Cultural Differences & Cultural Diversity in International Business

About This Week's Guest Jeroen Ketting Jeroen Ketting is a Dutch business advisor, author, and speaker who has helped hundreds of companies succeed in the challenging Russian market. His thought leadership and contributions to the public debate have made him a sought-after expert on Russia for both governments and the media. His thought leadership and contributions to the public debate have made him a sought-after expert on Russia for both governments and the media. Ketting's extensive Russian network, experience, and practical advice are invaluable for companies looking to do business in Russia Ketting's extensive Russian network, experience, and practical advice are invaluable for companies looking to do business in Russia. His 3 (plus a bonus) tips to become more culturally competent are: Only deal with Russia if you enjoy dealing with Russians in Russia. Look at the country and its people as a glass being half full, rather than half empty. You'll be more effective and efficient if you leave your own viewpoints behind, but with that, you don't have to become Russian (you can't and you won't). You play soccer/football with soccer/football rules. You don't play soccer/football with rugby rules. Play "the game" like the game should be played in the country that you're playing it. Make sure you get introduced to Russia. Business cards alone won't do it. Understand what you're getting yourself into. Follow a course, get a workshop, get some coaching, and read a book. Start before you're even in Russia with this. (Bonus) Try to understand and accept (the Russians); don't be judgemental. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Simply Google "Ketting Russia" This will bring you the website: http://www.thelighthousegroup.ru/gb/ Otherwise, get in touch with me and I will give you the details of Jeroen. Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast! Culture Matters

About This Week's Guest Bjoern Lasse Herrmann Bjoern was born in Germany, and has become a recognized entrepreneur and expert on data products for businesses, performance benchmarking and business ecosystems.Most recently his team & Most recently his team & he set out to decrease the massive failure rate of businesses by transforming the business world from instinct driven to data driven. The first product Compass.co (no M!) now serves thousands of E-Commerce businesses around the world. His tip to become more culturally competent (there's only one) is: Be really interested in the other culture. In other words, don't be interesting, but be interested. Open up and engage with the other culture(s) you're working with. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjoernlasse Twitter: https://twitter.com/bjoernlasse Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast!

About This Week's Guest Paul MacAlindin Paul MacAlindin is an internationally renowned conductor and author of "UPBEAT: The Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq". He led the orchestra from 2008- 2014 in Iraq, France, Germany, and Britain, solving enormous hurdles of culture, language, and education along the way. The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq is by far the most challenging and rich intercultural experience of his career. UPBEAT is out on August the 18th 2016. His three tips to become more culturally competent are: Know yourself culturally. Realize that you're the fish in your own bowl and that you might not know enough about your own culture. If you do this, you can realize that you're different than the other person but you can still work together. If you can, learn another one or two languages. Although not easy, it helps tremendously in overcoming cultural differences. Learn to laugh at yourself. Remember, when it's about culture, it's not about them. It is about you! Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/in/conductor Twitter: @paulmacalindin Email: macalindin@hotmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/macalindin/ Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast!

About This Week's Guest Global Business with Professor Erin Meyer Erin Meyer is a professor and INSEAD, one of the top international business schools, and the author of the best-selling book “The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business”. She is here to speak with us today about how national cultural differences impact day-to-day interaction. Her three tips to become more culturally competent are: Learn as much as you can about the culture(s) you work with. When you work with more than one culture also make sure that you understand the relative differences. In other words, how does one culture perceive the others and vice versa? Be humble; Humility is everything. Make no mistake, every culture has one or more benefits. By being humble, you might discover just what it is. Be curious. Even if you have lots and lots of experience and if you think "You Get It". You can always learn more. ABC=Always Be Curious. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://erinmeyer.com Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast!

About This Week's Guest Alfredo Behrens Alfredo strongly believes in drawing management lessons from indigenous organizations to increase the efficacy of teamwork. He offers a Brazilian Carnival Parade training module to this effect. Alfredo holds a Ph.D. degree awarded by the University of Cambridge, he already lectured at Princeton University and London Business School. He currently lectures with Harvard Business School Publishing and FIA Business School in São Paulo. Alfredo collaborates with environments such as the Harvard Business Review and the Financial Times. He authored over 30 articles besides several books, like "Culture and Management in the America"s, published by Stanford University Press, 2009. His three tips to become more culturally competent are: Self-awareness. How well do you know yourself in relationship to the other(s)? See foreign films. It will give you an overview of life in a different culture. And it's cost effective as well! If you can, travel. But don't go for the all inclusive package deals. Instead, make sure you go out and speak to the local people. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Email: 0800Alfredo@gmail.com Website: http://alfredobehrens.com Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast!

About This Week's Guest Lisette Sutherland Lisette Sutherland is the Director at CollaborationSuperpowers.com, a company that helps teams work together from anywhere. She is also a Founder of Happy Melly, a company helping to globalize companies that are improving the lives of knowledge workers. With over 10 years of experience with web-based collaboration tools and online community management, her goal is to get the best people working together regardless of location. Lisette Sutherland gives three tips to become more culturally competent: Slow down. Ask what you don't know. Although you might not know what you don't know (a blind spot) still ask questions and more questions. When working virtually, you can create a Holiday Calendar. Holidays are important in every country and this way you can find out more about the other culture by asking why the holiday is and how it is celebrated. Create a "Personal Map"; like a mind map, but then you put your name in the middle. Around your name, you write things about yourself. But you don't explain it yourself, you let your virtual team members ask what they see. This is a great way to get to know each other and do virtual team building. Create a virtual water cooler or  "Kitty Talk" (this is explained in the podcast). This means that you simply pick a time when you all meet online and just chat. Not about work per se. This can be about everything. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Twitter: @lightling Website: http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/ Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast!

Cultural Differences for Startups About This Week's Guest Trajan King on Cultural Differences for Startups Trajan has worked and lived in 6 countries, speaks a handful of languages, and works for clients worldwide. He's consulted for Apple, Adobe, Yahoo!, eBay, IBM, and others.  He currently runs a membership community for entrepreneurs, InvincibleStartup.com. After starting over 15 companies, running a couple of multi-million dollar companies, and working on both Wall Street and Silicon Valley, he helps companies worldwide grow and earn more money. He's consulted for Apple, Adobe, Yahoo!, eBay, IBM, and others. He currently runs a membership community for entrepreneurs, InvincibleStartup.com. After starting over 15 companies, running a couple of multi-million dollar companies, and working on both Wall Street and Silicon Valley, he helps companies worldwide grow and earn more money. He currently runs a membership community for entrepreneurs, InvincibleStartup.com starting over 15 companies, running a couple of multi-million dollar companies, working on both Wall Street and Silicon Valley, he helps companies worldwide grow and earn more money. After starting over 15 companies, running a couple of multi-million dollar companies, and working on both Wall Street and Silicon Valley, he helps companies worldwide grow and earn more money. His three tips to become more culturally competent are: Meet people from different cultures and take an interest in them. See what you can learn from them first. Don't just watch the news and make your own judgment from this. Watch different sources of news, watch a YouTube video on the culture, and open an English newspaper site from that specific country. Learn a bit of the language. It shows respect and even if you get it wrong people will appreciate you for it. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Twitter: @trajanking Website: http://inviciblestartup.com Do's and Don'ts in International Business Six things that can go wrong in international business Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast! Cultural Differences for Startups on Culture Matters

Don't Mention the Word Culture When You Talk About Culture; Tim Kuppler About This Week's Guest Tim Kuppler Tim is the Director of Culture & Organization Development with Human Synergistics. He also founded CultureUniversity.com which features insights from top culture experts. He led major performance and culture transformations regionally and globally as an automotive supplier executive so he has loads of practical experience.  He now collaborates with many cultural experts and focuses on driving meaningful change in the world through cultural awareness, education, and action. His three tips to become more culturally competent are: Understand Culture Fundamentals from the top experts in the world. Commit to a personal and organizational learning journey. If you're changing your organizational culture it is not a one-time effort. You have to connect your first initiatives to either a top problem, challenge, or goal. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Email: http://www.cultureuniversity.com/contact-us/ Website: http://cultureuniversity.com Human Synergistics Website: www.HumanSynergistics.com Human Synergistics Blog: www.ConstructiveCulture.com More on this, here. Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast!

About This Week's Guest Jeanne Boden Jeanne Boden is Managing Director at ChinaConduct, a company specializing in training and coaching European, Chinese, and people from around the globe in EU-China cooperation and communication. As a Belgian/European, Jeanne Boden holds a PhD. in Oriental Languages and Cultures. She spent many years in China studying, conducting research, and working in many contexts and positions all over China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Her five! tips to become more culturally competent are: Become aware of the difference between your culture and the Chinese culture; although you should realize that there is no magic wand to do this. Study not only the culture but also the context where your business will take place. Who are the people? Where do they come from? What is the company like? The region that you're doing business... etc. Experience the culture. Here and there. Know the reality. Not only working long distances, but also when you're there. Go out and get lost and learn, and enjoy that experience. Don't be naive about the other culture. It is not that you should either admire or deny it. Cultural differences are always "grey". Connect to people, both when you're there and also when they are here. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://chinaconduct.com Email: info@chinaconduct.com An article about how to "behave" in an international environment can be found here. Want to know more: https://culturematters.com/cultural-muscle-flexing-bush-in-beijing-political-rhetoric/ Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week, there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast! Another article about China and the Chinese can be found here.

Third Culture Kid About This Week's Guest Third Culture Kid with Tayo Rockson The CEO of UYD Media and host of the As Told By Nomads podcast. His three tips to become more culturally competent are: Be curious. Explore what is out there. Explore what you don't know or think you don't know. Travel. By travelling you expand your world like nothing else can. He also suggests to get lost on purpose. This way you will meet and interact with people you otherwise would have never met. Be open-minded. Tayo thinks it is dangerous to think that your way of thinking and judging is the only and absolute way. There are other ways as well. For sure. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Email:  tayorockson@uydmag.com Website: http://www.uydmedia.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/tayorockson Build Your Cultural Competence In the Culture Matters podcast, we interview real people with real stories. Every other week there is a guest with broad international experience and lots of cultural insights. I interview real people with real stories. To subscribe directly using iTunes or Stitcher, Click here, or here (or click any of the images below). How To Get In Touch With Culture Matters I'd love for you to get in touch. There are a couple of ways you can do this: Via this website: Just use the “Ask Your Question” tab on the right of the screen and leave a voicemail Email me at chris.smit@culturematters.com Send me a Tweet: @chrissmit Finally Thank you so much for taking the time to read this far, and to listen to my Podcast. I hope you will be back for the next episode of the Culture Matters Podcast! Third Culture Kid on Culture Matters