CULTURAL COLUMN – By using cultural differences as an excuse, people avoid addressing culturally inappropriate behaviour. This presents ethical dilemmas as organisations struggle with the tension between appreciating cultural sensitivity and taking accountability.

CULTURAL COLUMN – Recognising that staff, clients or partners might differ in skin colour, race, religion, accents and language fluency is not enough information on which to design an effective intercultural training program.

CULTURAL COLUMN – Relatedness is a must for effective information sharing in high performing global teams, and cultural factors can negatively impact different expectations of team members.

CULTURAL COLUMN – The way we perceive time is part of our cultural programming. Dealing with people at work who have a preference for a different approach to time can make us feel uneasy and frustrated.

CULTURAL COLUMN – The concept of ‘Face’ is differently understood across cultures. Being able to effectively practice ‘saving Face’ and raising people’s social standing and self worth seems to produce much better long-term business outcomes across cultures.

CULTURAL COLUMN – We need to identify the skills and competencies that make the difference between a translator and a culturally competent translator.

CULTURAL COLUMN – Cultural awareness is the first step in understanding how culture impacts behaviour, while cultural competence is required to close the culture gaps between culturally diverse people.