Culture shock, a natural state of psychological and physical disorientation that can occur when living and working in a new culture, can have a huge impact on international business if not recognised and dealt with effectively.
Most people think about culture shock as something that happens only when they are relocated to another country. In fact, it can also happen when doing business in another culture on a short-term basis, whether you are visiting for a week or a month. Being aware of the cultural differences and having the ability to deal with them is integral to ensuring a successful cross-cultural business endeavour or international assignment.
Cultural training for relocation such as Living and Working in France and cross-cultural business and management training such as Doing Business in India can help you better understand the culture thereby reducing the impact of culture shock.
Another common assumption about culture shock is that it only happens when you go to a culture which is significantly different from your own. However, culture shock can often be more intense when you go to a similar culture.
For example, a business person being relocated from the UK to the US may assume that they will not have difficulty adapting to American culture since they share the same language and have similar values and attitudes. However, what many people don’t recognise are the subtle nuances and behaviours unique to American culture which impact social and business communication and relationships and result in culture shock. Often, because these nuances and behaviours are very subtle, they are interpreted as rudeness or disrespect instead of a cultural difference.
The assumption that doing business in a similar culture will not be very challenging has been proven wrong by numerous studies which show that the majority of international assignments which failed were those where people were relocated to a culture very similar to their own. No matter where you are doing business or relocating to, cross-cultural training can help reduce the impact of culture shock on international assignments and global business.
© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2009
© admin for Communicaid Blog | Cross Cultural Training and International Communication Skills, 2009. |
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