International Business Culture

Training Courses &  Presentations

Businesstravelogue offers courses or general presentations on international business culture. We can design a specific course for you which can include all aspects of the business reports we offer plus much more....

What will a course about business culture involve?

You may be taught about the country, its people and their relative situation within the world. You may learn about the cultural taboos, business card protocols, greetings and farewells, how to negotiate, dress, attitudes towards women, how to give and accept gifts, etiquette about wining and dining, visiting homes and entertaining and communication issues. I say "MAY" because every situation has specific needs that we strive to fully address with a specifically tailored course. We discuss with you your needs and how best to meet them. It may only need an hour talk to raise general awareness, it may involve much more.

What will you gain from the course?

You will gain a comprehensive understanding of the culture(s) and therefore understand the motives for the behaviour of people from a foreign culture(s). Consequently, you will have the knowledge to avoid social gaffs, faux pas and taboos and thereby protecting your business venture/client interaction from the risk of the damage to the relationship or even failure of that relationship. Business training will give you a significant business advantage over competitors because it ...

• Provides you with the confidence that gives a professional and savvy image.

• Helps you understand the business culture.

• Helps you create effective strategies and avoid wasted effort.

• Helps you identify opportunities that match your interests.

• Provides you with the knowledge to build lasting and profitable business relationships.

Who should attend?

Any staff member travelling overseas to a foreign culture to do any type of business should be provided with appropriate cultural training. Another important area involves people who have to interact with people from foreign cultures on a daily basis. We currently offer specific talks/courses on the following countries:-

If the culture you are interested is not listed, still contact us as we are constantly expanding our range . gclark@businesstravelogue.com

Examples of cultural problems we have been asked to design a course for include:-

1. A division of a major Australian company (in top 150) required a project team to be trained in Chinese culture for a multi-million dollar project they had won in the province of Henan. This course specifically designed for them, encompassed background history, local information, etiquette, meeting protocols. banquets, dining, business negotiation, taboos, marketing issues, translation and interpreter issues and some general travel advice and much more. This training encompassed approximately 5 hours of presentation, question time and 65 pages of bound reference notes for each attendee.

2. An international communication company experienced difficulties between its Australian staff and its staff in the European office. Typical problems were cryptic (criticising) emails between staff, difficulty having both teams working together, the inability to arrange an award system satisfactory to both sides, etc.

3. The training officer at a large international financial company required cultural training of its trainers who were about to embark on a training program across their Asian offices. Advice was required on gestures, taboos and other issues that would assist the training of staff in each country and avoidance of insults plus understanding and tolerance for the differences between the cultures.

BUSINESS CULTURE PRESENTATIONS

If you want to simply raise the general overall awareness about foreign cultures, we can provide a talk that gives an overview either of a specific culture or cultures in general. This type of talk is appealing to local government (eg. council employees), semi-government and government organisations that deal with many nationalities in their day-to-day activities. Overcome ignorance about cultural differences that can seriously affect staff-client relationships and/or put your staff in awkward, sometimes confronting situations.

For example, a successful general talk on the "Cultural Aspects of Networking" was given to the International Focus Group of the Australian Institute of Management (Melbourne, Australia). This provided a general awareness of the potential implications when one was about to embark on international business deals.

To discuss your specific needs on courses or a presentation and obtain a quotation, please email Gregory Clark at gclark@businesstravelogue.com  

Please note we currently only offer these courses in Australia and New Zealand.

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