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May 09

Cultural Intelligence: A Necessity for Working Effectively across Cultures

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Doing business with colleagues, clients and partners from around the globe is now commonplace for many professionals. While some of us frequently travel abroad to do business with colleagues in a different cultural background on a daily basis, others are communicating with international counterparts by phone, email or other virtual platforms.  Working effectively across cultures, whether face-to-face or virtually, requires a high level of cultural intelligence.

Business Meeting 13 track5 i Cultural Intelligence: A Necessity for Working Effectively across Cultures

© istockphoto.com/ Track 5

Cultural intelligence has been defined in many ways over the years, but in simple terms it is the ability to interact confidently and effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds on a social and professional level.

Cultural intelligence requires being aware of your own culture as well as cultural differences in the way that others behave and think. Many individuals, though not all, who have extensive experience travelling and working with other cultures often become “global chameleons” and develop a high level of cultural intelligence. Through experience, intercultural training initiatives and cross-cultural interactions, global chameleons are people who have learned to effectively adapt their behaviour and attitudes instinctively when working across cultures.

According to Joo-Seng Tan, Director of the Centre for Cultural Intelligence at the Nanyang Business School in Singapore, there are three key steps to developing cultural intelligence:

1. Think about culture

2. Be motivated to change your behaviour

3. Act in an appropriate way

Although these three steps seem pretty straight forward, they require a specific set of cross-cultural skills and attitudes which can be difficult to develop on your own. Most of us simply lack the knowledge to do so and, as we all know, motivating yourself can be quite hard too. Participating in a cross-cultural awareness course like Working Effectively across Cultures can help you work through these three steps and others to develop the level of cultural intelligence you require in your unique international role.

Experienced cross-cultural experts will not only tell you more about different cultural values, such as how attitudes to time, tasks or risk might impact your working relationships, but they will also help you to reflect about your own cultural identity to increase your self-awareness. By sharing with you anecdotes and first hand experiences and discussing your own, they will help you to identify differences and similarities between cultures so that you start to understand how to respond appropriately in each cultural context.

Cultural intelligence is important for anyone working across cultures, but it is particularly beneficial for international managers and global business leaders. Culturally intelligent managers are able to see how their employees behave in different cultural settings and understand what they expect. Culturally intelligent managers have the ability, as Tan suggests, to “create a new mental framework for understanding what they experience”, which allows them to consider how working practices and communication styles could be different when working across cultures. A high level of cultural intelligence helps them to create a positive environment, harness team member’s skills and develop high performing teams that will deliver the best results when working across cultures.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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May 06

Understanding the World of ‘Third Culture Kids’

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

What do Yoko Ono, Carlos Fuente and Barack Obama all have in common? A shared cultural identity based on similar upbringings: they are Third Culture Kids.

Third Culture Kids spend their developmental years in a fusion of multiple cultures, typically growing up in countries different from their parents’ ‘passport country’. Dr. Ruth Hill Useem first coined the phrase in the 1950s when she was conducting primary research on American children in India. Useem recognised that children growing up in this fusion of cultures exhibited elements of their parents’ cultural background as well as facets of their immediate cultural surroundings, thereby creating their own ‘third culture’.

Flower Tulips Maria Pavlova i Understanding the World of ‘Third Culture Kids’

© istockphoto.com/ Maria Pavlova

TCKs have an innate open-mindedness and cross-cultural awareness that significantly helps them to cope with their unique cultural make-up and use it to their advantage. They usually come from globally mobile groups such as expatriate communities, the military, governmental bodies or missionaries.

When parents decide to accept an international assignment they must consider the long-term impact that exposure to multiple cultures will have on their children. Unlike adults, children and teenagers can be more deeply affected by their experiences abroad. Why? Because, unlike their parents, they are in a natural process of developing their identity.  Exposure to multiple cultures at an early age means that each new experience will be embedded in their identities for life. This is a key characteristic of TCKs and a massively potential tool for their future professional lives. Given the implications that international assignments can have on families, spouse and family training can be worth its weight in gold.

The TCK community is vast. TCKid, a non-profit community supporting TCKs around the world, welcomes over 21,000 website members, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Every TCK possesses a unique multicultural identity but they are all able to lay claim to a common TCK identity. Common behavioural characteristics of TCKs might include the ability to:

  • Build cultural bridges easily
  • Integrate well into new surroundings
  • Adapt well to unfamiliar situations
  • Pick up new languages with ease
  • Adopt an open-minded and flexible approach with others
  • Demonstrate maturity at an earlier age than their non-TCK peers

Although TCKs tend to have a high level of cross-cultural awareness, they also have a concerning identity dilemma. TCKs live in a dichotomy of worlds. They identify with an abundance of cultures but yet they are unable to take full ownership of any. As they get older, questions such as ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where is home?’ becoming increasingly difficult to answer. For a TCK, home is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

TCKs have little experience in domestic schools where peers do not fully appreciate their multicultural backgrounds. Often on repatriation to their ‘passport countries’, this can sometimes push them to the fringes of social groups where they are misunderstood or simply do not feel like they fit in. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is common to find TCKs who possess a deep-rooted wanderlust.

Third Culture Kids are Third Culture Kids for life. When they can recognise their own TCK behaviours, feelings and identity traits they are more likely to realise that they do in fact share a common ground with others. TCKs of all ages can manage their cross-cultural awareness and unique multicultural identities and use them to their advantage rather than a restraint, throughout life.

Parents and TCKs alike can benefit immensely from spouse and family training programmes before, during and after an international assignment. Culture for relocation programmes like these provide opportunities to discuss the challenges of each international assignment and develop strategies for the whole family to ensure they effectively adjust to their new environment, no matter how many cultures may be present.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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Apr 22

Celebrating Easter across Cultures

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture No Comments »

Millions of people are going to celebrate Easter this weekend, an important holiday in the Christian faith that is celebrated around the world. Easter originally stems from pagan traditions which celebrated the goddess Eostre and spring. Many of these traditions then merged with the Christian celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection around the same time, creating the holiday which we now celebrate today.

Celebrations of Easter can vary dramatically across cultures. For some, Easter still has a very deep religious meaning and will be celebrated traditionally with periods of fasting, prayer and feasts. Others will celebrate with a simple meal together with family, a service at Church or games with children.

No matter where in the world you are doing business, it’s important to recognise the importance of this holiday and how it is celebrated when working across cultures. Here are a few ideas of the festivities and traditions you may come across when doing business in the US, France, the Czech Republic and Spain.

Easter Eggs gilaxia i Celebrating Easter across Cultures

© istockphoto.com/ Gilaxia

Easter in the US

Easter is celebrated to varying degrees in the US. Some people will go to church for every symbolic event during the Easter period while others may only celebrate with a traditional meal on Easter Sunday. Good Friday is a public holiday in the US, but Easter Monday may only be given as a holiday by some businesses so when doing business in the US always ask when your counterparts will be working during this time.

Easter tends to be a very popular holiday with children in the US and often involves events or food around the theme of bunnies and eggs. Easter egg hunts are one of the most common American Easter traditions. Another popular Easter tradition in the US for children and adults alike is egg rolling. The most famous egg rolling race in the US takes place on the lawn of the White House and involves children and parents pushing eggs through the grass with wooden spoons. Children also traditionally wake up to a basket of chocolates, jelly beans and other treats or small gifts on Easter Sunday.

Easter in France

In France, flying bells replace the symbol of the bunny. Children believe that the flying bells hide chocolate eggs in the garden while they are sleeping. This tradition comes from a Christian belief that church bells flew to the Vatican in Rome to see the Pope and returned on Easter Sunday bringing chocolate and eggs. This belief is one reason why church bells do not ring from Good Friday to Easter Monday in France.

To celebrate Easter many families in France will share a meal together and give chocolate flying bells, eggs and bunnies to children and boxes of chocolates to family, friends and colleagues. Easter Monday is a bank holiday so bear this in mind when doing business in France.

Easter in the Czech Republic

The most popular Easter game in the Czech Republic is egg tapping. In this game players must tap each other’s hard boiled and decorated eggs with their own in an attempt to break them without damaging their egg. In some areas of the Czech Republic, men will gently hit women with handmade whips decorated with ribbons on Easter Monday. This tradition can be linked to a legend of the Middle Ages which suggested that women should be spanked to stay healthy and beautiful for the coming year. In Prague, music festivals and Easter markets animate the city.

Many of these traditions are also celebrated in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Home to many Orthodox beliefs, many Eastern European countries celebrate Easter more religiously with periods of prayer and feasts with family. Easter is the period where thousands of Orthodox pilgrims converge on Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Orthodox Church celebrates Easter according to the Julian calendar, so the date may vary from the Christian calendar. Bear this in mind when doing business in Central and Eastern Europe as working hours may be disrupted in a different way.

Easter in Spain

In Spain the week leading up to Easter called Semana Santa is celebrated with great effort. On Palm Sunday people traditionally attend morning mass and then watch a procession organised by local churches to celebrate the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem. During the procession children and adults will often carry palm leaves for the priest to bless. On Ash Wednesday worshippers may fast and also place ashes on their foreheads as a sign of remorse. This tradition can be seen by many practising Christians around the world.

On Easter Sunday some cities like Almaden de la Plata and Castilblanco de los Arroyos have Easter parades that end with the burning of giant puppets representing famous people. The city of Verges hosts a traditional midnight death dance parade where people wear costumes. At the end of the procession people dressed as skeletons carrying boxes of ashes perform a ghoulish dance. In Sevilla, people will wear penitential robes with pointy hats and walk through the streets following heavy wooden floats carried by men. The streets on the route of the Semana Santa procession are covered with fresh rosemary and people will watch from their balconies waving palms as the procession passes. During the Easter Sunday feast, godfathers will often give their godchildren a traditional cake called ‘La Mona’.

Easter traditions around the world can have a huge impact on anyone doing business internationally. Showing an awareness of the religious and cultural traditions that form part of Easter will help you to not only make a positive impression when working across cultures but it will help you to more effectively manage a period when many people take time off.

Failing to understanding an Easter tradition or not respecting a cultural custom can cause frustration and potential misunderstanding with your international counterparts. A simple greeting, chocolate or card on this holiday could make a huge difference to your cross-cultural relationship, just check what is appropriate in advance.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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Mar 18

Doing Business in India: Understanding the ‘Holi’ Festival

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture No Comments »

India is home to a huge diversity of cultures, religions and languages. The nation’s rich cultural heritage dates back at least 5,000 years making India one of the oldest civilisations in the world. India’s many cultural influences means that it has a wide array of religious celebrations throughout the year. One such celebration takes place on the 19th March when the Holi festival will become a central point for many Indians, particularly those who live in the north of India.

Holi celebrations will impact anyone visiting or doing business in India at during this time. A very lively and often colourful Hindu festival that lasts for several days, Holi celebrations have become very popular and draw a lot of attention.

Spices Synergee i Doing Business in India: Understanding the ‘Holi’ Festival

© istockphoto.com/ Synergee

Holi is a religious festival and marks the beginning of spring. At the same time its origins are closely tied to the religious legend Krishna. Krishna, who is said to have spent his childhood in the north of India, took great pleasure in colours and liked painting the face of his childhood friend. One of the rituals of Holi involves people throwing coloured powder at each other and spraying coloured water, leaving everyone soaked in bright colours. You may recall seeing photographs from India in the past at this time of year where people are in the streets and are covered in colour.

To an outsider, many of the traditions of Holi can give an impression of pure entertainment or fun. It’s important however to consider the religious side of the festival and what it really means to your Indian counterparts. In the case of Holi, each colour has a specific meaning: green is for harmony, orange symbolises faith in the future, blue brings health while red represents love and joy. It is also a custom to apologise when throwing colour at someone and you might hear “Bura na mano, Holî hai” (which can be translated by “please don’t be upset, it’s Holi”) a lot during the festival.

But Holi is not only about throwing coloured powders. Depending on the region, you may witness different events such as a bonfire in Bihar, religious processions in Bengal or even women chasing men with sticks in the village of Barsana. All these events are related to the countless variations of myths and legends connected to the festival. Regardless where you are and how the festival is celebrated, Holi is the only time of the year when social and gender distinctions seem to vanish to give way to a sense of sheer joy shared by every member of the community.

People in India take great pride in their cultural heritage so when doing business in India you should always try to understand as much as possible about the culture and traditions. In addition to religious celebrations like Holi, it’s also important to understand how Indians think, behave and communicate in both social and professional spheres. An intercultural training course like Doing Business in India can help you to understand the many working practices and business values in Indian culture and how they are influenced by unique religious and cultural traditions like Holi.

So, if you visit or live in India, make sure to visit the North of the country during the Holi celebration and enjoy this colourful celebration alongside the local population.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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Nov 25

Is Cultural Sensitivity Training the Key to Successful Global Marketing?

Cross Cultural Training, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management No Comments »

Global marketing is now vital for international firms wishing to sell their products abroad. While most international companies conduct thorough research and market surveys, they often fail to consider the impact of culture on their global marketing strategy. This absence of cultural sensitivity can create huge financial and credibility losses even for world renowned brands. Companies starting to sell their products in a new market need to carefully consider the differing attitudes and expectations between their domestic and their international customers. Perceptions of key elements such as brand, colours, packaging, selling methods and slogans can vary widely from one culture to another. Failing to acknowledge and understand this carries significant risks.

Globes Mike Bentley i Is Cultural Sensitivity Training the Key to Successful Global Marketing?

© istockphoto.com/ Mike Bentley

There are several examples of famous brands that failed to show the appropriate cultural sensitivity and unwittingly created cultural faux pas which came with high costs. When McDonald’s opened in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Flag was printed on the take-out bags. This created a massive scandal as a short extract of the Qur’an is written on the Saudi flag. Most Saudis were infuriated to see an excerpt from their holy book printed on an American burger bag! With greater cultural sensitivity, the people behind this marketing initiative would have been able to avoid costing millions of dollars to their company.

Such incidents can be caused by the belief that all cultures are “the same” and have the same expectations. This assumption of similarity is often the main reason behind poor judgment or initiatives. It takes great cultural sensitivity and knowledge to adapt a brand name or an entire marketing campaign to a new cultural environment.

Some companies have perfectly understood that displaying the appropriate level of cultural sensitivity is a shortcut to success. The example of Tesco selling methods in China immediately comes to mind. Tesco executives understood that Chinese customers have their own preferences when buying certain products and decided to adapt to their specific expectations. Fish, for instance, is not sold in plastic packaging like in most western countries but is displayed while still alive in water tanks enabling customers to choose their favourite fish and buy it. This kind of initiative has made Tesco one of the most successful western retailers in the Chinese market.

Cultural sensitivity training courses are an excellent way to learn and understand the cultural factors that come into play when selling across cultures. From language to humour to the use of symbols, a cultural sensitivity training programme will help you to create the best marketing strategy and to understand the expectations and purchasing motives of your new customers. It will allow you to penetrate specific markets more easily and provide you with the relevant marketing tools to make sure that your products are well received by the local population.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Oct 25

Chilean Miners – How their Cultural Values Helped them to Overcome their Ordeal

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Last Wednesday, the world witnessed the spectacular rescue of the 33 Chilean miners who had been trapped in a collapsed mine under the Atacama Desert. Although they were trapped for 69 days, most of the miners were in better health than expected. Psychologists were also surprised at how well they had coped with the situation mentally. People all over the world began to ask themselves the same question: how did they manage to survive?

Chile ferhat mat i Chilean Miners – How their Cultural Values Helped them to Overcome their Ordeal

© istockphoto.com/ Ferhat Mat

 

There is strong evidence that their cultural identity played an important role. One of Chile’s cultural characteristics is patriotism. Chileans tend to be very proud of their country and its achievements. When the miners were rescued, 33 balloons in the Chilean colours were released into the sky. The shift supervisor, Luis Urzúa was wrapped in a Chilean flag after he was brought up. He then led the crowd to sing the national anthem. No doubt their love for their country helped the miners to keep their spirits up.

Another Chilean core value is the focus on the group rather than on the individual. President Pinera said that the unity and the solidarity of the Chileans made him very proud. He added that Chile is now more unified than ever before. The entire country took part in the miners’ tragedy and supported the families who waited desperately for the rescue of their relatives. Perhaps surprisingly, there were no riots in the mine or individual attempts to separate from the group or take charge. The miners managed to stay together as a group. The collectivist approach was also highlighted by the miners’ families’ attitude towards future financial benefit from their ordeal. Before the miners’ rescue, the families drew up a contract agreeing to share the money expected from various media deals.

The president also claimed that the miners never lost hope because they had a “great leader” who held the group together. The shift supervisor, Luis Urzúa, assumed this role and made sure the miners had a daily routine. Three groups of 11 each worked eight hour shifts of cleaning, measuring oxygen level and reinforcing mine walls. This behaviour reveals another key value in Chilean culture, the emphasis on hierarchy and status. Whereas hierarchy is often perceived as negative in the Western world, it plays an important role in Chilean society. In this case, hierarchy and structure helped the miners to prepare for rescue.

Bearing in mind how the Chilean culture influenced the miners’ behaviour, an interesting question to ask is how other cultures would have reacted in such a situation. Can you imagine what behaviour would have been typical for your culture? If you want to find out more about how different cultures determine our behaviour, consider one of Communicaid’s cross cultural awareness training courses. You will not only learn more about your own cultural identity but also develop strategies to communicate effectively across cultures.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Sep 28

Cultural Profile: Clifford Geertz

Cross Cultural Training, Culture No Comments »

Name: Clifford Geertz
Nationality: US American
Date of birth: 23 August 1926 in San Francisco

Known for: Symbolic Anthropology

Key Publications:

  • The Religion of Java (1960). Chicago, IL: University Chicago Press
  • The Interpretation of Cultures (1973). New York: Basic Books
  • Negara: The Theatre State in 19th Century Bali (1980). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
  • After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist (1995). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
  • Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics (2000). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press

After his service in the Second World War, Clifford Geertz completed his B.A. in Philosophy in 1950 at Antioch College in Yellow Springs and then his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1956 on social anthropology.

Clifford Geertz was a renowned scholar within the field of symbolic anthropology. Drawing upon the work of linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, symbolic anthropology studies the ways in which signs govern cultural life. Geertz, in particular, focused on the ways in which symbols operate within a culture. Most of his studies were conducted in South Asia and North Africa.

Clifford Geertz is also famous for his Theory of Religion where he describes a religious cult as a cultural system that controls the social system which itself controls individuals. He defended the Thick Description theory which implies that human behaviour must be analysed within a context to be fully understood. This is one reason why all cross cultural awareness training programmes now underline the importance of studying all aspects of culture in order to have a full understanding of its key values and cultural practices and their impact on life in the target country.

Clifford Geertz’s ideas influenced anthropology throughout the 20th century as well as other fields of research like History and Political Sciences. His work can be summarised by this quote from Professor Daniel Pals: “His critics are few, his admirers are legion”.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Jul 21

Going on an International Assignment? Cultural Insensitivity Can Bring You Home Early

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector 1 Comment »

Living and working in another country can be an exciting and welcome opportunity for many business professionals as it offers them a unique chance to put into practice their skills and expertise of doing business, yet in a completely different setting. However, this opportunity also means stepping out of your comfort zone and being confronted with entirely different people and their specific perceptions about things like time, hierarchy, ways of doing business and communication styles. Living and working in another country should not be taken lightly or seen as an extended break.

Globe Kasia i Going on an International Assignment? Cultural Insensitivity Can Bring You Home Early

Whether you are going to another country for business or pleasure, the fact remains that the way you present yourself will reflect your country as a whole. For example, the behaviour of many Britons abroad has resulted in many negative perceptions of British nationals by other countries around the world which impacts business relationships.

A recent article suggested that one of the most irritating habits of Britons abroad seems to be their cultural insensitivity. There have been numerous cases of horror stories of the antics of Britons abroad, most of them of people on holiday who drink too much. Recently, a Latvian MP branded British tourists as ‘savages’ since the Latvian capital, Riga, became the top destination for British stag parties. Unruly Britons seem to like relieving themselves on Riga’s Freedom Monument, which in Latvia is considered an important symbol of the freedom, independence and sovereignty of the country, honouring soldiers killed while fighting for independence between1918-20.

Cultural insensitivities are not always purely on a social scale like this example. Mishaps also occur at the other end of the spectrum, with business professionals on international assignments also guilty of failing to do their research concerning the local culture and traditions of their target country and therefore find themselves in trouble.

One of the latest high-profile cases of cultural insensitivity by business professionals was that of the British couple who were sentenced to jail and fined £200 in March 2010 for allegedly drinking alcohol and kissing in public while dining in a trendy restaurant in Dubai. Although the male defendant, marketing executive Ayman Najafi, is of Muslim background, he has lived in the UK his entire life and was not aware of Dubai’s strict rules. Both were held on bail for a month and were unable to leave Dubai as their passports were taken away.

This is an interesting example since Dubai has a very modern atmosphere compared to many other Arabic cities, with state-of-the-art architecture and a fairly progressive approach to doing business. Yet the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is one of seven members, is still quite a conservative state. Many Western expatriates therefore wrongly assume that by being Western the rules do not apply to them, or they are simply unaware of the strict protocol they are required to follow in public.

Cross cultural awareness training courses like Living and Working in the UAE can provide companies and their employees with all the information necessary to make their transition and business experience abroad as smooth and successful as possible. By giving employees an awareness of how to do business in a different culture and an understanding of the wider social and cultural traditions, companies can make sure that their employees do not jeopardise business deals or even their own careers by their lack of cultural sensitivity and awareness.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Jul 15

International Relocation: Helping Children Thrive in a New Culture

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture 1 Comment »

Relocating overseas to a culture that you know little about can be daunting enough for an adult but it’s even more so for young children and teenagers. Kids can find it really difficult to move away from friends, family and familiar places to an unknown country and culture.

Flower Tulips Maria Pavlova i International Relocation: Helping Children Thrive in a New Culture

© istockphoto.com/ Maria Pavlova

 

The good news is that psychologists and intercultural specialists believe that children often adjust more easily to a new environment than adults as they are more intensely involved in the life of the new society. School life, for example, provides a wonderful opportunity to make friends and therefore to integrate into the life of a new community.

All the same, it would be naïve to assume that children are mature enough to deal successfully with all the challenges of the host culture. Some of the most difficult issues for expatriate children are:

  • Language barriers
  • Different school system and education style and expectations
  • New communication styles
  • Leaving friends and making new ones

Undertaking an intercultural training course that gives young children and teenagers an understanding of the country they are relocating to can be immensely helpful. Explaining the customs and traditions or way of life as well as a few key expressions in the local language can make a big difference on their adjustment.

Intercultural training can help children of all ages adapt to their new school, new friends, new activities and new life abroad. Ensuring they have everything they need to make a smooth adjustment can help the family carry out their entire international assignment and save the organisation money. Studies show that one of the most common reasons for failed assignments is the family unhappiness or inability to settle in the new country.

In addressing these challenges and providing children with tools to deal with them, cross-cultural training courses for relocation such as Spouse and Family Training and Support or specific language courses can prepare children to meet the challenges of a new environment. Giving them the support they need, can make the difference between them having a difficult time or thriving in the new culture.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Jul 13

Benefits of Doing Business in Africa

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management No Comments »

The mention of Africa conjures images of impressive wildlife, diverse habitats and safaris, but also images of deprivation and inequality. Yet despite its current status as home to the world’s most underdeveloped countries, the past few years have seen a remarkable change in tide for the continent.

According to the Economist Africa’s annual output grew 4.9% faster than the global average of 3.8% in 2000-08. Foreign direct investment increased from $10 billion to $88 billion, which was more than India ($42 billion) and, remarkably, almost as much as China ($108 billion).

Cape Town kensorrie i1 Benefits of Doing Business in Africa

© istockphoto.com/ Kensorrie

 

This increase in growth and foreign investment can be attributed to the fact that international businesses can no longer ignore Africa’s potential. The continent is not only the second largest in size and population in the world, but it is also vastly rich in natural resources, a sector which surprisingly only accounts to about a third of the continent’s growth.

Pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries among others are increasingly looking towards Africa as manufacturing costs are cheaper and labour costs in current powerhouses India and China keep increasing. The Economist also mentions the rising sector of ‘frugal innovation’, which involves developing clever designs to serve the poor. International entrepreneurs and organisations would be wise to take advantage of the endless possibilities for development and business ventures that Africa has to offer.

Starting a business venture in Africa successfully requires an understanding of the cultures and societies present on the continent. Africa is still largely considered uncharted territory for the business world compared to other regions, so getting to know the challenges and intricacies of working alongside African colleagues and their traditions could provide your company with an edge by starting on the right foot.

As Africa becomes an increasingly attractive location for international business ventures, we are seeing an increase in the number of corporate and public sector clients who ask for training on African countries like Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia. These organisations are leading the way in ensuring that their employees have the right level of cultural support and intercultural training they need to successfully adapt to their professional and daily life in Africa.

Providing relocation training courses such as Living and Working in South Africa to international assignees or cross-cultural training for business and management programmes such as Doing Business in Nigeria, you can significantly increase the chances of any business opportunity in Africa succeeding.

With the World Cup hosted in South Africa over the last month, the whole continent has seen an influx of visitors never seen before. This has provided the perfect opportunity for businesses to see first-hand the numerous prospects and benefits of doing business on the African continent. Organisations doing business in Africa over the next few years will lead the way in harnessing the many benefits this greatly diverse continent has to offer.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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