Login 
Search 
Search News -
36 search results: news
Business culture in the Latin Europe cluster
The Latin Europe cluster includes France, Israel (considered by the Globe Project as part of this cluster because it was founded by Jewish people who migrated from Latin Europe to Eastern Europe to escape religious repression, but maintained their ties to Latin Europe over the centuries), Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland…
Category : Business culture around the world 18-10-2022 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Three tips to write inclusive job descriptions that will attract diverse candidates
In recent years, many organizations seem to have realized the importance of implementing diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives to attract and retain diverse applicants. The attraction stage begins with writing inclusive job postings: no applicant should feel excluded and/or inadequate when they are considering to apply for a job. “Those…
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things - 7th Issue
Dear Reader, As anticipated in the fifth newsletter (Jan issue), I’m writing to share some exciting news: “Outside Business Hours” - the section dedicated to culture, society, and travels - is now live. *** “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” ― Marcel Proust - *** While…
Category : Mudita's digest 09-04-2021 by Maria Antonietta Marino
The Concepts of Happiness and Well-being Across Cultures
"Happiness is dependent on unhappiness, while unhappiness is hidden in happiness." - Chinese proverb - *** What ideas, thoughts, and feelings do you associate with the word "happiness"? Have you ever considered the possibility that the definition of happiness might depend on one's cultural background? Today we're going back to the topic of individualistic…
Category : Articles 04-03-2021 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Forgiveness In Individualistic and Collectivist Cultures
Do not be concerned with the faults of other persons. Do not see others' faults with a hateful mind. There is an old saying that if you stop seeing others' faults, then naturally seniors and venerated and juniors are revered. Do not imitate others' faults; just cultivate virtue. Buddha prohibited…
Category : Articles 09-02-2021 by Maria Antonietta Marino
The cultural context in business communication, a cross country comparison
One of the most effective ways to learn about oneself is by taking seriously the cultures of others. It forces you to pay attention to those details of life which differentiate them from you - Edward T. Hall, The Silent Language - *** To continue with the topic of cross-cultural differences in outsourcing…
Category : Articles 03-02-2021 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Leadership styles across cultures, an overview
Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say 'We have done this ourselves'. - Lao Tzu - *** In last week’s article…
Category : Articles 26-01-2021 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Challenges and misconceptions in intercultural negotiations
Where two principles really do meet which cannot be reconciled with one another, then each man declares the other a fool and a heretic. - Ludwig Wittgenstein, On Certainty - *** Negotiation, “an interaction and process between entities who compromise to agree on matters of mutual interest, while optimizing their individual utilities”, has…
Category : Articles 11-01-2021 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Linguistic relativity and color naming across cultures
Every language is a vast pattern-system, different from others, in which are culturally ordained the forms and categories by which the personality not only communicates, but also analyzes nature, notices or neglects types of relationship and phenomena, channels his reasoning, and builds the house of his consciousness. - Benjamin Lee Whorf,…
Category : Articles 21-12-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Challenges in cross cultural marketing and advertising
Understanding languages and other cultures builds bridges. It is the fastest way to bring the world closer together and to Truth. Through understanding, people will be able to see their similarities before differences. - Suzy Kassem - *** "The world’s worst advertising gaffe": a cross-cultural perspective on the "D&G Loves China" campaign. In two…
Category : Articles 15-11-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Language, Thought, and Reality - 4th Issue
Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations. - Edward Sapir - *** Dear Reader, Please allow me to start this fourth issue of "Oddities & Curiosities" with a huge THANK YOU. Since October, when the 3rd issue landed in your inboxes, several exciting milestones have been…
Category : Mudita's digest 03-12-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Expressions of power and status in non-verbal communication
You can't possibly have a reasonable expectation of privacy at your income level. - Gregory Scott Katsoulis, All Rights Reserved - *** As highlighted in the latest issue of Mudita’s newsletter, both chronemics - the study of the use of time in non-verbal communication - and proxemics - the study of human use of space and the effects…
Category : Articles 26-10-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
The Role Of Chronemics And Proxemics In Communication - 3rd Issue
"For negotiations or meetings, it is always wise to lure others into your territory, or the territory of your choice. You have your bearings, while they see nothing familiar and are subtly placed on the defensive." - Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power - *** Dear Reader, Welcome to the third issue of "Oddities &…
Category : Mudita's digest 08-10-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Global Leadership and Time Management Skills
Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first. - Angela Ahrendts - *** The findings of studies conducted over the years suggest that cultural diversity and the misunderstandings that often arise as a result of different temporal perspectives have an impact on staff retention: workers will either…
Category : Articles 29-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
ACAMS DUBLIN - Cross-cultural communication, the costly risk of misunderstandings
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. - George Bernard Shaw - *** One of the main characteristics of intercultural communication is that it usually takes place between "strangers": people born and raised in different environments, accustomed to often divergent sets of values and beliefs, which…
Category : Articles 25-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Time Management Across Different Cultures - 2nd Issue
"Aside from velcro, time is the most mysterious substance in the universe. You can't see it or touch it, yet a plumber can charge you upwards of seventy-five dollars per hour for it, without necessarily fixing anything." - Dave Barry - *** Dear Reader, Welcome to the second issue of "Oddities & Curiosities", Mudita's "no-frills", irregular…
Category : Mudita's digest 21-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Oddities and Curiosities - 1st Issue
"Great ideas have the power to shift perception to create value where it didn’t exist before." - Alan Philips - *** Dear Reader, Thank you wholeheartedly for subscribing to Mudita's School, and welcome to the first issue of "Oddities & Curiosities", our "no-frills", irregular newsletter. As some of you may already know, Mudita Consultancy is…
Category : Mudita's digest 20-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Buyer Personas and the role of lifestyle, values, and beliefs in market segmentation
If I have a handful of silver it is because I work and my wife works, and we do not, as some do, sit idling over a gambling table or gossiping on doorsteps never swept, letting the fields grow to weeds and our children go half-fed! - Pearl S. Buck…
Category : Articles 03-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
The importance of context in the communication process
Dear Reader, As you may have noticed, Mudita has recently launched its first course (available here): going forward, I will share here on the blog snippets of the courses that are currently on offer or due to launch soon. Here’s a short preview of the course on Intercultural Communication: hope you’ll…
Category : Articles 25-08-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Gift Giving Etiquette in the Confucian-Asia cluster: the luxury fruit culture
The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. - Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur - *** In a previous article we’ve discussed about the importance of guanxi in Chinese business: as explained by the author (Calipe Chong), guanxi - that literally translates as “relationships” - is to be intended as the “mechanism that provides…
Category : Articles 22-07-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
The Eastern Europe Cluster
But they could neither of them persuade me, for there is nothing dearer to a man than his own country and his parents, and however splendid a home he may have in a foreign country, if it be far from father or mother, he does not care about it. - Homer, The…
Category : Introductions to culture clusters 25-06-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Introducing Mudita Consultancy new features
Those of you who have come to know Mudita well will know that community and communication live at the core of everything we do. This year, we’re looking to put all of you lovely people well and truly ‘on the map’. It’s a pleasure for us to announce that in the…
Category : Articles 08-06-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Crisis Management and the influence of cultural diversity on national responses to emergencies: an East v West comparison
Individuality and freedom are undoubtedly the greatest achievements of modern culture. . . . But we have fallen into the trap of individualism . . . and have lost sight of the relationships between the individual and the social system, between freedom and responsibility. . . . Our young adults—even…
Category : Articles 14-05-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Global business and the reasons why we need to talk about race in the workplace
Maria’s intro: Dear readers, Those who’ve visited the blog in the past few days might have noticed that a new section - Introductions to Culture Clusters - is now live: while this isn’t strictly a blog about Diversity & Inclusion, we cannot have meaningful and stimulating conversations about global business and national…
Category : Articles 13-02-2020 by Mildred Talabi
Global business networking and the hidden dangers of LinkedIn
1. Ethical concerns as a small (unverified) business owner LinkedIn - “the world’s largest professional network”, boasts over “660+ million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide”, has the mission to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful” and the vision to “create economic opportunity…
Category : Articles 03-02-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
II/II. National culture, international business strategy and common misunderstandings between the East and the West
It's dreadful what little things lead people to misunderstand each other. - L.M. Montgomery - In the previous article we’ve briefly explored the theory behind social connections, harmony, consensus in the Confucian-Asian cluster: relationships founded on the principles of Confucianism tend to be characterised by continuity and reciprocation, hierarchy and preservation of…
Category : Articles 15-01-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
I/II. Social connections, harmony, consensus: Confucian beliefs and business culture in China, Japan and Korea
Fundamentally, Japanese culture is based on rice farming. Rice farming requires a lot of water, and water must be shared evenly by everyone. Planting rice also required teams of people walking from row to row, as the same speed. And all of this has meant that uniqueness had to be…
Category : Articles 03-01-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino
II/II: "Why do we work so hard?”: Introduction to guilt- and shame cultures
A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed. - Mencius - There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us…
Category : Articles 16-12-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
I/II: "Why do we work so hard?” Motivation and reward across different cultures
The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense Thomas A. Edison Why do we work hard? What are the driving forces behind someone’s strong work ethic, and what would be an effective reward system for a multi-national workforce? Motivation, the process that initiates and…
Category : Articles 09-12-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
"Where do babies come from?”: a tale of misunderstandings and corporate negligence
In a previous article we’ve discussed about ethnocentrism - “ technical name for this view of things in which one's own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it.”- with regard to people management, this week we’ll look at the same…
Category : Articles 02-12-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Masculinity-Femininity (Tough-Tender)
I have an extremely strong, masculine mind and a feminine sensibility level, which is kind of an unusual combination. Both men and women tell me things and I can relate on two levels simultaneously - Truman Capote - According to Hofstede’s definitions, masculinity is “a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness…
Category : Introductions to cultural dimensions 18-11-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Food, values and entrepreneurship in diaspora communities
How a people eats is one of the most powerful ways they have to express, and preserve, their cultural identity...To make food choices more scientific is to empty them of their ethnic content and history (Michael Pollan - In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) What sort of information can we gather…
Category : Articles 06-11-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Power dynamics in the workplace and the hidden costs of fearful communication
In her book “Controlling Other People: The impact of power in stereotyping”, researcher Susan Fiske claimed that “Secretaries know more about their bosses than vice-versa; graduate students know more about their advisors than vice-versa” : what happens when communication in the workplace is ruled by power dynamics and the voice of one…
Category : Articles 15-10-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
Marketing Relativism: Glocalized Tea vs Globalized Coffee
The hallmarks of a potentially successful copywriter include: obsessive curiosity about products, people and advertising. A sense of humor. A habit of hard work. The ability to write interesting prose for printed media, and natural dialogue for television. The ability to think visually. Commercials depend more on pictures than words. - David…
Category : Articles 16-07-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
The iceberg model
Culture hides more than it reveals, and strangely enough what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants. - E.T. Hall - *** What do people value the most, a legal document or an informal agreement? Words they can hear/read or the meaning in what is not said? How likely is…
Category : Introductions to cultural dimensions 17-09-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino
How cultural misunderstandings can hurt your business
Can any organization nowadays afford to be oblivious to the cultural background of its stakeholders in the global marketplace? In 2003 Mrs Wang Hui, a Unilever (owner of the Lipton brand) employee interviewed by the South China Morning Post, claimed that Lipton was getting ready for a new challenge: selling green tea…
Category : Articles 01-07-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino