Blog
Articles by Anna Katrina Davey, Founder & Director at Cultural Confidence
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Why Learn To Communicate Across Cultures?
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
“…the single greatest barrier to business success is the one erected by culture.” Edward T. Hall and Mildred Reed Hall Today more than ever, business is conducted in some kind of multicultural environment ‐ at the office or with customers and colleagues abroad. Many companies, however, do not offer their personnel the necessary training to […]
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Becoming Culturally Competent
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
“Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence” Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, this epigram holds true today in many cross‐cultural interactions. We can, in fact, generally assume that intercultural misunderstandings are the result of cultural myopia rather than the lack of good intentions. The antidote is called cross‐cultural competence, i.e. the […]
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The Meaning of Culture
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
What is culture? And how does it affect us? We encounter and make use of the word culture several times a day and in very different contexts. We attend cultural programs, discuss cultural differences as well as agricultural practices, read about the danger of cults and cultivate good or bad habits. Even when standing in […]
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France & Italy: Estranged Cousins
by Riccardo Perna, Lead Trainer & Business Developer, Cultural Confidence Europe
“Why should we pay for an intercultural training about working effectively with Italy? These two countries are so close … we know each other, we’re cousins, we do not need such training.” This is often what training managers of French enterprises think when it comes to organizing expatriations to Italy or when dealing with Italian […]
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5 Mistakes to Avoid when Working Across Cultures
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
Most businesses and other organizations work across cultures every day of the week. They may have offices around the world, work on multinational projects, or work with a culturally diverse team in their local offices. Never before has the need for intercultural competence been greater. In fact, the main reason for failure in international business […]
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Unified Communications and Cross Cultural: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Global Virtual Teams
by Riccardo Perna, Lead Trainer & Business Developer, Cultural Confidence Europe
“Today we work very well with colleagues from countries all over the world. Unified communications and global virtual teams have simplified our lives.” This is what system managers often think with regards to working with foreign subsidiaries and making use of the tools to interact with them. Although I strongly believe in the use of […]
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3 Lessons I Learned from My TEDx Talk
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
Giving a TEDx Talk on Cultural Competence as a Paradigm for Peace has been a beautiful journey and I’d like to share 3 key lessons I learned from giving the talk that you might find useful as well. Lesson 1: Stretch Yourself The theme of the TEDx event in Paris was “Beyond Our Limits”. […]
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Bridging Cultures Across a Sea of Differences: A Personal Journey
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
I was born and raised in Trieste, Italy, city of arcane splendor and elusive identity cradled at the top of the Adriatic Sea. I have called Italy as well as Connecticut, Germany and more recently Texas, home. I have also lived in Hanoi, Vietnam and have traveled about 45 countries, many of which for extended […]
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Equinox Symbolism as a Modern Model for Intercultural Training
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
The occurrence of the Equinox and the start of the astrological New Year this past week have deepened my reflections and desire to forge a more modern and holistic approach towards intercultural training. Traditionally, intercultural training has focused almost entirely on the differences between peoples. And understandably so given widespread cultural myopia and the tendency […]
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A New Memorial Day
by Anna Katrina Davey, Principal & Founder at Cultural Confidence
As every year on the last Monday of May, yesterday in the USA we celebrated Memorial Day remembering the men and women who have died serving in the armed forces. Rhetoric aside, it seems to me that we have become comfortably complacent with the status quo and reality of war. Now really, how much are […]