Most people associate Japanese culture with a traditional etiquette and formality that people adhere to strictly in both professional and social spheres. When doing business in Japan it’s important to understand that etiquette is an important instrument that can convey hierarchical structures and respect. Understanding business and social etiquette in Japan can be challenging, however, and many people who visit Japan are intrigued by the multitude of extremes and exceptions in Japanese etiquette.

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One part of Japanese etiquette revolves around Japanese naming conventions. The Japanese language is comprised of an array of formal and informal terms that are used to address each other. In Japanese business people tend to prefer to be addressed with their last name. Most Japanese names end with the suffix ‘-san’ which is a rather neutral option and stands for Mr. or Ms.

The Japanese naming system is however much more elaborate and uses different suffixes to indicate the status of a person in addition to this. It is also commonplace in business to add the job title after someone’s name to show their authority and seniority. In this case the suffix ‘-san’ would then be replaced with the job title or profession of that person. For example, a head of department named Takahashi is referred to as Buchō or Takahashi-buchō.

Intercultural awareness training courses like Doing Business in Japan can help anyone working with Japanese counterparts to not only learn the words that are added to names in Japan but also to understand the meaning and values that people in Japan attach to them. Understanding these honorific naming conventions will help you to build trusting relationships with your Japanese counterparts.

Japanese naming conventions expand beyond business to the family sphere as well. Older family members can address younger family members with their name alone. Younger family members will address their elders with a referential suffix that will reveal how close they are to the person they are addressing. When addressing people outside their family, Japanese use a different word for mother, brother, sister etc which creates an even stronger sense of family in Japanese culture.

Family is a core value in Japanese culture and strongly impacts Japanese naming conventions, but attitudes towards family are changing as Japanese society becomes influenced by American and European trends. One area of Japanese naming conventions which are being influenced by these changes is marriage. A recent article in the Guardian suggests that an increasing number of women are refusing to change their family name. Traditionally the head of the Japanese family is always the man. Couples have to agree on one surname when they get married as Japanese society does not allow couples to have different or double surnames.

An increasing number of Japanese women have recently started to challenge the status quo and are fighting to keep their surname. To some this is an astonishing insight as it seems to contradict the emphasis on strict Japanese etiquette and family traditions which are so important in Japanese culture. Some fear that this new trend could negatively impact the unique concept of family and its associated traditions in Japanese culture.

Although new trends are challenging traditional Japanese culture it will take a considerable amount of time before they become completely commonplace and significantly change a whole set of elaborate etiquette. Anyone doing business in Japan will certainly find that the traditional business etiquette will prevail for some time to come. However an understanding of how Japanese society is changing and being influenced by new approaches and attitudes will help anyone doing business in Japan to respond appropriately and not make false assumptions. Taking an intercultural training course like Doing Business in Japan will ensure you are up to speed on all of the recent trends as well as traditional customs in Japanese society that impact business and social spheres enabling you to effectively respond to and harness unique aspects of Japanese culture.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Culture in Japan, Doing Business in Japan, Japanese business culture, Japanese culture, Japanese honorifics, Japanese names, meaning of Japanese names, Working with Japanese

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“Numbers are the way we make decisions now” said Census Bureau Director Robert Grove in a recent interview with Guy Garcia, multicultural consumerism expert. The two speakers commented on the American census data in a conference at the ARF, an open forum for discussions on marketing and advertising. The outcome was an interesting new vision of the American social construct.

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If we are still thinking of Americans as loud, open and boastful people, perhaps it is time to reconsider our stereotypes. The census results are significant because they show major shifts in the cultural make-up of American citizens, from their age to their ethnical background. The record 14.6% of marriages between people of different ethnicities or race is just one example of how the population is changing a rapid pace.

The workplace is a mirror of such demographic change and will experience different approaches to meetings, negotiating, building trust and closing sales as a result, all of which will impact the success of doing business and selling across cultures. The ever changing lifestyle trends of an average American means that marketing and advertising initiatives also need to change. For instance, if Americans are increasingly marrying later in life, having pictures of a young couple advertising a home insurance policy might feel out of place.

International organisations are slowly beginning to recognise that a multicultural population like that of the US has a strong impact on marketing and business. A more diverse cultural background means that consumers’ preferences and habits are more varied and marketing campaigns must pay a lot of attention to the new social expectations and attitudes. However many organisations don’t realise that increasing immigration and the inevitable transformation of society means that cultural differences are present not only abroad but at home so they often fail to adapt their marketing campaigns accordingly.

Increased awareness of your potential clients’ requirements and expectations across cultures is the new way forward when doing business both abroad and at home. Adapting your sales and marketing techniques effectively to a multicultural consumer base requires a unique set of cultural skills and understanding.

Being culturally inclusive and aware is more than choosing a set of images that include a range of ethnically diverse people. Cultural awareness for marketing means being able to identify consumers’ unique cultural values, attitudes and preferences and being able to adapt the product or advert accordingly. Cross cultural awareness training courses such as Selling across Cultures will help you develop the cultural skills required for an effective marketing campaign aimed at a multicultural population.

The US is not the only country seeing such changes to the cultural composition of their population and workforce. Migration on a global scale affects most nations. Some countries such as the UK have a long history of dealing with multicultural differences with many waves of different nationalities migrating to the country over the years. Others, such as Italy, are new to the diverse and bulky flux of migrants and are facing new challenges in industries like clothing retail which is struggling against a strong Chinese competition.

These cultural differences can easily lead to miscommunication and tensions, ultimately causing loss of time, money and revenue to an organisation. An intercultural training course such as Developing Global Competence can help you to reduce the dangers and pitfalls that a multicultural working environment presents. A global economy requires marketing initiatives to be informed by cultural awareness the world over. Ultimately, capitalism is driven by diversity so successful business will be led by the ability to effectively adapt to such changes and cultures.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: American, Courses - Cultural Training, Cross cultural awareness training, cultural, Developing intercultural Competence, diverse, intercultural communication, intercultural training, multicultural, Selling across Cultures, US culture

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Whether we meet someone for three seconds or thirty minutes, studies show that our first impressions do not change very easily. In a Western context, one of the first things we do when meeting someone is shake their hand. As a result, the handshake has acquired special significance in revealing certain traits of our personality.

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Some people worry whether their handshake is making the right impression but now they can be comforted by the results of a research project conducted by a group of scientists working for Chevrolet. They claim to have found the formula for the perfect handshake: a firm grip and three vigorous shakes. But is this the best handshake for every context, whether formal or informal or between men or women? Does this hold true for people around the world?Knowing how to shake someone’s hand in just the right way requires the ability to observe, adapt and understand the other person. Are they in a position of authority? Do they appreciate more masculine values such as competition or individualism? Have you ever met them before? Are they a man or a woman? What culture do they come from?

These are just some of the questions you need to answer to determine what kind of handshake the other person expects. In the end, you might find they don’t expect a handshake at all! All of these factors are extremely important to consider if you want to make the right impression. If you are working globally, you could argue that the most important factor is their cultural origin.

When doing business both in your own country and abroad, being able to correctly interpret and appropriately use the right non-verbal communication is vital. Whether it’s a handshake or eye contact, using the most appropriate behaviour will make a positive first impression with your international counterparts. A simple gesture like the Ronald McDonald statue in Thailand that welcomes Thai customers with the typical local greeting the wai can make all the difference in the world.

Where the greeting gesture is apparently the same from one culture to another, it’s important you understand whether it is used in the same way. Many cultures will shake hands when greeting, but the way this is done can vary dramatically. In most Western cultures, for example, a strong handshake conveys trustworthiness and confidence but in most African countries the same message is conveyed with a weaker handshake.

Intercultural training courses such as Doing Business in the UK will give you the knowledge and skills you need to identify when a handshake is appropriate or not, and if it is, how it should be performed. Intercultural training courses can also give you the confidence and awareness you need to make the right first impression which will lead you to a long-term profitable cross-cultural relationship.

Body language and gestures such as handshakes can tell you a lot about a person so being able to interpret them correctly and having a disciplined and yet flexible demenour can make a significant difference to your success. A greeting like a handshake is often the first bridge you create towards your future business counterparts so you must make sure you consider how it should be done in that context.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Cross Cultural Training, cross-cultural awareness, Developing intercultural Competence, greetings, intercultural communication, intercultural training, Working Succesfully Across Cultures

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In a recent article published in the Telegraph, Annabel Kantaria, a British expat living in Dubai, talked about the delight of coming back home from an international assignment. From the reassurance of being on streets with more disciplined drivers to the joy of seeing the milkman delivering milk bottles every day, Annabel’s joy of being back in the UK is genuine.

Coming back home will often bring with it the joys of comforting things like Annabel’s examples but there are many challenges as well that returning expatriates need to overcome. Re-adapting to their home country after being away for a year or more can be difficult and confusing for former international assignees.

© istockphoto.com/ Shao Weiwei

Catching up with friends, rediscovering familiar places and enjoying things such as food or weather can be a true joy for international assignees that have been away from home for a while. However, this feeling of joy can be dampened by challenges which often surface after this initial period of uninterrupted bliss.

Developing cultural skills and knowledge before an international assignment is increasingly recognised as a necessity in order to effectively deal with the cultural differences. After an international assignment, however, most people don’t think about the changes or cultural differences they will find on their return home and therefore they don’t do anything to prepare themselves for them.

In fact, most expatriates returning from long term assignments find that the environment they were so familiar with has changed while they’ve been away. This often results in feelings of confusion or frustration when they see that they have missed things during the years of their international assignment.

Simple things like not seeing friends who have moved away or being unable to go to a favourite pub because it no longer exists can have a major impact on returning expatriates. Re-adapting to the cultural habits, traditions and even values in the home country after experiencing a different culture on their assignment can also be challenging and make them feel like a stranger in their own country.

Many returning expatriates also face challenges getting back into their professional life. Former international assignees sometimes find it hard to get recognition for the success they have achieved abroad. Often the skills they have developed by working with other cultures are also underestimated and unappreciated by their manager. The lack of recognition and under appreciation can lead to frustration and hinder the re-adaptation process.

How can returning expatriates cope with these challenges of re-adjusting to their home country after being away for so long? Staying in touch with their friends, families and former colleagues through virtual communication can be a good start to ensure that they are not forgotten. Too often the expression ‘out of sight, out of mind’ holds true for international assignees on an expatriation. Returning home once in a while is another good way to avoid a challenging reverse culture shock.

Professionally, returning expatriates can also assess their skills and discuss the experience they have gained with their manager on a regular basis so they see how they are developing throughout the assignment and are ready to welcome them home and harness their new skills and knowledge.

Communicaid’s cross cultural repatriation training programmes can also help returning expatriates to cope with reverse culture shock and the process of readjusting to their personal and professional life in their home country. Repatriation training will help former expatriates and their family members discover the hidden challenges of coming back home and any aspects of the culture which may have changed since they lived there. Cross cultural training provides excellent opportunities to discuss any specific concerns about coming home and provides a full update on any changes to the home country since leaving.

Staying in touch, returning for home visits and cross cultural repatriation training courses are just some of the key things returning expatriates can do to reduce the impact of reverse culture shock and ensure their experience of coming home is filled with more joyous things like seeing the milkman every morning.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, cross cultural communication, cultural training for expatriates, intercultural communication, Repatriation Training, reverse culture shock, Training for international assignees

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The appearance of international leaders coming from what Westerners usually call the “emerging countries” is creating new trends in the globalisation phenomenon. Once dominant companies are now being bought by Chinese, Brazilian or Indian companies and managers are increasingly recruited from these and other countries, creating new intercultural challenges.

© istockphoto.com/ Urban Cow

The merger between Arcelor and Mittal in 2006 is perhaps one of the best examples of this new trend. Arcelor, a powerful western steel company was bought by Mittal, an Indian steel manufacturing consortium owned by the Indian businessman Lakshi Mittal. This transaction faced heavy resistance and the French, Spanish and Belgian governments expressed their opposition alongside most of the Arcelor board members. Guy Dollé, the Chief Executive of Arcelor at the time, even described Mittal as a mere “company of Indians”.

This international merger shows us the difficulty many westerners have in accepting the fact that tomorrow’s decisions makers, managers and leaders will not only be German, British and North American but also increasingly Chinese or Indian. As these new international managers come onto the scene, they will bring with them their own unique cultural values and working practices which can be quite different to what most westerners are used to.

Perceptions of time, orientations toward hierarchy, approaches to decision-making or styles of communication are all elements of business which will be different. For employees of global organisations, having managers from different cultures means they could face intercultural challenges they may not have experienced before. Providing them with intercultural training courses before the new manager takes the role will help them to understand their managers’ style and expectations while it will also improve their ability to adapt to these new working styles. Failure to understand or adapt to another intercultural style may result in misunderstandings, conflict or poor performance.

Managers from countries like China or India coming to manage employees in the UK or Germany will face similar intercultural challenges. Understanding what their teams expect of them and knowing how to motivate, lead and manage them effectively requires a high level of cultural understanding and knowledge. Intercultural training provides managers with specific intercultural strategies and appropriate management tools that will help them achieve success in their different global projects.

Providing international employees and managers access to specific intercultural training programmes like Working Effectively across Cultures or Effective Global Leadership is crucial for global organisations employing multicultural teams or managers from other cultures. Enhancing the intercultural awareness and understanding of employees and their managers will not only reduce cultural misunderstandings and conflict but it will create a good working atmosphere allowing organisations to harness the benefits that their multicultural population brings.

With intercultural training, organisations such as ArcelorMittal can look towards joint ventures or M&As with other cultures more favourably so that Guy Dollé’s quote about the ‘company of Indians’ would instead be seen as a positive force rather than a negative one.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: ArcelorMittal, Courses - Cultural Training, Cross Cultural Training, cross-cultural challenges, intercultural communication, intercultural training, Leading across cultures, merger and acquisition, Working Succesfully Across Cultures

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An international assignment is always a challenge from both a professional and personal perspective as coping with the differences within the workplace and the personal environment can be difficult.

Statistics show that failed international assignments are mainly related to a lack of adaptation either from the expatriate or his/her family. A failed expatriation can have severe consequences for an organisation and result in a significant loss of money as expatriates can be expensive.

© istockphoto.com/ Kasia

Studies suggest that a failed international assignment can cost between$100,000 and $300,000. Failed business or project objectives also indirectly harm the brand image and limit the future business perspectives of the company. Finally, the damage on the expatriates’ morale and performance can also be disastrous, depression and a long lasting loss of confidence can affect them even after they return.

Working habits are one of the main problems encountered by expatriates as they can be fairly different from one country to another. The way people deal with risk, hierarchy, time and decision making processes are different and these differences can hinder an expatriate’s performance. Expatriate cultural programs can increase the understanding of the impact of these differences which will help them to adapt more easily to his/her new environment. Cultural awareness training will also provide expatriates with key insights and practical information about business and social practices in the country.

It is also crucial to assess and understand the expatriates’ main concerns in order to help them to succeed. According to the HSBC Expats Survey results, expatriates are mainly preoccupied with their ability to make friends abroad, socialise and adapt to the local community. They are also concerned about ensuring their partner and family have an enjoyable experience.

All of these challenges can be difficult to overcome without the appropriate and relevant cultural awareness training. Deciphering Chinese or Indian social and business practices and customs is almost impossible without the proper guidance. During an expatriate cultural program, delegates can also benefit from the experience of their trainer who will share anecdotes and first hand testimonies that can help expatriates to foresee what await them in their host culture. Cultural awareness training also helps to break down myths and stereotypes which sometimes lead to false assumptions and cultural insensitivity.

Providing expatriate cultural programs such as Living and Working in India or Living and Working in China can help future expatriates to adapt quickly to their new environment and reduce the risks of failure. The relevant and appropriate strategies and tools they will receive on expatriate cultural program will give them the confidence they need to work effectively in another culture and cope with the specific challenges of their expatriation.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Cultural Awareness training, expatriate cultural program, expatriates, expatriation, intercultural training, international assignees, living and working abroad

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Morocco’s strategic position on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea makes it a key gateway to Southern Europe and North Africa. Morocco’s location, fast growing economy and increasingly modern infrastructures are attracting more and more foreign investment. Understanding Morocco’s unique set of cultural values and attitudes and how they impact business and social culture is extremely important for any organisation doing business in Morocco. The following are some of the key challenges of doing business in Morocco.

© istockphoto.com/ Narvikk

Collectivism
Morocco is known as a highly collectivistic country. When doing business in Morocco this is something that may present a challenge. A traditional Moroccan family is very extended and includes children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The father tends to work the most to support the whole family and each member of the family has its own specific task to support the families well being.

Importance of Relationships
Directly linked with Moroccan collectivist attitudes, relationships and connections are vital for anyone doing business in Morocco. Suppliers and potential customers are more likely to sign contracts with people they already know and being introduced by agents or third parties can be a shortcut to success. Doing business in Morocco can as a result be more time consuming and frustrating for people coming from a culture which emphasises performance over relationship.

Islam
Islam is practised by an overwhelming majority of Moroccans and has an impact on every aspect of life in Morocco. Foreigners doing business in Morocco should be aware of the dedicated time to prayers or other religious events such as Ramadan when the country’s economic activity and business slows down. Islam also impacts relationships between men and women so female entrepreneurs should be aware of the appropriate behaviour and dress code when doing business in Morocco.

The Concept of Face
The concept of face is really important in Arabic countries and Morocco is no exception. Damaging your counterpart’s dignity or honour and causing him or her to lose face will seriously harm your business opportunities in Morocco. Harsh criticisms, negative feedback or direct confrontation should be avoided at all costs when doing business in Morocco.

Communicaid’s cultural awareness training programmes such as Doing Business in Morocco or Living and Working in Morocco can help you and your organisation to avoid cultural faux pas and key challenges of doing business in Morocco. Tailored cross cultural tools and strategies provided in cross cultural training will ensure more successful communication and interactions when doing business in Morocco.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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A recent survey showed that Chinese and American film reviewers had rather different responses to the same or similar films. Chinese comments were more subtle and kind towards mediocre productions, while American comments were more open and critical. Does this mean that Chinese audiences are more easily satisfied or is this simply a matter of different communication styles? Or perhaps Chinese audiences like different things than American audiences?

© istockphoto.com/ Tom Hall

Some argue that this finding could be linked to the distinction between collectivistic and individualistic societies. For example, in a collectivistic culture there is more importance placed on group cohesion and harmony than individual actions and competition. Asian countries in particular reflect this collectivist attitude so they tend to prefer constructing messages in an ambiguous way. This helps them to avoid causing conflict in the group or losing face in case a specific request is ignored or denied.

Conversely, many countries in northern Europe and North America are more individualistic and therefore tend to focus more on the individual and personal achievement. Individualistic cultures tend to value sincerity and openness when communicating, while veering from the subject can be seen as an effort to hide something.

People from individualistic cultures therefore tend to be more open and honest when communicating their preferences, while people from collectivistic countries are more reserved in expressing their views because they are more concerned with maintaining harmony rather than saying exactly what they think. This could explain the different film ratings and comments by Chinese and Americans.

Understanding that different cultures have preferences for different working styles and business values shows the importance of being able to adjust your style when doing business in an international environment. Differences in views and how they get expressed can have significant implications for any organisation that is launching a product in a new market, working on a cross-cultural M&A or implementing a global matrix structure.

Cultural awareness and flexibility should therefore inform not only the business side of your company, but also the marketing research and planning. Sometimes marketing tools like a simple survey might provide you with misleading data if used in a culture where people are not used to or comfortable with expressing their opinions openly.

For instance, when dealing with collectivistic cultures, basing market predictions and strategies on findings from an online poll might give you the wrong perspective and hinder your desired results. cross cultural training courses can provide you with a set of cultural knowledge and tools that will help you make the right decisions and adapt your approach effectively when marketing a service or product in another culture.

Many organisations have successfully adapted their product to suit another market. Kraft, for instance, modified their Oreo cookie recipe to a less sweet formula to accommodate the Chinese taste. Similarly, Tesco’s new CEO Philip Clarke adapted Tesco stores in China to include live fish in big tanks so Chinese customers could pick what they want and be assured of its freshness. These small changes adapted to the expectations and cultural preferences of the market and resulted in a successful product.

Other organisations have been less successful adapting their approach or product to the cultural preferences and expectations of customers in another country. PepsiCola is one example of an organisation who failed to do their research and adapt their product accordingly. When they changed the colour of its vending machines and coolers from deep “Regal” blue to light “Ice” blue in Southeast Asia PepsiCola lost its majority share in the market to Coca Cola. What they failed to realise was that light blue is a colour associated with death and mourning in Southeast Asia so the change did not create the desired effect and in fact hurt their profit.

Failure to understand the culture you operating in can have serious implications on any business. Anyone who wants to ensure that their marketing planning, strategies implementation and business as a whole gets a real thumbs up needs to pay extreme attention to what their international customers expect and want.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Chinese culture and customs, Courses - Cultural Training, cross-cultural awareness, cross-cultural differences, Doing Business in China, global marketing, intercultural training, Selling across Cultures

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The Kingdom of Morocco offers many advantages to foreign investors and entrepreneurs. A popular tourist destination, Morocco is home to magnificent landscapes, warm weather and beautifully preserved architecture and culture. Morocco’s strong tourist industry and flourishing economy is attracting an increasing number of companies doing business in Morocco. Below are some of the key benefits of doing business in Morocco.

© istockphoto.com/ Lorna Piche

Proactive Business Climate
With the help of international organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank, Morocco has worked hard to develop its economy over the last few years. The country is now open to the international market and is a major trade partner for France and Spain. Morocco’s GDP steadily rose by almost 4.5% every year since 2000 which is a better result than most European countries. Telecommunications and other IT infrastructures are developing fast and the network in major cities is composed of almost 100% fibre optics links, giving Morocco a modern and innovative edge.

Geographical Location
Morocco shares borders with Algeria, the Western Sahara and the Northern Atlantic Ocean. Morocco’s north coast is on the Mediterranean Sea, a short distance from Spain and France making it easier to access Europe. With approximately 1,835 kilometres (CIA Factbook) of coastline, Morocco is a great location for transnational merchandise fleet. Morocco counts 24 ports which manage for 98% of the country’s external trade.

Increasingly Educated Workforces
King Mohammed VI and his government have made education one of their priorities and deployed strategies to modernise and enhance the quality of education since 2005. Morocco counts several high ranked universities which have developed key partnerships with Canada and European schools. These improvements in the education field create new business opportunities for foreign investors as there is now a more skilled workforce they can rely on when setting up business operations or outsourcing activities to Morocco.

Stable Government
Since the country achieved its independence from France in 1954, Morocco has experienced a long period of peace and stability. Successive administrations since have focused on developing the economy and the welfare of Morocco and its citizens. This stability is reassuring for foreign investors as there is less risk of their investments being jeopardised by a military coup, riots or political uproar.

These benefits of doing business in Morocco as well as many others mean that global organisations can take advantage of this fast developing and ideally located country. Harnessing the benefits, however, requires an understanding of the cultural differences and their impact on the professional environment in Morocco. Communicaid’s cross cultural training programmes such as Living and Working in Morocco or Doing Business in Morocco can help you to adapt quickly to Moroccan business and social culture and allow you to take advantage of the benefits of doing business in Morocco.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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According to the 2010 Global Relocation Trends Survey, only 47% of international assignees had families with children when they went abroad last year. This all time low percentage shows a new trend in international human resources: organisations increasingly prefer to send expatriates with no children for short and long term assignments. This is primarily because the inability of the family to adapt is one of the primary causes of failed international assignments and is one of the main concerns for HR professionals.

© istockphoto.com/ H Gall

Indeed, sending a whole family to a foreign country can represent a huge challenge without the proper preparation. Offering an expatriate cross cultural program to the partner and children can be an excellent way to prepare them for their international experience. By undergoing an expatriate cross cultural program, families can get the insights and understanding they need about the environment, way of life, currency, customs or food in the target country. Increasing their understanding of the visible part of the culture they are going to live in is just one aspect. Training can also make expatriates aware of the core cultural values of the target country that they will need to understand and adapt to.

Deciphering the core cultural values of the target culture can help all family members to cope with culture shock which is one of the greatest challenges they will face and can jeopardise the whole expatriation process. An expatriate cross cultural program can also help them to understand the different communication styles and social etiquette to ensure they can communicate what they need and behave without making any cultural faux pas during their expatriation.

Expatriate cross cultural programs can also provide the partners of international assignees practical tips about finding a job or building their social network. This ensures partners avoid getting bored and feeling disconnected from society which can negatively impact their adaptation to the new country. Getting the children ready is equally important. Expatriate cross cultural programs can help kids to understand the differences they will encounter in their new school while it will also improve their ability to adapt to their new environment and make new friends.

Regardless of where you are going on an international assignment, going through a cross cultural training course is the best way to make sure you enjoy your new life as an expatriate. Cultural training programs can also provide peace of mind to human resource professionals responsible for ensuring the expatriation is a success.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Cross cultural courses, cross-cultural awareness, Expatriate cross cultural programs, expatriates, expatriation, intercultural training, international assignees, living and working abroad, Partner and Family training, Spouse and family culture training

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