Cultural awareness

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Should Your Business Expand Into India?

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You may have read our recent post about India as a potential destination for businesses considering expanding overseas. If not, you can read it here.

And who should make front page news this week by setting up business in India? None other than global brand and the world's largest furniture retailer, IKEA.

The Hyderabad store is IKEA's first opening in India, followed by plans to open shops in all major cities over the coming years, with sites already purchased in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi.

IKEA's global chief executive Jesper Brodin said, "The market of India for us is a dream."

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What You Need to Know Before You Relocate to India

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What You Need to Know Before You Relocate to India

India isn't just a country - it is an experience that may well overwhelm your senses if you are not prepared. To help mitigate culture shock and to help you make the most of your time in India, here are some great practical tips you should know before you move there, courtesy of Preeti Roongta.

1. Local Registration

If you plan to stay in India for more than 180 consecutive days, you are required to register at the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO) within the first 14 days of your arrival.

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Relocating to Britain? Cultural awareness and train travel

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Relocating to Britain? Cultural awareness and train travel

Move quickly. Do not dawdle as though you have all the time in the world, even if you have got all the time in the world. You need to keep up with the pedestrian traffic, otherwise you will find people knocking into you or shouting at you to get a move on. Stuff needs to happen and the world needs to be saved and if I miss this train the next one could be a whole two minutes away. Don't be the obstruction to salvation.

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Relocating to Britain? 5 more must knows

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Relocating to Britain? 5 more must knows

Of course, you all know we are a ridiculously, almost eye-wateringly, polite nation of people. If ever there is an opportunity to say, "please", "thank you", or "sorry", then we are there - whether or not we've had an invitation. So it seems all the more discourteous when some people choose not to follow the "rules". Oh yes, the rules, unwritten as they may be, are as valid as the statutes which form our legal system.

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First impressions last: face-to-face meetings overseas

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First impressions last: face-to-face meetings overseas

There will come a point when it is time to meet face-to-face with your international counterparts e.g. you may need to make market visits, arrange meetings, undertake negotiations, attend trade shows or conferences, or even relocate under your organisation's employee relocation programme. As with any relationship, it's important to make a good impression and build trust.

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7 ways to engage more effectively with international buyers

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7 ways to engage more effectively with international buyers

Building relationships is essential to international sales, and an awareness of cultural considerations is hugely important when relocating overseas or selling your products and services into international markets.

What may be acceptable in the UK could deemed as inappropriate, insensitive or even offensive in other cultures, and a little understanding of the culture you are selling into goes a long way.

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Cultural differences in attitudes to time

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Cultural differences in attitudes to time

Time is money. Or is it?

This is certainly a Western view about time and reflects the view of cultures where what happens in the present is seen to be of direct consequence to the future and, ultimately, personal or business success. In other cultures, different views of time exist and understanding this can help anyone undergoing employee relocation to overcome some of the communication challenges faced when doing business internationally.

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Building a brand on trust – the business of language

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Building a brand on trust – the business of language

Building an international brand requires insight into how to build trust in new business environments where language and culture define how people think, and determine business communication and behaviours.

International business flourishes where there is trust. But how do you build trust in international contexts? This article concentrates on an essential element of this – a business’s use of language.

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Building a brand on trust – the business of relationships

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Building a brand on trust – the business of relationships

Understanding and responding to cultural differences enables employees who find themselves in an unfamiliar environment to achieve mutual understanding, leading to improved efficiency and profitability.

There are several cultural models that help us understand the complexities of culture and how to adapt our communication style for different cultural contexts. One of the simplest of these models refers to low and high context cultures.

6 essential tips for doing business internationally

6 essential tips for doing business internationally

Most businesses today, especially those in the digital field, try to take advantage of how small the world has become thanks to technology and the internet.

This could mean relocating employees or hiring overseas, serving clients abroad, and/or partnering with companies anywhere in the world.

Here are six great tips that will serve you well when doing business internationally:

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Relocating to Britain? 5 more things you need to know

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Relocating to Britain? 5 more things you need to know

Welcome to our fifth and long overdue instalment in our "about Britain" series. For the uninitiated, Britain can appear to be a pretty odd place. We have odd habits, odd food, odd weather, odd taps and an even odder sense of humour. It's nothing that a good bout of cultural training can't sort out, but I'm going to run a series of posts about what makes the Brits so wonderfully weird - or weirdly wonderful - which may help anybody relocating to understand what the heck we are all about.

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Education and global cultural awareness

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Education and global cultural awareness

Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC) held its annual Make Your Mark Expo between 8th and 12th February and Celsium was fortunate to be one of the guest speakers invited to present to students and teachers.

BSDC's annual Expos present opportunities for students to attend presentations, workshops and exhibitions based on themes such as vibrant learning, teaching and assessment, preparing for work in the global environment and technology enhanced learning.