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 …

The One Goal You Can Set for a Positive 2022

Around the turn of the year magazines, news outlets, social networks, blogs, podcasts, and all sorts of other media are full with ideas and tips around making New Year’s resolutions. Some of you might be aware of the dirty little secret to this culturally motivated routine of making commitments to significant, meaningful, and lasting change: More often than not this …

Communicating with Cultural Sensitivity in a Zoom World

We are curious about your feedback on this podcast. Allen Koski and Andrew Jernigan interviewed TCM founder Christian Höferle for their New Nomad Podcast. They talked about efficient communication in times of remote work and across cultures. Christian had a chance to share some useful tips on how to navigate the world of virtual meetings and conferences while still being …

We Make Global Business Skills Training a Public Enrollment Matter

Our clients want to get better at what they do. They want to succeed in global business. We give them a leg up. With our public enrollment courses. Throughout the year 2021 we are offering cross-cultural business trainings on various topics. Global business training turns your employees and executive team into more mature and skillful leaders who will have a …

training room

4 Reasons to Make Space for Intercultural Learning in Corporate Settings

A guest blog by Stephan Hild, originally published in German on his company blog. Effective intercultural business training can turn your employees and executive staff into more mature and considerate leaders who will have a significantly broader and deeper behavioral and cognitive repertoire when dealing with challenging situations in global business. Here’s what you’ll need and how it will pay …

Making a Home Across the Atlantic and Back

Music industry executive Patrick Joest shares his experience of being a German-Argentinian Jew in different cultures For years he had been traveling back and forth for work between Germany and the United States. Dozens of times Patrick Joest had visited Los Angeles. When his company sent him and his family on an expatriate assignment to California, Patrick quickly realized there’s …

chaps cultures identity

Exploring Identity Through the Lens of Different Cultures

The week in review with Two Chaps – Many Cultures Hard to believe that our new live video format has already seen three weeks worth of broadcast. Two Chaps – Many Cultures has been very well received within our community and a wider audience. During the daily live sessions from July 20 to 24, the two chaps (Brett and Christian) and …

Two Chaps Many Cultures

Two Chaps – Many Cultures [episode 1]

Join Brett Parry and Christian Höferle as they explore the mysteries of human behavior. No holds barred. Only straight talk about culture, human potential, and personal growth. Streaming live where possible. Taking questions from you. Including colorful and diverse voices from various corners of the world.  This is their inaugural podcast episode. Join the two chaps for a dose of …

Two Chaps Many Cultures

Talking About Cultures – live online

Necessity is the mother of invention. In times of social contact restrictions and work from home the way we present our work has been changing. In our case we would like to think the Covid-19 pandemic has made us more creative. One of the avenues we use to reach our clients and our own industry is through live content. For …

Tim Mahoney culture

Tim Mahoney’s Success Recipe for Working Across Cultures? “Human Stories, Simply Told”

The automotive marketing maven tells his cross-cultural tales of selling Porsches, Chevys, Subarus, and VWs around the globe Selling a product requires understanding the needs and desires of your potential customer. You need to recognize what problems customer have and how your product can be a solution to that problem. Sales and Marketing are professional tasks that are difficult enough …

Malcolm Ohanwe Christian Höferle

A Conversation about Identity, “Race,” White Blindspots, and Apfelschorle

How Malcolm Ohanwe shines light on inequality by nudging white folks to talk about it He works for one of Germany’s biggest public broadcasting companies, the Bayerische Rundfunk. The country today is as diverse as it has probably never been, yet when Malcolm Ohanwe stepped foot into the BR offices for the first time he “thought I entered Narnia. Everything’s …

Mexico United States Cultural Differences

What You should Know about Cultural Differences Between the U.S. and Mexico

As part of our Fall/Winter Webinar series we recently offered a joint session on the main cultural roadblocks between the United States and Mexico, together with our partners at Gea Cultura. During this webinar Salvador Rodríguez Gil Batista and Christian Höferle identified ways to establish robust and reliable bridges across the Rio Grande/Bravo. Watch the webinar recording here and learn …

The Culture Moment 45

The Culture Moment 45

A recent article on Harvard Business Review (HBR) asks: “Are You Sugarcoating Your Feedback Without Realizing It?“. Apparently, many employees want negative feedback to be delivered in a more candid way. It has been our experience that you best take that with a pinch of salt, if you work in a global context. Make sure you adjust your candor to …

Learning to Go 120 Miles Wide and 2 Inches Deep as a California Expat

Back from California’s beaches Martin Brem reflects on expat life He works for one of the most global businesses in one of the most global industries. Yet, when Martin Brem made a professional move from Central Europe to Southern California for the music business, his Red Bull wings didn’t fully prepare him for the cultural change he was about to …

The Culture Moment 43

Why do people call some of the most essential abilities “soft skills”? How can strengths like effective and impactful communication, the ability to relate and connect to people, adaptability, integrity, or cultural intelligence be seriously described as “soft” – as in “less relevant than hard”? How about we rather call these strengths Human Skills or People Skills? The term we …

A Look at Global Employee Relocation in 2019

The peak season for relocation — June through August — is nearly over. One of the most common reasons why people move is that they are changing jobs or starting a new job. For some of these relocating employees, getting to their new homes will involve a lot more than just loading their stuff into a moving van. That’s because …

Fuel your Transatlantic Growth – Close the Culture Gap to Germany!

Learn how to avoid major cross-cultural mishaps when doing business in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in our upcoming webinar. 🇺🇸🇩🇪🇦🇹🇨🇦🇨🇭 Do you want to accelerate your business success in German-speaking Europe? Are you interested in protecting your transatlantic investment in talent and assets? This webinar will walk you through the triggers and tripwires of German business culture and showcase strategies …

The Culture Moment 40

The Culture Moment 40

This corner of the world comes with a fascinating blend of cultures. Somewhere in the Alpine region. At an elevation of around 4,200 feet. Where everyone speaks at least two languages. And where the local culture is, in fact, a mix of two. This is the mountain refuge my family has been coming to for decades. I remember hiking up …

The Culture Moment 37

The Culture Moment 37

What’s an excellent way to create connection when you are dealing with people from different cultures? Make sure to try food and drink. Share a beverage, share a meal. And, very important: show genuine interest in the other culture’s drinking and eating traditions. Then, in return, offer your culture’s traditions to others. What is The Culture Moment? The Culture Moment …

The Culture Moment 36

The Culture Moment 36

Somehow this episode of The Culture Moment turned into a bit of a rant. Let’s blame it on the rain… How authentic can we be when we work across cultures? And how authentic do we want to be when we are having a less than perfect day? Some musings about accepting the fact that, as humans, we are imperfectly perfect. …