What is the role of cultural awareness in business

What is the role of cultural awareness in business

I wasn’t imagining it. He shook hands with the lawyer to my right, skipped me, shook hands with the man to my left, the man next to him, and the man next to him.

So I stuck my hand out and introduced myself.

You bet that my head was half in the meeting and half mulling over whether this meant that he would dismiss everything I said in that meeting. He was paying me for my advice so ignoring me only hurts him.

After the 2 hour-long meeting, I went straight to Google and typed: “women handshake in Russian culture” and found an article in The Moscow Times that said:

“In Russia, I have learned not to shake hands with women unless she offers her hand first. It is perfectly normal in a business setting for a man to enter a room and shake hands with all the men present, whether he knows them or not, and not offer his hand to a single member of the fairer gender.”

Had I read that article before the meeting, I would have saved myself a lot of agony and been able to fully focus on the meeting.

The thing is, I should have known better. I am bi-racial and bi-cultural, having lived roughly half of my life in Asia and the United States. I studied abroad and lived with a host family in Spain and even took a graduate level course in Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution. I know that people from different cultures communicate differently. This was a minor oversight on my part but it was a good reminder to do my cultural research before other meetings. Since I practice law in a diverse place like Southern California, I’ve had reason to research South African, Persian, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, and Korean “communication styles” before meetings.

Cultural awareness in business is essential and failure to research cultural norms could be detrimental when you are closing a sale or negotiating a deal with a foreign counterpart. When you look for an attorney, their inability to communicate in your, your opposing counsel, or opposing party’s “cultural language” will undermine their ability to build trust.

Americans tend to communicate in a more direct manner than in many parts of the world. How many time have you said “let’s get down to business,” “let’s get to the point,” or “time is money.” Therefore, employing an American communication style with someone from a culture that communicates less directly may be viewed as rude or pushy. On the other hand, an American who forgets the importance of building rapport before getting down to business, the importance or saving face, or triangular resolution style of other cultures will often get frustrated in those interactions.

If you are looking for an attorney, consider whether the attorney you consider hiring could effectively solve a culturally diverse problem.

E-mail or call me at (949) 529-0007 if you currently have a legal issue or a legal dispute with someone of another culture and would like assistance in solving your specific problem.

Culture Awareness in the Workplace

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With globalization interacting with people from all-over the world has become a factor in the life of more and more people.

In the past only a select number of employees would have the task to travel across borders and experience different cultures, behaviors and attitudes.

Nowadays more borders are open, travel has become more affordable for businesses and individuals and technological development is allowing everyone to communicate on a global level.

Moreover, free mobility of the workforce has made workplaces many times more diverse.

While it used to be a science for the ‘enlightened’, today cultural awareness has become a necessity at the workplace.

And while Western society aims for equality and openness, it would be silly to neglect to recognize differences in cultures that may bring up misunderstandings, tense or unproductive communication or even legal trouble.

This article aims to give a very simple list of factors that tend to be the subject of misconceptions, confusion or even conflict.

The first part of the article will focus on cultural characteristics you might want to be aware generally in business with your providers, partners or clients. Those might help you communicate better and be perceived as more accepting.

The second part of the article will focus on diversity in the workplace and how to be more open towards your colleagues from different background.

The third part of the article just aims to give you some practical advice on how to create and preserve cultural awareness.

CULTURAL AWARENESS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Negotiations

Negotiations are hard enough on their own. Throw in different background and expectations on both sides and you might have a disaster.

Negotiation can happen between customer and provider for pricing, delivery conditions or service level agreements. It could be between international branches for budgets, conditions and policies.

It could happen between employees and employers for compensation, social benefits, working hours or opportunities.

Respect of power

In Western Society equality is an important value and therefore hierarchy of power is… annoying.

Flaunting your status or your title would be unbearable to lower level employees who like to think they are your equal. In other places respect towards superiors and seniors is vital.

Nonverbal communication

Apart from differences in language for non-natives, you should be aware of differences in non-verbal communication.

Openness towards the unknown

Business in some countries have a tendency to work by very rigid codes of conduct. The strict behavior comes from different levels of being accepting of the unknown.

Some want to avoid ambiguities at all costs and therefore they follow order and traditions that could rule out any sort of uncertainties.

On the contrary, workers in other countries find having a lot of rules could be suffocating.

Restrain

Individualism

CULTURAL AWARENESS IN THE WORKPLACE

Holidays & traditions

Dress code

More often than not, the dress code of an immigrant to a culture should be respected. That is, unless it represents an issue for their personal safety or is an undue hardship for the employer.

For example, a lady wearing a hijab could be harmful for her if she works in a factory where she would lean over machines with fast moving parts – it becomes a safety issue.

Gender-based conduct

HOW TO CREATE AND PRESERVE CULTURAL AWARENESS IN THE WORKPLACE

Higher cultural awareness leads to better productivity, more highly appreciated company culture, attracting and retaining top talent regardless of background, and higher employee job satisfaction.

Having a comprehensive, no-nonsense diversity and cultural awareness policy is a must. It will save you money, efforts and, in some cases, even legal trouble.

Cultural awareness and cultural diversity policies

Direction

Your policy must have two main branches. Cultural awareness towards customers and partners and cultural awareness towards employees.

The first branch would aim to educate your employees for cultural differences so that they atone their communication efforts, expectations and forecasts when dealing with international providers, partners and customers.

Coming off as more educated, accepting and respectful will improve relationships, your company’s image and, most importantly, results.

The second branch would aim for employment diversity in your teams, a culture of support and acceptance. It will include the measures you will take towards the specific diversity of the people you work with and want to work with.

Clarity in communication

Adopt a way of speaking in your company that would eliminate the risk of any misunderstandings because of non-native language, non-verbal communications, nuances or assumptions.

Teach your employees to use simple language when talking business. However, do not stop at how-to-say-it. Continue with what-to-say.

Business communication must be stripped off of all assumptions and ambiguities. For example, every time a task or a project is described or delegated it must contain all possible criteria and only the criteria that will make it a success. The budget, the scope, the time, etc.

Sensitivity

When dealing with foreign markets research is key. Make sure you introduce specific requirements and guidelines for how, when and how long this research should occur for. Provide resources. The minimum is time and money. Introduce follow-up mechanisms to ensure research has taken place.

Sensitivity inside the company should be encouraged via trainings, discussions, and organized themed events. Create a diverse team who will be in charge to organize regular trainings and casual events. Make sure you screen new employees for the traits for cultural sensitivity and train new hires.

Last but not least, introduce guidelines for best practices on the one hand – cooperation between colleagues, participation in events, etc; and on the other – red lines that must not be crossed.

Self-awareness

Do not stop at educating your employees about the differences you find with other cultures. Tell them what other cultures find peculiar about yours.

It is sometimes difficult to discover that actions and traditions you perceive as normal are perceived as strange by others. But it helps the ultimate goal of better understanding and more productive communication.

Flexibility

Encourage flexibility. Each company has a code of conduct. Assure your employees breaking the code is acceptable if it would make your partners, providers or customers more comfortable in your partnership.

For example, you may have the practice to organize informal meetings. Your employees feel more comfortable discussing business matters over dinner instead of in the conference room. There are countries in which that would be unacceptable and offensive. It will be taken as a sign you are not taking them seriously.

Teach your employees sensitivity toward unwillingness and the sense of compromise. Ask them to watch out for non-verbal cues when someone is uncomfortable.

Give them the power to take out-of-the-box decisions and when it is a good time to break the rules. Work with examples – your business history would definitely be the best source to illustrate the possible benefit from such a brave management policy.

Diversity

Make sure you introduce rules for diversity – strive towards equality of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Your team should look like a representative sample of your community.

Your diversity efforts must not and cannot only affect the representation only on lower levels in your organization. Representation must be diverse in management, too.

Diversity in representation must be accompanied with equality in compensation. The remuneration best be equal between men and women, between races and ethnicities of employees taking the same position.

Achieving a truly diverse workplace is the best way to ensure you work in a culturally rich and aware environment.

Reinforcement

If your policies would stand any chance of being taken seriously, you must introduce a form of reinforcement.

Your employees must be aware that it is unacceptable to bully, judge or make in any way uncomfortable people who are different.

Lay out the consequences. Start simple. Make the measures easy to follow through with. Make the penalties proportionate to the crime.

Do not stop at negative reinforcement. Introduce mechanisms to encourage cooperation and sensitivity. Bonuses, titles or benefits would do. Make recognition of those efforts a regular occurrence.

CONCLUSION

Awareness of cultural differences does not come naturally. What comes naturally is the culture you know from your own family, your own country and the companies where you build your career. That is what you consider normal.

Sensitivity must be taught, accepted, and preserved. It requires time, effort and an open mind.

Working with people from all over the world, with different backgrounds, religious beliefs, codes of conduct, tradition, rituals and convictions is becoming the new normal.

And with that maybe one day cultural awareness will be just common sense.

Why is Cultural Awareness Important?

Why focus on ‘culture’ in the workplace?

Why do we need to look at ‘culture’ specifically?

Why not personality or something else instead?

Well, if you work with people from different cultures it’s critical that you understand differences around rules, norms and expectations.

If you don’t, you can make mistakes.

These mistakes can be harmless, or, they can be very serious.

And when we say ‘serious’, we mean serious.

What’s an Example of a Serious Mistake from a Lack of Cultural Awareness?

Well, there are plenty of examples! How about the story of Wal Mart who lost millions of dollars when they ventured into Germany but didn’t take the time to understand the local culture; resulting in failure?

Or how about the expatriate manager in Iraq who offended the locals, causing a riot and a diplomatic incident for his firm? Read more about that story here if you want.

Once you’re finished reading, why not sign-up for an eLearning Course on Cultural Awareness in the Workplace?

Our online course is used by international organizations all over the world to train their employees on working across cultures.

What’s the Definition of ‘Cultural Awareness’

You’ll find many definitions of the term cultural awareness.

Collins Dictionary define it as,

«Someone’s cultural awareness is their understanding of the differences between themselves and people from other countries or other backgrounds, especially differences in attitudes and values.»

Simply put, cultural awareness is about understanding that our cultures impact and shape how we see the world; that differences are natural and that when we work with people from other cultures, we need to be aware of where, when, how and when our cultures may either help or hinder us in terms of communication and collaboration.

You can read more about the definition in ‘What does Cultural Awareness Mean?’

Let’s explore some more!

Understanding ‘culture’ is essential because, otherwise, it’s easy for people to underestimate the impact cultural differences can have.

Underestimating the impact of culture is the point at which things can start to go wrong!

Although it may be easy to learn facts and do’s and don’ts about different cultures, this is not necessarily what cultural awareness is all about.

If you think of culture as an iceberg, what we see of culture is tiny in comparison to what we cannot see.

It is the unseen elements of culture such as values and beliefs, that are usually hardest for people to recognise, understand and deal with.

When we interact in cross-cultural situations, a lack of awareness can lead to bad or poor decisions.

Cultural awareness helps us reduce the chances of making bad decisions and increases the chance of us making more insightful, considered decisions.

How about we look at an example to explain this further?

Case Study: Cultural Awareness in the Workplace

Here’s a real-life case study for you to read that highlights the need for cultural awareness in the workplace.

Mr Rossi (not his real name of course!) is from Italy and has been moved by his company to manage the office of their subsidiary in the Netherlands.

He is horrified to find that his desk is in the middle of an open-plan office seated next to some interns and junior ranked staff.

In his first week, he moves into his own separate office. Although he feels much better, the local employees are enraged with his behaviour and there is instant resistance to his presence in the office.

Any idea what happened here?

Well, let’s break it down.

Both parties in this example with a little bit of cultural awareness may have stopped to think about what was going on.

The Importance of Cultural Awareness

These sorts of misunderstandings happen at all levels.

The business world is full of examples of where people or companies have ventured into foreign countries and completely failed to understand the local culture.

[You can explore some more examples here as well as examples from failed M&As here.]

What these sorts of examples clearly show us is how culture can and does get in the way when it comes to how we see others and the decisions we make.

Cultural awareness helps us move beyond this.

An important learning point, that we must stress, is that being culturally aware is not about compromising your own culture or sacrificing your values or identity for ‘another’s’.

It is simply about helping us understand how we can best adapt our approaches, thoughts and decisions to ensure we create positive outcomes in cross-cultural interactions.

It is about respecting others’ cultures as well as our own.

7 Reasons Why Cultural Awareness is Important in the Workplace

So, in conclusion, here are 7 reasons why cultural awareness is so important:

Free Cultural Awareness Resources

Want to learn more? We have various resources to help you boost your cultural awareness.

The Importance of Cultural Sensitivity in Business Dealings

Related

In an increasingly globally connected world, cultural differences, and our responses to them, can sometimes create barriers to doing business. As a small business owner, it is up to you to lead your team in developing sensitivity to, and knowledge of, other cultures. Doing so can improve your relationships with customers, employees and vendors while also improving business processes, sales and the quality of the products and services you offer.

Importance of Cultural Awareness in Business

Many experts define cultural sensitivity as the willingness to acknowledge cultural differences without making value judgments about these differences. Culturally aware business organizations operate with the understanding that not every employee, vendor, or customer will share the same culture. In addition, these organizations prioritize positive relationships with employees, vendors and customers by acknowledging and respecting cultural differences.

Examples

Internal Cultural Sensitivity: The Standard Plumbing Company has been in business for over 40 years, and most of its workers live within five miles of the company’s office. In recent years, there has been an influx of refugees into the community, most of whom are Muslim. Standard plumbing has hired many workers from the refugee community, who now comprise about 20 percent of its workforce.

Like many businesses, Standard Plumbing offers paid days off to its employees. These days off have usually included Christmas: No regular service calls are scheduled for that day, although a few plumbers remain on call in case a customer has an emergency that needs immediate attention. The company’s after-hours answering service fields the calls and assigns them to the workers on duty.

Recently, however, the owner of Standard Plumbing realized that many of his employees do not celebrate Christmas. In addition, he believes that many of his new neighbors also don’t celebrate the holiday, and may be open to scheduling service calls and appointments on that day.

The owner of Standard Plumbing speaks privately to several employees to learn how they would feel about the business remaining open on Christmas Day, allowing employees who prefer to take the day off to do so, but giving a «floater» holiday to those who work through the holiday.

The employees are very open to flexibility in assigning paid holidays. Those who celebrate Christmas want to continue having the day off, while many others are just as happy to work on that day. The company receptionist indicates that she has no plans for Christmas and can easily handle calls during the company’s normal working hours.

Standard Plumbing changed its paid day off policy to provide an additional personal day instead of simply closing on Christmas. The company sent out a mailing to all of its customers noting that service calls can be scheduled throughout the holidays, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Many people take advantage of having plumbing work done when they already have a day off, and those who experienced plumbing emergencies were thrilled by the quick response to their calls. Business revenue for the end of December was 30 percent higher than it has been in previous years. In addition, the owner has noticed that employee morale has improved with many workers expressing gratitude for being able to take a paid day off on a holiday of their choosing.

Cultural Sensitivity in Business-to-Business Interactions

Carol Campbell is a new fashion designer who has developed a line of accessories sold through local boutiques. Recently, a popular fashion journalist noticed her collection and featured several pieces in an editorial spread. Suddenly, Campbell’s products are in demand all over the country, forcing her to step up production of her purses, headbands and scarves.

After speaking with several trusted advisors, she decides to outsource production to a factory in China. Although she is able to develop a list of reputable operations, she is told that it is best to fly to China directly to meet with factory owners and to inspect the facilities.

Carol gets her visa and books a ticket to China. In the weeks between deciding to make the trip and actually getting on the plane, Carol spends time learning more about Chinese culture and even begins a course in Mandarin.

When she arrives for her meetings with factory owners, Carol is nervous but more confident than she might have been otherwise. She greets her hosts in Mandarin and they appreciate her taking time to learn some Mandarin. In addition, she is familiar with certain aspects of Chinese culture and business etiquette, which creates a favorable impression.

At the end of her trip, Carol is confident that she is selecting the right factory to manufacture her goods and help her take her business to the next level.

Cultural Sensitivity in Working With Customers

Ellen operates a casual restaurant close to a small, private college. Six years ago, an alumnus passed away, leaving his entire, and very large, estate to the school. In his will, the donor requested that the school establish an international studies program that would actively recruit students and faculty from other countries.

Now in its third year of operation, the program has an excellent administrative team and is attracting top academic talent from around the world. Yet Ellen’s café has experienced a dip in business.

Some visitors to the café have mentioned that Ellen’s menu, largely consisting of American-style diner food such as bacon and eggs, cheeseburgers, creamy soup and meatloaf can be difficult to navigate for some of the international students. The difficulties include lactose intolerance, which is common in many countries, and religious prohibitions against eating meat or certain types of meat.

Realizing that she needs to make changes, Ellen reaches out to one of the patrons who mentioned the need to update her menu and asks for feedback. The patron suggests that Ellen contact the head of the international program and bring together a focus group of students who can give feedback on dietary preferences.

After talking with students in learning about their concerns, Ellen talks to her cooks. After trying out some new recipes and tweaking their offerings, Ellen’s restaurant debuts a new menu that features vegan dishes, customizable burgers (including veggie burgers), build-your-own omelets and an extensive salad bar.

The new menu is a great hit and Ellen’s restaurant is busier than it has ever been. Ellen recently contacted a real estate agent to look into moving to a larger building so that she can accommodate more customers.

Consequences of Cultural Ignorance and Insensitivity

Cultural insensitivity and ignorance can take a toll on your business. The damage may be internal, by alienating and distressing employees, or damaging negotiations and relationships with other businesses. In addition, consumers are increasingly demanding that businesses demonstrate a commitment to cultural respect. Failure to do so could result in loss of reputation and sales.

Disgruntled employees: Employees like to feel appreciated and respected by their employers. When employees don’t feel this way, they can become anxious, angry and depressed. They may also feel uncomfortable bringing up their concerns with management because they feel it will not be taken seriously or may even face retaliation.

Missed business opportunities: Cultural gaffes can derail negotiations and result in missed opportunities. Most business people are professional and understand that not everyone fully understands the nuances of their culture. However, a failure to make an effort to educate yourself, and your team, about the cultural norms of a vendor or retailer could result in giving offense and make negotiations more difficult.

Brand damage: Cultural insensitivity can deeply offend customers and the general public. Exposure to cultural insensitivity can be painful for people from that culture and could result in damage to your company’s image and reputation.

How to Develop Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity

Developing cultural awareness and sensitivity begins within a business’s own culture. Once leadership makes it clear that respect for other cultures is an important part of how the company operates, it can become easier for the company as a whole to reflect these values.

One important part of cultural sensitivity is not making assumptions about other people and their cultures. It can be helpful for companies to contract with third-party consultants who specialize in training organizations in cultural sensitivity.

Human resources professionals can also be helpful in this area. Asking HR staff to stay educated on cultural issues and to be receptive of feedback from employees is another way of putting your company’s values into practice.

Lainie Petersen is a full-time freelance writer living in Chicago. She has written on part-time, full-time and freelance employment for a variety of online and offline publications. She holds a master’s degree in library and information science from Dominican University.

Importance Of Cultural Awareness In The Workplace: How To Become More Culturally Aware

The importance of cultural awareness is that it enables us to communicate with people more effectively, beyond words and grammar, by understanding their culture. Our own culture differs from one individual and group to the next, and specifically from our target language.

Culture is the collective term used to identify the customs, social behavior, and ideas of a particular people or society; this is created over a long time.

If you need help boosting cultural awareness in the workplace, try EasyLlama’s diversity and inclusion workplace training. Our bite-sized modules can help you create an inclusive, and stress-free work environment so your employees can thrive.

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The cultural awareness journey

Too much emphasis has been placed on developing cultural awareness that the key driver has been neglected: our cultural identity. After all, how are we supposed to understand other cultures if we do not know ourselves?

This is why the journey to cultural awareness starts with understanding our cultural identity. A multi-faceted and rather complex concept, understanding the many aspects that make up our cultural identity helps us acknowledge and understand others.

Being self-aware also prevents us from projecting our values onto others and in the process, helping us relate more effectively across cultural lines.

Having the willingness to accept that the journey towards greater enlightenment is worthwhile and valuable, and having an open-minded attitude helps us become more aware of the diversity of the people around us.

By talking about and focusing on the strengths and benefits that diversity brings, we heighten our cultural awareness and bring change to the workplace organizational climate and the community.

The importance of cultural sensitivity and awareness

When we learn a foreign language, it gives us access to a different society and culture. This is good since language is the main mode of communication amongst people. Cultural awareness makes communicating with different people easier and more stress-free.

Cultural s and awareness also increases our cultural competence of the people around us and all over the world, helping us develop a deeper understanding of other people’s culture as well as our own, increasing our tolerance and broadening our minds.

Cultural awareness is important because:

It makes us global citizens

Cultural awareness helps us break down cultural barriers, build cultural bridges, and learn how to love, and appreciate those different from us.

We can relate better to people with cultural differences as we begin to understand ourselves better. This results in more cultural connection and less cultural conflict.

When encountering new languages and cultures, we begin to make comparisons and realize that our own behaviors, values, and beliefs are not the general norm found elsewhere in the world.

By being culturally aware, we can recognize and have an appreciation for other’s values, customs, and beliefs and meet them without judgment or prejudice. When we are culturally aware we can know what is considered inappropriate or offensive to others. Incorrect body language often leads to misunderstandings.

For example, in Greece and Albania, nodding your head in an agreement can lead to misunderstandings.

It helps us create a homogenous and inclusive work environment

In an office setting, we are most likely to come across different individuals who possess diverse backgrounds that may sometimes clash with the values of a business.

Embracing cultural sensitivity and awareness helps us understand how cultural differences may affect and influence individuals when forming their unique personalities, perceptions, and their interactions with others. This will help prevent cultural problems in the workplace.

A leader who leads with empathy and understanding helps create a homogeneous environment that fosters creativity, and innovation while boosting productivity and profitability.

How can we become more culturally aware?

Cross-cultural communication is one of the ways that lead to misunderstanding, on both sides. We can all do a better job at communicating when we consider culture when working alongside and interacting with others.

As all individuals form stereotypes, whether based on specific experiences or their own set of beliefs, uncovering those stereotypes and acknowledging any unconscious or explicit bias is the key to becoming a stronger, and more effective communicator and employee.

Becoming culturally aware enhances our interpersonal skills, we become sensitive to people’s emotions, making communication more effective. Finding common ground and getting to know our colleagues on a personal level is important. This is even more important in this age of digital communication platforms such as video conferencing where people don’t get to interact with others personally.

We can develop cultural awareness by:

Learning as much as we can about other cultures

We naturally see the world through a distorting screen created by our subconscious and deeply held values and beliefs. This leads to insensitivity and potential unintentional blindness to the values that are important to members of other cultures.

This is why we need to expose ourselves, observe and get into contact with the cultures around us. One of the most authentic ways of learning about new cultures is attending cultural festivals and events. Here, you get to see how different people express themselves through music, food, and art.

You can also become personally acquainted with people from different backgrounds by traveling to exotic locations. Here you get to immerse yourself in the culture and you learn first-hand about it by living it.

By exposing ourselves to other cultures, we get the opportunity to interact with people who are different from us. When we are around people from different cultures and interact with them frequently, we can observe and notice moments of tension that may lead to misunderstandings and points of conflict.

Understanding the assumptions that we have which impact our impressions of the outside world

Looking at ourselves as we expose ourselves to different cultural experiences teaches us more about cross-cultural understanding, something we may not get from our knowledge of other cultures.

Our assumptions about communication styles, body language, and other characteristics impact how we view the outside world. This is because our own culture is deeply ingrained that we are usually unaware of its existence, therefore, implicitly expecting the world to reflect our culture at us.

We all have assumptions of certain cultures, and there are stereotypical views of other cultures that might be considered racist in every culture.

When we examine our cultural assumptions, with a bit of self-awareness, we can rouse cultural awareness which makes it easier for cross-cultural relationships to work.

Participating in unconscious bias and harassment training

Unconscious bias, unlike blatant bigotry or explicit bias, is often difficult to spot. This is because it is usually deeply ingrained, unintentional, and is more often than not seen as normal behavior.

There are numerous instances of bias from the way people are treated in the workplace to how different characters are depicted in popular television shows and films. This also influences how we treat others.

Harassment training can help make meaningful changes in the employee’s environment by preventing unconscious bias in the workplace. This is important because the employees who are usually on the receiving end of unconscious bias are more disengaged at work and less productive.

The training enables the employees to attain higher levels of cultural intelligence by understanding the cultural backgrounds, which helps them to consciously manage their application of bias.

Conclusion

Context and culture are very important aspects of effective communication. This is why, in addition to correct grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary, it is also important to comprehend the cultural implications in a society when learning their language.

As cultural awareness extends into our everyday life, being able to communicate with global communities is a valuable skill that helps us advance in our careers.

By understanding the differences in ethics, beliefs, values, and attitudes of different individuals and developing cultural awareness, we create a diverse corporate and personal culture that is inclusive and everyone feels like they belong.