Thirty five years ago, I joined Hindustan lever. For six years in the eighties, I led its export business and was chairman of Unilever Arabia for four years. I went to Jeddah in 1991 to create a local company from the independent export operations of Unilever that were being run from the UK. Unilever managers from other countries were expatriated into Arabia. After a year, the company had about a 100 managers. Only two, one from UAE and a Saudi, were locals. The others were expatriates. About a third each were British and South Asian; the last third were a dozen nationalities – Swedish, Dutch, Irish, French, American, South African, Syrian, Sudanese, Tunisian and so on.

The Indian Manager
With globalisation, the Indian manager will have to work more in multicultural environments, sometimes as leader. The Indian leader-manager is a product of some unique cultural influences. First, he or she comes from one of the oldest cultures and, deep down, is aware of this. Next, there have been centuries of influences via trade and invasions with assimilation of cultures. Third, the country became independent after 200 years of British rule and 300 years of Moghul rule before that. Last, India’s educational and administrative have strong Anglo-Saxon influence.

So, Indian leader-managers tend to be less Asian than their Far Eastern counterparts and perform well in countries like the UK and the US. I find that in the US, ‘Asian’ means Far eastern and Indians are not even considered Asian! Americans see the Far Eastern manager as polite, sensitive and team-oriented, whereas the Indian leader-manager is seen as direct, aggressive and individualistic. That is my impression of the American viewpoint!

In the future, the Indian leader-manager will be more and more visible internationally. It is no accident that 10% of the Harvard Business school faculty is Indian or three of the top dozen in Citicorp Worldwide are Indian. The professional Indian manager, thus, brings a unique cultural context of assimilation, integration and an ability to live with and contribute in a pluralistic society. The Western virtues of logic, linearity, assertion and education are combined with traditional Indian values and cultures. So long as this combination is maintained, his ability to deliver in a cross-cultural situation will be high. The four lessons I have learnt and which I hope to illustrate anecdotally are"

• Don’t outculture the locals
• Focus on similarities, not the differences;
• Adapt, adapt and adapt; and
• Expect varying perceptions.

Don’t Outculture The Locals
Before we went to Arabia, my wife and I attended an orientation programme at Farnham Castle, UK. A young Jordanian explained: "We are a rather private people and don’t laugh at every little thing. We are not like the British, who laugh continuously as they watch their TV programmes!" He taught us that Arabs don’t stand in queues – another distinction from the British. He also explained how Arabic coffee is drunk and how a horizontal rotation of the cup indicates a desire for more coffee.

On the Gulf Air flight out of London, I decided to practice my new knowledge. The Syrian

Hostess passed me by twice as I displayed my well – practised rotation of the cup and finally, stopped anxiously to enquire whether I was unwell! When I explained, she laughed with great amusement. Had the gesture come from an Arab, she would have connected, but not from a foreigner.

At a Jeddah airport queue some days later, I found the progress slow; more irritatingly, various bustling locals would walk to the head of the queue and go through. I remembered the Jordanian’s sage advice. "Don’t do in queues in Arabia what the Brits do in Britain. You may be standing there forever." So I gathered courage, and strode up to the head of the queue with the confident gait of the locals I had observed earlier. A well-dressed Saudi tapped me on the back and said in very polished English. "If educated foreigners like you cut queues, our locals will never learn." I sheepishly returned to my place.

The lesson to me was that you cannot outculture the locals in real life; you could try it only for social fun.

Focus On Similarities, Not Differences
Early on in my stay, I spent a lot of time with Wahib, our Saudi partner. He had a long relationship with Unilever, but like many old relationships, he had differences to share. Some he attributed to cultural differences between the Arabs and the British. After a few meetings, he told me: "I feel you will settle quickly and will be successful. You will be at home here because Saudi Arabia is like India." "And how is that?" I enquired, for I had not observed any similarity whatsoever. "Like you, we have a plethora of regulations and bureaucracy. Despite those, there are exceptions galore to every rule. It all depends on who knows whom, and that is what we call wastha in Arabic, guanxi in Chinese, and you must have some word in Hindi. Westerners do not understand," Wahib explained with a twinkle in his eye.

A few weeks later, we went together to Riyadh. Although there were timings for appointments, they were broad. "Drop in mid-morning" rather than "at 10:15". Indeed, when we would arrive, the official would typically have three or four people in front of him and another half a dozen in the second row. Nobody knew the other, but, presumably, had all been told to come "around mid-morning". Further, the official would attend to his visitors in a sequence of his own choice, depending, presumably, on the wastha. He would even carry on discussions on different subjects simultaneously! Those who have met middle-level government officials in India will easily identify with this scenario.

I was beginning to settle down, I felt. Wahib was right.

Adapt, Adapt and Adapt
Interviewing European managers from other Unilever companies to join the Arabian company was fascinating. The British, for example, found it an advantage to be expatriated because their kids could go to expensive UK boarding schools at company expense. The Dutch and the French called themselves a ‘family-oriented society’ and would refuse the job if a suitable local school in Arabia were not available. They did not believe in sending their kids to boarding schools!

After six months, about thirty-five expatriates accepted the job and moved to Dubai and Jeddah. Some form of social links naturally developed among them. I was intrigued by the significance of meal timings. If one invited a Swede or German at 8.00 pm, he would probably have driven around the block the previous evening. On the appointed day, he would press the doorbell at precisely 8.00 pm. If my French colleague said 8.00 pm, the Swede would be far too early and almost certainly, the Frenchman would be in the shower. He would expect his visitor to understand that 8.00 pm mean 8.45 pm! They described the Indian party timing as "8.00 pm means anytime from 8.45 pm to 9.45 pm. If you arrive on time, you may find the host not quite ready. Being early, you would have to drink the longest because dinner would not be served till 11.00 pm. You can starve, so you should finish dinner at 6.30 pm (as Europeans normally do anyway) before going to the Indian dinner party".

Expect Varying Perceptions
Every society is the product of its traditions, beliefs and, I reckon its current education system. In India, for example, for centuries we have had the gurukul system, where the teacher passed on knowledge by word of mouth. I do not know whether the rote in our current education system is a trace of this tradition. That our kids have to learn a lot more by rote than their British or American counterparts is obvious to kids like mine, who transfer into a different system.

In the course of work, I found that the Dutch and Anglo-Saxons had a direct approach to problems - you could call it linear if you like. The French, however, would discuss all aspects surrounding the issue rather than the issue itself and this could be very exasperating. It always appeared that they were being pedantic, evasive or argumentative, if not all three! A French colleague ascribed this to their educational system. I understand it reaches one to look for the context surrounding a situation. "That is why," he added, "the French tend to be creative."

The Arab approach to sticky problems is unique. If A and B have to discuss a deal in an Anglo-Saxon culture, they would discuss until they agree or they would break off. In the Arab situation, body language and face are so important that it would be common to have the discussion via C. I found it difficult to discuss with Farouq via Abdullah. Just as I was getting ready to tell Farouq: "Look here, let us keep Abdullah out. You and I have to sort this out," I discovered the potential for sending all sorts of delicate messages through Abdullah. It is no surprise that the Middle East peace process has always had an intermediary!

I also found very contradicting views on certain issues like incentive bonus or pay for performance. Asian, Arab and Latin managers do not believe in immutable contracts with linked rewards. They expect contracts will be qualified where circumstances have changed. But Anglo-Saxon managers feel very motivated by incentive bonuses. They see changing circumstances as reality rather than as events that should influence the original contract. I found it very difficult to get a coherent discussion on this subject going among so many different nationals in the company.