Learn to recognize the cultural influences on economic activities

Cultural models as you may already know them are used in intercultural contexts, e.g. training measures, when people go to work abroad in other countries in order to point out country-specific differences to their own culture.

The communication of cultural characteristics and ‚Dos and Don’ts‛ alone does not help, however, to achieve a good atmosphere and a conducive environment when encountering other cultures. Pure cultural comparisons lead to stereotypical expectations, and such expectations and perceptions may prevent a neutral, objective and open view of culture, which is important for intercultural understanding and interaction.

In our globalized world, the question also arises as to how much one actually differs from one’s counterpart. It is therefore much more important to understand how different religious, social and environmental habitats can lead to certain ways of thinking, views and attitudes.

General descriptions of culture are necessary for initial orientation, and universal models, for example of Hofstede or Hall, can be helpful here. However, according to recent cultural research, a context-dependent change of perspective is necessary between the macro-level nation and the micro-level of the individual, i.e. away from generalizing categorizations towards the integration of the cultural influences and life-worlds of the individual. The understanding of such models and a knowledge of their informative value and meaningfulness are therefore of great importance.

Allow me to develop a suitable seminar for your project abroad which can include, depending on the context, aspects of intercultural communication and ways to identify and promote your own intercultural competence.

I am here to support you in establishing a successful intercultural business relationship!

Example of an intercultural consulting project

MIT Mess- und Prüftechnik GmbH – Project India

Intercultural consulting and project support for reactivation of the sales relationship with the Indian partner headquartered in Chennai and branch office in Hyderabad, India

“Inge Grüneberg supported us in our first market appearance in India with very good expertise and a great deal of commitment.

Especially valuable for us was a market research conducted in advance, a visit to our Indian business partner in Chennai and the personal accompaniment on our first business trip to India in December 2016.

All these measures have contributed to MIT’s decision to further promote the launch of its products in India. We look forward to a further cooperation and are happy to recommend Mrs. Grueneberg to others.”

Andrea Ulbricht, Management, MIT Mess- und Prüftechnik GmbH