It is well a known fact that a very British cultural trait is to keep yourself to yourself and not to bother others or cause them inconvenience.

The "stiff upper lip" as it is sometimes known.

As a company, it is never easy to unify an existing business with a newly acquired one through a merger or aquisition.

In fact, a study by Isaac Dixon, "Culture Management and Mergers and Acquisitions," showed that cultural differences were at the heart of 30% failed mergers and aquisitions. 

You might think cultural training is only useful for people and businesses that are associated with global business - for example, international sales teams or global managers.

You would be wrong! Raising cultural awareness is useful for everyone and anyone. 

Even though modern-day society seems to become more intercultural every year, the opposite is true for the Anglo-Indian community where Western traditions and appearances meet those of the Indian subcontinent.

The BBC recently looked at the fate of the Ango-Indian culture which offers a fascinating insight into this little known group.

As many Chinese tourists only pay a brief visit to the city, local Boston companies are now getting training to increase their appeal to this important group of visitors (and revenue stream).

According to The BBC, many Chinese tourists travel to the United States for their holidays. The top three American cities they visit are New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC, but Boston isn’t far behind.

However, the Chinese often only visit this city to check out universities like Harvard and the MIT, resulting in very short visits that aren’t very beneficial for the local Boston businesses.

If Chinese visitors could stay longer, the boom to the local economy could be massive.

Jolin Zhou, who works for the Chinese tour operator Sunshine Travel in Boston, tells a story about a Chinese man and his teenage son who had come to Boston to look at universities. "One day he asked my co-worker, 'Can you recommend a meal, a good restaurant and bring me there? The best restaurant in Boston, no matter how expensive.' My co-worker brought him to a restaurant; they spent $1,000 for two of them for dinner."

Zhou told this story to participants of a tourism workshop that was set up by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The Office wants to attract more Chinese people to the region as the middle class in China consists of about 300 million people who are spending more and more time abroad. In terms of most visitors per country, they are the ninth biggest group in the US, and the fastest growing one. They even rank third in the biggest spenders when travelling abroad.

The Middle East is an area that carries many stereotypes and myths.

Before doing business in the Middle East it is imperative to learn about areas such as business culture, business etiquette, meeting protocol and negotiation techniques. 

Different cultures have different food traditions, even at the Christmas table.

Are you tired with the traditional Christmas roasts, pudding and chocolates?

Tesco has recently announced that their chain of American supermarkets, Fresh & Easy, will be closed entirely.

The reason for this? Unexpected cultural differences.

By overlooking the importance of intercultural training, companies do not get the most out of their employees.

David Livmore is here to make us aware of the significance of knowing a bit more about  your co-workers’ cultures.

We are all familiar with traditional Christmas decorations.

The Christmas trees, mistletoe and other red, gold and green ornaments.

It's 2021 and racism is still continues to rear it's ugly head in football. 

From comdemnation, to campaigns and zero tolerance in the stadiums, the FA is facing an unrelenting struggle.

Playing games at work?

From the work floor to education, gamification is becoming more and more common in a lot of areas.

Ever thought of going global in the design and construction world?

You might run into problems you didn’t expect to occur.

In many Western cultures, the Christmas celebrations are more or less the same or thereabouts.

The family gathers on Christmas Eve, a Christmas mass is possibly attended and presents are unwrapped.

Do you export?

AstraZeneca's Stuart Anderson offers some insights into the importance of understanding and adapting to the local culture in order to maximise success.

You wouldn't think war would bring out a people's sense of humour but, in Afghanistan, the cross-cultural interaction between locals and troops actually became the subject for of some very funny stories.

When a country is involved in a war, humour is usually miles away.

Cyber Monday isn't the only part of December celebrations.

There are some fantastic celebrations taking place in other cultures and countries which are not widely known, but still deserve online retailers' attention.

Culture shock is often referred to as the experience an exptriate or tourist travelling to a new country goes through.

Did you ever think culture shock could happen to a premiership footballer?

Did you know that the buying power of Hispanic consumers has increased  by 212%, to $1.5 trillian this decade (2010 -2020)?

Hispanic now account for 1/6 of American consumers, making this community a valuable prospect.

Do you work in a culturally diverse team?

Well, we know very well that sometimes cultural differences can cause some challenges.