Whether one wants to argue about the rights or wrongs of the British
Empire, few can deny that it has left a lasting legacy in many parts of the globe. Our industrial might has left trains chugging across the vast lands of India, a rail infrastructure that spans the Cape to Cairo and British steel was used in spanning vast expanses as in the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But, many of the world’s trouble spots are those left behind by the chaotic retreat of empire, and its ghosts continue to haunt today’s international scene. The problems the empire encountered have still not been resolved and in Iraq, Kashmir, Burma, Sudan, Nigeria and Hong Kong new difficulties have arisen which continue to baffle politicians and diplomats. ‘One sows the seeds of demise at the outset’ is a well-known concept that can really apply to the collapse of the British Empire…

With on-going shifts in economic power from West to East, an
interesting topic of research and debate concerns the long-term potential of the next generation around the world and in particular: what is the IQ potential of the populations of the two biggest countries, China and India?  Without doubt, British Indians seem to gain higher grades on average than their ‘white’ British counterparts. And it is a well known fact that the Chinese in the UK are more diligent at school.  We put this down to cross-cultural differences within the family in a UK environment. But what about around the world – how smart are Chinese and Indians in their home countries compared to the rest of the world?

How the world loves action adventurers who get off their butts and
make things happen! I’m no different. So, have we got a latter day Indian Jones? My best wishes go to Thomas Köhler, a Swiss citizen, who has decided to walk the length of the Japanese archipelago in a bid to support the return of foreign tourists to Japan after the devastating events of March 11th. Few people will forget the combined disaster of an earthquake in Northern Japan, followed swiftly by a major tsunami and the great suffering they caused for the people of the region.  However, the knock on effect is that tourists are staying away in droves. So, how will ‘Walking Through Japan’ help?

The British often say the only trouble with France is it’s full of French people!
But, it’s not only the British who have trouble with the French it seems. There is a condition called “Paris Syndrome” which is a type of Culture Shock especially experienced by the Japanese when visiting Paris – born out of unmet expectations of an idealised, romantic view of Paris and the reality of their experiences and encounters with the ‘rude’ French.

I always try to be diligent in explaining that cross-cultural
communication skills apply not just across national cultures but equally between organisations and industries – even departments within the same organisation – think here of the stereotypical mismatch between Sales and the Accounts Department! A fellow professional speaker, Dr Gene Griessman, recently told of his experience of how you can quickly show that you are not an insider if you misuse of mispronounce the jargon or vocabulary people are used to. His story begins: “If it looks like a truck…

In 1991 the Organisation of African Unity (now the African Union)

From Candy Johnnie's South Africa Safari

established the Day of the African Child (DAC). The day commemorates the incident when, on 16 June 1976 In Soweto, South Africa, thousands of black school children took to the streets to protest about the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of them were shot down; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand injured.   “This day represents a heroic and courageous fight by African children in order to be ‘heard’ and ‘seen’; and hence celebrating DAC draws attention to the plight of African children today”, said UNICEF.  Find out more information at the BBC ‘on this day’ website page.

A recent survey concerning TRUST had 17 countries unanimously
agreeing that one profession in particular was THE one to be trusted above all others.  If these 17,295 respondents are any indication of how the rest of the world feels then the likelihood is that FIREFIGHTERS are the most trustworthy group in the whole world. However, levels of trust in bankers have fallen considerably – down to a mere 37% compared with 98% for firefighters.

The GfK Trust Index for Spring 2011 determines the level of trust that citizens have in 20 professional groups and organisations (see below for more details). Of course, there are many interesting differences between the nations with Civil Servants having a vastly different reputation depending on the country in question:  just under 80% of Swiss citizens believe this profession to be trustworthy, only one in four in Greece gave a similar response.

So, who has our least degree of trust?

Managing to set up international salary structures that have a
global reach but a local touch is fraught with difficulties! The idea behind it is to ensure consistency and avoid discrimination, control costs and, along with performance management techniques, allow managers to differentiate between the performance of individuals around the world who are at different levels or hold different positions within the organisation. However, even with a global grading scheme, each country is a different market, with different expectations and, therefore, you need to design a pay system that encompasses the differences of each…