A Foreigner in Russia:
making your business thrive across the cultural divide
Success in international business is NOT JUST about your product and service
Success in international business IS about people, traditions and relationships.
A one day practical course is designed to:
· enhance cross-cultural sensitivity for business in Russia
· reduce conflicts and misunderstanding in intercultural settings
· achieve better performance due to successful multinational cooperation
PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN HOW TO
· Avoid cultural faux pas
· Get familiar with Russian values and beliefs
· Understand the reasons behind the actions
· Develop a successful negotiating style
· Motivate local staff
· Conduct effective business meetings
· Communicate with Russians
The workshop is aimed at foreign management staff who experience cross-cultural communication issues with negotiations and general interactions with Russian clients and employees. It provides a useful frame to turn cross-cultural concepts into working tools.
Agenda
Cross Cultural Awareness – what is it?
Russian Culture 1 – what makes the Russians so Russian?
Attitude towards foreigners, climate, geography, language, love for extremes, moral values, nationalistic tendencies and pride in achievement vs. inferiority complex, pessimism, privation, recent history, regional differences across Russia, religion, the rest of the CIS – multiculturalism.
Russian Culture 2 – an overview of the key concepts and flashpoints such as
Decision making structures, fiscal attitudes, leadership, money, problem solving, reporting, space, staff appraisal, status, time issues, transparency, truth, work patterns.
The Russian Business Environment
The background, overall work environment, men and women in business, government and business, making connections, entrepreneurship, Russian style capitalism, negotiating, problem solving, presentations, website design, brand management, team building
The Personal Action Plan
Developing a personal action plan, putting the course into practice in the work place – strategies and approaches for a micro and macro approach to cultural conflict minimization.
The course is conducted in English.
The course trainer is Chris Graham (UK) who has extensive experience of cross-cultural training and consultancy in CIS countries.Christopher Graham is British and a graduate of Warwick University in the UK. He has run training companies at an international level since 1984 and has run projects in countries as diverse as Brazil, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Poland and South Africa. He has been working in the CIS since 1996. His clients for cross cultural training include West LB, Standard Life Bank, Sakhalin Energy, Mantrac Vostok, Hewlett Packard, Kings College London, Ritz Carlton, Citibank, PWC, Anglo-American school, etc. Chris regularly publishes reviews of books on the Russian business culture and is currently editing The Moscow Times cross-cultural book “Russia for Beginners”. He divides his time between London and Moscow.
