When I went to Hong Kong and spent the year putting together suggestions to motivate that sales force I realized exactly how important it is to accept and use cultural advantages to put together the total package. Based on this knowledge I will be careful in the future to recognize cultures within the workplace, whether it is a few people from a different culture or if the entire workforce at the company is from a different culture. I know now that using those differences can allow me to provide the absolute best recommendations possible when it comes to any project.

A initially encountered resistance to the idea of becoming more aggressive as a sales force, but when my suggestions of rewards such as parking places and plaques was shared the attitudes changed significantly. It showed those I was putting the recommendations together for that I was sensitive to the culture and was making suggestions based on that very culture.

When I encountered resistance I incorporated some of the cultural attitudes that I had become familiar with and made sure those cultural attitudes could work within the parameters that I was setting out in my recommendation package.

In addition to suggesting parking places and plaques for highest sales during any given quarter I had weekly and annual suggestions as well. Given the entire revamping of attitude that the sales force had to undergo it was important to me that they receive some instant recognition. I suggested the starting of a company newsletter. This is not a common practice in many Hong Kong companies, so I took the American idea and made it fit the Asian culture.

The newsletter would be able to recognize weekly sales quotas and accomplishments. This was again in keeping with modest and humble...

Hong Kong joined six "special economic zones," including the region directly across the border, in Beijing's grand experiment to see if the profit motive does a better job than socialism in feeding, clothing and housing its citizens (Meyers, 1996). "
Being on the cutting edge of this new system was an exciting time for me professionally and personally.

The work that I was paid to research provide Hong Kong Telecom with the needed tools to motivate the sales force. It did so by allowing the culture to remain tied to the work mindset and used it to create competition while allowing traditional humbleness to remain in tact.

A learned a tremendous amount about the importance of understanding cultural diversity in the work place and as the world continues to globalize this experience and my knowledge from it will make me even more valuable in the field of consulting.

References

Block, Valerie. Asian-Americans face great wall; Perceptions, cultural traditions hinder advancement to top corporate ranks.(Special Report: Women in Business)(Asian women face stereotypes as managers)

Crain's New York Business; 11/3/2003

Meyers, Mike. Will Hong Kong Thrive?; Businesses are confident they'll prosper after Beijing takes power.(NEWS) Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); 12/22/1996