Country survey: Australia
Doing business interculturally
Understanding local cultures is an essential part of good business
practice. It helps avoid pitfalls and adds value. International
marketing consultant Roland Dunne argues that companies doing
business in Australia, as in any other country for that matter,
should undertake an intercultural audit
e all know Australia, right?
W Where else in the world would
you read this notice in the com-
pany lobby: ÒYou may notice that the per-
son you have come to see is dressed
casually. We like to respect the way our
employees prefer to dress. But be assured,
although they may look casual, they
mean business.Ó
If that isnÕt showing attitude I donÕt
know what is. Apocryphal though that
may be it does tell a story: what you see in
culture is not always what you get. Nor
should the tip-of-the-iceberg characteris-
tics of a countryÕs culture be the basis of
your approach to business.
Going intercultural helps avoid prat-
falls but it also adds value. Businesses
that go intercultural survive and thrive.
In Australia, as in every other country,
this means that an intercultural audit of a
businessÕs brand, product and people will
pay dividends.
The benefits of an intercultural
approach are from both risk reduction
and value enhancement of your compa-
nyÕs business. Oil companies, airlines,
software houses and increasingly finan-
cial services companies are seeing hard
bottom-line benefits from what appears
to be the soft science of intercultural
development.
Becoming an interculturally mature
company involves an awareness of
where your business is Òcoming fromÓ,
Ògoing toÓ and operating. In this article
I take a look at the defining characteris-
tics of Australian culture, and then
make some general observations about
Ògoing interculturalÓ.
44 Business Money International
First impressions
Australian culture affects the way busi-
ness operates there. Cultures are defined
by their characteristic approaches to
work, leisure, politics and communica-
tion styles. A host of psychological factors
like attitudes to authority and hierarchy
also apply.
All this affects the uptake and response
to your products externally, and how you
run your company internally. In Aus-
tralia, your first tip-of-the-iceberg
impressions might be gained from a
native who could tell you a number of
things about formality, language and
work style (see panels 1-3).
But what you see is not what you are
dealing with
If you misread those tip-of-the-iceberg
characteristics you are in trouble. The ten-
dency in doing business (as in life) is to
take the first impressions and respond to
them. First impressions may be true but
itÕs in drawing a conclusion from them
that we need to be careful. Let's take the
case of ÒdonÕt act on assumptions that
informality is laxityÓ.
It would be easy to see and treat Aus-
tralian culture as lax. But assuming that
informality is the same as laxity could
bring big trouble. Informality is NOT lax-
ity. As Martin Sims, a Sydney-based inter-
cultural consultant, puts it: ÒI read laxity
as laziness. Informality is different in the
Aussie context. Informality means using
first names, sometimes calling people
ÔMateÕ, feet on chair, not sitting up
straight Ð generally behaving at work as
more formal cultures might expect people
to behave at a barbecue.Ó Reading only
the tip of the iceberg could result in the
same errors as a superficial reading of a
report: misreading, simplification and
miscasting.
Misreading. Sims says that Americans
tend to interpret the informal approach of
Australians as indicating that they are not
serious about business. That misreading
1: What an Aussie might tell you about
his country: formality and authority
“ The first thing is to recognise that in
Australia we are very informal and laid
back, perhaps amongst the most informal
in the world, so standing on ceremony
doesn't go down well.
Australians are very direct – VERY
DIRECT – and are known to call a spade a
shovel. There’s no need to beat about the
bush or be indirect. Say what you mean
and mean what you say.
Coming from a convict heritage, we
have a healthy disrespect for authority –
we respect the boss who is willing to get
his hands dirty – but in reality we don't
expect him to do it too often. We want to
be left to get on with the job, and to have
the confidence of the boss that we CAN
do it. Aussies HATE to be told what to do
by USians [Americans]. We think they
have got so many things wrong
themselves that they have no right to
assume that they are right.
We have a ‘tall poppy syndrome’: if
someone tries to ‘lord it over us’ we
almost take it as an article of faith to cut
them down.
”
March/April 2005

2: What an Aussie might tell you about
his country: language & communications
“ We often use humour as a way of
defusing tense situations. We are very
ironic and self-deprecatory, which is
similar to English humour.
Language is also very informal. There’s
lots of chat about sport, and Aussies will
tend to be fairly open-minded and trusting
until someone demonstrates that the trust
is ill-founded.
Communication is very low context –
emphasising the criticality of words and
rules. We want it in writing, and if it's not,
then it's almost useless.
We tend to let people finish before we
talk. People should have their turn. If
someone interrupts, an Aussie will
probably say, ‘please let me finish’.
” tralia, it might be a case of: ÒWhy worry
can lead to approaching business from the
wrong angle.
Simplification. While hands-off and
self-reliance management styles may
seem appropriate in authority-averse
Australia the corresponding attitude
exists Ð ÒYes, but you'd better be there to
help if I need youÓ. So the upside of that
is youÕll be dealing with self-reliant peo-
ple who expect others to deliver the
goods and support them when needed
Miscasting. Strong-image countries and
cultures like Australia, Britain and Amer-
ica tend to be pigeon-holed too early and
for the wrong reasons. Managers often
find theyÕve been typecast in terms of
their nationality before they even get
started. Intercultural training helps avoid
these problems.
A real example – work and leisure
ÒYou should try not to get between an
Australian and his leisure time,Ó says
Sims. ÒIt is very important in Australia.
For example, we get a minimum of four
weeks annual leave each year (increasing
with service in some cases) and a mini-
mum of three months additional leave
after 15 yearsÕ service Ð or after 10 yearsÕ
service if you work for the Government.Ó
Think about that for a moment; ÒauditÓ
your reaction to this aspect of Australian
life. An American with the standard two-
week vacation allowance will probably be
March/April 2005
horrified, fascinated and jealous. A
Caribbean or Latin American manager
may think that amount of holiday is not
out of the ordinary.
Going beyond initial reactions into a
more curiosity and opportunity driven
mode is where interculturally-adept com-
panies and management can gain the
edge over their competitors. We might
start by examining the terminology we
use and so attitudes to leisure might
equally well be renamed attitudes to life if
we want to understand other cultures in
which work is less central as a defining
characteristic of identity.
LetÕs take a light-hearted look at this in
terms of how a typical factoring or
invoice discounting product might be
brand-positioned differently in Aus-
tralian and American markets. In Aus-
about collections while you are away?
WeÕll cover you, while you uncover on
the beach.Ó
In America, the assumption of who is
on holiday might be reversed, so the mes-
sage could be: "Why are you sitting there
waiting for payment until your client gets
back from his annual vacation? WeÕll
advance you the money right away.Ó
From realignment to real alignment
How do companies come to adopt this
intercultural perspective? Traditionally
intercultural briefings have been the
exclusive preserve of presidents, CEOs
and other senior officers in marketing,
finance and HR. Once exposed to inter-
cultural ways of planning and operating
these senior managers often become cru-
saders for the intercultural cause
because they see it as a means of improv-
ing excellence, performance and prof-
3: What an Aussie might tell you about
his country: work style and personality
“ We are very monochronic – we have
trouble doing more than one thing at a
time. We find it hard to multi-process as
well as people from many Asian cultures.
We are a very accepting lot, but fiercely
independent and proud of our ability to
stand on our own two feet, as individuals,
as companies and as a country.
” roland-dunne@excite.com. Tel: +44 (0) 1227
Country survey: Australia
itability in their company. Initial diffi-
dence is displaced by awareness of bot-
tom-line benefits.
An interculturally adept company will
go beyond simply avoiding intercultural
pratfalls and go for value enhancement
by developing products, positioning its
brand and training its senior manage-
ment to take advantage of the unique
Australian way of doing business.
Sometimes that will involve minor
modifications in product offering or there
may be an opportunity developing a new
product for that market, which may in
turn be re-exported to other countries.
You wonÕt know that until youÕve under-
taken the intercultural audit.
Of course, there is a danger of taking a
too simplistic approach. Within every
country there are an enormous range of
cultures and in America, for example, spe-
cific Hispanic, Asian, and Afro-American
consumer banking products are offered.
In B2B markets this product differentia-
tion may be less important but the brand
positioning and people training will be.
In conclusion
The key parameters to take account of in
doing business in and with Australia are:
1. Work/life balance issues.
2. Attitudes to authority and self reliance.
3. Communication styles.
In other countries other parameters
may take greater precedence Ð religion
and ethical systems will be of more
importance in India or political consider-
ations in China.
In every case, time spent in intercultur-
al reconnaissance is rarely wasted.
Becoming a fully fledged interculturally
adept company will provide a competi-
tive edge for both niche and major play-
ers in every industry, including factoring,
invoice discounting and other areas of
asset-based lending. Going intercultural
lifts companies from being commodity
based product providers into strong
brands, relevant to the country markets
they operate in. ❖
Roland Dunne is president of Transpond, an
intercultural management and marketing
consulting practice in the UK and US. Email:
749 179; +1 917 340 9912
Business Money International 45