“Having a greater number of women at the top will quite simply enable us to operate better,” chief executive Rene Obermann was quoted as saying.

“Taking on more women in management positions is not about the enforcement of misconstrued egalitarianism. It is a matter of social fairness and a categorical necessity for our success,” Obermann said.

The company says 13 percent of its management positions were occupied by women in 2008. Deutsche Telecom is the first on Germany’s DAX index of blue-chip stocks to introduce quota.

Industrial giant Siemens is the only DAX company to have a woman on its senior board.

From Left to Right: Patty Kruiswijk, Manuela Roth (RSM ’10), Dianne Bevelander, Camilla Bjorkqvist (RSM ’10), Eleonore Breukel, Saskia Trurniet, and Ursula van Rozemeijer.

Women comprise about 30% of the students in the OneMBA and the percentage of women faculty is even less. While there are complex factors that might explain this, members of the 2010 and 2011 classes have decided to put women on the agenda.

The effort lead in large part by Camilla Björkqvist and Manuela Roth has focused on securing eminent business women to speak at OneMBA residencies. By connecting with women across the OneMBA community as well as the European Professional Women’s Network( EPWN), the kick-off on during the Spring 2009 RSM Residency featured Mirella Visser, Owner of the Center for Inclusive Leadership and the EuropeanPWN President. This conversation was continued when the class went to Istanbul and met with local women business leaders.

In September 2009 another panel took place with a group of Dutch women executives on the topics of “Women – the saviors of our economy?” With several courageous men participating in the audience, there was a lively and honest discussion.

At the EGADE Residency in November 2009, a Cemex executive, Irma Gomez shared her perspective on women, employment, and the economy in Mexico.

Events are in the works for Hong Kong and the the U.S. All alumni are invited to attend a session at the RSM Residency on April 8 2010 with Carien van der Laan, co-owner of Women Capital, and executive search firm specialized in women and placing them on top level positions. Van der Laan will address what to do with once you get an MBA and the value that women add in the executive ranks.

Some interesting statistics from the United States are worth sharing. According to the report The Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses in the United States by the American Center for Women’s Business Research and funded by the National Women’s Business Council and Wal-Mart, women-owned businesses contribute nearly $3 trillion to the U.S. economy and create or maintain 23 million jobs. If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have the 5th largest GDP in the world, ahead of countries including France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Anecdotally, many women say that they start their own business because they want to balance work and family and that they cannot break into the traditional male-dominated positions—or do not want to.

Members of the 2011 class are taking leadership to continue the discussion of the women in the OneMBA. Anyone in the OneMBA community can join the events organized by Women@OneMBA, men included. If you would like to know more about this initiative, please contact Manuela Roth or Camilla Bjorkqvist in the OneMBA2010 class.

For more news about the one MBA programs and to see the full newsletter click through to the one MBA website.

Misunderstandings, irritations, feelings of exclusion and a sense of inferiority, are daily challenges for non-native English speakers trying to communicate in the language of global business. What exactly happens and how can global organizations help employees become more effective in this intercultural language and its various communication styles?

Vast amounts of skill, expertise and knowledge remains hidden in organizations because of language and cultural barriers. Native Spanish, German, Dutch, Turkish, Chinese or Bahasa Indonesia speakers all make a daily effort to understand, speak and write English. Native English speakers try to understand the many variants of non-native speakers.

Together we try to get used to each other’s accents and accept the language mistakes inevitably made. We try to figure out what a good translation would be for a particular expression and how the words are to be interpreted and valued in our own language. We get lost in translation.

On many occasions the native English speakers form the majority at international meetings. They patiently watch how non-native speakers demolish their native language and still praise them on their command of English. Are native English speakers aware of the difficulties non-native speakers face and how this affects their feelings and the dynamics of a discussion or debate?

International presentations and discussions

During presentations at business meetings non-native speakers usually take more time to make their point. Their presentations may not be smooth and exiting since they’re often searching for the right words to use. Words with impact, words that sell their new project to the management. Searching for words causes many ‘umm’s in the speaker’s presentation, which distracts the listener.

Non-native English speakers may have a lot of expertise on a particular subject but may decide not to take part in discussions on it, as their English vocabulary is too limited for a fast intellectual debate. Or they try to memorize the English words the native English speakers use during the discussion, to be able to reproduce those words when it is their turn to speak. In the meantime they loose track of the thread of the discussion or debate.

This has a psychological effect on the non-native as well as native English speakers present in the meeting room. The non-native English speaker often feels inferior and excluded, while the native English speaker wonders if he is capable enough for the job.

What can both native- and non-native English speakers do?

• Observe if people frown or squeeze their eyes. This is often body language for not understanding a speaker.

• Ask once, twice or even three times if you do not understand.

• Ask questions frequently in order to know if that what is discussed is also understood.

• Summarize often or ask others to summarize for you.

• Invite a non-native English speaker to participate in the discussion and reassure him that if the language is a problem you will help.

• Native English speakers avoid proverbs, expressions, metaphors, slang, jargon and abbreviations.

• Non-native English speaker avoid translating proverbs, metaphors or jokes from your own language into the English language.

The internet

On the internet there are no facial expressions, gestures, or other non-verbal cues, which makes communication even more complicated. During a serious written virtual discussion, the non-native English speaker will want to check his English for mistakes. After all he does not want to lose face in front of three – or maybe 30,000 – people who might read his text.

As with verbal discussion, the thinking process is delayed by the search for words and the attempt to memorize words used by previous writers. Consequently, native English speaking people tend to dominate on the internet in the same way they might in meeting rooms.

What can you do?

• If you are a non-native English speaker and you think you have something valuable to say, say it and try to explain and describe what you mean.

• Use translation resources such as translate google or freetranslation.com

It is far from perfect, but it helps.

• Both native and non-native English speakers ask questions if you do not understand.

Cultural interpretations

As if translations weren’t complicated enough, a single word can have different cultural interpretations. The word and concept ‘contract’ requires different actions in various cultures. In U.S. English it does not have the same substantive meaning as the same word in Guiana, also an English-speaking country. In Japanese, it carries a different meaning as well.

Likewise the word ‘assertiveness’ varies according to the cultural values of the respective countries. In the Netherlands this carries a very positive connotation, while the same concept in Vietnam is highly negative.

What can you do?

• Make sure that you have thoroughly discussed the cultural interpretation of words before you start any collaboration or sign a contract.

Communication styles

Even if English is the global language of business, cultures maintain their own style of communicating. This frequently causes serious misunderstandings and irritations especially as we have no insight into our own communication style and the affect this has on people with a different cultural background.

Some may be offended by the directness of a foreign colleague while others find indirectness a cause for suspicion. There are cultures where people need many words to express themselves, such as in Italy or in India, while in other cultures people limit themselves to the minimum number of words possible, such as the Danish or the Dutch.

What can you do?

• Observe discussion programs on foreign television stations and look at the verbal and non-verbal communication style. Don’t worry if you understand the language or not.

• Watch foreign movies. Pay attention to those produced and directed by the countries you work with. Movies make it possible to ‘participate’ in the culture while you watch. They inform you about how people live and communicate.

• For those who are naturally direct, consider what impact your words may have before you speak.

• For those needing many words to express themselves, try not deviate from the main subject and save details for later.

Best results

The best results are achieved when people from different cultural backgrounds – both native- and non-native English speakers – look for solutions together with the condition that everyone is understood and feels included.

© Eleonore Breukel

www.intercultural.nl

In an interview with the Volkskrant, KPN CEO Ad Scheepbouwer notes the number of women among its top management currently accounts for just 17 percent. The figure, he says, is too low and needs to be raised. As prior attempts to do so have produced little improvement, the company has decided that from now on only women will be considered for certain posts. The company still needs to determine the exact number and nature of the functions. KPN is thought to be the first large company to start an affirmative action policy for women. On Monday Parliament is to discuss a proposal by the Labour Party aimed at boosting the number of women in top management to 30 percent.

Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide