Healthcare Articles

Leveraging Australian Pharmaceutical Expertise to Enhance Regional Capabilities

There is a significant focus on the developing markets of Asia by Australian companies. It is appreciated that Australian expertise in marketing, health economics, medical information, regulatory, and clinical research can be leveraged to the regional organisation’s advantage.

In order for this to work individuals need to be equipped for cross-cultural assignments and companies need to be providing for this exchange.

Attributes sought in employees for cross-cultural responsibilities include flexibility, ability to handle ambiguity, a willingness to experience new cultures, maturity and sensitivity to other people’s points of view, capacity to travel easily and the ability to adapt behaviours to meet new and challenging circumstances.

There are several ways that people integrating into a new culture can optimise their communication skills:

a. learn a few words of the language e.g. Good morning, thank you and please thus demonstrating at least an attempt.

b. Learn a few words to maximize the comfort of your stay in the new country (be it in a hotel or longer). For example: “Could you please iron some shirts”, “Please wake me at 6 o’clock”. Learning to count to 10 in the new language will help with time, addresses and money exchange.

c. Take the lead from others in the group - watch how they greet new participants into the group (eg Japanese business card exchange) or how they order food in a restaurant.

d. Importantly, for successful communication, participants should slow down - in order for them to be heard and understood more clearly, and so that they can take cues from their environment as to culturally appropriate ways to behave and communicate.

e. Participants should use simple sentences, repeat important points in several different ways and check comprehension in a manner that is not condescending or patronising.

To operate effectively and efficiently within the cross-cultural arena there firstly needs to be commitment from senior management that people are the most important asset. A company may possess the best product and the best international distribution network, but if it does not have the right people at all levels of the business then it has lost its competitive advantages gained from other fields. Once this understanding and commitment has been achieved it must be communicated throughout the organization.

When people are chosen for assignments to countries where they will experience different cultures consideration should be given to:

1. Fully briefing the employee and their family as what to expect, and what will b expected of them.

2. Providing language and cultural customs training for the employee and family.

3. Concentrating on finding suitable employment for the spouse (70% of expatriates leave the assignment early because of ‘unsettled family reasons’).

4. Encouraging participants to discuss the assignment with others who have returned from the particular country.

5. Providing enough time for the employee and family to make the move to the new country ie don’t expect them to pack up, move and be fully operational within the week.

Adequate preparation and support will ease elements of ‘culture shock’. This may manifest itself in a variety of ways that include “embarrassment, disappointment, frustration, impatience, anxiety, identity confusion, anger and physiological responses such as sleeplessness, stomachaches, headaches and trembling hands” (Adler 1991).

It is therefore important not to ignore culture shock but to acknowledge it and manage it by adequately preparing the employee for the assignment.

On return from the international assignment it is also important to acknowledge re-entry shock i.e. the difficulty in readjusting and the decreased productivity associated with this. To manage this re-entry shock organizations can:

1. Prior to transferring employees overseas discuss their future career plans when they return to their home country

2. Ensure that employees on transfer are notified of organizational changes while they are away to decrease the shock on their re-entry.

3. Provide debriefing on re-entry to describe what the employee has learnt on their overseas assignment.

If a company is to be successful within the cross-cultural environment it must be suitably aligned to that environment. To optimise organizational performance the following points could be considered:

1. The structure of the organization needs to be such that it can respond quickly to environmental changes. To achieve this rapid response the organization must be flexible, and have an ingrained culture of flexibility.

2. The organization also needs the ‘tools’ to augment their flexibility e.g. mobile phones laptop computers, and integrated databases. The organization should also be structured so that it can manage diversity optimally. This objective can be achieved by assembling culturally diverse project teams.

It should be recognised that “diversity becomes most advantageous when the organization wants to expand its perspective, its approach, its range of ideas, its operations, its product line or its marketing plan” (Adler 1991). It should also be recognised that different cultures have different attitudes to structure - some cultures value structure and find that it results in predictability. If the structure is threatened and rules and regulations not adhered to then conflict arises. Other cultures more readily accept changes in structure and in turn are more accepting of new ideas and people.

Different cultures use space differently. In some countries an office is valued, in others all employees sit in an open plan environment. Chinese employees value “fang shui” (wind and water) and will structure their working environment so as to maximise the ‘harmony’. Respect of personal space is also important. In some cultures public kissing is appropriate whereas in other cultures touching the head is culturally inappropriate. Cultural norms dictate what the participants feel comfortable with. If something is out of the norm they feel threatened and confused and will not perceive the situation positively.

Employees from different cultures have different attitudes to time. Some participants may have a single-minded focus towards time and can commit to schedules, whereas others may value relationship building over deadlines. This applies not only to cultural subgroups within the organsiation but also to strategic alliances and partnerships. Adler, N. International Dimensions of Organisational behaviour. Second edition. Wadsworth Publishing Company.1991

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By Dr Glenn Carter, Managing Director of Pharmaceutical Professionals, a Sydney professional services company.

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