The Middle East is as culturally diverse as the USA, which makes it difficult to talk about Middle Eastern culture as something homogenous.

What we will do, however, is to pick a few cultural differences which are shared across most of the Middle East and which are more likely to trip North Americans up when working in the region.

Every now and again the business world hands the cross-cultural training world some great examples of cultural difference in action!

One such case study is that of Carlos Ghosn, ex-CEO of the Japanese car giant, Nissan.

We all know that a positive customer experience (CX) drives repeat business, increased turnover and higher profits.

Companies who work hard to ensure their customers have a positive experience certainly reap the rewards of their efforts.

Self-awareness is fundamental in raising cultural competence.

If you are unable to understand yourself, it will be very difficult to understand another.

A report commissioned by Air France-KLM to try and work out what is causing tensions within the airline company has discovered that cultural differences between Dutch and French employees are potentially ripping the merger apart.

Air France-KLM, which is the result of a 2004 merger, asked Philippe d’Iribarne from the French Institute of Science and Niels Noorderhaven of Tilburg University, to carry out the research which involved 47 interviews with Air France and KLM staff between January and April 2017.

What's your approach to negotiations?

Have your cake and eat it? Or are you happy if everyone gets a slice?

Researchers believe they have discovered a link between someone's culture and the language they use when they are telling lies.

Psychologists, led by Professor Paul Taylor of Lancaster University in the UK, have just published the findings of their research, entitled "Culture moderates changes in linguistic self-presentation and detail provision when deceiving others", in Royal Society Open Science.

Researchers believe they have finally discovered why the wide, white-teethed smile is so important in American culture - immigrants and cultural diversity.

Across different cultures, a smile can mean many things.

“How would you explain your country's culture to someone who isn’t at all familiar with it?”

This was the question posed by OdinText to more than 15,500 people across the globe in the hope of finding some insights into cultural differences or similarities.

One of my colleagues recently caused a rather difficult situation when he unwittingly fell victim to his unconscious bias.

My colleague and I were talking to a client regarding the need for intercultural leadership training for their CEO based in the Middle East.

Sporting its own fair share of industry models, my favourite cultural model has to be one which outlines the steps between cultural ignorance and cultural savvy.

This model resonates with me on a personal note.  Why?  Well, working in the Oil and Gas industry overseeing project delivery across international teams, I thought I was great at working across cultures.

The culturally homogenous team is a thing of the past in most international organisations and companies.

More and more teams are made up of people with different nationalities and therefore different cultures, languages, ideas, behaviours and ways of doing things.

Cultures differ in the way we use our bodies to communicate.

Sometimes it is very obvious, many times very subtle.

Culture-Geeks Will Love This!

I’ve recently come across a totally awesome database – it’s a treasure trove of statistical information about cultures, societies, language, places and environments; something I thought I had to share with my fellow culture vultures.

Cultural differences have a long and rich history of ruining marketing campaigns!

Although a little cruel, cross cultural marketing fails are a humorous means of understanding the impact poor cultural awareness can have when selling or working abroad.

When learning about culture, really we are learning to look beyond surface deep.

Cutural awareness you could argue is about possibilities not limits.

Would you drink fermented mare’s milk with your new potential Mongolian business partners to seal a deal?

Or would you politely decline?

Working with people from different cultures is becoming increasingly more common; however it can also give rise to challenges.

Thankfully, Erin Meyer has recently published a book that provides a framework on how different cultures across the globe view communication at work.

What can movie trailers teach us about cultural differences in advertising and marketing?

A lot argues interculturalist, Désirée Gergen.

Culture impacts almost everything we do - including interior design! 

As such, regardless of the business we work in, one should always be aware of cultural differences.