Cultural Intelligence (CI) or Cultural Quotient (CQ) is a skill that enables you to effectively adapt to different cultural contexts.

The first to introduce and describe this concept were Professors Soon Ang and Christopher Earley in their book “Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions Across Cultures”.

Doing business around the world means your product or service has to be suitable for lots of different cultures.

If it’s not, your chances of success are reduced.

Employers today require Cultural Competence in their organizations more than ever.

In the age of globalization, diversity, inclusion and engagement, it’s critical to have employees capable of working with people from different cultures.

Intercultural Communication is a mammoth topic.

It has so many facets, angles and sub-topics that doing it any real justice requires lengthy and considered research.

Business case studies are a great way of learning.

If you want to learn more about Japanese business culture and practices, then this case study will give you some great insights.

Being aware of cultural differences is crucial if you work in international business.

Anyone who believes that “everyone does business the same” will soon get a shock once they start to work with other cultures.

'Cultural Training’ course content should include everything necessary to help people new to a country, understand and navigate the local culture.

This understanding gives learners an advantage when working in or with a foreign country by equipping them with shortcuts on how to work effectively.

Working across cultures means adapting to differences.

Those unwilling, or unable to, usually find that things can get tough.

Before we answer this question, here’s one for you!

How do you know that you are not already culturally aware?

If you’re a business professional working in an international setting, then you’ll understand the importance placed on cultural competence.

Whether it’s recruitment, promotion or performance development - the need for cultural competence is of increasing importance in business.

Communicating clearly is crucial if you want to hit your targets on the global stage.

Learning how to shape your message and adapt your delivery to the audience, makes you more effective.

Let's look closer at a few examples of cultural awareness.

They come from the real-life experiences of our clients as well as more high-profile examples.

How do we become more culturally competent?

What steps can we take in order to work with people from other countries and cultures more effectively?

Let's explore the definition of cultural awareness.

Within the training, education and research fields you will hear many terms, sometimes used interchangeably.

What would you draw to illustrate the meaning of 'culture'?

This is a little exercise we commonly use in cultural awareness training courses to get people thinking about how culture works.

Foreigners working in Thailand can misunderstand the local culture in many ways.

Thais tend to be judged against values and standards that are alien to them which leads to their behaviours and actions being seen incorrectly.

Does Cultural Awareness training work?

Will investing in such training really offer any sort of ROI and help your staff?

Where did 'culture' come from? What does 'culture' do?

In order to understand cultural differences, you need to take a step back.

Culture is a complex thing.

It affects everything we do from the way we raise our kids to the way we do business.

Working with the Japanese in a professional capacity can be tough.

For some cultures, such as for Americans, Canadians, Germans, Australians and British, the Japanese culture can seem a little alien.