The Blog for Culture Vultures

Doing business in China? Then you'll be attending lots of meetings!

If you’re attending meetings in China, then it’s important to understand a little about Chinese culture and how meetings are run.

Over the past 15 years a continuous theme, which has never ceased to amaze us, has been the way in which businesses significantly underestimate the impact of cultural differences.

It typically takes something to go wrong before stakeholders take notice.

Evey company working on the international stage needs to prepare their staff with the skills and knowledge to work across cultures.

Where online cultural training is not an option, then it’s essential to provide staff with easily accessible, bitesize, digestible materials.

There is no better way to understand the impact of cultural differences upon business than to look at real-life examples.

No matter what business, sector or market you are in, if you deal with people from different cultures, then cultural difference is going to impact what you do somewhere, somehow.

A common misconception people have of cultural awareness is that it’s about “the other”; that its main focus is learning about other people and how they do and don’t do things.

Although this is certainly part of it, cultural awareness also relies heavily on self-awareness.

Google Search Engine data provides a fantastic window into the cultures of different countries by giving us an insight into online searches.

By understanding what people within that country or culture are searching for, we can start to appreciate the topics and concerns that bind them together.

The training world is evolving at an incredible pace.

Indeed, discussions of blended learning by L&D professionals have quickly moved beyond ‘why do we need it?’ to ‘how do we do it?’

Self-awareness is fundamental in raising cultural competence.

If you are unable to understand yourself, it will be difficult to understand another.

Why focus on culture?

When working across different cultures it's critical that you understand the rules and cultural expectations of others.

If you don't, you can make mistakes. These mistakes can be harmless, or, they can also be very serious. We'll look at some examples below. 

A common misconception held by many is that cultural awareness is a skill you either have or you don't have, or, at the very least, is a skill that can be learned through training.

Well, this simply is not true.

For many Western cultures, witches are an innocuous subject.

Long gone are the days where innocent women were dragged from their homes to be burned at the stake.

As cross-cultural training specialists, we sometimes come across resistance from delegates who have been obligated to attend a cultural awareness session by their boss, HR or the Learning and Development department.

Resistance may stem from many factors, not least of which may be that the benefits and background to the training course have not been fully communicated.

Do you want to sell your products or services internationally? Global sales are important for businesses looking to expand their client base, increase revenues or attract investment.

As many who work in international sales can attest to, finding and bringing in sales can be tough but also very rewarding...when you get it right.

As 2017 draws to a close, expectations that Asia will overtake the US as the largest global consumer market in the next couple of decades, are becoming increasingly credible.

The Asian Development Bank reported in 2017 that growth prospects for Asia are continuing to strengthen following economic expansion of 5.9% in 2017 and anticipated expansion of 5.8% in 2018. 

Culturally diverse teams are becoming more and more the norm as international businesses continue to hire in talent from around the globe.

Anyone who has worked in a multicultural team knows that this comes with challenges.

Commisceo Global have been identified as being in the top five 'key vendors' globally in new research which predicts the market for cross cultural training courses is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of just under 15% from 2017-2021.

Global Cross-Cultural Training Market 2017-2021, a newly published market research report from Technavio, sees a healthy future for cross cultural training.

For some, globalization is dangerous for cultural diversity. 

The fear of cultural dilution and being imposed upon by a foreign, sometimes corporate, culture drives many people to deduce that the global economy is doing us more harm than good.

:: As of this week Brexit negotiations have officially commenced.

:: The UK will be leaving the EU within the next few years.

Can Theresa May's vision of a 'Global Britain' really come true when even the Institute of Translation & Interpreting question if the UK has the language or cultural skills necessary to compete globally?

Once unshackled by the chains of the EU, the future of Britain is being positioned as one of a global trader. However, to be a global trader you need the skills to do so.

The recent viral video of Professor Robert Kelly talking to the BBC via Skype has perfectly illustrated how unconscious bias works.

When his kids break into the room and interrupt the interview, an Asian lady comes to get them. Did you see a Nanny or a Mum? 

Having gone viral across the globe many US and other news outlets described the lady as Professor Kelly’s ‘maid’.  Her ethnicity clearly contributed to the rather preconditioned assessment that she was working for Professor Kelly.  The fact that this lady, Jung-a Kim may have been Professor Kelly’s wife failed to register.

This is, unfortunately, as clear a case of Unconscious Bias that I have witnessed in a long time.