Cultural Differences & Cultural Diversity in International Business

How Culture and Personality are Intertwined Culture and personality. Where do they fit? How are they mixed together? Is there overlap? Which one dominates? In this short podcast, I'll give you my, non-academic, view on this very interesting topic. I'm curious to hear your feedback, so please do not hesitate to drop me a line. Thank you!   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 Thomas Kessler on culture and M&As Thomas Kessler is Partner and Managing Director of Global PMI Partners and draws on 20 years of experience in Mergers & Acquisitions and particularly in Post Merger Integration. The importance of culture in transactions is one of the essential success factors. Thomas looks at culture beyond being a success factor. In his experience culture should be a key decision factor when acquiring. He will present his view on how companies can incorporate culture during strategic selection and due diligence to ensure they are considering the impact of culture integration in the purchase decision. His three tips for becoming more culturally competent are: Be open and listen actively. Take note of the others' organizational culture; What do you see? What do people talk about? What do they celebrate? etc. Realize that culture is a major success factor when it comes to M&As. There are plenty of success stories (mentioned in the interview), but unfortunately also many failures. Have people on board in your organization that act as "champions"; so other people can see what they do, how they act, and in this way identify themselves with the desired (new) culture. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Email:thomas@gpmip.com Telephone: +49 172 255 9788 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!

How to Explain Culture to Kids Kids are no adults. With this, I'm not telling you anything new. So how do you explain culture to kids? Most of the work I do is with adults. All of the work I do is with adults. Except for this one time I had the opportunity to work with Children. I was asked to explain the concept of cultural differences to a group of children ages 6 to 16, from several European countries. I can tell you, it was quite a challenge. But it was a really nice challenge to take up. I learned several things that I will address in this podcast. So have a listen to this podcast where I share my ideas and wrap up with some tips for you if ever you're working with kids and need to explain culture or any other abstract concept. 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! More on how to explain culture to kids on this podcast.

About This Week's Guest Christophe Van Gampelaere Christophe Van Gampelaere is the Belgian partner at Global PMI Partners, the only global consultancy focused exclusively on international merger integrations and carve-outs. Christophe Van Gampelaere's three tips for becoming more culturally competent are: Read. Read books from Geert Hofstede Erin Meyer and others when it comes to culture (see the links below). In other words, educate yourself. Know where you are yourself when it comes to cultural differences. Institutionalize culture in the M&A pre-deal negotiations. When you're communicating with different cultures, after the M&A deal has been signed, take into account that different cultures communicate differently and that you should do too. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://gpmip.com Books by professor Geert Hofstede Books by Erin Meyer 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!

How to Work with a VA and Cultural Differences Working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) from a different culture is not always easy. In this podcast, I talk about my own experience and how you can benefit from this as well. Overcoming Cultural differences is usually the biggest hurdle to take when it comes to working with a VA. It's not PowerPoint or Dropbox or any other technical platforms that will make or break your relationship with a VA. It's the cultural differences that will. Pay attention to those and things will run smoothly. If you don't things could get a lot rougher. Links in this episode: The Four-Hour Work Week Other books on working with VA's How to work with a virtual assistant Sunder P talks about Get Friday and International VA's [Podcast] 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! Work with a VA on Culture Matters

Do's and Don'ts in International Business I get the question pretty much every time I give a workshop or lecture: "Can you give us some do's and don'ts on how to do this or that?". When this question gets asked, I always warn people that do's and don'ts are very contextual; what works in one context doesn't work in another one. So, always be very careful when it comes to applying do's and don'ts you have heard or read about. I'm curious to hear about your experiences when it comes to intercultural do's and don'ts. Please leave your comments at the bottom of this post. Thanks! 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! An article about how to "behave" in an international environment can be found here. Do's and Don'ts in International Business on Culture Matters

Cultural Differences and the EU About This Week's Guest Madi Sharma Cultural Differences and the EU Madi Sharma is an entrepreneur and a social capitalist. She's a member of the European Economic and Social Committee, and living her life with one strict motto No Excuses! Her tips to become more culturally competent are: Say "Thank You". These simple words show a great deal of empathy and interest in what happens around you. In addition, this leads to a show of respect for the person you're addressing. Understand things from the other person's perspective. If the other person or yourself says "No" to whatever, try to find out what's behind this "No". There is always a deeper meaning. Understanding the deeper meaning will help you understand the other culture better (and your own). Value diversity. Don't be afraid of it, but see the added value in cultural differences. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://madisharma.org Email: madi@madisharma.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!

Why Company Culture Matters [Podcast] Why does company culture matter? because it can make or break your organization and your success. When I talk about "company culture", for me it is the same as corporate or organizational culture, so I'll use them interchangeably. Every organization has a company culture. Even 1-person organizations. Difference Between National Culture and Organizational Culture National culture talks about the values a nation, country or culture has. Organizational culture does not (!) talk about values, but rather "how things are being done here". Which is significantly different than values. The 7S Model The 7S Model (pictured) clearly explains the essence of what influences a company culture; with "Shared Vision" in the middle representing the corporate culture. How to Change a Company Culture Contrary to National culture, company culture can be changed. How? Start with the slow variables (purple) Know your starting point Choose the path of least resistance Podcast Links Here are the links mentioned in this podcast: NYT article on Amazon's corporate culture Article on Why Company Culture Matters 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! Read here why cultural competence is crucial in an international environment.

About This Weeks Guest Vanessa Shaw Vanessa Shaw is an experienced consultant, trainer and active speaker at leadership conferences. She is a work futurist on a mission to help organizations and teams collaborate virtually in a way that builds trust and fosters innovation so that they can impact positive change in their work. Vanessa helps clients to navigate the digital revolution by implementing the right technology for their team. She then helps them to create virtually team environments that bring to life the human side of tech. She has a Bachelor's in Communications from the University of California, Santa Cruz. And graduated top 10% national honors. During her career, she has facilitated projects in the US, Latin America, Europe and SE Asia with multinationals, non-profits, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, White House, and over 50 universities. Originally from the Silicon Valley, Vanessa Shaw has lived abroad since 2011, currently enjoying Barcelona.   You can find her on twitter and the web at Human Side of Tech. Her tips to become more culturally competent are: Be resilient. When something is happening in an intercultural setting, that you don't like or don't understand, be able to get up and start over. Be creative when you're dealing with people Smile :) Better yet, laugh! What's the funny side of what just happened? Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://humansideoftech.org Email: vanessa@humansideoftech.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/humansideoftech 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!