Reaping the Full Benefits of Foreign Investment Requires ICE-Q

The nature of a multinational company (MNC) is to invest capital in markets outside of the country in which it began its operations. Typically, this business activity is called foreign direct investment (FDI). For open economies to flourish, cross-border trade is essential. Another critical factor for successful international business is ICE-Q – a combination of three essential, durable skills: subject …

Avoid These 9 Behaviors If You Want To Be A Global Success

If you are in business – let’s suppose you are, whether you’re in business for yourself or employed – then chances are you have been making plans to further your career. Let’s also assume that your plans for the current fiscal year include strategies on how to improve your success rate. And since nearly every business these days is global, …

Culture is not shocking – unless you want it to be

Are new encounters really shocking – or simply unfamiliar? When preparing people for life and work abroad cultural trainers often address the issue of culture shock. Sometimes this may sound like there will be a wave of negative experiences and emotions crashing on the shores of expat existence. Let’s set the record straight on this: The idea of a shock isn’t …

Learn from U.S. Commercial Service & The Culture Mastery about business in Latin America

Helping U.S.-based businesses become more successful when working with Mexico and Colombia With Latin America as the closest and one of the largest markets for U.S. business, companies that want to succeed have to overcome challenges and meet opportunities of intercultural communication with their Latin American counterparts. The U.S. Commercial Service is partnering with The Culture Mastery for a workshop which will provide …

Teach the relevant skills in your business training to see your global teams rise

Which competencies are the most in demand for international business? And what type of business training do companies need to invest in to ensure their talent pool is equipped with the competencies required to succeed in markets around the world? These are questions which continue to come up in the conversations with our clients. Consequently, the next question usually is: How do …

“Chinese bastards”: What we can learn from Daimler’s cross-cultural incident

When emotions hit a high, intelligence drops to a low Whether we like it or not: Sometimes people lose their temper and act out against others. And it is usually not a pretty picture. When this happens to company leaders on foreign assignment it can create a ripple effect with far greater reach than the untamed emotional release itself. In 2016 a cross-cultural incident …

How to become a cultural chameleon [The Culture Guy Podcast]

On this episode Pellegrino Riccardi explains how he reconciles his three cultural backgrounds Born in the UK to parents who came from Avellino in Southern Italy, and raised in a bicultural family in Bath – an English city which first experienced visitors from ancient Rome as early as AD 60 – Pellegrino now lives in Norway with his Norwegian wife …

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Meet your global growth goals with BANK

Global Excellence – Affordable Results – Trusted Methodology – Harmonious Connection Does your organization consistently meet its global growth goals? Are you finding that selling and marketing to clients and prospects from outside your country is more challenging than in your home market? With the BANK personality training system this challenge will soon be a thing of the past. We are …

Cosmopolitans, let’s keep reaching out! [The Culture Guy Podcast]

The Culture Guy pontificates about cosmopolitans, the signs of the times, and how four agreements will help you stand for who you are. We have been seeing a rise of nationalist, protectionist, or xenophobic tendencies across the world. The Culture Guy Podcast takes a look at the dilemma this creates for some of us. For those who live and work across cultural …

Why cultural competence is one of seven success factors for ‘glocal’ business

Recently on this blog you found our Table of Elements for Global Business Readiness. It has become quite popular among our clients. And it’s exciting to see that EDGE Business Magazine published a modified version in its January 2017 issue. In their Skill Sets column Christian Höferle explains the importance of cultural competence for sustainable growth for ‘glocal’ businesses. Cultural Competence a KeyGrowth Factor …

How lawyers can cross cultures with ease [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Why international attorneys need to learn about intercultural communication Jeri Weber is an attorney-at-law and an intercultural consultant for legal professionals. She was born and raised in the U.S. Midwest, spent time in Asia as an exchange student and has lived and worked in China, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. On this episode Jeri highlights the fact that most …

Why this NRI thinks “I will” beats IQ [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Why Mitch Patel thinks skills can be taught and not attitude Mitul “Mitch” Patel is the founder and CEO of Vision Hospitality Group, Inc., which will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. Mitch is the son of immigrants from India – his father came to California from a village in Gujarat with $8 in his pocket. Today Mitch leads an …

Cultural work in a post-truth, narcissistic world

This November I attended a SIETAR meeting for the first time. Not sure why it took me so long to engage with intercultural professionals and educators at this level. I certainly recommend you don’t wait as long as I did. The gathering I attended was the annual conference of SIETAR USA in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The convention officially started on the …

How a global traveler discovered the B.A.N.K. code [The Culture Guy Podcast]

Cheri Tree is the founder and CEO of B.A.N.K.code, a company which developed a unique personality-based sales training approach. On this episode she shares the story how her nomad upbringing lead her to crack personality codes. Coming from a U.S. military family, Cheri traveled a lot during her childhood and when she was a student. Now, as an adult, she …

Crack the Cultural Codes of 10 Countries

Many of the readers of this blog and users of our website work across cultures or with teams across borders and cultures on a regular basis – whether you spend your time in the office or out on the road. When you do work with people who are different than you, it is critical to have a rough sense of …

Get your global gestures guide to go with Gestunary

If you travel internationally for work or leisure, you surely have come across guides about etiquette and manners in foreign lands. Visual guides and infographics have become particularly popular in recent years – like these examples: IG1 • IG2 • IG3 • IG4. With respect to differences in hand gestures around the world these guides are helpful but they are …

Master these skills to become an efficient global leader

When Andreas Gelder was transferred to the U.S. subsidiary of his company, his responsibilities shifted. At the head offices of his European employer he was a young up-and-comer and a part of a larger team in the finance department. Now he had to master several new roles: he became the head of finance for the Americas – a territory which …

How to Build Trust in Global Negotiations

Negotiations are part of almost every communication. We talk to come to an agreement with our counterpart. This could be simply to decide on a time for a meeting, to approve a business strategy, or to make a deal. In global business more often than not these negotiations are done using the English language. Whether you are a native speaker …

Gender Roles and Sexism as Obstacles for Global Success

At the time of writing this article, gender (in)equality in the world has been front and center of the global news cycle: The 2016 general election in the United States saw the topic of gender equality become one of the main narratives in comparing the candidates for President. Reports about terrorist attacks inevitably take a turn to remind us how …

The results are in: We know where you are from!

In June of 2015 our company audio program, The Culture Guy Podcast, was launched. Since then host Christian Höferle released 21 episodes. Today, 15 months later, we have collected enough reliable user and listener data which we are sharing with you now. First of all, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU to you for downloading our podcast and …