Best Practices for Culturally Sensitive Data Visualizations

Introduction

There are significant challenges within the business environment as a result of globalization. Instead of only competing within their own geographic area, organizations are now competing in a global marketplace. According to some, “globalization today has become a matter of survival” (Firoz & Ramin, 2004). Part of that survival is business analytics. A foundation of good analytics is data visualization, which is essential to increase an organizations competitive advantage. Managers are now sharing data visualizations with a variety of key stakeholders, sometimes in countries with different perceptions. This paper is about trying to understand the impact of those perceptions and developing a set of best practices for culturally sensitive data visualizations. In short, the authors attempt to answer the question: How do today’s managers create high quality visualizations that ensure cross-cultural competency?

The genesis of globalization in the United States and elsewhere can be traced back to the 1960s when the first rush occurred to enter foreign markets (Scher, Reuss, Frank, & Dorman, 2000). In order to set the stage, the authors have adopted Thomas Friedman’s definition of globalization:

He rise of interactions in the global market place has influenced us to do this research because the authors believe that for an enterprise to be competitive today, they must understand the culture-specific differences regarding phenomena and relations (Mintu, Calantone, & Gassenheimer, 1994) with those they are dealing with.

The target audience for the proposed best practices is middle level managers in multinational organizations. Specifically, the best practices are adapted for managers in service industries in the eastern and western regions – these are defined below. Culture significantly influences organizations competing across geographic boundaries with different values. Because of the variable influence of local norms and cultural differences the authors decided to create best practices for the western and eastern regions of the world.

Cultural sensitivity can have severe impact on an organization’s ability to compete internationally. Too often organizations try implementing an existing product into a foreign market with disastrous results; the same can happen with data visualizations that are not sensitive to the local norms of the reader. No one is exempt from making blunders in this space, not even multi-billion dollar organizations. An example of an advertising blunder is when Kentucky Fried Chicken introduced their new slogan “Finger lickin’ good” in China. That slogan translated to “eat your fingers off.” The slogan had a negative impact on their business in China, both to their reputation and from a financial standpoint. Other multinational organizations such as Coca-Cola, Toyota, and Goodyear have made similar blunders (Hunt & Hodkin, 2012). While these examples are focused more on marketing, they accurately portray the potential consequences of overlooking the importance culture has in a global economy and to visualizations.