How do you view your target market? Do you see a structure of companies and businesses, or do you see a network of people, each with their own desires, concerns, and ambitions? Do you see agents, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers, or do you see families, leaders, and even multiple generations? Culture not only influences how you view the market; it also certainly influences how that market functions in and of itself.
Distribution networks
For example, a European headquarters might focus on creating the most direct possible channel from producer to end consumer. Intermediaries should be eliminated as much as possible. At the same time, sales managers in (often more collectivist) countries are working hard to maintain or even expand their distribution networks!
After all, it is crucial for them to maintain the trust of the families, the leaders, and the “spiders” in the carefully woven web of connections. For them, the rule is: you must make people feel that you have their best interests at heart; that type of goodwill pays off. Often, the business is passed down from generation to generation, and the connections and relational memory reach places that headquarters has no access to.
Image and efficiency
These two perspectives came up recently with one of our clients. Is it all about the numbers, or is it about the story and the brand? What happens to your company’s image if you ruthlessly cut out part of the network? Will your company be associated with taking away people’s livelihoods? Is it all about efficiency, or do these established relationships present the perfect opportunity to boost sales and stay ahead of the competition?
Multiple perspective
The first step is to be aware of these fundamentally different ways in which a market functions. In the field of change management, this is referred to as “the multiple perspective.” It is one of the most important skills in intercultural management. The challenge is to perceive different realities simultaneously—to embrace two or more ideas at the same time. Can you see entire worldviews, with their different logics and associated value systems, simultaneously and bring them together?
Next, ongoing dialogue is essential. It is crucial that you are willing to listen deeply to one another—listening to understand. Or, as Jaap Boonstra and Marjo Dubbeldam put it in their recently published collection of articles by organizational change agents: “Observing with curiosity, from multiple perspectives, and with precision.” In this process, everyone’s input is consistently valued. It’s not a matter of choosing one perspective over the other. No one is “right.” Both perspectives have value, it’s an ongoing quest to find the right balance and context needs to be considered to tailor solutions to the situation.
* Veranderen voor de Toekomst (2026), Jaap Boonstra en Marjo Dubbeldam (Red).
