Worldwide Consulting
Cultural Approach
By Gene Woolsey
If you're considering overseas consulting, do not invest in setting up an office in the target country. If you have established yourself as master of a particular niche, they will find you, even from Kafiristan. The best sector for operating overseas is not transportation, banking or manufacturing; it is "getting acceptance." This means that you know about and are comfortable with the culture. For example, in Mexico, if you suggest something and someone says "No es custombre," it's over. You have just run head-on into the cultural impasse.
If you, for example, have read a few of the "great books" of the culture you are visiting, the residents are so bowled over that they take you in almost uncompromisingly. If someone from Venezuela calls, I work into the conversation that I have read "Dona Barbara," and it's all smooth sailing from there. Telling them you have read Martin Fierro or Don Segundo Sombra will have Argentines eating out of your hand. I have a list of books that I believe that you should read before you work in certain countries, which I will send anyone who requests them. I promise you, the effect of having read these books on your prospective customer is nothing short of marvelous. You hasten to assure your customer that you have read little else from his culture, but trust me on this, it won't matter. They are so stunned to find an American that knows anything about their culture they will immediately assume that your technical skills are as broad as your (apparent) cultural breadth, deny it though you do.
Before I take on consulting in a foreign country, I immerse myself in the language, their courtesies and their recent politics. The little of their language I use is carefully memorized, rehearsed and accented perfectly. I also do a background check on the company and the people with which I will be working. When consulting in Mexico I always make sure that there is an evening of Mariachi music, in which they discover I know the words to "La Negra," " El Mariach" and especially "El Rey."
I made a lifelong friend of a Finn at a TIMS meeting when, after he told me where he was from, I recited some lines of the Kalevala, which is the Finnish National Epic. For the rest of the meeting he showed me off to all his fellow Finns and bought drinks all around.
When I worked in South Africa, I got off the plane telling jokes in Afrikaans and knew (and appreciate) South African wines. Those two abilities did better for me than all my academic training in OR.
Remember, an attempt to speak the language (even badly) will help you anywhere in the world but France. However, as mentioned before, learn the courtesies first. By this I mean words such as: "please," "thank you," "you're welcome," "pleased to meet you," "excuse me," and "my error."
In most foreign countries nothing beats face-to-face encounters. McLuhan was right: "The Media is the Message." Electronic mail is too cool a medium for most of the world. But when you work face-to face, you must foresee yourself being invited for a tea ceremony in Japan or a Braai in South Africa. Doing your homework should prepare you for both.
Finally, 1. insist that all airline tickets, hotels and transportation are prepaid, 2. be sure you are up on currency controls for taking money out of the country, 3. finish the job before you go, and 4. insist on payment in U.S. dollars by check from a U.S. bank before you leave the country.
Working in other cultures has given me some of the best times I have ever had as a consultant. However, these are the rules: 1. Do your homework, and 2. Be prepared!
Gene Woolsey is the director of the Management Science/Operations Research Program at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. He is past elected International President of the Institute of Management Sciences. He is the first recipient of the Harold Larnder Prize for Distinguished International Achievement in Operations Research. He also holds teaching positions at seven other universities in four countries. For the past decade, he has worked pro bono for "any government agency of any government of sufficiently conservative, capitalist form with which he politically agrees." For this work he was decorated by the government of Israel and holds the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal of the United States.
OR/MS Today copyright © 2001 by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. All rights reserved.
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