A research framework for business people communicating across cultures, and students in BA330 Cultural Diversity in the Business Environment, BA 642, Cross Cultural Business Challenges, and BA 780 International Business Experience.
Write down the initial scope of the task. Break down complex questions into multiple individual ones.
Step 2
Make strategic choices to locate appropriate information sources. Business decisions are based on indicators of expertise in the subject matter and credibility. The mere presence of a source in Google results is not an indicator of authority, credibility, or quality. Look further.
Business decisions are generally based on trade information, government information, or scholarly information. This is what your professors prefer you to use.
If you can't verify the source's authority and credibility, move on.
Information sources vary in content, relevance, and value, depending on the needs of your search.
Match your topic to the sources below.
First attempts do not always produce adequate results; allow enough time and be persistent. Ask for help if needed.
Search effectively.
Search efficiently.
A good business report or paper synthesizes the information, interprets its implications, and draws conclusions.
Organize the information in meaningful ways - check the assignment for clues from your professor.
Analyze the information gathered. Maintain an open mind and a critical stance.
Synthesize information from multiple sources.
Evaluate and explain the significance of the information you presented.
This is the basic template for webpages written by organizations. More examples are available in the APA 7 guide's "How Do I Cite Webpages" section.
Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). URL
Canadian Cancer Society. (2013, April 14). Cancer research. http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-101/cancer-research/?region=on
CultureGrams provides country reports that go beyond mere facts and figures to deliver a one-of-a-kind perspective on daily life and culture, including the background, customs, and lifestyles of the world's people. The reports are written and reviewed by in-country experts and are updated as new information becomes available. World Edition-Cultural reports for more than 200 countries. Each includes 25 categories such as Land and Climate, History, Personal Appearance, Greetings, Dating and Marriage, Family, Diet, Housing, Holidays, Economy, Education, Health, and more.
Type your country's name into the "Search within this publication box".
The BBC is the world's leading public service broadcaster. Its mission is to enrich people's lives with programs that inform, educate and entertain. BBC World Service broadcasts to the world on radio, on TV and online, providing news and information in 27 languages and world service English language. Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions. They also include audio and video clips from BBC archives.
Select a country, territory or international organization from the menus.
Much of what we do at Commisceo Global Consultancy is designing training courses for business and organizations worldwide, in all languages, across sectors. What we believe is unhealthy is the type of cultural awareness education that is simmered down to knowing dos and don'ts or learning a list of bullet points on how to negotiate. This is just information. This is skin deep and in fact, we argue, it’s counterproductive as it reinforces stereotypes about a people and closes doors to alternative levels of understanding and more importantly ways of thinking. We take a different route. We emphasize self-critique, skills based cultural understanding and experiential learning. Our focus is more on creating ‘global mindedness’.
Scroll down the page and choose a country.
Also from Commisceo Global Consultancy, these guides to intercultural management are designed specifically to help managers and leaders from all levels traveling into new countries or cultures. They provide useful insights into the expectations of managers and highlight potential differences that could lead to challenging situations.
Scroll down the page and choose a country.
CountryWatch is an information provider for corporations, government agencies, and universities needing up-to-date information on each of the recognized countries of the world. It provides critical country-specific intelligence and data to clients including public and private sector organizations with overseas operations and global interests. Its management has extensive international business experience and the members of the editorial department have strong academic backgrounds. The team has created this suite of products covering demographic, political, economic, business, cultural and environmental subject matter.
When the search loads, add your country's name (e.g. AND China) and limit the date range to the last few years.
Culture Crossing is a global consulting organization dedicated to innovative solutions for people working in challenging global contexts. The company designs and facilitates programs for global executives and managers to build essential skills such as cross-cultural communication, leadership, team building, sustaining employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, and international recruiting and staffing. The Culture Crossing Guide is a database of cross-cultural information about every country in the world. The information is submitted by people who are either natives or residents (or former residents) of the featured countries. All of the information posted on the website is vetted by a Culture Crossing staff member and checked for credibility by cross referencing with at least two other sources. Brief, basic information is presented about social gestures and business.
Select your country from the drop-down menu.
The World Factbook, produced for US policymakers and coordinated throughout the US Intelligence Community, marshals facts on every country, dependency, and geographic entity in the world. It is used by a wide variety of people including US Government officials, researchers, and corporations. The Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. In addition to information on government, the economy, and communications, the Factbook provides extensive demographic information.
Look no further than the U.S. Commercial Service’s Country Commercial Guides, written by U.S. Embassy trade experts worldwide….. An excellent starting point for everything you need to know about exporting and doing business overseas detailing 8 important weigh stations on your export journey: business travel; market overview, challenges, opportunities & entry strategies; political environment; selling U.S. products and services; leading sectors for U.S. exports and investment; trade regulations, customs and standards; investment climate statement; trade and project financing.
Choose a country from the drop-down menu.
Provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 183 economies. Each economy is ranked according to 10 sets of indicators. These are combined into an overall "ease of doing business" ranking.
Current information from the US State Department about diplomatic and economic relations between the US and other countries.
Industry analysis for different global regions: click "Industry Analysis" tab, then select an industry and/or a global region, then click "Search."
Check here for additional sources.
Hofstede's cultural dimensions represent independent preferences for one state of affairs over another that distinguish countries (rather than individuals) from each other. The country preferences on the dimensions are relative; culture can be only used meaningfully by comparison. The site contains world maps of each dimension and 10 minute videos of Hofstede describing each dimension.
Compare country scores on Hofstede's 6 cultural dimensions.
Select a country in the dropdown menu to see the values for the 6 dimensions. After a first country has been selected, a second or third country can be chosen to see a comparison of their scores.
