Now available in Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Taiwan), Indonesian, Turkish, Russian, Dutch, German and French. Currently being translated into Chinese (Mandarin).
Why does your Swedish colleague have so many problems leading his Chinese team? How do you foster a good relationship with your Brazilian suppliers while sitting at your desk in Europe? How do you navigate the tricky task of performance reviews when your American employees precede negative feedback with three nice comments, while the French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans skip the positives and get straight to the point? What is the best method for getting your team based on four continents to work together effectively?
Globalization has led to the rapid connection of internationally based employees from all levels of multinational companies. Where once an employee might have been expected to primarily collaborate with colleagues from his own country, today many people are part of global networks connected with people scattered around the world. Yet most managers have little understanding of how local culture impacts global interaction. Even those who are culturally informed, travel extensively, and have lived abroad often have few strategies for dealing with the cross-cultural complexity that affects their team’s day-to-day effectiveness. The Culture Map provides a new way forward, with vital insights for working effectively and sensitively with one’s counterparts in the new global marketplace.
Based on her work at INSEAD, the “Business School for the World” based in Paris, Erin Meyer provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business. She combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice for working in a global world. Whether you need to motivate employees, delight clients, or simply organize a conference call among members of a cross-cultural team, the eight dimensions featured in The Culture Map will help you improve your effectiveness. By analyzing the positioning of one culture relative to another, the dimensions enable you to decode how culture influences your own international collaboration.
The book is also filled with engaging, real-life stories and anecdotes from around the world that impart important lessons about global teamwork and international collaboration, including:
- Takaki explains to his multinational colleagues the importance of “reading the air,” or picking up on the unspoken subtext of a conversation, in Japanese communication
- Sarah sends e-mails to several Indian IT engineers only to understand later that she has offended and isolated their boss by not going through him
- Sabine doesn’t realize her job is in jeopardy after her performance review, as her American boss couches the message in a positivity rarely used in France.
- Ulrich’s Russian staff perceive him as weak and incompetent as he employs the egalitarian leadership techniques so popular in his native Denmark.
- Bo Chen – who has something urgent to say – waits patiently to be called on while his American colleagues jump in one after the other. His opportunity never comes.
What they’re saying about the book:
“Erin Meyer provides us with a brilliant guide to what all business leaders need to know right now: How to succeed in managing across the diverse cultural contexts of today’s workplace!” —MARSHALL GOLDSMITH, author of the New York Times and global bestseller What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
“Whether you are sitting at a desk in Boston or eating at a restaurant in Beijing, communicating across cultures is the great challenge of the global economy. Getting it right will be the difference between success and failure. Erin Meyer has written a very important book. Managers everywhere should read it.” —DES DEARLOVE and STUART CRAINER, founders of the Thinkers50
“I highly recommend this book to both the professional and leisure reader. Erin has shown herself to be one of the main representatives of the next-generation scholars who combine deep conceptual models with very practical applications. A must-read!” —FONS TROMPENAARS, author of Riding the Waves of Culture
“Although we live in an increasingly digitally connected and virtual business world, The Culture Map reminds us that understanding cultural differences in human interactions still matters. Global leaders know that blending cultural and individual diversity in teams is a sure recipe for better business out- comes. But this diversity needs to be first understood and then proactively managed. Meyer presents a brave, research-based analysis of how to do just that. With clear and practical frameworks, The Culture Map will help business leaders become ‘cultural bridge builders’ to the benefit of their teams and organizations.” —DR. DIDIER CL BONNET, global head of practices, Capgemini Consulting
“Commerce may be global but culture isn’t. Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map reminds us that behind businesses there are people who have biases, expectations, and a view of life which can unexpectedly determine and form multi-million-dollar decisions. Understanding that culture shapes people who shape business is vital to win. This is the book you need to travel with everywhere if you are serious about going global.” —PEDRO PINA, Google, head of brand solutions, Europe
“A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures” . . . “Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.” – Kirkus Reviews