The diverse cultures of cricket

5 September 2014 by Catherine Holdsworth in Business and finance, The Diversity Dashboard

England cricket fans, administrators and players already reeling from their drubbing in the latest ODI series that ends in Leeds today should consult The Diversity Dashboard by Deborah Swallow and Eilidh Milnes. Whatever today’s result England have already been hammered by an Indian team that oozes confidence, aggression and commitment. Captained by M S Dhoni, arguably India’s best captain ever, it is likely that India will inflict a humiliating whitewash on a troubled England one-day set up today. They have their eye on next year’s world cup of course but they are looking much further ahead than that. Perhaps the difference is essentially cultural. Here are Swallow and Milnes on one difference between British and subcontinental mindsets:

Culture crash
Patrick was surprised there hadn’t been more changes since the takeover. He had expected that at least a few heads would have rolled, but here they were, all the old senior management team, waiting for a meeting with the new CEO. It seemed the new Indian owners of the British steel works had a real laissez-faire attitude to their take over. Patrick presented his new business plan and spoke about the investment needed over the next five years. He was prepared and ready for questions – except for the two he got: ‘Why have you only planned for five years?’ and ‘What would the plan look like if we doubled the investment?’

Culture tip
Asian cultures have a long-term orientation. Success will come in time with sustained effort. In these organizations, managers are allowed time and resources to make their own contributions. Measures such as market position, sales growth, and customer satisfaction are key in evaluating business performance. These take time to realize and are more important than short-term results. Asians accept deferred gratification of needs. There is an investment in lifelong personal networks and sensitivity to the interrelatedness of social and business contacts.

Perhaps Ashley Giles should take note.