XVIII. DISCUSSION. AROUND THE WORLD

Company Training of the International Executive

Many companies are now helping their employees build their cross-cultural communication skills. These companies offer cultural training workshops and seminars. Each year more and more companies are offering this type of training. They realize the importance of preparing their employees for the very different and challenging international business world. The following activity will give you an idea of what these training seminars are.

You and your groupmates are salespeople for a sports clothes manufacturer which has been very successful domestically, but has never had any success internationally. The president of your company would like to try the international market again. This time she would like to try exporting products to India. She would like to set up a training program for the sales team (you and your groupmates). She has asked you to a meeting to discuss what type of overseas training you should receive. She has given you the following list of possible topics to be covered in a training program. The program is designed to help you prepare for both living and working in India. Unfortunately your company can offer only five workshops due to money problems.

POSSIBLE TRAINING PROGRAMS TO BE OFFERED

- History of India

- Indian Social Practices

- Hindi Language

- Indian Domestic Management Styles (management within Indian companies)

- Indian Economy

- Indian Distribution Practices (distribution of goods within India)

- Indian Negotiating Styles

- Indian Politics

- Indian Culture

- Legal Aspects of Indian Business Organization

- Indian Business Culture Shock

Your Point of view

Which of the topics are most important for an overseas training program? On your own, decide which five topics are most important and rank those five topics in order of importance. 1 = most important. Then share your decisions in a small group. As a group, create one final list of five topics.

Imagine that your groupmates are going to your country to do business and that you must train them before they go. To do this, you will prepare an oral presentation focusing on business practices in your country and on the cultural values behind these practices. If you are in a monocultural classroom, you should choose a country that interests you, research the country, and prepare a presentation focusing on the business practices and cultural values of that country.