The giving and receiving of gifts is an important part of professional and personal life in the Middle East.

Closely tied up with the need to maintain relationships and as a way of gaining and giving face, gift-giving bonds people together.

The following incident provides a great case study for the influence of cultural differences.

Guillaume Rey, a French waiter, was sacked from his job in a Canadian restaurant for being ‘aggressive, rude and disrespectful’

Freelance linguists often complain of isolation, monotony and increasing competition within the profession.

Those looking for something new should consider cross-cultural training as it naturally lends itself to the talent of translators and linguists.

Ignorance Is No Excuse and Can Land You in Jail

In light of the story of the British woman jailed for smuggling painkillers into Egypt, Punter Southall Health & Protection have warned companies sending personnel abroad that it is their "duty of care to ensure employees understand the legislation and cultural differences of that country."

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.

In a global marketplace, companies are increasingly rolling out training courses across international offices with the intention of providing consistent and homogenised messages to all their staff – regardless of location.

There is sometimes little, if any thought, given to whether the materials will be well received by the recipient's international office.

The UK's innovation agency has just released a report highlighting what investors are looking for in potential investment targets.

‘Scaling up: the investor perspective' is the result of research commissioned by Innovate UK which was overseen and published by the market research company, Ebiquity.

One of the effects of globalisation is that global brands are typically (and unavoidably) geographically spread.

Employing a global workforce is essential in today’s hypercompetitive marketplace.

Expectations are that Asia will overtake the US as the largest global consumer market in the next couple of decades.

The Asian Development Bank reported in 2020, that growth prospects for Asia are continuing to strengthen with expected increases of 7.2% for 2021. 

Have you read about the backlash Pearson Education received regarding a section about cultural awareness in a recent nursing textbook?

Initially, it started with a Facebook post outlining some crude cultural stereotypes, but the complaints soon grew large enough and loud enough for Pearson Education to take note.

With 2017 flying by and 2018 fast approaching, the team at Commisceo Global have decided to share a snapshot of some of the cross-cultural training trends we have witnessed so far this year.

Remember this is only what we have seen as a company, not what the whole cross-cultural training sector is experiencing.

President Trump’s recent speech outlining his stance on the Iran nuclear-deal has caused outrage among Iranians, not for his position on the deal and potential new sanctions, but for his knowledge of geography.

When referring to his decision to withdraw presidential certification for the Iranian-deal, Trump stated that Iran’s regime “harasses American ships and threatens freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf and in the Red Sea.”

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.

Doing Business in Brazil?  

A ‘One Size fits All’ approach will sink your ship in Brazil. 

Having worked in Dubai for over 10 years, one of the things that constantly amazes me about visitors to the Emirate is that they think they have landed in some sort of desert version of Las Vegas, where everything goes.

Well, as British IT consultant Jamil Ahmed Mukadam has found out - it is anything but.

Relocating to a foreign country for work is a big deal. New home, new language and new culture!

There is a lot to get your head around. Without a doubt, Japan is one of those countries that, culturally speaking, causes confusion for the foreigner.

A word of warning for anyone travelling to Saudi Arabia - stay well away from any DABBING! The move could see you spending some time in jail.

Abdullah al-Shahrani, a Saudi entertainer, was recently detained by Saudi authorities after dabbing during a concert in the city of Taif.

A report commissioned by Air France-KLM to try and work out what is causing tensions within the airline company has discovered that cultural differences between Dutch and French employees are potentially ripping the merger apart.

Air France-KLM, which is the result of a 2004 merger, asked Philippe d’Iribarne from the French Institute of Science and Niels Noorderhaven of Tilburg University, to carry out the research which involved 47 interviews with Air France and KLM staff between January and April 2017.

A delegation from the financial services sector recently visited Brussels in an effort to drive forward a post-Brexit deal for the industry.

If they fail, it may become necessary for financial service businesses in the UK to relocate key staff to other sites in Europe to enable the continuation of current services.