Dr. Rajesh Kumar: Doing Business Globally: How To Develop Cross-Cultural Skills As A Leader

May 31, 2022

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Dr. Kumar is a consultant and a retired business academic specializing in global business. He has an undergraduate and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Delhi, an MBA from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in International Business from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He is also a Certified Global Dexterity Trainer.

Originally from India, Dr. Kumar has lived and worked in the United States, France, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. He has taught at Penn State, Ohio State, Babson College, and Menlo College in the United States, the University of Nottingham in the U.K., and the University of Aarhus in Denmark, among others.

Dr. Kumar specializes in the art of doing business across cultural boundaries. As companies go global they must deal with suppliers, customers, and even employees coming from different cultural backgrounds. This impacts all facets of business operations ranging from how you negotiate business deals to how you motivate employees and manage them.

Dr. Kumar has led training programs for global companies on Doing Business in India, Negotiating Cross-Culturally, and Managing Strategic Partnerships. Global Strategic Advisory, of which Dr. Kumar is the principal, offers training programs to companies seeking to enhance their global presence. Dr. Kumar is also part of the Partner-Alliances Collective, a group of professionals involved in managing alliances.

Dr. Kumar has a passion for reading, spirituality, and wine tasting. His global experience adds to his vast knowledge, in which he has many fascinating stories to tell.

In this episode, Dean Newlund and Dr. Rajesh Kumar discuss:

How your culture defines you
Immersing yourself in a culture
Giving value to both the process and the result
The limits of social media interaction

Key Takeaways:

Culture sets you out, it defines who you are - it creates that demarcation between you and the other.
Simply traveling or passing by isn’t enough to understand a culture, you have to immerse yourself in it and internalize it.
Something individualistic societies can learn from eastern, collectivist cultures is giving as much value to the process as one does the result. This in turn also prioritizes the relationship more than the transaction.
Social media is great for creating connections and conveying information to a lot of people at the same time. However, the best way to develop relationships still lies in spending time together face to face.

"[On negotiation] Of course there’s a transaction, but it is much more than that. You really need to spend a lot of time in terms of… developing a relationship, becoming comfortable with each other." — Dr. Rajesh Kumar

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dr Rajesh Kumar:

Website: http://www.globalstrategicadvisory.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-kumar-81aa6a10

Connect with Dean:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkw

Website: https://www.mfileadership.com/

The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/deannewlund

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Email: dean.newlund@mfileadership.com

Phone: 1-800-926-7370

Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

See Dean’s TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I

Connect with Dean: