行うコンサルタント。自身のコンサルティングの経験に基づいて、グローバル企業で働く中堅幹部の国別（約２５か国）文化特性を８つの指標に分けて尺度表（scale）をつくり、そこに各国を振り分けて解説している。その一つ一つの指摘が刺激的で頷くことばかりだ。
　たとえば、コミュニケーションの表では、左にlow-context（簡素・明瞭な表現による意思伝達）、右にhigh-context（言外にも意味を含ませる意思伝達）を置くと、日本やその他のアジア諸国、南米が右側に来て、左側に米英を含む欧州諸国が来る。著者の指摘でおもしろいのは、単に右か左かの絶対的な位置だけではなく、たとえば２国間の相対的な位置関係が重要だという点だ。
　一例を挙げれば、イギリス人よりも少し左側に位置しているアメリカ人は、皮肉の効きすぎた英国流ユーモアにときに顔をこわばらせ、またイギリス人はそんなアメリカ人を”these literal Americans”（面白みのないアメリカ人）と酷評する。この本は、私たちが無意識に抱いてしまう欧米対アジアの文化的図式がいかに短絡的かを思い知らせてくれる。
　もう一つ興味深い点は、著者がどの文化のどの点がいいかというような価値判断をまったくしていなことだ。本書で採り上げられている別の尺度表に、指導者(Leading)関するものがある。これは左端が平等的(Egalitarian)、右端が階層的(Hierachical)になっているものだが、ここで著者は結論として「今日のグローバルなビジネスでは、リーダーは平等主義的にも階層的にも対応できる柔軟性が必要」と述べている。
　最後の章で、著者はこう提案する。”Be sure to conduct the discussion with humility and without judgment. The more you can joke about your own culture and speak positively about the ways other cultures operate, the easier it will be for everyone to share their thoughts and opinions without becoming defensive.”（謙虚な姿勢で、そして価値判断を控えながら議論することを心がけること。自国の文化を自分でからかい、他の文化のやり方をほめることができるようになれば、みんなが自己弁護に走る代わりに、自分の考えや意見を言いやすくなるだろう。）
　ちょっと飛躍が必要だが、世界はグローバル企業の拡大版(macrocosm)と考えれば、著者のアドバイスはそのまま国際社会に応用できる。
　なお、本書で膝を打って小躍りしたこと——インド人が人の話に肯定的に相槌を打つときに、頭を小刻みにヨコ八の字型に回す動作がある。私は、これに初めて遭遇したとき当惑した。首を縦に振っているのか横にふっているのか、にわかに判断できなかったからだ。著者は、そのことを取り上げてくれた。”a half-shake, half-nod of the head”という表現を使って。

[mmssmmさんの感想 · 2024年5月5日]

There are some topics which impressed me and are useful to remember.

<Communication>
High context -Japan, Asia
Low context -US UKEurope

Implicit communication - Asia
Explicit communication- USA, Europe

Japanese pass messages the between the lines, “read the air “.
Japan is an island society with a homogeneous population. People became skilled at picking up each other’s messages.
US has been shaped by enormous immigrants from all over the world, they had to make messages as explicit and clear.
✴︎In Netherlands, you don’t think you are trustworthy if you don’t say it straight.
✴︎In low context culture, the most educated people are those who communicate in a clear way. In high context culture, opposite.
British speak more between the lines than American do.
✴︎In order to work with low context culture, be as transparent, clear and specific as possible.

<Evaluating>
Direct negative feedback- Japanese Chinese
Indirect negative feedback- French Germany

✴︎Dutch criticism a person openly. Dutch think they appreciate that managers are transparent enough to give me negative feedback honestly. Negative feedback is a gift.

Chinese managers never criticize a colleague openly.

✴︎ Americans wrap positive messages around negative ones.

French criticize passionately while providing positive feedback sparingly.

✴︎with Americans, Excellent is used all the time. Okay means not OK. Good is only a mild compliments.

<Project proceed >
✴︎American focuses on practicalities rather than theory. They are much more likely to begin with their recommendations.
Germany try to understand the theoretical concept before adopting it.

<Persuading>
Principle first - France Germany
Applicants first -America UK

<Focus>
American focus on individual figures separate from environment. Asians more attention to backgrounds and to the links between backgrounds and the central figures.

Americans take a close-up of a face photo. Japanese take a photo of a room with the person.

✴︎Chinese and Japanese think from macro to micro. American and western people think from micro to macro. Writing address is a good example.

<Power distance>
Austrian staff humiliated that their boss rode bike to work like a common person.

<Leading>
Hierarchical- Japan
Moderate- American
Egalitarian- Australia, Netherlands

Egalitarian cultures:
It’s OK to disagree with the boss openly
People are more likely to move to action without getting the boss’s action
You can start in no specific order in meetings

In China, boss is always right.

<Decision or decision >
For German when you say we will do this means commitment. A promise. You can’t simply change the mind tomorrow. American makes decisions quickly without a lot of discussion. American changes the minds as if this is a normal part of teamwork.For Americans, decisions are so flexible.

In Japan decisions are made by group consensus rather than by the individuals.

Nemawashi- decision making take a long time but once the decision is made it’s generally fixed and the implementation is very rapid because each individual is on board.

<Trust type >
With Chinese, you should take the e time, energy and effort to build a personal connection. Build trust as a friend from the heart, forget about the deal for a while. Share some drinks, relax. Build an emotional connection. Open up personally. You will work well as a team.

<trust from head, trust from heart >
✴︎American sharply divide line between cognitive trust and affective trust in business. American separate the practical and emotional. Mixing the two is perceived as unprofessional.

Chinese mix the two.

<Punctuality>
Japanese are very punctual and are organized planners.
Chinese are king of flexibility. They are not organized planners but flexible. They don’t think about tomorrow, just think about right now.

Chinese pop in to see you with no appointment. We felt they didn’t respect my time. But it is highly flexible and efficient.

Épilogue———-
<Top down>

<Deciding>
Consensual →Japanese
Top down →Chinese
Japanese think Chinese don’t think things through, make rush decisions, and thrive in Chaos.
Chinese think Japanese are slow to make decisions, inflexible, and unwilling to change.

<disagreeing>
Avoid confrontation →Japanese Chinese
Confrontation → French German
Japanese and Chinese are uncomfortable with direct negative feedback and open disagreements. French and German are comfortable with direct negative feedback

<Scheduling>
Liner schedule- Japanese Germany
Flexible- Chinese French