Working Across Cultures

"Cultural intelligence is the new competency in our borderless, multicultural world. Working Across Cultures provides a rich, penetrating analysis of these complex business issues. This thoughtful book delves deeply into the cultural languages necessary to thrive in a global society."--Bob Rosen, CEO, Healthy Companies International; author of Global Literacies, Leading People, and The Healthy Company
"Given the current push toward globalization, this book will be important for business professionals and students alike. It is current, accurate in its facts, and just plain fun and interesting to read." --Richard Steers, Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon

Cultural understanding is indispensable for people who live and work abroad or in multicultural settings, but few have appropriate knowledge and training in this area. "Working Across Cultures" addresses this need. Suitable for general readers yet intellectually challenging, the book illustrates how to thrive in unfamiliar cultures by understanding and tapping into the stress management mechanisms used by the people who live there.
The book begins by refuting the notion that professional life interacts with culture only at the level of etiquette. Distinguishing between rule-based and relationship-based cultures, the author examines the roles of authority, individualism, competition, security, negotiation, contracts, supervision, lifestyle, and even humor in different cultures. He shows how different concepts of time, space, information, and wealth shape everyday life across cultures. The book concludes with a comprehensive reading list for more than one hundred countries.