Our services :

- The International Profiler

- Creating a Third Culture Workshop

- Working with Chinese Workshop

- Workshop: Understanding Culture for Business Success

- Workshop: Taking the ‘Shock’ out of Culture Shock

- The International Profiler

The International Profiler (TIP) is a development tool which helps managers and professionals reflect on the skills and capabilities required for working in an international context. It helps raise awareness of areas in which managers and professionals may require future development to more effectively transfer their technical and managerial skills into the international arena.

What are the benefits?

• Identification of competencies/skills required for working effectively in an international environment;
• Development of competencies/skills identified as requiring greater energy and emphasis, through design of an action plan;
• TIP provides a platform for coaching or skills development training for teams.

How does the TIP - The International Profiler work?

The TIP – developed by WorldWork Ltd ( www.worldwork.biz ) – is an on-line questionnaire which focuses on a set of 10 core competencies, involving 22 associated skills, attitudes and areas of knowledge required to transfer leadership and managerial skills into an international context. A 2-hour feedback session follows, drawing on the results of the 45 minute questionnaire.

The aim is to identify three or four qualities where the client perceives greater energy and emphasis will be required to maximise their performance in an international context. A plan of action is then prepared and discussed (1 hour), which focuses on development of these qualities. The process normally lasts 3 months, from the completion of the questionnaire to the final discussion.

Who can benefit from the TIP?

The International Profiler is aimed at individuals who need to build their adaptive skills for working in an international environment, including:

•  Expatriate professionals or managers (including those in the process of expatriation);

•  Managers leading international teams or operating in multi-cultural workplaces; and

•  Local managers with international roles.

By the end of 2006, 2200 people of 85 different nationalities had completed the TIP.

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- Creating a Third Culture Workshop

This workshop is based on the notion that culturally determined assumptions, values and beliefs shape our view of the world and therefore our behaviour. The overall goal of the workshop is to understand and then capitalise on cultural differences in intercultural teams. A hybrid third culture is created, based on a shared understanding of the values, norms and behaviours appropriate for that team.

What are the benefits?

Key benefits include:

• Agreement and reaffirmation of team purpose and goals;
• Awareness of team members' basic cultural assumptions and values and their influence on business and team culture, leadership skills and behaviours;
• Greater understanding of shared values and expected behaviours;
• Creation of a new team culture – a Third Culture - capitalising on cultural differences and strengths;
• Team ownership of the emerging third culture;
• Attitudinal and behavioural change consistent with agreed workplace values and the new Third Culture;
• Enhanced team unity and improved team performance.

How is the workshop run?

This workshop is customized to the client's needs. The format of the workshop involves pre-work assessment, the 1 ½ day workshop and follow-up. Our interactive approach – a mix of presentation, cultural awareness building exercises, group discussion and case studies focuses on ensuring that clients apply the newly acquired concepts and knowledge in real business situations.

We facilitate the process of defining desired behaviours, and creation of a Team Document of agreed team values and behavioural norms – the foundation for the new team culture. Individual action plans are also drawn up, which define the attitude and/or behavioural changes sought and how to achieve them.

Who can benefit from the workshop?

•  Intercultural teams comprised of two or more nationalities;

•  Expatriate managers leading teams in a foreign culture;

•  Multicultural teams, geographically dispersed.

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- Workshop: Working with Chinese – the Cultural Dimension

This workshop focuses on cultural dimensions of our interaction with Chinese. It is based on the notion that culturally determined assumptions, values and beliefs shape our view of the world and therefore our behaviour. The overarching goal of the workshop is to help executives to build the knowledge and the skills to interact more effectively with their Chinese business partners and colleagues.

What are the benefits?

Through a mixture of information, awareness building and skills training, the workshop :

• Creates understanding of the cause and effect relationship of the two dimensions (invisible and visible) of culture;
• Builds awareness of the client's own basic cultural assumptions and values and their influence on business culture, leadership skills and behaviours, as well as on strategic relationships;
• Provides essential information on Chinese history, society and business culture;
• Introduces fundamental concepts and values in China today; and
• Provides an opportunity for the client to test newly acquired cultural awareness and to practice new skills in a case study.

How is the workshop run?

This workshop is customized to the client's needs. The format can vary from a basic ½ day introduction to the cultural dimension of working with Chinese, to a 2-day workshop that permits a more profound exploration of Chinese values with a range of tips for various business situations: Negotiation, How to Manage Chinese Staff, or Chinese business etiquette. Our interactive approach – a mix of presentation, cultural awareness building exercises, group discussion and case studies focuses on ensuring that clients apply the newly acquired concepts and knowledge in real business situations.

Who can benefit from the workshop?

•  Expatriate professionals in transition to China;

•  Organizations and individuals doing, or preparing to do, business with Chinese;

•  Local managers with responsibilities for business dealings with China; and

•  Managers leading international teams which include Chinese staff.

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- Workshop: Understanding Culture for Business Success

Building relationships is critical in developing sustainable business partnerships. Understanding the cultural assumptions that you and your prospective business partner bring to the table can fast track and secure those relationships.

When your product is competitive on price, quality and reliability, cultural awareness can give you that extra edge over your competitors.

This introductory Workshop offers a unique opportunity to build what you've heard or read about working with other cultures into a competitive advantage.

What are the benefits?

Through a mixture of lecture, awareness building exercises and group discussion, the workshop will better equip participants to:

• adapt to different and diverse business environments
• build sustainable business relationships across cultures
• turn knowledge of cultural differences into a competitive advantage

How is the workshop run?

The workshop is a starting point to enable participants to adapt more effectively to a range of different business environments and cultures, by introducing:

• how culture impacts on business behaviour;
• the cultural assumptions that underpin ‘your way' of doing business;

• different cultural patterns in communication style, perceptions of time and status
• the importance of understanding culture for building business relationships
• competencies to help you transfer your business success into new international markets.

The format is a minimum of 3 hours for an open workshop. We're happy to customize the workshop for in-house delivery.

Who can benefit from the workshop?

• Exporters preparing to enter new markets or wanting to strengthen the international side of their businesses;
• Executives working internationally or in a culturally diverse environment;
• Public Service Managers responsible for international portfolios or working in a culturally diverse environment.
  

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- Workshop: Taking the ‘Shock' out of Culture Shock.

Well settled professionals are productive professionals. A well settled family is also crucial to effective overseas assignments.

When entering an unfamiliar environment we move through various phases of an adjustment process. When this new environment is a new culture we also face the different norms and behaviours of the host culture.

The objective of this workshop is to enable participants to transition smoothly and establish a satisfying life in their host country, as well as prepare them for re-entry into their home country.

What are the benefits?

• Awareness of, and ability to recognize the typical stages and symptoms involved in the cultural adjustment process
• Improved ability to adapt faster and more effectively to a new environment
• A range of strategies for managing stress, maintaining identity and living a contented life both overseas and on return to their home country.

How is the workshop run?

The workshop builds on the body of research on the cultural adjustment process, facilitates the sharing of participant's experience, and provides time for self-reflection and development of concrete coping strategies.

The workshop has a minimum 3 hour format for an open workshop.

We're happy to customize the workshop for in-house delivery, and to add a culture specific part for individual participants.

Who can benefit from the workshop?

Professionals and spouses preparing for an overseas assignment – whether for the first or repeat time.

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