C&EN Washington

With the ongoing trend toward globalization, increasing numbers of chemical industry professionals find themselves not just working in foreign countries, but working with employee groups in two, three, or even more countries. Time constraints and the demands of the business market have placed a premium on people who can achieve success in more than one cultural setting.

Gone are the days when a research or product manager, for example, might settle into a new job in Geneva or Tokyo and stay there. He or she might still do that, but would also be responsible for managing employees and projects in such diverse locations as Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Singapore.

As Giorgio Squinzi, chairman of Italian specialty chemicals company Mapei, notes, "A strong position or a leadership position in the domestic market is not enough." That is certainly true for the U.S.--about 96% of the world's population lives elsewhere. Globalization, then, is synonymous with the need for growth.

"This situation creates an excellent opportunity for young chemists interested in travel, encountering new people and cultures, and having jobs that offer adventure," says George J. O'Neill, a retired Eastman Chemical executive who spent five years in Japan expanding the company's business prospects in Asia. "You can greatly increase your chances of having a positive experience in the global chemistry business by assessing your strengths and interests and preparing yourself."

Obviously, those strengths and interests should include a good to high level of comfort in working with people who are of different races, religions, and customs. Enjoying travel--including, perhaps, very long distance travel--is a must, and O'Neill adds that chemists interested in foreign assignments must also like, or at least be able to tolerate, the often stressful experience of moving.

There is a range of opinion about foreign-language skills: Some chemists who manage work groups abroad say that fluency in another language plus English is a good idea. Others say familiarity with another language is sufficient, and they note that, in many parts of the world, English has become the preferred language for both science and commerce. Other business experts recommend the ability to memorize and use key phrases in the language of a host country. Those few words can be useful in making polite--perhaps impressive--introductions or simply for ordering lunch.

Two-career couples confront significant challenges when one or both are interested in moving or pursuing careers that demand frequent travel (see page 61). O'Neill and others say spouses must also be prepared for careers that span cultures.

"It's good for any person to have had cross-cultural experiences," says Chih-duen Tse, a product supply manager at Bayer Corp. She has worked with overseas teams in Mexico, Spain, Germany, and France as well as with teams in Puerto Rico.

Tse grew up in Taiwan and attended graduate school in the U.S. Over the years, she says, she has acquired an ease in working with people of differing cultural backgrounds. In fact, Tse says, she often finds it easier to work with her international colleagues. "People look at me and they see someone with a multicultural background," she says.

Although Tse looks "foreign" in the places she works, she says that the real key to eliciting a positive attitude from colleagues and subordinates is to "treat people from different cultures with respect. Give them the benefit of the doubt."

Tse and others note that working hours, holidays, and vacation time practices differ dramatically in different parts of the world. "Everyone has to make some adjustments in their 'mental calendars,' " says another global manager about working with people in different cultural settings.

Everyone who provided comments for this story cautioned that holiday and time-off customs have little to do with how hard people work or their level of motivation. Tse says managers must be sensitive to this aspect of managing employees in different parts of the world and be aware that holiday and vacation times often have very strong links to a given culture.

Sometimes, Tse says, cultural sensitivity means knowing that people in a certain country just don't like voice mail, and it is therefore not used. "You have to keep in mind those kinds of facts."

Although it would seem to apply to many on-the-job situations, Tse recommends that the way around cultural differences is to include people in working teams and to share with them information about the business and business processes. "If you share information and share the success, then employees can also share the problems with you," Tse says.

Many people who manage overseas work groups or who have worked abroad say that preparation for the experience is necessary, although it's not something that is--or even should be--available in a formal business training course or workshop. "Generally speaking, American people put too much weight on the importance of training/preparation before you are qualified to do any kind of job," says Misaki Sawada, who was O'Neill's administrative assistant when he worked in Japan. Sawada works for Eastman in Osaka, Japan.

"The key to the success of managing employees in distant cultures is simply dependent on the capability of the individual," Sawada says. "I have heard an interesting comment from the locals here that it is easier to work with European than American companies. The reason is that the locals have felt [that they are] less looked down on by Europeans."

"On-the-job training is probably most effective for the technical aspects of the job," says Jim Huffaker, a former director of Eastman's Asia-Pacific Technical Center in Osaka. "General cultural training in the U.S. prior to transfer is useful," he continues, "but it cannot get down to the how-to-do-it details of shopping, post office, driver's license, best way to commute," and so on. People will discover these facts by themselves, he says, or with the assistance of new colleagues.

Roman Davis, who works in chemical development at Glaxo Wellcome in Research Triangle Park, N.C., says he tries to socialize with employees in work groups he manages in the U.K. He enjoys getting to know the people he works with, but even doing that has required some cultural sensitivity, he says--a skill he has honed from several experiences working and living in different countries.

For example, Davis says, people in the U.K. don't usually entertain at home, and they do not often include spouses or other family members in work-related outings. "In England or Scotland, socializing is always done at a restaurant or a pub without family or spouses. I find it awkward that I don't get to meet the family."

Nonetheless, getting to know his colleagues there has paid off. Davis says he is now more attuned to the formalities of British culture: At one plant where he has worked, for instance, scientists are required to be in their lab coats at all times. Meetings, he says, are always somewhat formal occasions--not the quick get-togethers or informal hallway conferences characteristic of U.S. businesspeople. And, he says, "they take their tea breaks very seriously."

Sumit Tripathi, a marketing manager for EM Industries in Hawthorne, N.Y., cautions against too much reliance on cultural stereotypes--something of a natural tendency, he says, when someone doesn't really know another culture.

Within his own company, he says, there seems to be a notion that somehow Germans are the best workers. It is a subtle stereotyping, he adds, that might be expressed in seemingly bland comments about how quickly and effectively a job might be done in one locale as opposed to another.

On the other hand, he says, his company, a subsidiary of Germany's Merck KGaA, is very open and direct in dealing with biases--in any country or cultural setting. And it makes good business sense to be open-minded, says Tripathi, who was born in India, studied as an undergraduate in Nigeria, once worked in Ethiopia, and has been working in the U.S. for 10 years.

Because of global business pursuits, company officials have learned that misunderstandings, biases, stereotyping, and the like are bound to occur. But when such issues are dealt with and talked about openly, Tripathi says, they remain at the level of misunderstandings between people who otherwise like each other or who are at least able to get along.

In the chemical industry, O'Neill and others say that tremendous financial rewards are often waiting for those who reach for experiences and understanding outside their own cultural setting. But like everyone who commented for this article, he emphasized his feeling of personal growth, especially the opportunity as a manager to build patience and tolerance and simply to learn something from another person.

"Financial rewards are substantial," Huffaker agrees, "and they would be enough to recruit most people to a difficult assignment, but the personal rewards in living in a foreign culture, gaining an understanding of that culture, and doing a good job with it are also tremendous."

There is a huge payoff, Tse says, and the qualities demanded of global managers are excellent, too, for dealing with friends, family, and children. "You begin to realize that it is differences that make this world strong," she says.

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Copyright © 1999 American Chemical Society