By Carl Wonder
In today's business relations, more companies and professionals are finding themselves in foreign locales, wheeling and dealing like never before. Most have seen that globalization without a little twitching doesn't work. They are now "Glocalizing" thus thinking Global whilst acting Local. However, the key to effective communica¬tion between countries is an understanding of each other's culture, especially a work¬ing knowledge of how each society conveys meaning.

Mongolian culture is not very much documented compared to other Asian coun¬tries. At best its analysis can be inferred from the context of other Asian countries. The problem with this approach is that on the one hand it suffers from generalization or that some of the real issues are not appar¬ent for the inquisitive minds of investors. Therefore, Mongolian culture is one that is different and distinctive in that it has its own culture but is also very much Asian. On the other hand, the young generation is quickly opening up to Western culture. Unless one has lived in the country, it is difficult to come across literature that helps make one understand cultural differences when doing business with Mongolians. As an expat who arrived in Mongolia from the UK in 2008, and also happens to lecture in Cross Cul¬tural Communication at Raffles Institute, 1 write this article from personal experience and academic knowledge. The point is to make investors and all business people in general understand how Mongolian culture can present both challenges and/ or oppor¬tunities in doing business.
The transition from a Nomadic life to the present settled life style shows that Mongolians are adaptive in nature. Even being nomadic by itself requires flexibility and adaptation. This flexibility and adapta¬tion could be seen to be a benefit in business as an investor would be looking to introduce new work ethics, policies and procedures. However, this may not be easy unless one is very good at tapping into this opportunity. Most cultural studies and research focus on understanding cultural differences and similarities around the world. They high¬light the importance of understanding how time, power distance, communication style amongst others play a major role in the success of doing business in a diverse en¬vironment. Mongolians are well known for failing to keep time and appointments. In Mongolia, one can expect people to turn up very late for appointments and meetings be¬ing cancelled at the very last minute. West¬ern managers find this very difficult and frustrating to deal with. Another cultural is¬sue is that Mongolians belong to the higher end of High Power distance. This means they are more willing to accept hierarchi¬cal authority and to subordinate themselves; as a result they blindly accept orders. This tendency is founded deep in the Mongolian culture of respecting elders who have more power to make decisions. This power gap is more noticeable and wider between men and women. It is no surprising that most Mongolian women are in education yet in organizational hierarchies men hold key positions. The language barrier may also be the reason why Mongolians may seem to accept orders without challenging even it is when necessary. Accepting orders blindly does not work well with creativity or inno¬vation. Also mistakes might be realized too late when people fail to positively challenge orders. As far as the language barrier is con¬cerned, foreign businesses have to learn the local language in order to get things done. Using interpreters can be time consuming, expensive and sometimes unreliable. How¬ever, most Mongolians are enrolling in Eng¬lish courses at a faster rate; departing from the established Russian language that they have been endeared to for so long. The local schools are increasingly teaching English to the young generation. Most Mongolians under the age of 30 have enough or some grasp of English language and this trend is only set to grow over the next five years.
Mongolians are a collectivist society which means foreign employees have to design areas such as incentive systems ac¬cordingly i.e. emphases on team work and team bonuses.
Mongolians are high context as far as communication "style is concerned. This means when Mongolians communicate verbally or in writing, one might find them as being indirect . Information tends to be succinctly delivered and very much contex¬tual. The listener has the responsibility to read between the lines, i.e. understand body language, silences, pauses and intonation. Therefore, one does not only pay attention to what is said but also how it is said. This cultural dimension may be very different and difficult for Westerners doing business in Mongolia. Managers will have to adapt to this communication style to avoid mis-understandings.
Overall, cultural differences highlight¬ed in this article are not of a critical nature although they warrant much attention. This is particularly true if one compares to, the Mongolian neigbhours, China where most print on buildings, for example is in Chi¬nese and the population there have prob¬lems with English language too. At least in Mongolia English print is more visible on buildings and print than in China. Foreign¬ers going abroad have always been advised to learn the local language given that one can buy in any language but cannot sell in any language. China, despite its different culture particularly with the West, is doing well in Foreign Direct Investment. This may give some comfort to Mongolians. The onus is not only on Mongolians to make cultural adjustments, but also for foreign businesses to learn the local culture and make use of the opportunities whilst confronting the challenges. Many writers on culture en¬courage cooperation and flexibility between cultures. They all see cultural differences as a benefit to organizations as they offer a diversity of ideas and therefore encourage creativity and innovation.