Cross-Cultural Competence

Articles

The need for strong cross-cultural competence in todays business environment is stronger than ever before. Globalization and the changing demographics in many of the world’s leading countries has lead to a significant increase in multicultural businesses. And with the economic recession and the opportunities provided by the web, many people are also turning towards international business.

These article series cover the many different facets of cross-cultural competence in international business, including:

• Why you need cross-cultural competence
• Cross-cultural communication basics
• Challenges In cross-cultural communication
• Acquiring cross-cultural competence
• Take the four 30-day challenges to build your cross-cultural communication skills

Although these articles are written specifically for cross-cultural communication in international business, they can, of course, apply to  multicultural domestic businesses too.

But the cross-cultural competence needed for multicultural businesses based in one country is not the same as cross-cultural competence for international business. The cultural differences in doing business with different countries also greatly impact cross-cultural competence in international business. The stronger your cross-cultural competence, the easier it’ll be for you to acquire strong international business skills and get more international clients. This is why this series goes into such depth.

Why You Need Cross-Cultural Competence

Cross-Cultural Communication Blunders

Cross-cultural communication misunderstandings happen all the time.  Unfortunately there isn’t a way to avoid them.  But with the right procedures and adequate skills you can limit these misunderstandings from becoming international business blunders.  This article series shows you how to keep any cross-cultural communication misunderstanding from leading into a full-blown cultural blunder.

Cultural Perceptions

Good cross-cultural skills often rely on our ability to identify how and when our differences in perception impact effective communication. This series of articles helps you to improve your ability to identify any differences in cultural perceptions and in turn improve your overall cross-cultural communication.

Cross-Cultural Differences

It’s not always easy for professionals to put aside their own cultural assumptions and barriers to cross-cultural communication in the work environment. Strong cultural awareness makes it easier to anticipate and see how cultural differences can jeopardize international business success. This series of articles is to help raise your awareness of cultural differences and to make you notice your own cultural assumptions which block cross-cultural communication and can even make you lose international clients.

Cross-Cultural Communication Basics

Mindset In Cross-Cultural Communication

Some people seem to find it easy to adopt a mindset where it’s easy to cultivate good cross cultural practices and engage with other cultures. But a good cross-cultural mindset is also acquired through a mixture of experience and personal commitment to make the changes needed. This series of articles is about the importance of your mindset in cross-cultural communication for your international business success and how to develop it.

Trust In Cross-Cultural Communication

This is a series of articles on the two different aspects of building trust in cross-cultural communication for successful international business. First by stopping to lose trust through unintentional cross-cultural misunderstandings and then by becoming aware of the cultural differences in building trust and adapting communication as required.

Empathy In Cross-Cultural Communication

Mastering and improving your empathy skills plays a critical role in international business success. Without a minimum level of understanding of another person’s point of view you cannot build trust and create relationships with your international cllients. And these relationships are critical in international business. This article series covers the role of empathy in cross-cultural communication and how you can improve it.

Challenges In Cross-Cultural Communication

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

Cross-cultural communication presents many challenges and how we approach these challenges has a direct impact on the success of our international business. This series of articles is about the cross-cultural communication challenges encountered in various aspects of international business. Learning how to face cross-cultural challenges can prepare you better than the traditional guide books which are often outdated.

Cultural Generalizations & Stereotypes

Unfortunately cultural generalizations and stereotypes can stop us from creating strong relationships with other people. And they can even stop us from fully developing our international business. This is a series of articles on cross-cultural generalizations and stereotypes and the effect they can have on the success of your international business.

Culture & Political Correctness

Political correctness acts as “excess baggage” or “barriers” in cross-cultural exchanges and it prevents real dialogue. When one person follows a set of communication “rules” and another person doesn’t know these rules exist and has a completely different set of communication “rules”, well, it’s very difficult to engage in effective conversations. And political correctness is a set of communication “rules” established over time and within a specific cultural environment. This series of articles is on how political correctness effects your cross-cultural communication.

Future Trends

Successful companies pay attention to different trends as they give better insight into business opportunities and potential risks. But what about the changes in communication today?   Communication is evolving rapidly today.  We can see this with the changes in the record and newspaper industries. And we can also see how businesses are struggling to adopt social media and it’s inbound marketing.  But these changes are happening nevertheless and they are also impacting cross-cultural communication.  This series is about the trends impacting cross-cultural communication and how they will influence your international marketing strategies.

Acquiring Cross-Cultural Competence

How To Develop Your Cross-Cultural Skills

No matter what your natural skill level is communication and people skills, you can always work on developing stronger cross-cultural skills.  Of course international experience and exposure to different cultures plays an important role, but there’s a lot of work you can do to help you acquire stronger cross-cultural skills faster.   This series of articles is about the personal steps you can take to develop stronger cross-cultural skills.

Improve Your Cross-Cultural Communication

There are different ways to improve your cross-cultural communication. These include analyzing your own cultural skills level, increasing awareness of all aspects of the communication, and taking action to improve communication skills. This series of articles gives you a variety of different ways to improve and maintain your cross-cultural communication skills.

Movies For Cultural Skills

This series inspires you to improve your cross-cultural skills by simply watching movies. This is a light-hearted approach to learning cross-cultural skills. It has limitations. Generalizations and stereotypes are obviously one major drawback. But don’t write it off without giving it a try. Surprisingly watching the right movie can give you the little spark of understanding you need to move ahead in developing your cultural skills with more traditional methods.

Take The Four 30-Day Challenges To Build Your Cross-Cultural Communication Skills

• Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge 1 – Expand Your Mindset
• Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge 2 – Get Extreme With Clarity
• Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge 3 – Build Trust
• Cross-Cultural Communication 30-Day Challenge 4 – Personal Development

Cross-Cultural Topics On Facebook

Please click through and “Like” this Facebook page on cross-cultural topics. This is where I share the cross-cultural and international business links I find of interest.

More Articles

• International Business Development
• International Content Marketing
• International Marketing
• International Sales
• International Social Media
• International Web Marketing

Now, It’s Your Turn

• What do you find the most challenging in cross-cultural communication?
• How important is cross-cultural competence in your business?
• What do you do to improve your cross-cultural competence?