People of the same race can have many different cultures among them, and people of the same culture can have many different races among them. So what is race? And, what is culture? And how would YOU articulate the difference? See this scholarly article for a full explanation.

Australia and New Zealand are the most generous charitable
givers in the world according to a new report from the Charities Aid Foundation: The World Giving Index 2010. The report demonstrates that charitable behaviour differs immensely across the globe. An act that is considered charitable in one country may be seen as a regular, everyday, activity in another.  However, the research also found that the correlation between happiness and giving is stronger than the correlation between wealth and giving. This means that an individual is more likely to give to charity if they live in a ‘happy’ country, than if they live in a ‘wealthy’ country. Read below and see how your country compares…

The recently proposed “Dymovsky’s Law”, part of Russian
President Dimitry Medvedev’s agenda to halt Russia’s endemic corruption problem, is apparently DESIGNED not to be effective, according to Ed Hancox in The Mantle. Rather than punish corrupt cops, the new law would allow sanctions to be taken against those police officers who make detrimental statements, in public, concerning their superiors – such as accusing them of taking bribes!

In December Ethical Traveler released the 2010 version of its annual  “The Developing World’s Best Ethical Destinations” report. The report identifies countries that are “serious about preserving their natural assets, promoting mindful travel, and building an economy in which local communities reap the benefits of tourist revenue.”

Conflict Across Cultures Series: Have you had enough time to think
about the Oranges puzzle from a couple of weeks ago?  Here is the background to remind you…

If one party wants to grow orange trees and the other party has a child to nourish, (and there are 2 oranges), what is the solution?  Take a minute and try to think of a reasonable solution…

Intercultural trainers and academics are nervous of each other.
Academia either produces more and more complicated models or more and more vocal criticisms of the theoretical approaches of the trainers. Trainers, on the other hand, are accused of mis-applying models and theories or ignoring latest developments, and are branded culturist and reductionist. The best trainers, and the most resourceful academics, are more open minded and can take lessons from each other…

Conflict Across Cultures: When you next think you are in conflict
with someone with a different background, how do you feel? Do you feel “first world” guilt? Do you ignore the differences and judge the other party by your own standards and codes?

It is not easy, but applying culture theory can help…

Intellectually, the first world would say, we have a global economy,
shared responsibility for climate change and that every country has a sporting chance to compete in the World Cup.

I want to pose a simple question; can humans think globally? During the World Cup…

When working internationally, there are certain principles
that are good to remembe
r:

  1. Acknowledge differences exist
  2. Understand and analyse why those differences exist
  3. Appreciate the unique values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours of different cultures
  4. Adapt your behaviour — including your cross-cultural communication style — to meet the needs of others.
  5. Be sensitive to feedback and adapt accordingly.

When things just don’t seem to be going right… Remember:

We will never fully transcend our cultural influences to have
an objective view. Everybody is trapped by their history, community, education, language, family upbringing and body. Our five (or 8 senses) take in everything around us. If this information were to be made readily available to us, we would be paralysed and blinded; swamped by data overload…