| Forget the saying 'the world is getting smaller' - it has | | | | fast food giant McDonald's spent thousands on a |
| gotten smaller. Advances in transport and | | | | new TV ad to target the Chinese consumer. The ad |
| communications technology combined with the | | | | showed a Chinese man kneeling before a McDonald's |
| development of a world economy have resulted in | | | | vendor and begging him to accept his expired |
| people from different nations, cultures, languages and | | | | discount coupon. The ad was pulled due to a lack of |
| backgrounds now communicating, meeting and doing | | | | cultural sensitivity on McDonald's behalf. The ad |
| business with one another more than ever.There are | | | | caused uproar over the fact that begging is |
| some observers that claim this new found intimacy | | | | considered a shameful act in Chinese culture.* A nice |
| has lead to a greater understanding of 'the other' and | | | | example of how pictures don't translate well across |
| as a result our cultural differences are in fact | | | | cultures is the time staff at the African port of |
| diminishing. However, in reality the opposite is true. As | | | | Stevadores saw the 'internationally recognised' |
| we come together our cultural differences become | | | | symbol for "fragile" (i.e. broken wine glass) and |
| accentuated as we start to realise that the rest of | | | | presumed it was a box of broken glass. Rather than |
| the world is not reading from the same book. One | | | | waste space they threw all the boxes into the sea.* |
| area where this is now being felt is in business.Very | | | | When the US firm Gerber started selling baby food in |
| few businesses can escape the need to at some | | | | Africa they used the same packaging as in the US, i.e. |
| point in time deal with foreign colleagues, clients or | | | | with a picture of a baby on the label. Sales flopped |
| customers. Business is international and if an | | | | and they soon realised that in Africa companies |
| organisation wants to develop and grow it needs to | | | | typically place pictures of contents on their labels.* |
| harness the potential an international stage offers. | | | | Pepsodent tried to sell its toothpaste in South East |
| Twenty years ago British, European and American | | | | Asia by emphasizing that it "whitens your teeth." |
| organisations doing business abroad had very little | | | | They found out that the local natives chew betel |
| competition due to the lack of rival industrialised | | | | nuts to blacken their teeth which they find |
| nations. Back then it was easy to do business 'our | | | | attractive.* The film "Hollywood Buddha" showed a |
| way'. Today some of the world's largest economies | | | | complete lack of cultural sensitivity by causing |
| include Japan, China, Mexico, Brazil, India and Korea. | | | | outrage and protest on the streets of Sri Lanka, |
| As a result there has been a small shift from 'our | | | | Malaysia and Burma when the designer of the film's |
| way' to 'let's try and understand your way'. Why? | | | | poster decided to show the lead actor sitting on the |
| Because western organisations are feeling the impact | | | | Buddha's head, an act of clear degradation against |
| a lack of cultural sensitivity can and does have upon | | | | something holy.* The concept of Big Brother was |
| business performance.Many organisations are now | | | | somehow taken to the Middle East. The show was |
| investing heavily in providing staff with language | | | | pulled of the air after its first few episodes due to |
| lessons in order to be able to crack foreign markets | | | | public protests and pressure from religious bodies |
| as well as providing cultural sensitivity training to | | | | stating the show's mixed sex format was against |
| address issues such as etiquette, protocol, | | | | Islamic principles.* A golf ball manufacturing company |
| communication styles and negotiation approaches. In | | | | packaged golf balls in packs of four for convenient |
| a competitive world such businesses appreciate that | | | | purchase in Japan. Unfortunately, the number 4 is |
| greater cultural sensitivity will assist them in forging | | | | equivalent to the number 13 due it sounding like the |
| longer and more prosperous relationships. Yet | | | | word "death". The company had to repackage the |
| progress is slow. Unfortunately a subconscious sense | | | | product.LanguageThe business world is littered with |
| of cultural superiority still seems to reign; one that | | | | poor translations that have caused great |
| assumes the rest of the world does business like us | | | | embarrassment to their perpetrators due to their |
| and if they don't then they should.The world's | | | | lack of cultural sensitivity. The following are some of |
| inhabitants however come from many faiths, | | | | the choicest examples.* IKEA once tried to sell a |
| cultures, world views and experiences which makes | | | | workbench called FARTFULL - not a hugely popular |
| such an assumption futile. We are all different and as | | | | product for obvious reasons.* Both Clairol and the |
| a result doing business across borders (whether | | | | Irish alcoholic drink Irish Mist did not properly consider |
| political, religious, cultural or linguistic) requires cultural | | | | the German language when they launched their |
| sensitivity, meaning a sense of empathy, flexibility | | | | products there. Clairol's hair-curling iron "Mist Stick" and |
| and creativity informed by cultural knowledge. As | | | | the drink "Irish Mist" both flopped - why? 'Mist' |
| with most things in life, business has learnt the hard | | | | translates in German as "manure".* The Japanese |
| way.To illustrate how these lessons have and are still | | | | seem to have a particular flair for naming products. |
| being learnt we will look at some examples where a | | | | The country has given us gems such as "homo |
| lack of cultural sensitivity has let a company, individual | | | | soap", "coolpis", "Germ bread" and "Shito Mix".* A |
| or product down. For the sake of brevity these have | | | | new facial cream with the name "Joni" was proposed |
| been summed up in two simple categories: culture | | | | for marketing in India. They changed the name since |
| and language.CultureCulture comes in many shapes | | | | the word translated in Hindi meant "female genitals."* |
| and sizes. It includes areas such as politics, history, | | | | Coors had its slogan, "Turn it loose," translated into |
| faith, mentality, behaviour and lifestyle. The following | | | | Spanish, where it became "Suffer from diarrhoea."All |
| examples demonstrate how a lack of cultural | | | | the examples cited above could easily have been |
| sensitivity led to failure.* When colouring in 800,000 | | | | avoided by conducting some basic research in |
| pixels on a map of India, Microsoft coloured eight of | | | | respect to checking the concept, design, shape, |
| them a different shade of green to represent the | | | | colour, packaging, message or name in the target |
| disputed Kashmiri territory. The difference in greens | | | | culture. In the majority of cases it is simply assumed |
| meant Kashmir was shown as non-Indian, and the | | | | that 'if it is OK for us it is OK for them'. If businesses |
| product was promptly banned in India. Microsoft was | | | | want to succeed internationally, cultural sensitivity |
| left to recall all 200,000 copies of the offending | | | | must be at the heart of everything they do; from |
| Windows 95 operating system software to try and | | | | their personal interaction and relationships with clients |
| heal the diplomatic wounds. It cost them millions.*The | | | | to the products/services they develop. |