Introduction
When examining the initial implementation procedures utilized by Amanco for its sustainability scorecard (SSC), the first error that was made was trying to implement a generalized scorecard procedure across all its different branches.
What must be understood is that each branch of Amanco located in 25 countries within Latin America operated under a distinct decentralized manner with differences in procedures and business culture often being influenced by that country’s inherent social concepts and government regulations (Lewis, 2000).
In fact, it was even noted within the case study that the CEO of Amanco at the time, Roberto Salas, acknowledged the inherent problems with dealing with the decentralized structure of operations that characterized Amanco across variosu countries.
Implementing SSC Across International Divisions
What must be understood is that if a generalized SSC is implemented in several corporate locations all with the same business culture, procedures, and methods of operation then it is highly likely that the interpretation and implementation of the SSC across such branches would be similar with few dissimilar characteristics.
In the case of Amanco, the decentralized and differing operational and business culture aspects of its Latin American branches resulted in different interpretations of the SSC resulting in varying results, conflicting data and managers often questioning how to determine proper compliance.
It must also be understood is that initially, Amanco expected all branches to comply with the established SSC as defined by the company. This did not turn out as expected as seen in the provided case study due to the fact that you cannot expect a diverse array of branches with varying company cultures and procedures to comply in the exact same way.
There will be inherent differences resulting in conflicting metrics which would make interpreting data accurately and succinctly tricky at best.
Taking the experience of Amanco into consideration it can be said that an effective strategy for future SSC implementation is to either implement a proscribed company procedural and business culture across all branches to ensure that compliance to new norms and procedures is the same or to implement SSC guideline that takes into account local norms and business culture differences and adjust as need be.
Cultural and Language Differences
Based on the provided case data, it was seen that cultural and language differences created adverse conditions for implementation due to manner in which procedural guidelines are interpreted across the different branches. What must be understood is that based on the data provided by the case study, cultural differences result in different ways in which procedures are implemented.
For example in the case of China the local business culture lacks the notions of what effective corporate social responsibility is like and thus when companies attempt to offshore operations and attempt to implement new procedures that take corporate social responsibility into consideration the result was a half-hearted and often misinterpreted attempt at implementing practices that would result in better working and environmental conditions (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2000).
Effect of Culture and Language on Implementation
Taking this particular example into consideration, it can be seen that in the case of Amanco and its Latin American branches the varying cultures in each individual branch developed their method of interpreting the generalized SSC guidelines presented to them by the company.
This resulted in not only inconsistent applications of rules and regulations, but at times the result was that the recorded metrics often sent the wrong message to management. Amanco failed to take this into consideration and as such, this was one of the initial problems in implementing their SCC.
It is based on this that it can be seen that in order to implement effective sustainability initiatives it is important to first recognize how particular branches operate (i.e., how do they interpret the concept of sustainability, what kind of corporate culture exists, how do individual employees interpret the sustainability matrix, etc.).
By doing so, a company will be able to determine how best to implement an effective sustainability initiative within that particular branch. Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the effect language has on interpreting specific guidelines and instructions.
As seen in the case study particular words, when translated into a different language, lose some of their meaning and in effect become less important than what they should be interpreted as (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2000).
Taking this into consideration it is important to consider language barriers when implementing sustainability initiatives and as such configure the SSC in such a way that the translated version contains an equivalent level of primacy as seen in the English equivalent.
Reference List
Lewis, R. D. (2000). When Cultures Collide : Managing Successfully Across Cultures. NB Publishing, Inc. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (2000). Riding the Waves Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. NB Publishing, Inc. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.