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Global Business Culture runs a lot of China cultural awareness training programs and the issue of women in business in China is always raised. Some of the areas we would discuss on a cultural awareness training program are highlighted below. If you are considering a business venture in China or a possible expansion of your…

Since Global Business Culture started delivering cultural awareness training courses to major global corporations about twenty years ago, we have witnessed a proliferation of people coming into the market to offer similar products. This is great as it means clients have more choice in terms of training providers they can work with but at the…

A report published by Control Risks titled ‘International Business Attitudes to Corruption’ succinctly highlighted some of the extreme challenges faced by Compliance Officers within global organizations. As regulators increasingly extend their global reach whilst at the same time anti-corruption laws become ever more comprehensive, Global Compliance comes face-to-face with culturally differing norms around the world.…

I really believe this statement is true if any person is to be able to work really effectively across the barriers of culture, language, geography and time. The basic problem is that people are not born with an innate understanding of how business works in areas of the globe they don’t know and maybe have…

Over the years I’ve been involved in a number of major projects where U.S. or European companies have looked to transition work from their home countries to outsourced facilities in India.  The drivers behind these projects have been many and varied, but I suppose that cost reduction is always a major component of any such…

I recently ran two training sessions at the London Branch office of a major Japanese investment bank. In the morning, I worked with a group of senior Japanese expatriates who have been seconded into the London Office – we were looking at the major differences in approach to business between Tokyo and London.  This session…

Intra-team communication within virtual teams who are working across the barriers of culture, language, geography and technology is bound to present certain challenges which are less problematic amongst co-located teams.  Many of these communication challenges are cultural in origin and this blog highlights one such challenge. One major cultural difference in terms of global communication…

The difference between cultural sensitivity and ethical correctness Global Business Culture works with a large number of major global corporations and as they become more and more engaged in business activities outside their home bases in North America and Western Europe, they seem to be asking increasingly difficult questions about the difference between cultural sensitivity…

Like it or not, English is the common global language adopted by most international companies.  The trouble is that language levels in English vary around the world – even within one organisation.  Native speakers often assume that ‘if somebody is working in my company, they have to have really high levels of English.’ This is…