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Dec 20

Why Wearing the Right Kind of Underwear is Important When Doing Business in Switzerland

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Switzerland is known for its mountains, chocolate, cheese, watches… and now strict work dress code guidelines. According to recent reports, Swiss bank UBS has just issued a 44-page set of guidelines about what employees should and should not wear to work. The guidelines even state that women are only allowed to wear flesh-coloured underwear and a maximum of seven items of jewellery. Only grey, black and navy suits can be worn by any employees and shirt cuffs must show approximately 1.5cm and 2.5cm from under the jacket sleeves.

It is not uncommon for firms operating in the financial industry in the City, New York or elsewhere to set strict dress codes – but is there something more to this?

Is this a unique example or does this represent all Swiss based organisations and values? Anyone doing business in Switzerlandshould know the answer to this question so they can be prepared – whether that means wearing the right clothes or understanding how business is done.

Zurich Bogdan Lazar i Why Wearing the Right Kind of Underwear is Important When Doing Business in Switzerland

What would happen if your boss or organisation issued clothing guidelines as strict as the ones recently set forth at UBS? Would you have responded the same way as UBS employees in Switzerland who are said to have ‘reacted well’ to the guidelines? Many people in the UK or other cultures may see these rules as an unacceptable breach of their privacy and freedom of choice. Others however may welcome such strict guidelines as they eliminate uncertainty and ensure consistency in the professional image of UBS.

Most people associate Swiss culture with strict punctuality and orderliness. This is not surprising considering the fact that they are the worldwide leaders in producing precise time keeping technology. So being on time, appreciating order and having strict guidelines are the behavioural patterns that we can see when doing business in Switzerland, but where do they come from and what impact do they have on Swiss working practices?

Cross-cultural research suggests that the Swiss are not very comfortable with unknown situations or uncertainty. Having precise rules and a high level of formality helps the Swiss to create a sense of safety and security. By implementing rules and processes, the Swiss are able to ensure that there is always an acceptable or unacceptable way of doing things, therefore limiting any ‘grey areas’ or uncertainty. The recent UBS dress code guidelines aim to “procure interior peace and a feeling of security”, according to the UBS spokesperson, making this case a perfect example of this cultural value.

Despite the reported positive reaction by UBS staff members and bank customers, this rather strict dress code aroused criticisms in Switzerland. A member of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions said in The Times that the dress code guidelines were both “unreasonable and illegal”. This reaction is a very good example of how our own individual preferences and character traits can sometimes prevail over our national cultural values.

When doing business in Switzerland it is essential to bear in mind that the Swiss business culture is heavily influenced by the country’s cultural values. Assuming that every Swiss person is the same, however, and only relying on Swiss stereotypes is bound to create cultural incidents and misunderstandings. It is therefore necessary for anyone doing business in Switzerland to develop a high level of cultural awareness and understanding of Swiss culture to be effective working there.

Participating in a Doing Business in Switzerlandcross-cultural training course will help you to understand the cultural idiosyncrasies behind certain behavioural patterns in Switzerland and how they impact working practices and communication styles. A Doing Business in Switzerland cross-cultural training course will also help you to identify and harness Swiss values and attitudes around time, structure, risk and uncertainty when working extensively with Swiss counterparts. By adapting to Swiss culture, whether through following strict dress code guidelines like those introduced at UBS or by implementing more detailed policies that will eliminate any uncertainty, you can be sure that you will have a more successful experience doing business in Switzerland.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

Tagged with: cross cultural awareness training courses • culture courses • doing business in Switzerland • Swiss business culture • Swiss cultural values • UBS dress code • Uncertainty avoidance • working with Swiss nationals

Nov 12

Cross Cultural Attitudes to Risk and Uncertainty

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Risk and uncertainty are integral elements of doing business, but they are even more present when dealing with international teams and global counterparts. Attitudes to risk and uncertainty can differ widely from one culture to another and can strongly influence the way we are perceived by others. Cross cultural awareness trainingcan provide an understanding of how cross cultural attitudes to risk and uncertainty influence working practices, cross cultural communication and international management.

Businessmen viewed from top sjlocke i Cross Cultural Attitudes to Risk and Uncertainty

Cross cultural sociologist Geert Hofstede examined how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. Through the research he conducted in the 60s and 70s, Hofstede collected and analysed data from over 100,000 individuals from forty countries. Using these results Hofstede developed a model of five key categories that cultures can be measured against. One of the dimensions called Uncertainty Avoidance looks at how cultures deal with and are influenced by ambiguity, uncertainty and risk. Understanding your global counterparts’ attitudes to risk and uncertainty will help you to understand why they behave, plan and communicate the way they do in international business.

Cultures showing high uncertainty avoidance have a low tolerance for ambiguity and vagueness in most day-to-day situations. In other words, they tend to be risk-averse and favour rules and a well-structured environment over unknown or unstructured situations. People in cultures with a low tolerance to uncertainty will also tend to establish laws, rules, regulations and control mechanisms to prevent any ambiguity or risk. In a business context, this means that in cultures that have a low tolerance to uncertainty you may find:

Employees tend to stay with one employer for a long period of time
Decisions are made by consensus
Traditional gender roles
Job roles often require a very high level of expertise
Projects are carefully planned
Many rules, laws and regulations in place

Countries in Latin America, Japan and Germany are some examples of where there is high uncertainty avoidance.

Low uncertainty avoidance cultures, on the other hand, are open to new ideas and influences. Flat organisational structures are favoured and people are flexible and more willing to take risks.
In a business context, this would mean that:

People will be more open to innovation and change
There is an increased willingness and readiness to take risks
People approach projects from different angles and have a more flexible attitude to deadlines
There is a preference for flexible rules and informal activities

Countries such as the US, the UK and Denmark are examples of where there is a low level of uncertainty avoidance.

Countries with a common history and similar cultural heritage tend to have many of the same value orientations and therefore share many of the same attitudes and behaviours. Cross cultural awareness trainingcourses such as Working Effectively across Cultures will explain why, for example, Latin cultures show similar degrees of uncertainty avoidance and often therefore have many of the same working practices and communication styles.

Working effectively across cultures requires an understanding of cross cultural values and attitudes towards risk and uncertainty. With this knowledge, international working employees will be better equipped to adapt to other cultural working styles and anticipate cross cultural challenges or frustrations that can stem from different attitudes to risk and uncertainty.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010