Dec 23

Celebrating Christmas across Cultures

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture No Comments »

Christmas is celebrated in many cultures around the world in December each year. Christmas is traditionally a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ however there are an increasing number of non-religious Christmas customs and traditions that people celebrate at this time of year. Every culture, denomination of Christianity and even family celebrates Christmas slightly differently – from what they eat and buy to what they do over the Christmas period. Working effectively across cultures requires an awareness of the importance and impact of this holiday celebrated by more than 2 billion people around the world.

Christmas cclickclick i Celebrating Christmas across Cultures

© istockphoto.com/cclickclick

Here are just a few examples of traditions and customs that are celebrated during the Christmas period in the UK, Norway, Italy and France.

Christmas in the UK

In the UK people start getting ready for Christmas right before the start of December, though you may find that decorations and shops start preparing for Christmas even earlier. People will traditionally have a Christmas tree in their home that they decorate with ornaments and lights at the beginning of the month. They may also hang lights outside their house and wreaths made of leaves, pinecones and holly berries on their door.

Family, friends and colleagues will exchange Christmas gifts as part of the celebrations. Some people will also buy an advent calendar filled with chocolates for each day in December until Christmas. Companies will organise Christmas parties in December where employees have the chance to spend time together eating, drinking and often dancing to celebrate the holiday and the end of the year.

Christmas Eve is usually celebrated by enjoying food and drinks with family and friends. On Christmas Day on the 25th of December people will spend time with their families opening gifts, enjoying mulled wine and minced pies and preparing a big meal. The most common Christmas meal in the UK consists of turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, vegetables and Christmas pudding or Christmas cake for desert. The day after Christmas in the UK is also a public holiday called Boxing Day when people don’t go to work and instead spend time with family and friends to continue the celebrations.

Christmas in Norway – Jul

Norwegians are very enthusiastic about Christmas celebrations which they refer to as Jul. After Norway’s national day, Christmas is the biggest celebration in the country. Norwegians typically start baking julekaker (Christmas cookies) almost a month before Christmas to make sure they have a large number and variety of them.

The big celebration happens on the evening of the 24th of December when families gather together for dinner. Many families have traditions of dancing around the Christmas tree, singing Christmas carols and exchanging gifts. On Christmas day families usually watch their favourite Christmas films like “Three Nuts for Cinderella” “From All of Us to All of You”or “The Journey to the Christmas star”.

Christmas in Italy – Natale

In Italy Christmas is usually spent with the family. Italians start preparing for Christmas almost a month before the event by decorating their houses with a tree and often a Presepio (nativity scene). On Christmas Eve, families gather together for dinner. Fish is usually the main ingredient accompanied by pasta and vegetables. For desert they enjoy typical Italian deserts such as Pandoro, Panettone and torrone, a sweet made of honey and nuts.

Families typically open presents on Christmas Day and then share lunch. The food varies from region to region, however the typical meal usually includes pasta, meat, vegetables and typical Italian desserts. The Christmas holiday ends on the 6th of January when la Befana (the good ugly witch) brings sweets to children who behaved well in the last year, and coal to the children who did not behave very well. Different to the UK custom where Santa Claus puts presents in stockings hung by the fireplace on Christmas Eve, the Italians have their stockings filled in January by la Befana.

Christmas in France – Noël

In France Christmas is a time for family gatherings and traditions. Christmas celebrations vary greatly from one region to another. In Northern and Eastern France people usually start the Christmas period by celebrating St Nicholas’ Day on the 6th of December. Most people in France decorate their homes with a tree and a nativity scene called a crèche. In Southern France this crèche is made of small clay figurines called santons that show the life of a provincial village.

The huge Christmas feast is called Le Réveillon and is held on the evening of December 24th. Traditional French Christmas dishes are usually oysters, fois gras and turkey stuffed with chestnuts. A Yule log-shaped cake, mainly made of chocolate, is the traditional dessert all around France. Children usually open their gifts before or after attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is a bank holiday.

The way Christmas is celebrated around the world can significantly influence international business and anyone working across cultures. Showing an awareness of the religious and cultural traditions that form part of Christmas celebrations around the world will help you to make a positive impression when working across cultures and build better relationships with your international counterparts.

Make sure you understand and respect the Christmas traditions of the country you are working in as this will reduce the risk of frustration and misunderstandings with your colleagues. Find out whether it’s appropriate to give your colleagues, clients or suppliers a small gift or Christmas card as a way to send them Christmas greetings.

Wherever and however you celebrate Christmas this year we hope you have a lovely holiday!

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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Feb 03

Impact of Stereotypes on International Business: Cross Cultural Awareness is Key

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Globalisation and the emergence of cross cultural business have tremendously reshaped our working environment over the last fifteen years.  People around the world are increasingly finding themselves working with colleagues and counterparts from another culture.  Dealing with such diversity is complex and requires a high level of cross cultural competence that you can develop through cross cultural awareness training.

To make sense of all these differences we tend to classify people into specific categories such as the company they work for or their own culture. This classification provides us with references about certain groups of people and helps us begin to understand their attitudes. You could say for example that Spanish people tend to speak more loudly than British do and Brazilians tend to be more affective than Finnish. While there are some relative truths to these statements, such stereotypical representations are often over-simplified and could lead to false assumptions.

Clock DNY59 i Impact of Stereotypes on International Business: Cross Cultural Awareness is Key

© istockphoto.com/ DNY59

Stereotypes, taken-for-granted beliefs about our counterparts’ habits and behaviour, can affect our own attitudes and expectations when communicating with other cultures. The main purpose of stereotypes is to help us when we are dealing with a culture we do not know and to give us the illusion of a predictable pattern we could learn and thus know how to react to any given cross cultural situation.

For instance, when doing business in Italy we might expect our Italian counterparts to be late for a meeting whereas a Swiss would always be punctual and well organised. However it would be inappropriate to assume that no Italian would ever be on time and no Swiss would ever be late. Hence, cross cultural stereotypes need to be treated carefully as they might have a negative impact on our thinking and our capacity to perceive things with discernment.

Whether stereotypes are commonly shared among society or progressively developed through our direct experience in cross cultural relations, it is crucial to keep questioning their relevance. By doing so, we would certainly prevent ourselves from judging our international counterparts on the basis of wrong assumptions leading to inappropriate cross cultural behaviour and critical incidents.

Stereotypes can however be perceived as the first stage of acknowledging the existence of cross cultural differences which is an initial step towards the development of a higher level of cross cultural awareness and competence. However stereotypes need to be questioned, mitigated and never taken for granted if they are to help us to work more effectively in a cross cultural context.

Cross cultural awareness training courses such as Developing Global Competence or Building International Teams can help you to identify and deal with cross cultural differences which will improve your capacity to develop and maintain successful cross cultural relations. By providing you with a foundation of cross cultural understanding, Communicaid’s Cross cultural awareness training courses can ensure you understand your counterparts’ behaviour without having to rely on stereotypes that could lead to cross cultural misunderstandings and negative impressions.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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Jul 23

Benefits of Doing Business in Italy

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management No Comments »

Thanks to its position within the European Union and its highly diversified economy, Italy offers a number of benefits to companies looking to expand their operations internationally. Below are some of the key benefits of doing business in Italy.

Coliseum Hedda Gjerpen i1 Benefits of Doing Business in Italy

© istockphoto.com/ Hedda Gjerpen

 

Access to the Eurozone
Italy’s industrial triangle (Milan, Turin, Genova) is favourably positioned near other rich areas such as the Rhone-Alpes and the European core of the heavy industry: the Rhine-Ruhr region. In addition to this, as the EU has gradually expanded to the east and embraced former Eastern Block countries, Italy has gone from being the southern border of the Union to occupying its very centre. Whilst Italy’s territory mostly borders the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas, Italy shares its frontiers with fellow EU members France, Austria and Slovenia, as well as with Switzerland. Moreover, a short ferry trip separates it from Greece and all the former members of Yugoslavia. In the future, a project to create a rail and motorway corridor linking Western Europe with the Balkan Peninsula will place Italy at the very heart of modern Europe making it a great place for doing business.

A Flexible and Diversified Economy
As well as Italy’s excellent geographic position which offers international organisations doing business in Italy access to both its internal market and that of its bordering countries, the country also boasts a strong and diversified economy. Vibrant sectors in Italy include tourism, raw mineral extraction and processing, textiles, car production and of course fashion. Although it did suffer in the 2008 credit crunch, Italy boasted one of the highest per capita incomes in the Union (CIA World Factbook) for a long time and has one of the highest export rates in the world.

Government Support and Initiatives
GDP dropped by 0.2% in the last three months of 2009, but there are signs of recovery. Italy can in fact count on a unique combination of a small number of large companies that can rely on regular support from the Italian government – such as the car manufacturers FIAT and telecommunications group Telecom Italia – and a large number of SMEs, usually family-run, that manufacture high-quality consumer goods.

The combination of local businesses on the one hand and government-backed groups on the other has given rise to a unique economic landscape whose intricacies are hard to grasp without access to insider knowledge. Communicaid’s Doing Business in Italy cross cultural awareness training course offers the tools to address the cultural barriers a company doing business in Italy is highly likely to encounter, as well as strategies from individuals who have extensive experience living and doing business there.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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May 10

Challenges of Doing Business in Italy

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Modern Italy as we know it is a relatively new country. For centuries it was divided into small city-states and was only unified in the late 1800s before it had to relinquish territories following the events of the Second World War. While Italian is the official national language and the vast majority of the population is Catholic, to this day Italy has remarkable cultural differences throughout its whole territory.

Italy is divided into twenty regions, each of which has unique traditions, customs and often a number of dialects, with a different one usually spoken in each major city. Some regions have acquired ‘special status’ granting them independence from the central government both in financial and political matters.

The result is an extremely diverse geo-economic landscape. An organisation doing business in Italy will find differences amongst regions in infrastructure, sectors, and even employment laws. The difference between north and south can be particularly striking to a visitor. The north is highly developed thanks to the presence of heavy industry and private companies, while the south’s economy is welfare-dependant, mainly agricultural and sees high levels of unemployment.

 

Coliseum Hedda Gjerpen i Challenges of Doing Business in Italy

© istockphoto.com/ROMAOSLO

 

Undertaking a cross-cultural awareness training course such as Communicaid’s Doing Business in Italy programme will increase your organisation’s awareness and understanding of the country’s diversity and its inhabitants’ cultural influences. Intercultural training will help your organisation to operate more effectively in Italy while it will also provide your employees with the cultural knowledge and skills to navigate the cultural differences they are likely to face both in business and everyday practices.

The following are some key differences which might pose challenges for anyone doing business in Italy.

Affective Communication – An important aspect of Italian culture is openly expressing thoughts and feelings. Emotions tend to flow easily in this culture with lots of hand gestures and close personal contact. As a result, Italians are often guided by their feelings and establishing solid relationships based on trust are vital for successful business negotiations in Italy.

‘Bella Figura’ – The term ‘Bella Figura’, a key element in Italian business culture, is often used to describe the ability to present oneself well and behave with formality. In some areas of Italy, particularly the south, maintaining ‘Bella Figura’ is believed to enhance beauty and peace in the world. In Italian culture, appearances and opinions of others are considered extremely important. It is therefore vital when doing business in Italy to ensure that all presentations and business materials are aesthetically pleasing to your Italian counterparts. Furthermore, great detail is paid to the way one dresses so it’s important to consider your clothing carefully before doing business in Italy.

Individualism – While Italian culture has been described as highly individualistic, its not like the form of individualism that can be found in countries like the US, Australia or Sweden. In Italy it signifies a society that emphasises individual responsibility towards family and close friends, relying on a strong network of connections and close family ties. This means that Italians will tend to take care of themselves and their immediate family first. Across Italy you will find many Italian businesses owned by individuals and families. In a business context, individualism influences an Italian’s preference to do business with people they are already familiar with, and rely heavily on direct personal contact, often through mutual friends or acquaintances, to explore new business opportunities.

‘La Cordata’ (Chain of Command) – This concept tends to mean that only the most senior people in a company will make decisions, sometimes leaving those at a lower level with their hands tied. Non-Italian organisations may encounter a great deal of inflexibility when trying to reach a decision and get things done when doing business in Italy.

Thriving, modern and vibrant, Italy is a country with many faces. Romans and Etruscans made it their home, a base from which to conquer and unify Europe and the World. The remains of these ancient civilisations still pave the roads of Italian cities, yet the country today is a jigsaw of cultures and traditions, both ancient and new.

Organisations must be aware of this and the resulting cultural differences and challenges of doing business in Italy. Providing employees cultural awareness training like Communicaid’s Living and Working in Italy programme will give your organisation an essential head start and the competitive edge you need to be successful in the Italian business world.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Feb 15

Cross-Cultural Concept of Time: Chronemics

Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector 3 Comments »

The terms polychronic and monochronic are used to describe how we understand and use time as well as how time affects our attitudes, behaviours and communication. In The Silent Language (1959), Edward T. Hall used the term polychronic to describe the preference for doing several things at once. Conversely, monochronic refers to an individual’s preference to do their activities one by one.

People in monochronic cultures such as the U.S. or Germany prefer promptness, careful planning and rigid commitment to plans. They also tend to be task-oriented whereas people from polychronic cultures are people-oriented. Cultures such as Italy or Brazil are considered to be polychronic since they prefer to have multiple things happening at once. Polychronic cultures tend to prioritise relationships over tasks and do not consider time commitments to be binding.

The table below highlights some of the key differences between monochronic and polychronic preferences.


Monochronic Polychronic
One thing at a time Multiple activities at once
Rigid approach to time Flexible approach to time
Strict agenda No strict agenda
Focus on task Focus on relationship
Completion of job most important Relationships more important than the job
Emphasise promptness Promptness based on relationships


Cross-cultural training will provide you with a more comprehensive understanding of different approaches to time, including your own, and the impact this can have on doing business internationally. Whether intercultural training focuses on one specific culture such as Doing Business in India, or how to be more effective in any global context such as Communicating across Cultures, the concepts monochronic and polychronic are key to improving your ability to build strong relationships with your international colleagues.

While doing business in other countries, you should consider the different perceptions of time people might have. Everyday global business activities such as scheduling meetings, participating in conference calls or planning a project can be affected by attitudes to time.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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