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Finland

Inter-Cultural-Management Damian Martinez-Dreyer, Sren Wellhfer

Enjoy thesilence!

05 28 2010

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Geography

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Geography

Size of Montana (337,030 km2)

Lakes and forests (more than ), some

mountains, 8% arable land Long cold winters, short mild summers

5,359,538 population,

80% south, 60% urbanized Geography = Nordic people

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History

5000 BC: Finno-Ugric tribes

12th century: Swedish rule since, no nation

1809: Duchy of Russian Empire, unifiedsemiautonomous entity

National movement, Finish/Swedish languageofficial

1899: Russification, Integration

1919: Independence after short war

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History

1939-44: Germany's co-belligerent against Soviet Union,Winter/Continuation war

1948: Treaty Soviet Union

1989: SU recognizes Finland's full sovereignty 1995: EU integration

Hero nation: cultural identity, persistent toughness

Religion: Lutheran (80%), Orthodox(10%)

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General attitude

High ideals, loyal, reliable, punctual

Honest, direct, tolerant, very low-context

Reserved, polite, quite, thoughtful, unemotionalin public

Unbureaucratic, informal

Equality, personal freedom, women's rights Individualism, social responsibility

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General attitude

Traditional, yet modern and technological Nature-loving Proud of nation and heritage, modest, Pessimistic, inferiority complex Brink of Scandinavia and Europe

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Lutheranism and work attitude?

Many baptized (80% = 4.3 Mio.)

Very secularized society (Church/State)

It's proper to be Christian

Work ethic = morals and values of diligent work Nordic people, historic struggles, National pride

sisu= die trying against the odds

ability to sustain an action against the odds with courage History, heritage, and national values shape work ethic,

not religion

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Empathizing with Finns

Modest

Low profile, never boast

Achievements in modest tone

Silence is positive, contemplative, relaxing

Clear goals and objectives

Individual freedom, self-respect Subtle body language

Humorous on occasions, rather dry

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Business practices

Highly-competitive business culture

Punctuality

Dress properly

No small-talk

Good English

Respect opinions Follow host in actions

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Business practices

Formal atmosphere softens in meetings

Women have true equal standing

No good team players

4/5 weeks of vacation during summer, avoidtravel

Sauna

Conversation topics: history, politics, sports,technology, travel

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Management by motivation

Frank, open, direct (share your plans)

Modest, unemotional, objective

Talk slowly and listen

Precise, efficient

Relaxed about protocol and hierarchy

Honest, faithful, solid

Do never: Gossip, lie, insult culture & heritage

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Quality

Hight-tech society, highly industrialized,high standard of living

Quietly efficient perfectionists

Emphasize quality, but not picky

Important for individual and society

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Product XYTrollcorp.

Helsinki

Example of a Finnish presentation:

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Product XY - Overview

Achievements:

Profitability 70% since inception (5 years ago)

80% of customer satisfaction

Quality of service deemed good in surveys

Objectives:

Return on investment must be increased Product placement stabilization

Reduce marginal costs for serviceability

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Product XY - Development

Three autonomous working groups

A: Quality reinforcement

B: Customer satisfaction

C: Process rationalization

A

B

C

Improvementreconciliations

Goal:Profitability margin

up by > 10%

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Finish communication explained

Silence is positive

Think quiet (silence again)

Only subtle bodylanguage

Be modest

Structured conversation, one voice at a time!

Speaking less is more.

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The GLOBE Study

438 Managers / seven companies

To study:

Social / Organisational cultural norms

Leadership norms

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GLOBE: Social Results

Uncertainity Avoidance0

3.5

7

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GLOBE: The perfect Leader

Visionary

Integrity

Inspirational

Colaborative

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Kiitoksia paljon!