Which role do culture and cultural differences play in today’s business context? How can we interpret and make sense of such differences when contemporary cultures seem to be ever-more fragmented and shifting? Is national culture still a relevant signifier in a business world where customers, partners, suppliers as well as team members are often dispersed around the globe?
These and further questions are being explored in Konsultori’s Navigating Culture(s) Workshop which we had the opportunity to hold twice this year:
- 1. First, for a cohort of incoming startups from Asia, Europe and the Americas as part of the Vienna Startup Package by Vienna Business Agency, a program held once per year which usually coincides with ViennaUp, Vienna’s international startup festival held in spring every year.
- 2. Secondly and most recently, for GO AUTSRIA (November 2024) a program for Asian startups jointly organized by FFG, AWS and GIN (Global Incubator Network Austria) and being held twice per year.
Konsultori Workshops
Empowering Startups in Finance, Growth, and Organization Design
Mastering Business Culture(s) for Global Success
The workshop starts with a general discussion of what culture is and what it is made of, i.e. culture’s tangible and intangible, visible and invisible aspects, so as to arrive at a shared understanding of culture which goes well beyond simplistic clichés and stereotypes.
While traditional practices of ‘intercultural management’ were envisaged for mostly Western (European, North American), usually male executives developing foreign markets, such a limited, one-directional conceptualization of culture and cultural differences can no longer hold its ground. What is needed is a more nuanced, multi-dimensional understanding of cultural diversity and what can be coined as ‘cultural intelligence’ – based on awareness and respectful curiosity.
In the workshop we also look at and try out, via various interactive exercises, a more contemporary model of culture, namely Erins Meyer’s Culture Map.
By applying the Culture Map’s eight dimensions of culture to different real-life business situations, the workshop’s participants discuss this (or any other) model’s usefulness, its benefits and shortcomings.
Austrian Business Culture in Focus
Since these two editions of the workshop were designed for ‘incoming’ startups (i.e. international companies visiting and ‘setting sight’ on Austria and the Austrian market) we also include a zoom-in on Austrian (business) culture and its characteristic features.
Due to the diverse mix of participants the sessions of both programs became an ideal ‘laboratory’ to explore their different cultural experiences and backgrounds right in the workshops and to reflect on them via group exercises and discussions.
Empowering Startups for global expansion
The workshop can also be adapted and thus lends itself nicely to ‘outgoing’ startups (Austrian businesses eyeing & entering foreign, international markets) or any other organization which operates in a diverse, multi-cultural environment or plans to explore new markets.
Workshop highlights & key takeaways
The workshop allows participants to better understand their very own cultural backgrounds and identities which is a key prerequisite to identify and interpret cultural differences.
Since culture is a slippery, ever-changing terrain the workshop helps to develop a nuanced notion of cultural diversity necessary for navigating culture(s) confidently and respectfully.
Navigate Culture(s)
Gain the tools, strategies, and insights to overcome challenges.