Companies place a premium on those who understand cultural differences

Interesting example about the benefits of intercultural training in this article in the Financial Times (you may have to register - free - to read the whole thing).

"Over six years, two-day programmes were run simultaneously in Paris and Tokyo, with the two linking up at intervals throughout the training. By 2005 a large percentage of employees had benefited.

“Employees had a much deeper understanding of each other, with less suspicion and paranoia. There was a lot of synergy in decision-making, and an ability to make the best of their combined intellectual heritages,” Mr Reed explains.

Asian business people are incredibly well informed, he adds, and this type of cultural training avoids the risk of losing the opportunities their skills can provide. He admits, however, that companies can still be reluctant to invest in it, focusing on language classes instead. While this is important from a managerial perspective, which might view language as inhibit ing performance reviews, for example, companies need to embrace a 360- degree approach.

“There is slowly becoming a realisation that businesses have to step beyond etiquette and knowledge about a culture into developing personal skills.”"