The leadership culture of the two nations is quite apart.

The other name of Malays is ‘Bhumiputera’

or prince of the land which has a hierarchical undertone to it. Moreover, the Chinese and Indians
are quite hierarchical too. They also have a ceremonial king who is highly respected in the country.
So, the power distance part is deeply embedded in Malaysian culture. There is a lot of big brands
and multinational organizations are now operating in Malaysia, but the working culture is skewed
towards hierarchical. The US practice of leadership in terms of cultural relativity is far apart from
Malaysia. The power distance in the USA is much less which I have observed at Neely as well. You
can make relevant jokes with the professor, or the professor wishes the student happy birthday,
now that is very uncommon in that part of the world. Students celebrates the birthday of the
professor or a jovial professor can crack jokes but not the other way around even at master’s level.
The age of a person is an overpowering part in gaining power in Malaysia whereas that is less so in
USA. In Malaysia 20 25 years ago, it was unheard of that a younger person can lead older persons
unless he is the son of the owner of the organization.

Some strategies to work in USA can be to speak with your peers to know the norms. For any
information seek the source of information and not bothering boss for every decision or
information. I will need to learn the email culture. Not keeping everyone in the loop of every
communication will be a starting point. To make an effort to give your views in the meetings will be
important which should be practiced in academic setting for next two years.

The trusting part of the culture is at two ends of the spectrum, in USA the trust culture is task-based
whereas in Malaysia it is relationship based. The reasons lie in history of the region, legal structure
and the difference in practice of cognitive trust and affective trust. Malaysians think more with
heart than the people in USA. Emotion plays a big part in any relationship be it in family or
workplace. Contracts mean nothing compared to a relationship. For example, a Bangladeshi
company started a joint venture with a Malaysian one and at first, they took a lot of time to furnish
the contract with quite a few uneasy conversations. But as the relationship deepened the top
executives expressed that they have never looked for once to resolute any disputes. The agreement
is updated for legal reasons and that is done by the lower level employees. The top executives of
both firm do not even bother as it is meaningless to them now.

To adapt this aspect of culture may be the most difficult one. Even in USA, I will focus on the
relationship-based trust as that will come naturally, but I will have to be smart in picking the right
persons. To help myself in the journey I will have to learn and immerse myself into American
football, music and other trends. Being a food lover may help in bridging the gap by going out for
lunch and happy meals.