As a geographer, I share a strong concern with others in my discipline about the pervasive lack of in-depth geographic and cultural - that is, geocultural - knowledge within the United States and beyond. The United States in particular has long borne the brunt of jokes about poor geocultural understanding, from the highest position in the country to the greater populace. My concern about this issue doesn’t arise solely from a geographer’s wish that more people would comprehend the subject matter, but rather comes from observing a clear connection between the lack of geocultural comprehension in the business world and the resultant mistakes, errors, blunders and serious infractions committed by companies.
Geography has always been about more than reading the rudimentary boundary lines, capital cities and basic place names. Geography provides the foundation for understanding spatial relationships between cultures, natural environment, politics and many more dimensions - all of which serve as the basis for comprehending many other disciplines, including crucial history.
What is geocultural literacy? Broadly defined, geocultural literacy is the overall com-petence of an individual’s sense of place, orientation, cultural awareness and ability to discern critical spatial, cause-effect relationships around him or her. It is built upon the most fundamental geographic skills such as locating places, understanding the geocultural context of current events, developing a spatial perspective, thinking beyond one’s own culture and learning to use geographic tools (maps, global information systems and so on).
While the basic building blocks to geographic understanding are essential, they belie a more mature level of geocultural literacy required for any individual and business to flourish in the globalizing economy. If it is not addressed, a lack of geocultural understanding becomes a quick path to obsolescence in the face of more savvy international competitors. As well-known author and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman recently remarked on the global business environment of the near future, “the kind of [global] competition our kids will face will be intense and the social implications of not repairing things will be enormous.” Mary O’Hara-Devereaux, a global futurist and globalization expert, likewise stated in 2004 that cultural understanding - such as geocultural literacy - is the cornerstone of any successful global worker and that currently the United States is being seriously challenged by Europe and Asia in this area.
The reader is here reminded of the basic requirements of a successful, culturally-savvy global business. In addition to business acumen, globalization demands a well-prepared, geographically literate workforce primed for an environment in which political and cultural differences are frequently pronounced and must be carefully managed. This is contrary to some perceptions that the worldwide spread of information technology and a “global culture” has effectively created a “borderless” world, which has led some people to suggest that geography is not as significant or even not important at all.
On the contrary, the process of globalization does more to actually emphasize the local within the global at various levels of social and economic activity, and, moreover, that high-tech, globe-trotting “global culture” is a socio-economic privilege of the very few. So whether perceived as “geopolitical,” “geocultural,” “cross-cultural,” “linguistic” or otherwise on the surface, this type of knowledge should be mission critical as the cornerstone of a global business.
Can we find it on the map? How far advanced is the decline of geocultural literacy? The National Geographic-Roper Survey of 2006 provided a clear update to previous benchmark surveys with some disturbing trends.
An example of low geographic literacy: The chart above shows the results of a survey in which 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States were asked to use a map of Asia to find five countries which often appear in the news: China, India, Japan, North Korea and Afghanistan. On average, the group of young Americans surveyed could find only two of the five countries, with only six percent identifying all five countries correctly and 21 percent not able to find any at all.
Only 54% of the US young adults (ages 18-24) surveyed answered all the questions correctly. For example, 63% could not find Iraq on a world map, and about 46% could not identify the states of New York and Ohio on a US map. These widely reported results essentially confirm what has already been well realized and highlighted in international media: the geocultural literacy of US citizens between the ages of 18 and 24 is in a serious state of fallibility, particularly in the context of becoming effective global workers and citizens. As the director of undergraduate studies at the geography department at the University of Miami, Tom Boswell emphasizes that “we are being forced to function in a global economy, so it really pays to know your way around the world. Geography is a field that has slipped between the gaps. As a result, the rest of the world knows a lot more about the rest of the world than we do.” So, as these young survey recipients enter the public and private sectors of society, we must consider this key question: What happens when geoculturally illiterate young adults mature into geoculturally illiterate professionals and politicians in a globally competitive workforce?
Because of the great diversity of global cultures, it’s almost inevitable that differences in viewpoints will occur and conflicts may arise in the course of conducting business. Thus, companies that globally expand in a haze of geocultural ignorance make themselves liable to local governments, targets of anti-globalization activism and reinforce a negative perception of their home country (the United States, for example) as a force of economic and cultural imperialism. Mistakes both small-scale and large-scale - and almost all completely unintentional - continue to be made by US businesses eagerly seeking to go global and expand their revenue base. And while the emphasis here is placed on business conducted outside the United States, it’s prudent to also consider that even those companies that view themselves as “US only” in scope must maintain competent levels of geocultural awareness in order to avoid offending immigrant populations and/or their descendants living within the United States who represent many other nations and cultures.
Cultural awareness training Some business advocates may take issue with my position here as they cite the availability of many cultural awareness resources for businesses. Texts and training classes for global businesses are very prevalent. There’s no question that good resources exist to expand business people’s international effectiveness. The vast majority of these aids are, however, typically quite pragmatic and specific in nature, meaning they focus on the immediate needs of the person doing business outside the United States and provide the needs of the moment such as cultural mores, hand gestures, greeting behaviors, how to present a business card and so forth. Or they might contain much in-depth information but in a format that might not be readily usable by business people with limited time.
Granted, some exposure to political and cultural complexities is better than none. Many business people become defensive, saying how much they read The Economist, listen to BBC News, and seek out a range of other great outlets of international news. But when business people open themselves to cross-cultural resources for that brief moment, the processes, resources and reinforcement mechanisms should be poised as to seize on their resurgence in geocultural curiosity. The content and delivery of what is generally available are typically excellent for specific purposes, but these resources are often not as well tuned for a specific corporate strategy, day-to-day intelligence and product production - aspects of business beyond the traveling executive who is the target of many of the existing resources. Although there are exceptions, such resources also rarely address more fundamental geocultural concepts behind the surface-level business practices and specifically how these spatial ideas apply to specific job functions.
Regardless of the strengths and weaknesses of various support resources, the most disappointing aspect is that many business people who interact with non-US partners and even travel frequently to international locales rarely make a conscious effort to seek out even the most rudimentary geocultural knowledge in the first place. In short, a desire to self-direct their lifelong reinforcement of geocultural literacy - the groundwork for which was expected to be laid in their academic years - is virtually nonexistent.
In the end, the evidence is abun-dantly clear that a lack of geocultural literacy is a real and ongoing problem in today’s business environment; it affects a wide variety of businesses; and it leads to consumer mistrust within the United States and abroad, which yields negative impacts on public image and revenue.
So, how and what kind of measures can be employed to remedy the situation around geocultural literacy? In my next column (published in MultiLingual magazine) I will provide several suggestions for how geography and culture can be made relevant to today’s young and older adults and will address some steps that have been suggested by groups such as the National Geographic Society, the National Council on Geography Education (NCGE) and Business for Diplomatic Action.
Tom Edwards is owner and principal consultant of Englobe, a Seattle-based consultancy for geostrategic content management. Previously, Tom spent 13 years at Microsoft as a geographer and as its senior geopolitical strategist
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