00:00
Hi and welcome to the role of culture and
conflict management.
00:05
Have you ever heard Americans are direct and
power
oriented or Germans are very punctual?
Latin Americans are very relational and like
to talk a lot.
00:18
Japanese are very work oriented and Chinese
like to
save face.
00:25
Where do all these things and comments come
from?
How does it influence the way we cooperate
or have
conflict with each other?
In this video, you will get a better
understanding of the role of culture in a
conflict management process.
00:44
You will also receive analytical tools to
help you assess how culture
may impact your conflict management process.
00:52
And lastly, you will understand the factors
that are needed to be considered when
designing a conflict management process.
01:00
Now, the world has seen in the last few
decades an
exponential growth of people moving left and
right across borders,
carrying with them ideas, needs,
wishes, innovation, and arriving in new
places and saying,
Hi, I want to be part of this society.
01:22
More and more, we find ourselves, thanks to
the digital age, working with
people around the world, in different
countries, different societies and different
organizations. More importantly, the world
has come to us and we
find them working next to us.
01:39
We have seen the benefit of cultural
diversity in our collaboration and at
the same time we know that if we are not
involved in
managing cultural diversity, it might play a
role in conflict as
well, both by hindering problem solving and
also by
supporting the development of a conflict
spiral.
02:01
Now, it's very important that we understand
that when we
communicate, we cannot help but to transmit
our culture
and our values to the other person.
02:14
And we also know that there is no problem
solving, no communication
without communicating our values.
02:22
In fact, if information is not consistent
with our
cultural understanding, we disregard it.
02:30
We block it. We do not even see it.
02:34
So what exactly is culture?
There is no common definition of culture.
02:40
If you come from the business sector or if
you come from
anthropology or sociology, any form of
academia
will give you a different understanding and
definition of culture.
02:54
What they all have in common is that it can
be understood as the
aggregation of things like beliefs,
practices,
history, language rules, customs values
and behaviors.
03:09
The aggregated beliefs are impacted by our
fundamental
assumptions and perceptions of the world,
and we
know that when people get into a conflict,
they are constrained by exactly
by those perceptions and assumptions, and
they explain the reality of the conflict
based on their cultural understanding of the
world and the history around
them. We also know that in the workplace,
the
conversation on culture is embedded in a
conversation of diversity.
03:42
It is not just our cultural background that
impact the way we have conflict,
but also our personality things which are
involved
in our internal dimensions, such as age,
gender, sexual
orientation, physical ability, ethnicity and
race.
04:01
In addition to our internal dimensions, we
have what's called our external dimensions,
things that come from outside.
04:08
For example, our geographical location,
income,
religion, education, work experience, even
how we
present ourselves in society.
04:19
In addition to our external dimension, we
have what's called the organizational
development or organizational dimension,
which involves our seniority,
our workplace, the union we belong to, how
our management is set
up. If you take this together, you have what
we call the four
dimensions of diversity and culture sits
right at the center.
04:42
Now, if you take people in their full
diversity and you bring them into the
workplace, we see that at work.
04:49
Culture and diversity impact us on multiple
levels in a team,
how we see managers, how they should lead,
the type of things
that inspire us and motivate us to work.
05:02
How a team defines the vision of the team
and the goals and the attitudes and
beliefs that we carry as a team will be
impacted by the diversity of that
team itself. And when we have conflict, what
we need to do is to come
together in the middle of all of this and
identify and negotiate
our intercultural reality in order to do
this.
05:26
What we need to do is to understand how
culture defines our behavior.
05:30
And we can do this with the model of or the
image of an
iceberg, because what we see when we
interact with people
is just the tip of the iceberg.
05:43
Now, if you don't come from a very cold
place or a northern place, you might never
have seen an iceberg.
05:49
The reality is that when you see an iceberg,
you only see the top.
05:54
But that iceberg underneath the water is
very large and has
been around for a very long time.
06:01
At the top, what you're seeing is behavior,
things like people coming to
work, how they use their space, how they
make decisions.
06:11
You also see and hear an expression of their
positions on
things, how they relate to power and how
they solve a problem
underneath the surface.
06:22
If you have a working relationship, you
begin to see a pattern that develops based on
norms, attitudes, beliefs and values.
06:31
And this is a little bit our expression of
our assumptions.
06:35
If you have a very personal relationship
with somebody at work, you might get a
tiny glimpse of the fundamental assumptions
these people
have about the meaning of life, and that is
impacted
by environment, history and social
structure.
06:55
Now, how does that work in real life?
So here's the interesting thing about the
iceberg model.
07:03
It's not just for, for example, conflicts
with a cultural factor, but
also for conflicts with that diversity
factor in.
07:11
Let's take an example.
07:12
Ms. Gonzalez, a young project manager, 30
years
old, MBA, career oriented, no children
looking
for efficiency in the digitalised world.
07:26
Mrs. Smith, a senior member of the staff who
has gone into reducing her
working hours for work life balance reasons,
wants to be a stay at home mom,
take care of her teenagers.
07:37
But she also wants to contribute to the
success of the organisation.
07:41
The two get into a conflict about how to
manage a project.
07:47
You see, the icebergs are there in front of
you.
07:51
And you have on the one side Ms.
07:53
Gonzalez and Mrs.
07:55
Smith and Mrs.
07:57
Smith says, You do not include me in the
project.
08:01
I want you to include me, Ms.
08:03
Gonzalez said.
08:04
But you're not needed for the project.
08:07
So what's going on here?
At a very superficial level, it's a conflict
about project
management. However, if we begin to go a
little bit under the surface and
look to see what are some of the assumptions
these two ladies are making
on the side of Mrs.
08:25
Smith, for example, young people are
inexperienced and
unreliable, and they need help from older
people.
08:34
On the side of Ms. Gonzalez, she seems to
feel that part time employees have
a limited contribution to make.
08:41
They don't have enough time because they're
busy with their home life.
08:44
However, the iceberg model challenges us to
go even deeper and think
about the fundamental assumptions people
make.
08:53
Deep down, Mrs.
08:54
Smith thinks.
08:55
Leadership comes with age.
08:58
Only an older person can lead.
09:02
Ms.. Gonzalez believes that people basically
just have to decide
between career and family.
09:10
This has the potential for a conflict
spiral.
09:14
However, if we look at the different aspect
models and we see
Ms. Gonzalez iceberg model and Mrs.
09:21
Smith iceberg model put next to each other
and just overlapping each
other, we see that they actually have
fundamental interests that
coincide. They both have an interest in the
success of the
project. They both value professional
behavior
and successful outcomes, and they both have
an interest in women in
leadership positions.
09:47
So if they would focus more on their common
fundamental assumptions
and less on some of the diverging
assumptions they might find
common ground.
09:59
When working in an intercultural
environment, we have to think about how
people communicate and how to analyze the
way people are communicating.
10:08
So the conflict between Ms.
10:10
Gonzalez and Mrs.
10:11
Smith is one that's fairly easy to solve.
10:14
We can use a series of tools and
methodologies within the conflict management
spectrum, such as dialogue, coaching,
facilitation, mediation.
10:23
Together with the two parties, we can solve
the problem.
10:27
Now imagine that this conflict breaks out,
for example, with people who are living in
other countries, who come from other
cultures.
10:36
The conflict might be about needs and
interest.
10:39
It might be a form of displaying power.
10:42
Or it might be about certain situations or
issues we don't know.
10:47
We have to look at the center and realize
that we may be having a
conflict with individuals or with more than
one individual, maybe with an
entire collective. And we need to understand
the cultural context in which the conflict is
happening. Now the conflict is impacted by
three
things the natural environment, the social
structure and the
history of the relationship.
11:13
The way cultural diversity is shown is
through a series
of different factors, such as how people
value relationships, how they see
cooperation and competition, how they
communicate with people from other
cultures, their understanding of the style
of negotiation and what are
appropriate procedures for problem solving.
11:35
The role of third parties within a conflict
process.
11:40
Or how to use time and space and venues to
solve a
problem. Lastly, what kind of outcomes they
expect to
receive. So let's look at that a little
closer.
11:52
For example, in terms of relationship, we
will see cultural diversity
in formal versus informal relationships.
12:00
What kind of codes of conducts transpire in
a society?
What is an appropriate ritual when greeting
somebody or in finishing a
process? Whether we use clear language,
direct language,
or are we vague and try to be a little more
relational, whether we want to
establish principles first or we want to get
right into it and solve and make our
first win.
12:25
Most importantly, how do we deal with
unequal power in
the relationship?
A second part of the process would be to
understand the differences
in communication.
12:39
Are we having a direct communication, how
respectful we are, how we
meet deadlines, how we approach sensitive
issues?
What is considered polite behavior?
And lastly, what is the role of humor in any
relationship?
Now, beware, humor is not always the same
across
various cultures.
13:03
Another spoke would be to understand how
people negotiate.
13:07
Do they have a mandate to negotiate
individually
or collectively?
Who gets invited to sit at the table?
Who gets to approve the final agreement?
And when do you involve superiors in the
negotiation process?
If we think about how we integrate third
parties, different cultures have an
understanding, for example, of
confidentiality or whether the
mediator can use power, rewards and carrots
to bring the
parties to an agreement.
13:40
Whether the mediator can he himself or
herself invite people into the
mediation process and whether the mediator
serves as a guarantor.
13:50
Looking at timing, we can see cultural
differences in terms of
interaction, how long people can speak, how
punctual people
are. Or do we wait for people when people
are late?
More importantly, what happens if we have to
cancel?
In terms of venue and space.
14:10
Some cultures value a formal setting with
tables and chairs.
14:15
Others value an informal setting may be
outdoors under a tree,
enjoying nature.
14:21
Who sits next to whom and whether we need a
neutral space or a
symbolic space?
How far do we need to go in order to make it
a serious meeting?
Very importantly, in terms of outcomes, some
cultural differences
include whether you want durable solutions
or do you want to place an
emphasis on principles?
Do you want to validate history?
What are some principles of fairness and who
gets compensated
in the end?
Whether there will be guarantees within the
agreement.
14:55
Are impacted by our cultural understanding,
co-operation,
competition and conflict.
15:01
Also have some cultural variance.
15:04
For example, acceptability of overt
conflict.
15:08
Or shying away.
15:10
Willingness to adapt to different people.
15:12
Openness to cooperation.
15:14
Or a tendency to be more competitive.
15:18
So here's the thing.
15:20
If you want to best understand how culture
impacts
both cooperation and conflict management,
you're going to have to leave your
home environment and get out of a community
where everybody is
similar and go and experience culture
yourself.
15:40
And here's a little tip.
15:42
At a first glance, you might be insecure.
15:46
You may not be aware of what's going on.
15:48
Quite possibly.
15:49
This is your first time going abroad and you
don't know how people are going to treat
you. Here's how the process works.
15:58
Much of the literature is dedicated to
trying to explain to people, when you go to
China, do this, when you go to Japan, do
that, when you go to America, do
this. When you go to Latin America to that.
16:11
I'm here to tell you that while that is very
useful, it is actually just very
superficial and will only get you so far.
16:20
There is a process that we have of
development in our
intercultural awareness and competence.
16:27
It begins with first saying, Hey, we're not
so different.
16:32
We might then move on to being a little more
defensive in saying, I actually like my
culture. I don't I don't need to share with
anybody.
16:41
Then we'll move on a little bit towards
well, there's some differences, but not
that many.
16:48
And then at some point we begin to say, oh,
look at that, we
are different and yet the same.
16:55
I accept all the other cultures when we're
feeling pretty comfortable
with ourselves, we begin to say, Maybe I can
take on a few of
their things which are interesting for me to
show them that I
actually appreciate them.
17:11
But this is still starting from the I
perspective saying I'm going to be
nice to you.
17:18
If we want to reach a full intercultural
competence, we want to reach a point
where we move comfortably in an integrative
way across
cultures, learning from each other.
17:32
Let's be very clear.
17:35
Intercultural competence is about
negotiating a new
reality with your new partner from a
different culture.
17:44
You will have to find a new space that
actually works well
for the two or three or four of you.
17:51
And this requires finding a space between
you where you can
be yourself and at the same time develop new
experiences.
18:00
Here's a definition for you.
18:03
Intercultural competence is the ability to
recognize
and use cultural differences as a resource
for learning and for
generating effective responses in specific
context.
18:18
Factors to consider when you're assessing
the role of culture include
that individuals are made up of many
characteristics of which culture is just
one. Not everybody belongs to the typical
or stereotypical cultural group.
18:35
There are people who are actually on the
boundaries of the
community who may not fit your stereotypes,
and we
might accidentally reinforce negative
stereotypes.
18:50
Working on false assumptions can actually
generate more
conflict. So what questions can you ask
yourself to assess
your intercultural competence?
Well, the first thing you want to ask is
what are cultural understandings
involve observing and looking to see if
there is a potential
for developing a shared culture and then
going into your
own archive and asking yourself, Do I have
some experience in a
different cultural context that is able to
help me to understand what is
happening in this conflict?
In other words, what resources do I have
within me and
within my community to reach out from
somebody from a different culture?
Can I do something to improve my
communication and how can I
expand and learn from this intercultural
situation?
Lastly, who in my team can be a bridge
builder to
solving the problem?
So at this point you're probably wondering
what skills do I
need to be more intercultural to have
intercultural competence?
Well, while you can do a lot of reading,
I'll intercultural competence.
20:07
A lot of it comes from within.
20:10
Understanding yourself, being aware of who
you are as a
person, being self-reflective, open,
tolerant,
and understanding that an intercultural
experience, even a
misunderstanding, is not a bad thing.
20:27
That it can be a learning process for you.
20:30
Learning to be flexible, adaptable, but also
grounded in
yourself will bring you a very long way.
20:41
In this video, I hope that you have gotten a
better understanding of the role of culture
in conflict management, that you understand
how to analyze an
intercultural situation and that you
understand what factors are needed
if you're going to solve a conflict.
20:58
I wish you well the next time you are in an
intercultural
situation and that you remember some of the
things you've learned here today and are able
to reflect for yourself.
21:09
Good luck.