The Value of Cross-Culture Communication

While many of the technical hurdles to global sourcing have been cleared, companies still struggle with issues of communication between domestic and offshore locations.  A new study by management consulting firm Accenture, in New York, finds training in cross-cultural communication is key to resolving these issues.

'In our view, the physical obstacles to outsourcing such as telecoms and facilities have largely been resolved,' says Kris Wadia, a senior executive in Accenture's network of global delivery centres.  'However, the soft issues, particularly cross-cultural communication, will continue to present the main challenges to realizing global sourcing's full potential for the foreseeable future...long-term savings of both time and money are clearly possible if cross-cultural communication issues are identified-and resolved-at an early stage.'

Among the findings:

*Two-thirds of those in the survey said they had experienced communication issues with their global partners.  The most common issues: different communications styles, different approaches to completing tasks, different attitudes toward conflict, and different decision-making styles.

*Companies that provide cross-cultural training see productivity increases on average of 30%.

*Companies that have not provided cross-cultural training say they believe they could see productivity improvements of an average 26% with the training help.

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