Google is always featured at the end of my talks
as one of the few ‘cultural superhero’ global organisations of this world. I know that my own Google homepage often has a Google Doodle especially for their UK clients.  But, it’s not often I get to see some of the other doodles that are created for other nations.  Here’s Google’s Doodle to celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day.  So, Happy Independence Day to All!

I was recently sent an email with some amusing photos
comparing overcrowded trains in India and Pakistan (as pictured on the right) with slick, modern trains in other parts of the world. I began to wonder just how stereotypical were these pictures and whether any of them depicted a true-to-life view of train travel around the world. My investigation led to some interesting blogs and some stunning pictures.

In South Asia the countries have a common colonial heritage
and many of the prevailing attitudes derive from that heritage. The richer, more educated people are very elitist and the poorer classes are very conscious of knowing their place in the multilayered social structure. They accept bribery as a part of normal exchange and view it as commission, not corruption. All these attitudes impact greatly the way business is carried out, with whom, and how things get done.

India is vast with many different cultures, religions and cultures.  Referred to as one of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) it has a fast-growing developing economy. Vast numbers of highly educated, numerate, English-speaking young people have supplied the necessary workforce for a growing high-tech knowledge economy. The modern India, with its Bollywood films, sits firmly by the side of its third world old India.

So far in this section you’ll find the  Top Ten Tips for doing business in four countries of South Asia, along with opening times, holiday dates and festivities. These are: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma).

Undoutedly, events like 9/11, the London and Madrid bombings, along with the terrorist attacks in Mombai and the Philippines, to name just a few, have changed many attitudes towards other cultures and the peoples that live in some distant lands. Will conflict between civilisations be the latest phase in the evolution of conflict in the modern world? Samuel Huntingdon argues that the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict, in this century, will be cultural – not ideological or economic as in the last century.

So what does this actually mean?  Well, let’s take a step back…