Cultural Differences & Cultural Diversity in International Business

Uncertainty Avoidance in International Business The Hidden Cultural Dimension You Need to Understand When Doing Business Overseas This podcast is something different from the regular Interview podcasts that I do. I wanted to pay more attention to Hofstede's fourth and most difficult dimension: Uncertainty Avoidance. Time and again explaining this dimension is difficult to do. A lot of people link it only to official rules. But that is not enough. Uncertainty Avoidance covers a whole lot more. Listen to this podcast and find out what else is linked to this complex cultural dimension. If you want to learn more, why not get the complete book on Uncertainty Avoidance? Exclusively available on Kindle by Amazon. Click here to get it now. Uncertainty Avoidance Links Some links on this website that also cover aspects of Uncertainty Avoidance: What is Uncertainty Avoidance Examples of Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty Avoidance in the Netherlands and Belgium Compared Uncertainty Avoidance, the United States and the Credit Crisis Uncertainty Avoidance in Venezuela 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! Trust is important in international business, read more about trust here. Uncertainty Avoidance in International Business on Culture Matters

About This Week's Guest Professor Dr. Alex Mottrie Prof. Dr. Alex Mottrie is the Head of the Urological Department of the OLV Hospital Aalst in Belgium. He is also President of the European Robotic Urology Section and the worldwide Society of Robotic Surgeons. Finally, he is CEO of the OLV Vattikuti Robotic Surgery Institute (ORSI). His tips to become more culturally competent are: Next to being professional, try to be social as well. Although sometimes difficult to do, be as open as you can to other cultures, their way of life, etc. Speaking an extra language here and there really helps bridge the culture gap. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://www.alexmottrie.com/ Email: a.mottrie@telenet.be 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 in India About This Week's Guest Neil Miller Neil moved to Chennai in January 2010 with his wife and four suitcases. In this podcast, he talks about Cultural Differences in India. He prepared by reading a lot of good books and meeting a lot of knowledgeable people. However, nothing could have prepared him for what he experienced trying to start his own business and then working with a mid-sized family-owned Indian company. Every time that he thought India would finally get the best of him, he was able to add a layer to his understanding of India. His goal is to provide the most useful, helpful, insightful, and accurate information available in India. His 3 tips to become more culturally competent are: Ask "Why" if something is happening around you that you don't understand. Even if what you see, hear or experience looks or sounds weird, don't hesitate to ask what is going on. Dive deep(er) into the local culture if you're staying for more than a year in another place. Don't only stick to the expat circles and/or the lunches in five-star hotels. Meet local people, get into their homes, and eat food together. Consider that someone else's culture might be better than yours in their country. E.g. Leadership in India is more paternalistic. Americans can look at this and judge this negatively. But in a country like India, this style of management can be very functional. Be humble that their ways of working work for them. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://learningindia.in Website: http://madrasmediamarketing.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/neilandindia 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! In the article doing business in India, we talk more about this subject. You can read it here. An interesting podcast on cultural differences in India can be found here Cultural Differences in India on Culture Matters

About This Weeks Guest Sabina Idler Sabina Idler is Founder, UX researcher and Interaction designer at UXkids. She is passionate about designing and improving interactive media for all ages. Sabina grew up in the south of Germany. Since then she has lived in the US and traveled through Australia and New Zealand before in 2010, her passion for kids and media brought her to Amsterdam. Her 3 tips to become more culturally competent are: Don't judge other cultures. Just see them as being different, and not better or worse. Be curious. Whenever you're wondering about something that you don't understand, ask what you're seeing, or experiencing. Or simply ask what others are doing? Be open to travel, and don't stick to the common paths. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Email: sabina@uxkids.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/SabinaIdler How To Design For A Cross-Cultural User Experience (part 1/2): http://blog.usabilla.com/designing-for-a-cross-cultural-user-experience-part1/ How To Design For A Cross-Cultural User Experience http://blog.usabilla.com/designing-for-a-cross-cultural-user-experience-part2/ LinkedIn 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!

Sigrid Kaag About This Week's Guest Ms Sigrid Kaag is the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon. In this episode, Sigrid Kaag talks about her experience working for the UN, and her intercultural experience throughout her impressive career. Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigrid_Kaag 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 Cultural differences and virtual assistance Sunder P is the Managing Director & CEO of TTK Services Pvt. Ltd., a TTK group company focused on providing technology-enabled consumer services. He is responsible for business strategy and the overall profitability of the firm, overseeing three divisions with distinct business models, operations in 6 cities in India, and a staff strength of more than 300 employees. He has been involved in conceiving and building innovative services in the outsourcing market, leveraging technology and specifically the consumer Internet for the last 12 years. One of those divisions is called "GetFriday". Get Friday is the largest player in the organized Virtual Assistant (VA) Services market globally. It provides 24/7 VA services to individual and small business clients in more than 50 countries across the world, spanning 4 timezones. Get Friday has been featured on numerous world media and renowned publications across the globe for their service innovation. The list includes the NY Times, WSJ, CNN, ABC GMA, CBS News, The Times (London), The Guardian (UK), Sydney Morning Herald, Der Spiegel and many more. His 3 tips for becoming more culturally competent are: Acknowledge, accept, and respect that there are cultural differences Be empathetic towards the other person Be respectful of what the other person brings to the table in terms of who he or she is Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://getfriday.com Website: http://getfridayace.com (for premium service and bigger organizations) Email: support@getfriday.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 and virtual assistance on Culture Matters

About This Weeks Guest Timothy J. Bridgman Timothy was born in UK, lived in Poland on/off since 1999, went to Poland to try to become Poland's first world fusion music DJ, then over the same period became lecturer at University of Lodz. Left employment at University of Lodz in 2012 to retrain as an Interculturalist. He now specialise in intercultural training for domestic international careers in Poland. Tim has extensive experience helping graduates prepare to enter into careers for SSC/BPOs in Poland. His 3 tips for becoming more culturally competent are: Film: Bogowie (2014) – Dir. Łukasz Palkowski (Imdb link) Music: Moizm (2013) - Tomasz Makowiecki (Wikipedia link) Book: Positively Disappointed: Business Across Cultures in Poland (2015) – Timothy J. Bridgman (Book) Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://www.szkolenia-lodz.com/intercultural-training/ Linkedin: pl.linkedin.com/in/timothyjbridgman/ Email: tjb@szkolenia-lodz.com Ebook Download: Positively Disappointed: Business Across Cultures in Poland (2015) – Timothy J. Bridgman 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, Click here. 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 Concierge About This Week's Guest Amanda Workman Amanda grew up in Eastern Africa, lived and worked in Hong Kong, and has traveled and worked throughout Eastern and Southern Africa, India, China, and Western Europe.  This lifetime of experiences has given her a passion for people and cultures and as a result has helped to develop a unique perspective on Global competency, cross-cultural nuances, and training internationally.  When she is not finding new adventures by spending weekends in Paris, riding elephants in Thailand, or listening to lions roar on safari in Africa - Amanda can be found in Dallas, TX spending time with her friends, and her pets, and dreaming of her next adventure. Her 3 tips for becoming more culturally competent are: Look around you. Simply stop and look around you without being busy all the time. Look at what is right, rather than what you could fix, make better, or improve. Listen to what is being said; without the intention to respond necessarily. "Love" the other person. The other person is human too. Ask yourself: What can I learn from them? Interview Links Links that are mentioned in this episode: Website: http://cultural-concierge.com Twitter: LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/amandawworkman 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, Click here. 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 Concierge on Culture Matters

About This Week's Guest Teresa Knapp Teresa Knapp is the Director of Program Development for International Student Exchange. She has been in the field of foreign student exchange for 25 years. Teresa Knapp gives her 3 tips for becoming more culturally competent: Get rid of common sense; what works and sounds like common sense in your own country and culture will probably not work in another culture. Be open to communicating, and make sure you are truly listening. Be willing to learn, and to see through the eyes of the other culture. Interview Links The links that are mentioned in this episode are: Email: teresa@iseusa.org Phone: 844-556-6688 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, Click here. 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!