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<title>&#x22;All Over The Map&#x22; - RSS</title><link>http://www.global-context.com/index.html</link><description> The Global Context Blog</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>stuart@global-context.com</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2009 Stuart Friedman</dc:rights><dc:date>2009-10-20T16:57:02-07:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:01:33 -0700</lastBuildDate><item><title>Around The World in 60 Minutes</title><dc:creator>stuart@global-context.com</dc:creator><category>U.K.</category><category>Coded Speech</category><dc:date>2009-10-20T16:56:49-07:00</dc:date><link>http://www.global-context.com/blogs/files/bf83d771c094d5b4f2e9ce2a3ab37c34-5.php#unique-entry-id-5</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.global-context.com/blogs/files/bf83d771c094d5b4f2e9ce2a3ab37c34-5.php#unique-entry-id-5</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[At one point during the story, the camera cuts to Justice Scalia fielding questions from a student at Oxford University in the U.K. 

...As is often the case with culturally-infused communications, there's a lot more to this question than one might initially realize.


For example, you might think that the word "your" in "...your last choice" is a jab at Americans who previously voted for George Bush. ...  This was after all a supreme court justice he was talking to, for God's sake!  


...You see, although Americans like to get right to the point and put their cards on the table so to speak, this is not the preferred approach in many other cultures.   You see,the British are more apt to take a "don't rock the boat" approach; They use a kind of coded speech when talking about sensitive issues.&nbsp;

...At which point the students all began to chuckle,  almost as if to say Scalia was spot-on.


...No sooner did Scalia let the students know he got the point of the question, he continued to answer the student with a typical American  reply, "I and my court owe no apology whatever for Bush versus Gore. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>&#x22;When Culture is Ignored&#x2c; Planes Crash&#x22;</title><dc:creator>stuart@global-context.com</dc:creator><category>Power Distance</category><category>Hofstede</category><category>Korea</category><dc:date>2009-09-23T13:49:39-07:00</dc:date><link>http://www.global-context.com/blogs/files/8da70f847a007af07f3fcfe1d0ee7b54-4.php#unique-entry-id-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.global-context.com/blogs/files/8da70f847a007af07f3fcfe1d0ee7b54-4.php#unique-entry-id-4</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The central conceit of Outliers is that there are certain factors in someone's behavior and upbringing that determines his ultimate chances for suceeding. 

...Gladwell explains that some cultures exhibit a behavior which Geert Hofstede, a researcher in cultural behaviors, defines as the Power Distance Index (PDI).   PDI is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. ...  Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others'.


...In the case of Korean Airlines, plane crashes can be attributed to the captain making a mistake and the first officer or flight engineer not directly confronting the captain, leading to the crash. ...  The crash of the Air Florida flight in Washington DC in 1982 can in part be attribute to this same reluctance of a subordinate to directly confront a superior, even though both members of the flight crew were Americans.


...It's tricky enough if we're on a team of others from the mid-west US, but it gets even more complicated as we're dealing with multi-cultural teams. 

...This change in language, along with other training, enabled the crews to be more direct with their captains, significantly improving their safety record.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Indian Jugaad</title><dc:creator>stuart@global-context.com</dc:creator><category>India</category><category>Anecdote</category><dc:date>2009-06-02T21:34:00-07:00</dc:date><link>http://www.global-context.com/blogs/files/4d01da5e53a406f3fe13011563fe619a-0.php#unique-entry-id-0</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.global-context.com/blogs/files/4d01da5e53a406f3fe13011563fe619a-0.php#unique-entry-id-0</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[A colleague of mine,  Michael Gates - Managing Director of Richard Lewis Communications - recently was in India when he encountered an equipment malfunction right before a major presentation. 

...Kitchen staff, custodial help, and even hotel management appeared out of nowhere to rearrange furniture and scavage for anything that could help bolster and raise the screen.  

...Then, without missing a beat, the screen was one meter higher, as if it had always been that way. ...  Pieces of rope, wood scraps, and a few bits of nails and staples all helped to secure that extra one meter for the remainder of the day. 


...Best described as a sort of hurried collective resourcefulness, jugaad is a Hindi word meaning to find an alternative, lateral thought out solution - which somehow works against the odds, by acting before the proper means can be put in place, maybe using your connections, and possibly bending some rules along the way.


A jugaad as it turns out is also the name of a vehicle that people in small Indian villages often make out of spare parts from a junkyard, and an engine made from the diesel pump used for irrigating their fields.  ...  As further evidence of that "good 'ole jugaad", it's also not uncommon for a passenger to jump off,  and apply a manual wooden block as a brake.


...In fact, a recent comparative report by McKinsey on the relative strengths of India and China identified Indian flexibility as a key &lsquo;soft competitive edge&rsquo;.
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