The client
The client is a global collective of award-winning creative studios. Specializing in digital production for entertainment media, the client unites top-tier creative talent across North America and Europe to deliver high-impact content for a global audience.
The challenge
As the client expanded its international footprint, it identified a growing need for intercultural fluency across its leadership and management teams. Cultural differences in communication styles, leadership expectations, and team dynamics were creating friction, affecting operational alignment and collective efficiency. Specifically:
- Executives and managers across Canada and Spain required a stronger understanding of the cultural norms shaping day-to-day business behavior.
- Teams lacked shared language and frameworks for navigating cultural nuance, particularly in areas such as conflict resolution, meeting etiquette, and interpersonal communication.
- As operations became increasingly cross-border, the need for culturally informed business practices became more urgent.
Why Global Business Culture?
- Proven expertise in delivering multicultural awareness programs in global creative industries
- Business-first approach, balancing cultural insight with operational relevance
- Practical workshops grounded in real-world team scenarios
- Multilingual delivery capability (English, French, Spanish)
- World-class facilitators with deep expertise and lived global experience across creative and corporate industries
What we did
Global Business Culture designed and delivered a tailored intercultural awareness training program for the client, structured into four separate workshops based on audience group and location. Each program was preceded by a pre-course questionnaire and interviews to gather insight on business priorities and cultural challenges.
Phase 1: Cultural Foundations
Participants explored the fundamental principles of cross-cultural understanding and its relevance to the global creative industry.
- What is culture? Visible and invisible dimensions
- How culture impacts daily work: communication, conflict, leadership
- Common stereotypes and how to move beyond them
- Case studies on real-life cultural scenarios from the VFX industry
- Group reflection on experiences across Canada, Spain, and other key markets
Phase 2: Operational Implementation
Participants applied cultural insights to business-critical contexts, including meetings, project management, and leadership.
- Comparative analysis of business practices across the client’s key regions
- Communication styles (direct vs indirect), time orientation, and feedback models
- Group exercises to identify common challenges and co-create action plans
- Facilitator-led sharing of best practices for effective intercultural collaboration
- Practical strategies for using English as a common working language
The Programs
- Program 1:5-hour English session for 8 C-level Canadian executives
- Program 2:5-hour English sessions for 20 Canadian managers
- Program 3:5-hour French sessions for 20 Canadian managers
- Program 4: 2×1.5-hour Spanish sessions for 20 Spanish managers
The results
- 68 senior leaders and managers across Canada and Spain completed the intercultural awareness training program
- 100% completion rate across all four workshop programs, with high engagement and participation throughout
- Pre-course assessment revealed key cultural blind spots, which were directly addressed through targeted workshop content
- Practical frameworks for cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, and meeting management were successfully implemented
- Shared vocabulary and understanding of cultural dimensions established across leadership teams
- Action plans co-created by participants to address specific intercultural challenges within their teams
- Multilingual delivery (English, French, Spanish) ensured accessibility and cultural relevance for all participants
- Post-training feedback indicated increased confidence in managing cross-cultural team dynamics and business interactions
