Cross Cultural Conflict

A few years ago, I did a project with a company that was a joint venture between a British Company, an American Company, and a Canadian one.  It was in the Utility sector, so you would assume that very similar parent companies, from very similar countries would have no problem integrating their cultures.  This was an excellent example of why one should never assume.

The United States and Canada are both former colonies of the UK, and all three countries share a language (with respect to the one-third of Canadians who are French speakers).  How different could they be?

On Managing Conflict:

  • Americans argue hard for their viewpoint, and ultimately get along at the end of the day
  • The British are much more reserved and polite, but will express dissent.
  • Canadians avoid conflict at all costs – often to their detriment

 

On Working Hours:

  • Americans work 12 hours a day, and rarely take more than a few days off in a row
  • The British work hard on a daily basis.  They also have 8 weeks vacation (holiday) per year, and take a minimum of two weeks off at a time.
  • Canadians are about half way in between the two, unless there’s a hockey game on TV, in which case they go home early.

 

On Dealing with Governments (we were constantly moving people between the three countries)

  • The American Government was a nightmare to work with.  They constantly change immigration rules, and won’t provide any reasons or justifications for doing so.
  • The British Government was consistent, although highly bureaucratic and cumbersome in its process.
  • The Canadian Government was consistent with its expressed goal of making it easy for skilled people to enter and work in that country.

 

On Language

  • Americans speak “Microsoft English” – the easiest and most identifiable form of the language.
  • The British contingent from England spelled some things differently, but otherwise communicated well.  The Scottish contingent constantly baffled all the rest of us with their use of the language.
  • The Canadians sounded like the Americans; spelled like the British; and threw in some French spellings just to throw everyone else off.

 

On the Metric System

  • The United States is the only country in the world that still uses the outdated and cumbersome Imperial Measurement system.
  • The British were very frustrated when they hopped in their Audis and BMWs that the speed limit was 65mph, rather than 110 kph.
  • The Canadians were baffled that 32 degrees was miserably cold, rather than miserably hot.

 

On “Entitlement Mentality”

  • Americans don’t feel much entitlement, but rather feel the individual is responsible for his/her own circumstances.
  • The British have some Entitlement Mentality – particularly when it came to the private American health care system. (“I have to pay for this!?!?”)
  • The Canadians had a bad case of entitlement mentality.  Perhaps it was because most of the people working there had been government employees before the utility was privatized.

 

In the end, we managed to make this company work, but don’t ever underestimate cross-cultural issues even in seemingly similar cultures.