Uncertainty Avoidance, the United States and the Credit Crisis
One of the most popular posts on the Culture Matters website is one I wrote about Uncertainty Avoidance (titled: What is Uncertainty Avoidance? You can find it here. There are a lot of comments on this post, and one, in particular, got me to write this one. The...
Why Doing Business Is Never About the Price
In this article, I want to show you that doing International business is never about the price. For that matter, doing any kind of business is not about the price. I can almost hear you think: "Yeah, right...", but let me explain. Of course, Price...
Do’s & Don’ts and the Occasional Business Etiquette
Do's & Don'ts and the Occasional Business Etiquette [4-mins read] I get the question of almost every cultural awareness training: "Can you give me some Do's & Don'ts of this particular country?" or "What about this or that Business Etiquette?" It's a very...
How to do Business in the USA
In this article on how to do business in the USA, I want to focus on the specifics of the cultural makeup of the United States. Doing business in any country requires a good understanding of not only the local etiquette but certainly of the local culture. But there is...
Hierarchy; the Consequences of Differences in Different Cultures
Hierarchy Differences account for the majority of cultural differences in the world. The word "Hierarchy" comes from the Greek hierarkhia, "rule of a high priest", from hierarkhes, "president of sacred rites". Read more about its origin here. A good definition in...
International Management and Managing Expectations
What is International Management? Checking the online encyclopedia Wikipedia does not give an answer (the page does not exist!). Still, in Cultural Awareness Training, it is a real important issue. How do you manage internationally and/or how do you manage the...
Gender differences in Culture; Why are men better than women?
Gender Differences in Culture This is of course not the opinion of the writer. So, let me be more specific and approach this title from a cultural perspective In certain countries, people prefer to have a son over a daughter. In two of these countries, India &...
Turkish Culture; Saint Nicholas and the Garden Gnomes
Turkish Culture Saint Nicholas of Myra has a lot to answer for. For a start, he was responsible for a Nordic Council meeting that was devoted to a bitter dispute over claims to his namesake, Santa Claus. The Norwegians presented a carefully argued but sentimental case...
French Culture; Are the French Autistic?
French Culture Traveling From Belgium to France Travel southeast down the valley of the Viroin and, just beyond the border, you find yourself traversing a wasteland of scrubby hedgerows and bits of abandoned corrugated iron that shrieks "France". You are witnessing...
