Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Show and Tell? Hand on Shoulder?

This CareerJournal article on problems that can arise when a company tries to take its culture into another country makes me wonder about a subject that needs more attention:

What about when a company moves to a very different region in the same country?

I recall seeing some significant differences in communication arise when a New York firm relocated to Tennessee. One example: The Southerners seemed to touch much more in the course of conversation than did the New Yorkers who saw a hand on the shoulder as much more intimate. This is all anecdotal though. No empirical evidence.

No comments: