News Room
How Not To Offend When Conducting International Business
-
In Singapore, save your jacket and tie for the more formal occasions. Dress code: business casual.
-
In Saudi Arabia, maintain strong eye contact. It denotes sincerity.
-
In Sweden, be there on time. To be late diminishes your credibility.
To be successful doing business with people from another culture, you need to understand cultural differences. You need to be culturally fluent.
On April 9, 2013 World Trade Center – Kansas City (WTC-KC) will launch the “Globally Speaking” Series, four sessions to help improve your interaction with other cultures whether at home or abroad.
WTC-KC and Cultural Detective® developed the series to train professionals on the beliefs, behaviors, and values of other cultures. The four session topics are:
April 9 – Your cultural IQ impacts successful navigation across China. Exploring the rich cultural diversity of the world’s second-largest economy.
June 11 – How others perceive you is just as important as how you perceive them. Understanding ourselves and what we bring to global negotiations, relations, etc.
September 10 – It’s better to learn from others’ cultural mistakes. Business case studies of past cross-cultural conflicts and their impact on operational stability.
November 12 – Cross-cultural competence is a critical piece of your international expansion strategy. How to build trust across cultural boundaries.
Each session will be held from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at Union Station. Cost for all four sessions is $300. Individual sessions run $80 per person. Register for all four sessions of the Globally Speaking series and receive a free 12-month subscription to the Cultural Detective Online supplement ($99 value). For more information and to register, visit
http://www.wtc-kc.com or email
info@wtc-kc.com.
About World Trade Center Kansas City
World Trade Center Kansas City serves domestic and international companies within the Kansas City region as well as international companies that want to do business in Kansas City. It supports the international business education and training needs of the region offering a variety of services from internships to networking events and seminars. World Trade Center Kansas City also assists companies by taking advantage of existing assets in our region to increase exports and to procure goods and services from international markets.
About Cultural Detective
Cultural Detective® is a dynamic series of developmental intercultural effectiveness tools that help build cross-cultural competence in individuals and organizations. The series results from collaboration among more than 100 intercultural experts from over 35 countries. Cultural Detective is a unique intercultural competence tool because it is process-based, which allows for ongoing use and continuous improvement. The Cultural Detective Method helps prevent stereotyping and encourages meaningful dialogue. You may learn more about it at www.culturaldetective.com.
Contact:
Pam Whiting
(816) 374-5481
whiting@kcchamber.com
Katie Erwin
(816) 374-5465
erwin@kcchamber.com