Cultural sensitivity or snobbery?

In his article Cross cultural risks in doing business, Ron Goodfellow recounted the horror story of a business deal gone bad after the Australian hosts of visiting Chinese investors offended the head of the Chinese delegation. The Aussies failed to observe certain time-consuming social niceties upon the guests' arrival, instead rushing the delegation to a preplanned meeting.

According to Goodfellow, the brusque welcome caused the delegation head a loss of face. Mr. Goodfellow concluded that "Australian business people generally do not recognize culture as a risk factor".

It seems to me that an equally obvious conclusion is that the Asian businessman also did not recognize culture as a risk factor. Instead of understanding that Australian executives set agendas and tend to follow them, the visitor expected the visit to be conducted as it would have been in China. Where was his cultural awareness? To save face the foreign delegation head sacrificed an investment opportunity because he was served cappuccino on the run. Australia might have lost a million dollar investment; but the foreign investor also lost an opportunity -- as did his shareholders.

Can any developing economy afford to sacrifice business results to one individual's ego? Surely a modern CEO regardless of his/her cultural identity wouldn't condone an executive's decision to abort a trade mission because of a perceived slight like this. Surely Asians are as culturally aware of different national business customs, as Mr. Goodfellow rightly encourages Australians to be, and would have known Australian ways in advance. Or does Mr. Goodfellow think that only Westerners are capable of cultural sensitivity and flexibility?

Awareness of the customs and value systems of other national or ethnic groups is essential. And Mr. Goodfellow's basic point: that we need to be open to differences and not assume that humankind is homogeneous, is indisputable.

But the version of cultural sensitivity that his anecdote reflects tends to perpetuate a view of Asians as fragile, passive associates, whose sensibilities need to be placated even at the cost of corporate integrity and profitability -- and sometimes ethics.

A scenario like the one Mr. Goodfellow describes does demonstrate failure, but it was a bilateral failure of human empathy and courtesy we witnessed, not a one-sided failure in cultural sensitivity. Let's dethrone cultural sensitivity from the position it has acquired as a politically-correct affectation of those who, from a condescending superiority, absolve others of their reciprocal responsibility for cultural awareness, tolerance and common courtesy.

DONNA K. WOODWARD

Medan, North Sumatra