Egypt's New Visa Restrictions

Imagine if you were Russian and you woke up one day to discover that due to Moscow’s insufferable traffic problems, the Kremlin decided to build not a new mass transport system, but a new capital city altogether. Or, if you were Chinese, and because of Beijing’s endemic pollution problem, the Central Committee of the Communist Party, rather than pass new laws to limit carbon emissions and limit the number of passenger cars, has decided instead to move the capital to a new hitherto unknown location. Or if were Italian, that your government decided to abandon Rome and locate the capital to the coast to be close to maritime routes.

And imagine in all these cases that your government did this without informing you of its intentions, let alone consult you as a resident of any of these ancient cities or as a citizen of any of these countries.

This is exactly what the Egyptian government did today. In a dramatic move, and to showcase its future plans, the government suddenly unveiled a plan to build a new administrative and economic capital of Egypt some fifty kilometers to the east of its millennia-old city, Cairo.

We, Cairenes and Egyptians, were not informed, let alone consulted about this move.

Cross-Cultural Training and Women

But there is still a lot of work to be done and certain parts of the world fare much better than others.  Women’s status in society, levels of education, work life balance legislation, attitudes to hierarchy and power and economic stability all contribute to the vary degrees of women’s success in business around the world and across different cultures.

Where is the Glass Ceiling Highest?

One obvious measure is perhaps the number of women holding seats in the boardroom.  The global average per country is about 19% with Japan struggling with only 3% and Norway at the opposite end with 35.5% of boardroom seats at listed companies held by women.  This is in large part due to the fact that Norway was the first European country to legislate for boardroom quotas.  Since 2003 the law has required 40% of boardroom seats to be held by women and there are harsh penalties for companies that do not comply.  Other European countries including France, Spain and the Netherlands followed suit but boardroom quotas have been contentious in the US, the UK and other European countries with the suggestion that forcing the free market would have a negative impact on company performance.  While in fact numerous studies have shown the positive impact on performance of more women in the boardroom.  Most recently Germany has legislated for boardroom quotas and will require 30% of seats to be filled by women from the start of 2016.

Linguistics Affecting Management

Among the tasks of a manager are the necessities of instructing, motivating and leading his subordinates.  He may often lead by example, but as far as motivation and the issuing of directives are concerned, he will be heavily dependent on language.

Different languages are used in different ways and with a variety of effects.  Hyperbolic American and understated British English clearly inform and inspire listening staff with separate allure and driving force.  Managers of all nationalities know how to speak to best effect to their compatriots, for there are built-in characteristics in their language which facilitate the conveyance of ideas to their own kind.  They are, in fact, only vaguely aware of their dependence on these linguistic traits which make their job easier.  

With increasing globalisation, problems will arise in the following instances:

• when a manager is involved in international team building 
• when he himself has to use a language other than his own

An example of situation (a) is when a Briton or American addresses a team containing, among others, Germans.  The occasional quipping or half-serious remarks typical of Anglo-American managers will only too often be taken literally by Germans, who may carry out “orders” which were only being casually considered.  

An example of  (b) is when a Japanese managing Anglo-Saxons hints at directives in such a courteous and half-suggestive manner that all is lost in a fog of impeccable courtesy.  

How does the particular genius of a certain language, manifested by its structure, vocabulary and tones, play its part in conveying instructions and inspiration to its listeners?  Let us examine some of the characteristics of languages which are tools of management in the industrialized world.