Regardless of current career status, most people today would consider their smartphone to be essential to their everyday lives. In fact studies have shown that we are rarely more than just a few feet from our mobile devices. Fortunately, there are some excellent mobile apps that can help you manage your global business and improve your international trade knowledge while on-the-go.

1. Speak and Translate

While having the power to write text and instantly have it translated out loud in a foreign language may sound like science fiction, this app has made it a reality. If you are travelling in a foreign country and do not know the local language, it may just become your best friend. The app lets you choose between a wide variety of languages, and it is very simple to use.

2. International Trade Dictionary

Imagine that you are in an important business meeting and someone uses an international trade term that you have never heard of. Don’t want to ask and potentially embarrass yourself? You can simply take out your mobile device and discreetly look it up. Problem solved. Reading this dictionary is also a great way to expand your international trade knowledge and vocabulary.

3. HS Code Handbook

This app provides information about distinct national customs codes from all around the world. If you run an international business, it is absolutely crucial to have a solid understanding of customs codes for the countries you will be importing from or exporting to. If you don’t, you could wind up making mistakes that could cost your company valuable time and money. This app can help you quickly learn the relevant customs codes that you need to know.

4. UPS Mobile

With this app, you can monitor and keep a close eye on all of your shipping information. Your international product shipments are valuable and cost boatloads of money to ship. The ability to monitor your cargo with precision can give you a much better understanding of the whereabouts of your products, as well as the peace of mind that comes with knowing your shipment is safely on its way.

5. Hopper

Hopper is a great app if you have to travel at all for business. It monitors ticket prices for airfare and lets you know when the prices are the lowest. You can also book flights right through the app. How convenient! If your company regularly books flights, this app could potentially save your business thousands of dollars.

6. Slack

Slack is an incredibly handy communication and file sharing app that has become immensely popular in the business world. It allows you to communicate with your entire team instantaneously, all from the convenience of your mobile device.

The crucial thing about Slack is that it almost functions like a chatroom. This makes it more convenient and feel more organized than simply cc’ing all of your colleagues on an email. It also has a much more elegant and sophisticated user experience than email. Using Slack can be ideal to help you to manage your teams remotely. Once you start using it, this may just become one of your favorite business tools.

7. HKTDC Mobile

Developed by the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council, this app provides important information needed by international vendors and buyers alike. It contains details about potential business connections, sourcing information, international market data, and more.

You never know what key piece of information will be able to help you establish an important client relationship or find a market opportunity. This app can give you access to the most important information you would need to do so, and can set you on your way to success.

8. RingCentral

RingCentral can be a real life saver when it comes to international calling. With this app, you can make U.S. calls and receive all of your voicemails completely for free as long as you are connected to Wi-Fi. So, if you know that you will have to be making a lot of international calls, or listening to voicemails, then this app can potentially save you the bother of paying for international roaming or getting a new plan while abroad.

9. Expensify

Business expenses are very important to keep track of so you can take advantage of all potential tax deductions and know how much you need to budget for these types of expenses in the future. Nobody wants to dig for receipts months later or incur the wrath of their finance department, so it’s important to find a way to track business expenses as they’re incurred.

Expensify makes it easy and convenient to keep track of your business expenses. Not only are they all listed in one place, but you can add them on the go – no more waiting to get back to your computer to update a spreadsheet. It even gives you the power to organize your business expenses based on specific categories, making it easier than ever to track your spending.

10. Business Behavior – The International Guide

Every nation has a different culture, and a different set of policies and guidelines for appropriate business behavior. When you are travelling abroad to meet with business contacts in a foreign country, the last thing you want to do is accidentally offend someone and potentially risk a fruitful business relationship.

With this handy guide, you can quickly research the etiquette recommendations for the nation that you are in. Then you can apply them to your situation and make sure that you are always behaving in a way that is culturally appropriate and respectful. This can go a long way towards improving your business relationships with overseas contacts and secure deals for your company.

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Cross-cultural communication presents challenges that are not always faced in home markets. This is because of cultural filters—perceptions formed over long periods of time—that affect how the world and our environment are understood.

Particular cultural filters have been influenced by past experiences and societal influences, as well as by ethics and morals instilled by family, religion and peer groups.

These filters determine what is viewed as appropriate or inappropriate, but are not necessarily transferable across cultures because formative influences differ from culture to culture.

To be effective internationally, it’s important to be aware that one’s cultural filters might not be relevant or acceptable in a particular foreign market.

• Attempt to enhance communication by avoiding stereotypical presumptions
• Check to ensure that foreign counterparts have understood key communication aspects
• Try to learn the foreign language over time so as to reduce reliance on interpreters
• Experiment with, but do not necessarily adopt, local mannerisms and means of communication

There’s more to communicating than speaking or writing

By definition, communication is the exchange of ideas and information between people. A large part of this process involves non-verbal communication that consists of body movements, gestures, facial expressions, touching, eye contact, tone of voice and others.

Every culture receives and interprets non-verbal communication in a different manner. To avoid unintentionally insulting someone, it is important to understand the cultural aspects of non-verbal communication in foreign environments.

1. Gestures

The improper use of gestures has caused businesspeople considerable embarrassment in various cultures around the world. For example, if the host of a business luncheon asks how the meal is, and he receives the “OK” or “thumbs up” sign, there is a risk of insulting a great many people!

2. Touching

Touching is a primary form of non-verbal communication. In most cultures, a handshake between two people is a common welcoming gesture and, if not accepted, a possible insult. However, if two men or two women were to walk down the street in public holding hands, the meaning would be perceived as entirely different.

Across different cultures, humans have appropriate touching customs ingrained at an early age. In some Asian cultures, it is quite common for men who are close friends to hold hands. This may be uncomfortable to some, even if they are fully aware of the Asian culture.

Dancing is another aspect where touching differs greatly among cultures. In North America, close dancing and the resulting contact between two people is considered normal and non-sexual. However, other cultures would be horrified by this public display of touching. The reverse is true in parts of Latin America, where couples openly display their affection in ways that would not be acceptable in other parts of the world.

3. Facial expressions

One common expression in Canada is the term “face-to-face communication.” It implies that we will be communicating with others in person rather than by phone, e-mail, fax and so on. It could also serve as an explanation for how much communication is expressed through facial movements.

Watching children interact with each other brings this aspect to light. Children are well versed in the meaning of facial communication from a very young age. They growl, smile, frown, stick out their tongue, squint and pout all the time, understanding each other without any formal education in this area.

Within cultures, facial expressions may be interpreted in a similar manner—but across cultures, misunderstandings can easily occur.

4. Space

The space we maintain around ourselves reflects a desire to control who gets close to us and under what circumstances. Ideas about appropriate distance vary from culture to culture and are symbolic of the society’s style and tone.

For example, people from some African cultures stand quite far apart, while people from the Middle East who are of the same gender are likely to stand close to each other, yet frown on public displays of affection between men and women.

On the other hand, Americans with European backgrounds are somewhere in between. The exact distance depends on the type of relationship they have with the other person—the more personal the association, the closer they stand to each other.

This is more than just an interesting sociological observation.

Body language has practical business ramifications. Proper distance should be maintained in circumstances where workers, colleagues or clients are in danger of feeling emotionally or physically threatened by the invasion of their personal space.

It should be noted that the sense of security or threat associated with personal space can be at the subconscious level, and may be difficult to assess or gauge effectively.

What should be done when people meet who have different interpretations of body language? Should an effort be made to “speak the same language”—that is, match their movements and ideas about space, touching, eye contact and gestures, or should one simply try to avoid doing anything that might offend? The answer depends on the relationship between the parties and how their body language differs.

For example, if one is speaking with someone who stands close and touches their arm during conversation, it would be unwise to try to match this behaviour. Instead, one should observe the behaviour, but not back away or rebuff the touch—unless, of course, it is inappropriate—and be reassured that this closeness most likely shows this person’s desire to communicate.

Conversely, when the other person stands at a distance, one should honour this difference by modifying one’s behaviour accordingly.

The reason for this distinction is that erring in the direction of too much intimacy can be far more damaging than appearing a bit reserved.

The post Understand these 4 methods of non-verbal communication for your intercultural interactions appeared first on Trade Ready.

Researchers point out that cross-cultural shortcomings are a major reason for failure in international business. The development of cross-cultural competencies therefore deserves the attention of those who want to achieve positive commercial outcomes in the international arena.

If you are considering taking your business into a new global market, building cross-cultural competency in that region is crucial to your success in entering that market.

Here are the top five reasons why you should develop cultural knowledge early on in your market entry plan.

1. Consumer behavior

Consumer behavior continues to evolve. At present, targeting potential clients requires an increasing level of accuracy. People are busy. Their attention spans have decreased dramatically (to an average of 20 seconds), and they’ve become more selective and more receptive to personalized customer service.

Whether you choose to connect with them in-person or digitally, identifying their concerns and challenges in advance will enable you to better cater to their needs.

Understanding the nuances and history of your target audience’s particular culture is key to identifying their needs.

2. The costs of cultural unawareness

Cultural forces play a significant role in business operations. Serious conflicts and loss of revenue are often the results of cultural unawareness. As early as 2006, James P. Johnson et al. reported that the costs of cultural shortcomings by executives at international companies ranged from $250,000 to $1 million.

Later in 2011, executives from 68 countries named cross-cultural leadership as their greatest management challenge for this century in a survey run by “The Economist” Intelligence Unit. If you look closer at your past failed projects or present relationships with international vendors, partners, leads and customers, you may also find hidden costs that are already taking a toll on your business.

3. Costly, embarrassing false assumptions

Mutual understanding is our first and foremost goal in intercultural business interactions, right? You might assume that having a lingua franca such as English in the international arena, or Spanish in the Spanish-speaking countries of South America, should be enough to efficiently conduct business. Well, basic understanding doesn’t always mean agreement.

According to Nancy Adler,

There is the false assumption that just because we can reach anyone in the world so easily, through e-mail or Skype, we are, therefore, all the same.

You may start a conversation by finding a common ground and/or addressing similarities. Appealing to your audience’s complicity is an effective strategy at the beginning, but don’t dwell on it too much.

You need to bring something worth their time if you don’t want to lose their attention. You should get past this stage by showing respect and genuine interest for their culture. Otherwise, you’ll be perceived as reckless, unthoughtful, rude and even prejudiced. Projecting the status quo and stereotyping are perhaps the most harmful behaviors hindering effective communication in a new global market.

4. Cultural awareness

For a long time, we’ve seen multinationals like Coca-Cola land their products overseas, almost always with success, yet this kind of effort was almost unthinkable for small-medium businesses. This was particularly true in emerging markets like in South America, until more recent years. The Internet, as a faster and more cost-effective means of showcasing products and services overseas through digital media, and public development programs have encouraged more companies to plunge into exporting goods and services.

However, intercultural competencies still elude many SME owners and their staff. Knowing how to speak a language is not enough to perform effectively in cross-cultural contexts, whether at home or abroad. For the most part, a comprehensive understanding of what globalization implies for local businesses, in terms of opportunities and competition, is still missing.

A global mind-set and cross-cultural competencies don’t develop overnight, they’re part of an ongoing process of research and learning experiences. So, look for ways to better tune in to cultural sensitivity. Be open to new ideas and tolerant to diversity, because globalization has already knocked on your door.

5. Professionals with cross-cultural competence

You might be thinking, “But I’m already internationalizing my company. How can I make up for lost time and stop draining my efforts?”

My suggestions:

• Surround yourself with professionals with cross-cultural competence. They should not only have cultural literacy, but also the ability to uncover unfamiliar concepts, to change their perspectives in context and have the drive to adjust their behavior to achieve successful business
• Provide your personnel with cross-cultural training programs. Becoming aware of unfamiliar or already assimilated familiar concepts of another’s culture requires constant coaching and practice. Take, for example, the difference in risk perception between British and American oil exploration teams uncovered by Marcelo Baudino, Cross-Cultural Consultant for Latin America at Iceberg Cultural Intelligence. This made me realize that my own cultural knowledge on Anglo-Saxon cultures is very specific, yet bringing cultural differences into consciousness still eludes me in many circumstances.
• Do you know that “an early bird gets the worm in U.S. and EU, but the first bird in the flock gets shot down in China”? Values tend to differ between cultures as well (Frano Ljubić et al., 2009).

Finally, some food for thought. President Obama recently visited Argentina and held a town hall with young leaders. During his introduction he tells the audience about his fascination for Argentine authors like Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, as well as for Buenos Aires City, and that he’s taken mate for the first time. Why do you think he chose these topics, and not soccer, politics, religion?

My guess is you don’t set the tone for a friendly conversation by being controversial.

Remember these tips:

• Cultural similarities and differences go hand in hand. Avoid stereotyping and respect individualities as well.
• Different ways of perceiving reality can be a deterrent to development. Detach yourself from your own cultural boundaries to be able to meet and embrace other people’s views.
• Training and exposure to other cultures will enable individuals, not only at the management level, to perform more effectively when necessary.

The post 5 reasons why you should address cross-cultural shortcomings sooner appeared first on Trade Ready.

A while ago I had the opportunity to lead a seminar about Navigating Global Leadership with my fellow coach Lene Beck Roervig at the Danish American Chamber of Commerce in New York City.

We opened the seminar by describing the following scenarios, and asking the participants to discuss the differences between the two.

Think about a fish in a bowl. Swimming around in the safe and well known waters, perhaps with one or two other fish, fish it knows very well because they have shared this specific fishbowl for quite a while now.  Life is a predictable swim in protective waters.

Now contrast the image with fish in the ocean. What are the differences?

Size is one.  The vast, open ocean compared to the closed-in fishbowl. The diversity of fish and other creatures of the sea, and the opportunity to explore new environments and places as you swim are other big differences.

Swimming in the global ocean

What does this scenario have to do with global leadership? Leading a business in the local market is like swimming in a fishbowl. You know the local culture, your fellow fish (competitors and collaborators), and customers well. You have a shared history and a shared set of core values.

Operating a business in the global    marketplace is comparable to swimming in the ocean. You need a different knowledge base and skill set to navigate this vast new market. What you learned while swimming in the bowl is not enough.

Similarly, global business leadership requires more than simply knowing different languages and having international experience.

A leader with a truly global vision understands how the global economy and climate impacts organizations and societies.

A leader also embodies the cross-cultural awareness and skills that come from knowing oneself, while seeking to understand others’ perspectives and moving towards integrating them.

To have a vision is defined as “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom” and as “the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be.”

How can we best anticipate what the future will look like? First we need to understand the past, the current, and our place in the world.

You have to act local to go global

As a local leader, you rely on your shared cultural context, including expectations, assumptions, values, norms, and history, to guide your actions as you manage and motivate your staff.

For example, if you operate a business in a more individualistic culture, you know that to motivate and give feedback to your staff, you need to reward the individual effort and give feedback in private.

Leading people in a culture that accentuates collectivistic values means promoting the accomplishments of the team, and rewarding the team as a whole without singling out individuals, particularly in public.

Research indicates that the reason some companies fail to become global successes is their lack of local understanding and their managers’ inability to adjust and acculturate to local or regional culture.

The way business is conducted in a certain country is influenced by the local culture, so you can’t simply transplant one business model directly into another country.

The ways in which we form and maintain interpersonal relationships, and communicate with each other differ across countries and regions.

Thus, you can’t expect to create new business relationships using the model that worked “back home.”

The curious case of Nokia

This argument is convincingly laid out in the book Fish Can’t See Water – How National Culture can Make or Break Your Corporate Strategy by Kai Hammerich & Richard D. Lewis (2013).

As a Finn, I found the chapter on Nokia’s rise to and fall from global dominance in the mobile phone industry fascinating.

The authors explain how Finnish cultural traits such as hard work, honesty, SISU (determination to overcome adversity) and a reliance on facts, in lieu of emotions and relationships, helped the company develop an agile, yet humble “we-can-do-it-culture” that served the company well as it outgrew its competitors.

However, as the company became global it needed to be open to different points of view, and willing to adjust to the various needs and perspectives of partners and customers in different countries and cultures.

Instead Nokia developed an arrogant “we-are-the-best” corporate culture. The authors suggest that this might have been fueled by another set of local Finnish cultural traits such as emotional distance, a doubting view of outsiders and national pride.

This inability to adjust to local cultural differences and needs around the world, combined with the global recession in 2008-2009 and the rise of the iPhone and other competitors resulted in Nokia losing its global dominance.

Practical lessons in global business leadership

Having a realistic global vision that translates into a successful global business model requires local understanding. Knowing how to communicate with a diverse and multicultural workforce is the backbone of effective management.

Similarly, the ability to manage cultural differences in negotiation, relationship building, decision-making and marketing is vital for global business success.

I once coached an American manager working for a Swedish manufacturing company in the U.S.

He was preparing to relocate to their HQ in Sweden to implement change initiatives and needed to enhance his cross-cultural managerial and leadership skills. We began by exploring such Swedish core values as egalitarianism, work-life balance, conflict-avoidance and modesty.

Swedish corporate structure is traditionally rather flat, while the decision making process is consensus driven and rather slow, from an American perspective. It’s also important to understand the role of trade unions in Swedish society.

Americans value meritocracy, individualism, competitiveness, and tend to prefer to make decisions quickly with an action and results orientation.

Once we had defined the differences, we further explored similarities and his individual preferences. We then developed ways for him to modify his own behavior and communication style when working in Sweden, while staying true to himself. This allowed him to create trusting and collaborative work relationships across cultures, the platform for successful change management and leadership.

It’s a small world – and a big world – after all

You need to understand your own local and culturally specific values, norms, beliefs and biases and how they influence your business strategy and how you lead.  Only then can you move towards a global vision with an understanding of how to integrate local preferences.

Going global can be illustrated with placing a fishbowl in an ocean, according to one of the seminar participants.

Your business is immersed in a new environment with different local and global competitors – different fishbowls, if you will.  With a broader perspective, new skills, and communication styles (learn new swim techniques), you increase your chances to survive and stay competitive.

What leadership skills help you achieve your vision for success? Which new communication styles have you added to your repertoire in the past five years?

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