Archives for November 2014

We encounter diversity in business on a daily basis whether we chose to acknowledge it or not.  “Human diversity has been popularly understood to refer to differences of color, ethnic origin, gender, sexual or religious preferences, age, and disabilities,” (Moran & Harris, p.157)  In business it also extends to education, work experience, and specialties in the work field.

In many instances this is a very beneficial thing in that it offers the opportunity for more ideas to be brought to a discussion project.  The company that I work for now actually looks for this on projects.  When there is a project planned, they look for a number of people with all different backgrounds and specialties to serve on the team.  Normally there will be a team leader who has a background in the area of the project, but from there, there will be a service center manager, operations supervisor, a driver, a dockworker, and a customer service specialist all selected for the team.  The reasoning behind the selection is all the different ideas that can be brought to the table based on their perspective of the problem.  Diversity plays a huge role in this and is actually what drives this process.

The military is a prime example of diversity.  You have all races, genders, and backgrounds brought together to do a job.  No matter what the off the job issues are, when it comes time to work, it is done the same way no matter who is doing it.  Being a military brat, I experienced it first hand.  The difference was, we did not see it as diversity.  We all knew who was black, white, Hispanic, or Asian, but that did not matter.  There is a different feeling and sentiment when it comes to military kids.  We did not see a color or background, we just saw people who were just like us.  We made friends quickly because you knew people were only going to be around for two to three years and then they would be transferred somewhere else.  Many times you never saw these people again, but you still consider them friends and can pick up a conversation with them like it was yesterday.

Diversity is all around us.  The key is figuring out how it actually helps us and adds to our lives and business practices versus how it hinders and hold us back.

 

References

Moran, R., & Harris , P. (2011). Managing cultural differences global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed.). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

 

We know that synergy exists amongst a group of individuals working to achieve a common goal, but one thing I’ve noticed is that synergy really only exists when the group has the ability to contribute and the motivation to work together.  Differences within each team are almost always there on purpose but what if the team’s differences are keeping them from working together?  I’m currently part of a team where a lot of our differences keep us from obtaining any synergy.  You could say that maybe we lack a truly motivating goal.  Something to work together for.  We tend to spend too much time on our petty differences.

Our culture doesn’t necessarily promote synergy either.  We work in an environment where our performance is based on how we rank compared to our peers so we are in constant competition with each other, on top of that our culture doesn’t do a good job at helping us to realize our goals as an organization.  Our goals are performance based.  They’re not great at motivating us to work together.

When I was in the Coast Guard, that was when I experienced synergy at its best.  You could call it synergy because of how different we were having come from all over the country but so good at knowing each others roles and coming together when necessary.  You could consider it cultural synergy because of how we were all trained to operate and think alike in certain situations.  Either way, despite having major differences, to the point of major disagreements, when someones life was on the line, we were the most efficient team you’ve ever seen.  Now that’s synergy.  Below is a picture of the 41 foot Utility Boat that we often took out on search and rescue missions.  The crew was a minimum of 3 and we often went out with 4 or 5, all working together to complete our mission.

But we had a goal and when it came time to execute on that goal, nothing could stop us and maybe that’s what we truly lack now as a team.  We all have the ability to contribute, that is true but we are struggling with motivation.  We need to find something that we are all equally passionate about.  Maybe it’s our customer, maybe it’s our staff but we need to build a hard goal around that to help build synergy within the team.  When things go wrong and the one thing that we are all passionate about begins to suffer, maybe then, that’s when we can achieve the synergy that we so sorely need.

I’ve seen diversity at work in many different ways, in some it’s worked well and given a group or an organization an advantage and in others I’ve seen it work against a team trying to come together.  We know how important diversity is but do we understand how to recognize and utilize it.

There may be plenty of reasons why teams are assembled.  They include people with different backgrounds and experience, people who think differently, people who are conservative and others who are crazy and take risks.  I worked for someone who made it a point to make sure her team stayed diverse by hiring leaders from different parts of the organization with different skills and people from outside of the business and even different in their leadership approach.  Although we were a very diverse group, we didn’t really feel that different and I never realized it until I really began to think about how much we are truly aware of.  We knew we were all different but now that I look back on it, I don’t think we fully took advantage of it.

What good is anything if you’re not aware of it?  Diversity especially.  I’ve been part of a diverse group that recognized it and took advantage of it.  Knowing that others offer a different perspective because of their unique experiences changes you.  It forces you to ask more questions rather than give more statements.  It allows information that might not otherwise be shared to be a contributor to the final decision or result.  In one of my previous blogs titled Social Learning; Turning Off Autopilot, I talked about how our brains operate on autopilot and because of this we lack awareness and the ability to search for more information using an example of a puzzle.  We operate with a quarter piece of the puzzle and need to collect other pieces to accurately see the picture.  In the case of diversity, it’s important to know that different people with different experience and information hold those puzzle pieces.  By truly understanding the diversity of a group, you know that you can collect more relevant and important information that could lead you to achieving your goals.

If each person in a group, different from the other possesses a unique strength, the sum of all of those strengths is greater than each individual, if you realize it and share them.  But if the group doesn’t know and they don’t share then what is diversity doing for you?  In some cases, it may work against you.  I’ve seen a leader with passion and focus on the employees hire and team up with a leader who’s passion and focus is on the business and operational structure.  You would think that the two of them them could use their strengths to positively impact both areas but we saw the exact opposite.  The leader with focus on the operation neglected the employees and engagement went down.  Just because diversity exists doesn’t mean that its advantages will automatically take hold.  The diversity needs to be recognized.

I created this illustration to help make my point.  If each letter represents a different skill that each person brings to the team the lines represent the lack of awareness.  What we have here are silos.  A silo in business is essentially a symbol for management’s inability to communicate and engage with others.

Now if we were to add awareness and let everyone in the group know what each person diversely brings to the team, this illustration then looks like this.  Together in one room with the opportunity to share what they each bring to the table.

So while diversity is important, I believe that it is equally if not more important to be aware of those that are different.  Recognize their strengths and what advantages they bring to the group or to the organization.  Take time to ask questions, seek information form those that have it.  Break down the walls that silo you from others and create a stronger, smarter, more effective team.  It starts with being diverse and works with recognizing it.

The major differences between capitalism and communism are the control of resources and/or the means of production. In communism, the community or society solely owns the resources or means of production. In Capitalism, the resources or the means of production lies with a private owner. The profit of any enterprise is equally shared in by all the people, the profit in a capitalist structure belongs to the private owner only (No Author, 2009). While the private party controls the resources in capitalism; it is the society that controls the whole means of production in communism. No one having control over the means of production implies that everything is shared by all in communism. All wages are equal for all; no one is richer or poorer than others. Basically, communism stands for a classless society. On the other hand, Capitalism divides the society into rich and poor. Lastly, if individuals want to raise the ladder, all they have to do is work harder.

Communism in Russian can be attributed to the harsh life of 19th century. Communism developed which became popular amongst the workers of Russia due to the many difficulties experienced through Tsarist rule. Tsar failed and a new government was setup, Duma, but it couldn’t manage the problems that Russia had. The events of the revolution changed Russia completely and brought a new form of government. This group was called “Soviets” whom took over the government. A communist government was established in result, as the Soviet Union (Moran & Harris, Pg. 438).

Due to communist rule, the Soviet Union government approved the NEP (New Economic Policy) which called for virtually all aspects of the economy to be centrally planned. All workers were now working for the collective good of the state and individual profits were not allowed. Everyone was on equal social status terms with the hopes that all citizens would be self-sufficient and properly taken care of. This plan was an immediate failure as five million people died in a famine, within the first few years (No Author, 2012).

The majority of citizens in Soviet Union were illiterate with no training or education. The government brainwashed Russians by using propaganda and false information in order for workers to buy into the communist plan. This plan was a failure which resulted in a constant struggle for workers. Moreover, as a result of the government failing another famine occurred due to lack of agriculture, resulting in millions of deaths (No Author, 2012).

The communist rule did not offer any signs of hope to the Russian Federation. Every century more and more danger appeared. The economy fell harder, as other countries continued to grow. For example: during the advancement of computers and technology the Soviet System misused its resources and concentrated only on military instead of industries that may have benefited the society.

The communist days were numbered, in 1991, an independence movement arose, causing the USSR to implode and break up as a union of socialist republics (Moran & Harris, Pg. 438). Russia held its first ever election, electing Boris Yeltsin. He had plans for drastic market reforms through the use of shock therapy. The reforms involved withdrawing regulations, price controls and subsidies to the state owned industries and opening up the nation to import goods at cheaper prices thereby diminishing monopolies the government had set up(No Author, 2012). This was the major obstacles towards adapting a capitalistic system.

 

Before the turn of the century Russia realized capitalism was simply not working. Despite high levels of education the Russian population simply lacked business skills. The economy underwent a depression and life expectancy declined sharply with the poverty rate at an all-time high. Many Russians, felt that they were better off during the communist regime. Several Eastern European countries share a history of Communist rule. While Communism has left its mark in this region, it’s now a thing of the past for many European Countries.

Positive aspects of capitalism are that it gives individuals motivation. All capital is owned privately and individuals always have the ability to start their own business or other endeavors. Everyone has the hope that if they work hard they can improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, capitalism is not a stable economic system compared to communism. Although, there is opportunity to improve one’s situation, it is not possible for everyone to do so. A negative aspect is that unemployment is common and there is a wide gap between the rich and poor. Communism tends to be more stable due to capital being evenly distributed. In communism the state owns the capital gains and the government is supposed to take care of the workers in the region (doesn’t happen obviously in every situation). Although this may seem beneficial, it puts limits in life. Furthermore, it keeps one from reaching their full potential by not allowing them to see how hard one is willing to work or how far one will go when everyone is on an equal plane.

References:

Moran, R., & Harris , P. (2011). Managing cultural differences global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed.). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

No Author. (2009). Difference Between Communism and Capitalism. Accessed: November 23, 2014. http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-communism-and-capitalism/

No Author. (2010). Differences between Capitalism & Communism and why did it start in Russia. Accessed: November 23, 2014. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/capitalism-vs-communism-and-russian-revolution-grade-11#content-top

No Author. (2012). From Communism To Modern Day Capitalism: A History On Russian Economics. Accessed: November 23, 2014. http://www.benzinga.com/trading-ideas/long-ideas/12/02/2367216/from-communism-to-modern-day-capitalism-a-history-on-russian-#ixzz3JuTN66VF

November 9th marked the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down.  Looking at Deutschland today, you would think that it had been even longer.  I grew up an Army brat and had the opportunity to live in West Germany from 1986 until 1989 and it was a completely different place back then.  The Wall came down to weeks prior to my returning to the United States.

I visited Berlin both on a family vacation as well as on school athletic trips.  The diversity that you saw between East Berlin and West Berlin was contrasting to say the least.  Being an American you had to pass through Checkpoint Alpha, Checkpoint Bravo, and the famous Checkpoint Charlie.  The first time I visited it was an odd feeling when I saw the sign that said, YOU ARE NOW LEAVING THE AMERICAN SECTOR in English, Russian, French, and German.  You always received a look from the East German border guards when you had to show them your passport when starting or finishing the trip through East Germany.  You quickly realized though that they were very similar to you and it was amazing what a can of Coke could do for you.

One of the stops that everyone made was the museum right at Checkpoint Charlie.  This museum showed the history of the Wall as well as all of the incidents that had taken place there.  There were vehicles on display that had been used by people to escape from the East to the West.  The most interesting was a car that had been made to look like a three wheeled car. A person had hid in a secret compartment that had been made out of the place where the fourth wheel should have been.  The most sobering part of the museum though, was the observation deck outside.  This is where you saw the stark contrast between East and West.  West Berlin was very bright and bustling with business.  East Berlin on the other hand was very drab and had a cold feeing to it with lack of color.  One of the other contrasts you saw was the differences in how they areas were kept. The West side of the wall was covered in graffiti and the area looked lived in.  The East side on the other hand was pristine, it looked like you could have ate off of the streets they looked so clean.

The night the Wall came down was eventful.  We lived less than a hundred miles from the Czechoslokian border.  We had all been watching on TV as the first parts of the Wall were being broken down.  Then we started hearing all sorts of honking and celebrating outside.  Being teenagers we all wanted to see what was going on so we headed outside.  A makeshift celebration had started in the town square and people were celebrating like it was Oktoberfest or fasching.  The party lasted through the night with people celebrating the fact they would be able to see relatives they had not seen in years.

When I left the United States to head to Deutschland, I thought I would hate it.  I had never been outside of the States, other than to Canada for a day, let alone moving out of the country.  The opportunities it ended up affording my though are priceless.  Instead of reading about it in a world history book, we took field trips and saw it first hand.  I was able to experience history first hand and see places that many people only dream about.  Not many people can say they visited Deutschland, England, France and the Netherlands all in one year.

 

References

Moran, R., & Harris , P. (2011). Managing cultural differences global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed.). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Cultural Synergy occurs when there are there are different cultures that are working together to create one group. For instance, a company merger is an example of cultural synergy.  If there are two companies that are going to form together as one, two different cultures or perspectives of different cultures have to work together in order to meet the common goal of the new company.

This can be a difficult task because all companies do things in a different way.  There are a number of things that will come into question with a company merger. First there is the risk of layoffs for the employees because with combining the two companies, there may not be a need for both staffs.  Therefore, there is the decision of which employees to keep.  Another issue is handling the business in general.  While one company may have had a certain way of doing business the other the company may have handled things much different.  Hence, there could be a lot of conflict within the organization.

Another issue is how the company merger is perceived by its clients.  Because, once again, they may be used to a certain way of the business being handled and now they have to deal with changes.  And let’s face it, no one really likes changes or wants to adjust to them.  Having said this, there is a lot to think about when dealing with a company merger.

However, with cooperation and proper communication, the two companies can work together to form one organization and make it work.  Although, there will be a number of different cultures amongst the two companies, by working together for the common goal it can work. Teamwork is what will make the merger work; it is in fact what synergy is all about.

You may think the first country over the past 100 years to have a loss of 33% GDP was America from 1929-1933. If that was your guess, you were wrong. Greece over its six year recession hit a staggering 33% decline compared to The Great American Depression which hit 27%. That is an incredible number that is finally shrinking. The six year recession is finally over and Greece is turning numbers around.
During the six year depression, things weren’t just bad, they were awful. The jobless rate in Greece rose to a staggering 26% at its peak. Over one hundred thousand businesses closed and more than one quarter of the population lived below the poverty line. Today, the Greek economy is still 30% smaller than before the crisis and some still worry that conditions aren’t stable.
How did this happen? What led a country to almost going completely bankrupt and causing the European Union to spiral out of control? The answers to this are easy. Most Greeks were living beyond their means and were guilty of tax evasion. The Country was found to be borrowing money from others that it wouldn’t be able to repay and the cost of the 2004 Olympics caused a tremendously huge debt.
Until now, the last time Greece saw any positive GDP growth was in the year 2008. So what has caused a change in the recession? Some believe record summer tourism and only that helped Greece become the fastest growing economy in Europe. However, private consumption has also risen to prove tourism was not the only fix. Europe gave Greece two bailouts. The first was for over 140 Billion dollars, the second was for more than 130 Billion dollars when the first had shown it wasn’t improving. The Greek people were also able to write off ¾ of their debt.
Luckily things have changed in Greece. If the tide hadn’t turned this could have spelled disaster for the rest of Europe. It would have made other Countries have an increasingly more difficult time borrowing from other Countries because of stability worries. Also, investors could have become nervous and stopped buying bonds and led to a disastrous cycle. Luckily for the rest of the world, stability returned to Greece and this will soon be a distant memory.

 

References:

Q&A: Greek debt crisis (BBC News) http://www.bbc.com/news/business-13798000

Greece’s collapse is officially worse than the US Great Depression (Quartz) http://qz.com/248821/greeces-collapse-is-officially-worse-than-the-us-great-depression/

 

Cultural Differences Between Americans & Russians

Cultural differences can help describe the differences between two groups by comparing these groups as a whole. Both of these countries are multi-ethnic, great powers, whom have a variety of diverse groups in their societies. Both groups are known for great hospitality and appreciate casual, direct, and a blunt way of speaking. Moreover, cultural differences are of importance to discuss when doing business in Russia or just communicating between the two groups. One can learn to speak a language, but until you know and understand the culture you will never truly be fluent in that language. Cultural differences should never be underestimated due to their importance.

In Russia, personal space is not an option; your space is their space. Americans prefer more personal space than Russians do. In America when friends or family greet they shake hands or give a short hug and immediately step aside to have some distance for conversation(normally 3-4 feet). In Russia, people are comfortable talking right on top of each other with very little (maybe 1-2 feet) personal space between them(Natalia Kozyakova, 2014). Americans are very uncomfortable with “close talkers” so they start to back away. Russian people do not like to much personal space and would rather speak sitting or walking quite close to each other. As conversation proceeds, they tend to come closer and closer. I have a friend, whom is Italian, and I consider him a close talker and always catch myself stepping back during conversation until he has me cornered and I have nowhere else to go. Moreover, in Russia it is considered rude and unfriendly to keep a large distance during the conversation while in America it is preferred.

Like most cultures, it is important to have trust and a mutual relationship. It is imperative for the Russian culture to be able to trust one another and keep that trust. Russians have to believe that someone is good and honest before having a concert relationship. Americans become friends first and build trust later if at all. American’s friend and befriend people suddenly and occasionally. In some situations, Americans may seem open up at first, but in reality it can take time to earn their complete trust. Americans make friends and become relatively close in no time at all, but it is easy for them to disappear in an instance from one anothers life. Russians believe in building friendships and staying connected after the trust is built. Lastly, during communication repeating one’s self to a Russian will make you appear untrustworthy. A big mistake in the Russian culture is to repeat the words “I’m sorry” or “thank you”(Deborsi, 2012). Moveover, it is important to apologize once and not repeat.

Dating in America is normally casual and laid back mostly in pubic settings having a common conversation. Typically two individuals go to dinner or a movie or possibly both. Americans typically meet someone in a bar or nowadays online and throw themselves into dating; if it doesn’t work then they just move on. They date many partners in very little time and don’t think anything of it. Casual dating is a lot less common in Russia. Russians date to find a significant other and get married. In Russia, you will see two people on a date wearing a formal dress and suit instead of jeans and t-shirts (No Author, 2014). Russian women and men go to bars, coffee shops and restaurants to find potential dates and hope is to turn a casual encounter into marriage. Furthermore, Russian men are expected to pay for all of a woman’s expenses when they are on a date” (Deborsi, 2012). If the gentlemen, does not pay the female can take this offensively and move on.

Russian business culture retains many of the characteristics instilled during the Soviet era, most noticeably an autocratic management style (Ellie Williams, 2014). The autocratic style is not president in American business culture too often. This form of leadership enables managers to make decisions unilaterally. Russian employees don’t inquire about the consent; they do whatever they feel is necessary in order to achieve goals. America’s are expected to follow management’s direction even though employees often ask questions about their duties and often collaborate with supervisors. Language translation problems can occur; one word will convey an idea or meaning while Russians will have several words to choose from, each having a slightly different meaning. Lastly, many Russians don’t conduct business on the phone due to the phone system being poor. While American business is conducted over the phone, email, letter or fax. Russian prefers to hear and discuss directly from people they trust, face-to-face.

In Russia, people are a little more formal and reserved, more serious, and casual behavior is considered a sign of disrespect. In the United States, American culture is slightly less formal and open, with society interacting casually and frequently debating and discussing personal and non-personal issues. Russian people, value personal relationships and trust, and tend to be suspicious of strangers. As a result, they usually stick to people who know each other well. Whether or not one is going to have a personal or business relationship with someone from Russian, it is very helpful and respectful to get to know how their cultural expects another to act.

Work Cited:

Deborski, (2012) Cultural Differences between Americans and Russians. Accessed: November 14, 2014. http://masterrussian.net/f13/cultural-differences-between-americans-russians-19683/

Ellie Williams, (2014) What Is the Difference between American & Russian Cultures in Business?. Accessed: November 14, 2014. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-americans-russians-cultures-business-56041.html

Natalia Kozyakova, (2014) Differences between my Culture and the US with Regard to Nonverbal Behavior. Accessed: November 14, 2014.Http://smcgsp.blogspot.com/2009/03/about-me.html

No Author, (2014) Comparing Russian and American Dating Style. Accessed: November 14, 2014. http://www.rosebrides.com/russian-and-american-dating-styles.html

 

Communication is the most important aspect of everyday living.  Without communication decisions can’t be made, this is especially important in the business world.  If there is no communication, employees won’t know what is expected of them, what the goal of the company is or company policies.  When working in the global context, communication becomes a little more difficult.  The difficulties come into play because there are often language barriers as well as cultural differences.

 

We can often be misunderstood when working with people that speak our own language, therefore when dealing with another country, many things can be taken the wrong way.  For instance, meanings for things that can be different, therefore it is extremely important to understand how to convey your words, whether it is in writing or verbally.  There could be a risk of offending someone or the possibility of the other person misunderstanding what you are trying to say completely.

It is also important to remember that when dealing with other countries, it is not always about the verbal or written communication.  Gestures or nonverbal signals also play a big role in a global context.  While a simple hand gesture may be common to us in the United States, it could be offensive to someone in another country.  Therefore, while doing any type of business outside the United States or even with someone that works here from another country, understand their culture so that no one is offended or embarrassed.

 

A good global leader will learn how to effectively communicate with other cultures.  We are seeing more and more that we are dealing with many different cultures on a daily basis and we need to understand the sensitivity of other people’s values and cultures. This not only applies to leaders but employees as well, as we all interact with different cultures. Communication is so important in our daily lives that one wrong saying or gesture can certainly make a difference and it could be a huge difference.

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. Oxford: Routledge .

Pennsylvania State University. (2014). OLEAD 497B: Leadership in a Global Context: Lesson 4: Global Communication. Retrieved at: https://cms.psu.edu

 

 

 

According to Bazerman and Moore (2012), Daniel Kahneman says that we process thought using system 1 thinking and system 2 thinking.  System 1 thinking refers to our intuition system, which is typically fast, automatic, effortless, implicit, and emotional.  System 2 refers to reasoning that is slower, conscious, effortful, explicit, and logical.

After studying this idea for months and observing it in a corporate, fast paced environment I’ve realized that leaders, humans are on autopilot and spend too much time in system 1. Now being on autopilot has it’s advantages.  Decisions are made quickly and business initiatives are born and executed as promised.  People get answers to their questions and tasks are completed.  But operating in autopilot has extreme disadvantages.  Mistakes are made, quality suffers and soon productivity suffers.  Business grows then is lost and employee engagement deteriorates.  If we operate on autopilot, by doing so we don’t allow ourselves the opportunity to stop, pay attention, gain awareness and test our judgements, and overall improve the quality of our decisions and maybe even worse, we don’t allow ourselves the opportunity to learn.

Moran, Harris, and Moran (2011) asked the question; “Why do many leaders seem not to believe that they can also be learners?  And learn from other cultures and management practices in our global world (p. 99)?  One of the reasons we make errors when on autopilot is because we are overconfident. Maybe this is also why leaders don’t think they can be learners.  As leaders, our overconfidence leads us to believe that we have all of the information we need and there is no need to gather anymore.

But maybe it’s not overconfidence and maybe its not that leaders believe that they can’t be learners, maybe autopilot simply eliminates our ability to pay attention or gain the awareness necessary.  Maybe we rely too much on our intuition to steer us in exactly the right direction and we have no idea that it is failing us or maybe there is just a better way.

Redmond (2014) said that social learning happens through a four-step process: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation and if a global leader can motivate people, the other three steps become a lot easier but in this perspective, is motivation the key?  The desire to learn to change to become better to improve the situation the organization or yourself to me is the key to open up the mind and allow ourselves to see what we are missing and work towards achieving these goals.  When I was training new hires, I always said, give me someone with the desire and I will give them the ability.

At some point we will all need to accept the fact that there is more to what we think exists.  We operate with a quarter of the puzzle because we are on autopilot and lack the knowledge and motivation to look for the other pieces.  Turning off autopilot could open the door to our social learning and imagine what we could learn if we just paid attention.

 

Bazerman, M., & Moore, D. (2012). Judgement in managerial decision making (8th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.

Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. Oxford: Routledge

Redmond, Brian (2014) Lesson 4, Global Communication. The Pennsylvania State University: World Campus