Cultural risk is a two way street

My thanks to Donna K. Woodward from Medan for her spirited response to my article published in The Jakarta Post dated April 28, 2001, entitled Cross cultural risk in doing business. Donna is right in drawing readers' attention to the fact that the article was written from the perspective of Australians wanting to engage Asia, but not having the cultural tools to do so successfully.

There is of course another perspective. Cultural risk is a two way street. Asian business leaders likewise need to be aware that the Western worldview, including those views held by most Australians, are different and unique and also built on thousands of years of cultural development. Australia and Indonesia are in fact in a unique position to explore the reciprocal responsibilities of "cultural awareness, tolerance and common courtesy".

However where I disagree with Donna is in her suggestion that "there exists a stereotype of Asians as fragile, passive associates, whose sensitivities need to be placated even at the cost of corporate integrity and profitability". This is unhelpful and misses the point altogether.

In my anecdote the hurried cappuccinos and the 9 a.m. business meeting constituted only the superficial form of the disagreement. It was the complete misunderstanding of the role of hierarchy and the decision-making process in Asian business that was at the heart of the Chinese delegation's decision to abandon the project. To suggest otherwise, to infer that Asians are that "fragile" is to be guilty of the same charge Donna so correctly warns us about.

In a similar way the advice I often give Asian businesspeople about the West is: perpetuating the myth that Western businesspeople are all greedy, grasping, selfish, self-centered, and egotistical does not address the issue that there are clear, rational and culturally consistent reasons why Western people are preoccupied with goals, targets and ends. Likewise there are sound and equally rational reasons why Asians are preoccupied with means, process and relationship building.

These are not myths, or stereotypes, but rather absolutely fundamental aspects of cross-cultural exchange. They cannot be brushed aside so easily without, as my story suggested, disastrous consequences.

ROB GOODFELLOW

Wollongong University, Australia