Skip to contentSkip to navigation

Seeing Oneself through the Eyes of Others

Engendering knowledge and respect of other cultures has become increasingly crucial to ensuring trust among employees in global organizations.

(originally published by Booz & Company)

Title:
Firsthand Experience and the Subsequent Role of Reflected Knowledge in Cultivating Trust in Global Collaboration

Authors:
Mark Mortensen and Tsedal Beyene

Publisher:
MIT Sloan School, Research Paper No. 4735-09; Harvard Business School, Organizational Behavior Unit Working Paper No. 09-131

Date Published: 
April 2009

Globalization has helped companies decrease labor costs, reach new markets, and establish brands around the world, but it can also have significant drawbacks. Language barriers, a lack of mutual understanding, and widely dispersed working groups have been proven to damage team dynamics and erode trust between distant co-workers. The authors of this paper examined a large multinational chemical company with its headquarters in Germany, its R&D facility in the United Kingdom, and offices throughout Asia. They interviewed nearly 200 employees in seven countries, and found that firsthand experience — defined as spending time onsite observing the culture of a distant locale — is vital to ensuring a higher level of trust and collaboration among workers in globally dispersed teams. This firsthand experience, whether gained through office visits or expatriate business assignments, gave employees not only a better knowledge of their co-workers but also a deeper understanding of how workers from other cultures perceived them. This phenomenon, which the authors call reflected knowledge, can have a positive impact on trust and teamwork and can reduce misunderstandings.

Bottom Line:
Engendering knowledge and respect of other cultures has become increasingly crucial to ensuring trust among employees in global organizations.

 

Get s+b's award-winning newsletter delivered to your inbox. Sign up No, thanks
Illustration of flying birds delivering information
Get the newsletter

Sign up now to get our top insights on business strategy and management trends, delivered straight to your inbox twice a week.