Introduction to the series by Christina Koutsoukos
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Jasmine Sliger
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Cross-cultural competency – you wouldn’t do business without it
It’s never been easier to do business across international boundaries. But this also means that there are many more opportunities to get it wrong. Working, meeting, entertaining, negotiating and corresponding with colleagues or clients from different cultures can be a minefield.
Today business success requires inter-cultural awareness and effective cross-cultural communication skills. But what does this mean in a practical sense? We need to take the time to understand and respect our joint-venture overseas business partners first before we can expect to achieve the results we’re intending. Psychologist Jasmine Sliger has a wealth of personal and professional experiences with cross-cultural issues; she chats with Christina Koutsoukos about some of the ways in which businesses can be more successful when working internationally. (Running time: 18 mins 32 secs; Download: 17.3MB)
 Conversation focus
- Culture shock. What it is and how it represents itself. How the little things are so important and can mean so much.
- Just because countries speak the same language doesn’t mean there aren’t cross-cultural issues to contend with. There can be many shocks. There are different attitudes and different social and business structures and behaviours to consider.
- The cost of a failed assignment. How cross-cultural training and consultation can benefit large organisations and help them to succeed when doing business overseas.
- The meaning of cross-cultural competency and what to consider when sending staff overseas to represent your business.
- There’s a whole lot more to cross-cultural communications than just communication.
- The differences between individualist countries and collective, or group oriented countries; the differences between culture-general skills and culture-specific skills.
- Tips to consider when sending staff to do business, or live overseas.
About Jasmine Sliger
For more than two decades psychologist Jasmine Sliger has facilitated cross-cultural training programs for executives. She started her first communications consultancy, Jasmine Sliger & Associates in the mid-1980s when she arrived in Australia from the USA. She brought with her an enormous breadth of experience and talent in both cross-cultural psychology and communications. Jasmine has always been the driving force of the company and has led a wide range of organisational change and communications projects for high-profile companies and organisations throughout Australia and overseas. Her company is JSA International Communications.
Resources
Communication: The Key to Successful Cross-Cultural Teams
Authors: Jackie McNab
The global village: online cross-cultural communication and HRM
Authors: Yuka Fujimoto; Nasya Bahfen; Jan Fermelis; Charmine E.J. Härtel
Cross-cultural communication
Author: Michelle LeBaron
Original artwork by Nicola Hensel
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