Improved Cross-Cultural Communication Increases Global Sourcing Productivity
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Accenture, July 2006
Miscommunication and a lack of cross-cultural understanding can hinder the effectiveness of global sourcing, according to the results of a study released by Accenture. The study, which was conducted in May 2006 by Sandy Radoff Associates, surveyed 200 U.S. business executives whose companies have outsourced business processes or functions ranging from information technology to finance and accounting.
The study found that executives believe adopting cross-cultural communication training programs can increase productivity by 26 percent, on average. This is consistent with the productivity increases of 30 percent reported by executives whose companies already provide training in this area. Two thirds (66 percent) of all respondents said they had experienced miscommunication issues within their global sourcing operations, compared with 60 percent among executives at companies that offer cross-cultural training to their employees. That number increased to 72 percent for those whose companies did not offer any such training.
When asked to identify the chief factors causing problems between onshore and offshore workers, the largest percentage of executives cited different communications styles (76 percent), followed by: different approaches to completing tasks (53 percent), different attitudes toward conflict (44 percent) and different decision-making styles (44 percent).
