Examples of ethical relativism in the workplace

“Culture is relative.” Many of us have heard this stated time and time again, but does awareness of cultural relativity really help us to communicate better in the workplace? It may not be enough, but according to Erin Meyer, it is a starting point.

Meyer is the author of The Culture Map and recently appeared on an episode of Bloomberg Surveillance to discuss how cultural differences challenge perceptions and communication in the business world. Meyer says the implications of culture become especially palpable when it comes to power distance -- a term coined by Hofstede to describe “the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.”

She recalls the story of a Kenyan manager, sent to lead a team in Denmark, who had an unpleasant surprise when he found that Danish egalitarianism meant being subjected to public contradictions and challenges from his subordinates. But, according to Meyer, it’s not just those working abroad who run into misunderstandings. Those working on virtual teams are just as vulnerable to mistakes, particularly when it comes to email and telephone communication. “Here you can fall into all sorts of traps. In the US, for example we have a tendency at the end of a telephone call, to recap what we’ve decided verbally and maybe put into writing again, another recap,” Meyer explains, “When working with Indians, you send an email to someone and do the same thing and they might think ‘Wow, this person really doesn’t trust me.’”

Without prior cultural training, an American may not understand that in India, you often build trust at the workplace through relatively deep, interpersonal relationships. If you’re not familiar with the typical behaviors that build towards this, it would be difficult to know what’s appropriate and effective. Trust, like any other concept, is relative to culture. Though the American may trust his colleague, overly transactional, task-focused behavior can be suspicious or even condescending to Indians, leading to further breakdowns in communication.

The concept of professionalism is also culturally relative. Everyone wants to behave in the most “professional” way possible, but culturally specific definitions of professionalism have a huge impact on how things get done. Giving negative feedback is one area where this can be seen most clearly. “For example, take something very simple, like [providing] negative feedback to someone on your team,” says Meyer. “The most professional way to provide that feedback is really different from one country to another…I can tell you that in France, people are a lot more implicit with positive feedback, and they give negative feedback much more directly than even we do here in the US.”

“I think what’s interesting here is that culture is relative,” she continues. “I worked with a French manager a while ago. His American boss called him into his office to tell him his performance was unacceptable. He did it in the American way by saying [some things he appreciated about his work], by the time he got to what his real message was, the French person wasn’t even listening!”

Meyer emphasizes that improving one’s intercultural effectiveness is possible for anyone who is aware of cultural differences and makes simple adjustments to their behavior. We also believe that seeking to integrate differences by finding middle ground is extremely important for global or otherwise diverse teams.

Does cultural relativity affect your workplace? What best practices have you uncovered? Please share your experiences in the comments section below.

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