Understanding Cultural Differences

Understanding cultural differences is a huge challenge. Culture, whether regional or national, determines the way people interact with one another in social and business settings. With 7.6 billion people living around the globe, differences abound. These disparate viewpoints have a major impact on professional relationships, how we build and keep trust, and how we approach communication. When business ties are weakened by a lack of cultural understanding, a company’s bottom line often suffers as a result.

Fortunately, writer and intercultural expert Fons Trompenaars has developed a 4-step method to successfully managing cross-cultural teams in business. It all starts with identifying and respecting differences and ends with reconciling ‘cultural dilemmas’ and implementing practical actions. Coined by Fons, the term ‘cultural dilemmas’ refers to the clashes or mismatches that can arise when doing business in a globalized context. As such, this method aims to help you ease cultural tensions and integrate diversity into your company processes.

In this 10-minute e-Book, discover how you can reconcile cultural differences and improve company processes.