The Blog for Culture Vultures

Rastafarianism is a religious movement born out of the black slums of Jamaica which harnessed the teachings of the Jamaican born black nationalist, Marcus Garvey and conditionally uses selective Old Testament Christian writings to support its teachings and practices.

Born in 1887, Garvey’s influence on the poor black slave descendants in Jamaica came to its peak in the 1920’s where his message of encouragement and calling on black people to take pride in themselves won some fanatical supporters. Although historically Marcus Garvey was a political leader interested in making the black race economically equal with the white, in oral tradition he has become a divinely anointed prophet.

Judaism is the religion commonly linked to Jewish people.

It is based on the principles contained in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, which are expanded and explained in the Talmud.

Jainism is an ancient religion, which originates from Eastern India.

Its advent in the 6th century BC was expected as many people were beginning to oppose the hierarchical organisation and formalised rituals of Hinduism, the dominant religion in India.

The word 'Islam' means submission to Allah’s will; a Muslim is one who submits to Allah’s will and is at peace.

Islam is a simple religion although from the outside it can sometimes appear confusing.

Islam is the name of the religion established by the Prophet Muhammad. One who follows Islam is a Muslim.

Hinduism is a religion that originated in the Indian subcontinent.

Purists refer to it more as Sanātana Dharma (the eternal path/law) than a religion, as it is believed to be a virtuous way of life.

It is the oldest practised religion in the world and has the third largest following after Christianity and Islam.

Christianity is the largest world religion at the moment.

It has over 2 billion followers, who classify themselves under 34,000 different denominations.

Initially, Christianity was derived from Judaism, as Jesus Christ was a Jew, as were his twelve disciples. Christianity is based mainly around the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is monotheistic.

Buddhism, in its natural form, is not a religion; rather it is a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development.

Buddhists strive for a deep insight into the true nature of life and do not worship gods or deities.

The Bahai faith is the youngest independent religion of the word, which was founded in the mid 19th century by Mirza Husayn Ali (1817-1892), son of a government minister in Tehran (Iran). Mirza Husayn Ali is known to the world as ‘Baha Ullah’ and regarded by Bahais as the most recent in the line of Messengers of God.

Origin and History of Bahai

The Bahai religion originally grew out of the Babism faith, which was founded in 1844 by Mirza Ali Mohammad of Shiraz (Iran) who proclaimed a spiritual doctrine emphasising the forthcoming appearance of a new messenger of God who would overturn old beliefs and customs. Mirza Husayn Ali claimed to be this new messenger of the era and was renowned Baha Ullah meaning ‘glory to God’.

For those of you who follow our social media accounts, you would have come across our 15 predictions about business & corporate training for 2015. For those that missed them - this is for you!

Understanding a country's past helps you understand its present. Kathinka gives her viewpoint on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; a physical and symbolic wall that shaped the Cold War and today still influences German culture.

As part of the 2014 Export Week, Commisceo trainer Joyce Jenkins was invited to speak at UK Trade and Investment’s (UKTI) Women in Export event.

Would you drink fermented mare’s milk with your new potential Mongolian business partners to seal a deal? Or would you politely decline? The answer may come down to the strength of your stomach or your awareness of local etiquette.

Working with people from different cultures is becoming increasingly more common; however it can also give rise to challenges. Thankfully, Erin Meyer has recently published a book that provides a framework on how different cultures across the globe view communication at work.

What can movie trailers teach us about cultural differences in advertising and marketing? A lot argues interculturalist, Désirée Gergen, in her blog for the Culture Vulture.

Whether we know it or not, culture impacts almost everything we do. Within business, one should always be aware of cultural differences. Yes, even within interior design!

When thinking about cultural differences, interior design might not be the first area of business that comes to mind.

However, in a great article on Prime Resi, Joe Burns explains that luxury homes will only meet the client’s wishes if the designer knows the ins and outs of their culture.

Being surrounded by other cultures can bring a great deal of benefits: new research has shown that living in a culturally diverse community can even make you smarter!

Global Training Manager, Caroline, gives some insight into an upcoming train-the-trainer course for business professionals looking to become cultural awareness trainers and coaches.

Russians have a reputation for being loud and rowdy tourists when they travel abroad. However, this might soon be a thing of the past as an Italian hotel owner has created an etiquette guide for Russians who are visiting Italy this summer to try and temper their 'uncouth' ways.

If you work cross-culturally, whether abroad or at home, chances are you have found yourself in a situation whereby you find yourself a little lost with the way people work and/or behave. Sometimes, this comes down to culture - i.e. differences in values and how this translates into the way someone carries themselves at work.

On our blog we love to look at different takes on cultural differences. Understanding culture and how it impacts your business isnt just about dos and dont's. It is SO much more and this little piece on culture and security highlights nicely how culture impacts pretty much everything we do from handshakes to security fences.