Press Releases

Cross-cultural consultancy

“Ninety per cent of CEOs believe that if cross-border communication were to improve, profit, revenue and market share would all improve as well. Yet many are not doing enough to address the challenge” - Competing across borders, The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2013

A senior M&A director recently said that the reason not enough was being done to address the challenge, was that “we are not sure what to do!”

Culture is complex, non-rational, challenging to measure and quantify – yet in many ways the most important thing of all to get right. Not just in an M&A situation, but in any international, multinational or global organisation.

‘Getting culture right’ – for instance through developing global leadership skills and being able to collaborate and compete successfully across borders - is crucial for any company. But where to start the process?

Here are some pointers:

1. Be clear what you want to achieve. Is it to develop your leaders’ global skills? Is it to improve your overseas image to attract the best local recruits? Is it to gain acceptance for your corporate style in a new acquisition? Or is it to bind in the new culture, while maintaining a strong identity?
2. Find out what is really going on. The purpose of consultancy is to make sure recommendations are based on hard data collected in a structured way. For instance, you may assume your well-travelled managers are cross-culturally sensitive. After all, that’s what they tell you. Assessment and confidential interviews may reveal a different picture.
3. Be committed to the process, and to change. There has to be a deep and trusting relationship with your consultant, with open communication and a determination to persevere, adjusting approaches along the way where needed. And the key is a commitment to follow the recommendations and implement them – otherwise the whole thing will have been no more than an academic exercise!

If you feel that your organisation could achieve better results through handling culture better, but are not quite sure what to do about it, write to consultancy@rlcglobal.com

15/05/2013

How to Manage International Teams

Our Chairman, Richard D. Lewis, will be giving a presentation on how to establish and manage a successful international team on 8 May 2013 at Dartmouth House in London.

Topics to be covered include:

• The methods the most effective team leaders are using to build successful international teams in Europe, USA, as well as Russia, China and the Far-East.
• Learn how to overcome misunderstandings that can arise in a virtual team which lacks face-to-face contact and how to get things done with colleagues who have different world views.

Event information:

Date: 8 May 2013

Time: 17:30 to 20:45

Venue: Dartmouth House, London

Price: £15 for members, £25 for non-members

Click here to book and for further details: www.fbcc.co.uk/events/richard-d-lewis-how-manage-international-team

24/04/2013

Train the trainer course on the Lewis Model & CultureActive
8-10 May 2013

Reports published in recent months by The Economist Intelligence Unit, McKinsey and the British Council have all indicated that senior leaders believe cross-cultural skills are essential to business success for the 21st century.

Why not attend one of our Train the Trainer courses, designed for trainers and HR managers who would like to learn how the Lewis Model can be used to increase cross-cultural competence?

Richard Lewis Communications has been running regular courses since 2006 aimed at widening our licensed partner network. Attendees have included not just cross-cultural trainers, but also corporate HR and training people who would either like to use the Lewis Model and CultureActive within their organisations, or simply find out in a much deeper way about our system, resources and tools.

The next course will take place at Riversdown House from 8-10 May.

If you are interested in attending, or finding out more, please email caroline.lewis@rlcglobal.com

04/03/2013

Art on Ice, Hartwall Areena, Helsinki

Richard Lewis Communications celebrated 25 years of doing business in Finland at the superb “Art on Ice” show at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki on Saturday 9 February 2013. Some of the greatest ice dancers in the world combined with the soulful tones of Leona Lewis to create a truly spectacular experience. Our thanks go especially to Mikko Vanni, Managing Director Infront Finland, for putting on such a fantastic event, and to André Chaker who introduced our Chairman, Richard D. Lewis.

Photos of the event can be found on our Facebook page here.

09/02/2013

European University at St Petersburg

Richard D. Lewis gave a seminar entitled "Cross-Cultural Competence is the basis for Successful International Business" at the European University at St Petersburg on 24 January 2013.

Further details and photos of the event can be found here.

24/01/2013

Live Webinar, 20 July 2012

UPDATE: Webinar only $99! In this webinar, Richard D. Lewis, author of When Teams Collide examines how to establish and manage a successful international team. Take 60 minutes to view this webinar (on your computer, mobile phone, iPad, Kindle or printed out) to learn how to deal with diverse business cultures around the world. The webinar covers:

• Everything you need to know in 1 hour about the most effective methods the most effective team leaders are using to build successful international teams;
• The 10 ways you can work and communicate across cultures, ensure your policies recognize cultural synergies, and more;
• Learn how to overcome misunderstandings that can arise in a virtual team which lacks face-to-face contact and how to get things done with colleagues who have different worldviews;
• How other team leaders have used these methods to develop new thinking in the area of international management and team-building in Europe and the USA, as well as Russia, China and the Far East.

Upon registering, ExecSense will immediately email you all access information for this upcoming webinar. You will also receive access to the recorded files in case you are unable to attend the live event (registration prior to live event required). You can view the webinar on your computer, iPad, Kindle, iPhone, Blackberry, Android and many other devices. As with any ExecSense webinar, if you are not 100% satisfied with this program, you can exchange it for any other webinar.

For further details, click here.

19/07/2012

When Teams Collide

Richard D. Lewis' new book, When Teams Collide, was published today. International teams are rapidly becoming the central operating mode for global enterprises. They are often agile and perceptive, know local markets better than HQ does, lead innovation and exploratory ventures, and are more culturally aware than their parent company.

But how much autonomy should they be allowed? How can we get things done with colleagues who have different worldviews? How can we strike a balance between core values and the necessary diversity - and is diversity within the team a strength or a hindrance? What is the role of the team leader in all of this? How do you establish team trust? How important is team humor? Who decides the team s ethics? What misunderstandings can arise in a virtual team, lacking face-to-face contact?

In answering these and other questions, Richard D. Lewis draws on 30 years experience mediating with hundreds of international teams in two dozen countries. Generously illustrated with explanatory diagrams, When Teams Collide analyses profiles of 24 different nationalities and suggests how they should be led for best results. Commenting on vital considerations of leadership, team trust, ethics and humor, the author also evaluates the relationship between teams and HQ.

Applying the cultural concepts in the bestselling When Cultures Collide specifically to team leadership, this is a wide-ranging and compelling account of how to handle what is a difficult and sensitive task.

The book is available either from Amazon or from our own website.

26/04/2012

Complex, Multicultural & Diverse Teams

Diverse teams are an effect of expanding global life. Research has shown that diverse business teams tend to perform either better or worse than homogeneous teams. Diverse teams have a lot of potential, but they need to be designed and managed in the right way to transform cultural differences from a liability into an asset. This applies to multinational teams as well as complex teams from e.g. different company cultures and with different professions and functions.

Richard Lewis Communications and Talent are running three half-day interactive seminars on Teams as follows:

• Stockholm: 14 March 2012 at KTH, Room D36, Lindstedtsvägen 5
• Copenhagen: 19 March 2012 at First Clients, Langebrogade 5
• Helsinki: 21 March 2012 at Innopoli 2, Tekniikantie 14, Espoo

Time: 08:30 to 11:30 (Stockholm & Helsinki) and 13:00 to 16:00 (Copenhagen).

Fee: 69 € + VAT incl. light snack, non-alcoholic beverages and coffee.

Click here for the PDF flier or apply to info@talent.se or info.finland@rlcglobal.com or call Sweden +46 70 560 03 24.

27/02/2012

Presentation Skills

January 2012 sees the launch of our new Presentation Skills programmes at Riversdown House. Available as 2, 3, 4 or 5 day programmes - to fit in with your schedule - these are high-impact sessions, designed to add structure and punch to your presentations, while also bringing clarity to your slides and helping you modify your messages / style for different types of audience.

The Presentation Skills programmes are part of our "Effective Communication leading to High Performance" series.

Click to find out more.

30/01/2012

LinkedIn

We have expanded Richard Lewis Communications' presence on LinkedIn to include a wider range of services including: Cross-Culture, Presentation Skills, Riversdown House, Negotiation Skills, Meeting Skills, and Academic / Scientific Writing Skills. The URL is www.linkedin.com/company/richard-lewis-communications/products. The page also contains testimonials.

10/01/2012

Riversdown House brochure in various languages

Our new brochure has now been translated into the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. All the translations are available to download at www.crossculture.com/riversdown-house/brochure. More languages are on the way. Riversdown House – an historic 14th century manor house, one hour from London – is Richard Lewis Communications’ premier location for intensive learning in England.

05/12/2011

Facebook

Riversdown House, our residential centre for intensive English training, has recently started its own Facebook page. The URL is www.facebook.com/RiversdownHouseUK. There you will find regular news, stories and photos about Riversdown House, its surrounding area and communication in general. Hope to see you there!

07/11/2011

dialogin Global Leadership Competence Conference

Richard Lewis Communications is taking part in this conference on 29-30 June 2012. It will address the following issues: "Global Leadership Competence: What it consists of - how to develop it".

Our Chairman, Richard D. Lewis, will focus more specifically on: "Linear-, Multi- and Reactive Leaders - What the Linear World Needs to Learn ?for Sustainable Success in a Multicultural World".

For further details, visit http://www.conference.dialogin.com

28/10/2011

Kindle & When Cultures Collide

"When Cultures Collide", Richard D. Lewis' major work on cross-culture, is now available in Kindle format on Amazon. The price of the eBook is currently £11.24 from Amazon.co.uk or $18.78 from Amazon.com. Kindle books can be read on a dedicated Kindle device, and also on an iPad, iPhone, and many other smart phones and tablets (see this link).

06/05/2011

Cross-Cultural Webinar

Richard D. Lewis has recently given an online webinar to SIETAR Europe entitled "Cultural Factors in International Business".

To see a recording of the webinar, click here.

15/04/2011

Negotiation Skills

In today’s business communication, negotiations are common place; yet it seems from the myriad of failed negotiations and business spats that our approach to this highly influential form of human interaction is broken.

In some form or another, all of us negotiate daily. Whether it be ironing out the details of a crucial deal or attempting to get your 4 year old off to the day care centre, we regularly engage in circumstances that require us to negotiate.

When asked about negotiations, most people tend to sketch the image of hard-nosed businessmen leaning angrily over the table attempting to take their counterpart for everything they have got. Stemming from this imagery, therefore, is a general fear of negotiating, and consequently many believe that they are not cut out for the bargaining table. On the other side of the coin are those who have bought into the idea of a fierce battle and thrive on the chance to exercise their negotiating muscles, more often than not at the expense of others.

These common place ideas have essentially led to a place where the fundamental reason for why we sit down at a negotiating table has been forgotten.

To provide businesses with the necessary techniques and knowledge to understand the negotiation process, Richard Lewis Communications has developed a 2-day course, where techniques and theories are practised while increasing overall skill in creating mutually beneficial solutions.

The main outcomes of the training are to understand personal strengths and weaknesses in communication and negotiation style; master the tactics and persuasion strategies used in negotiations; break down impasses using effective questioning and listening techniques; demystify the world of non-verbal communication and uncover the principles of negotiating.

The course makes use of individual self-assessments, team discussions, brief negotiation dilemmas, lectures and role-plays. Participants analyse their individual negotiating situations in depth and prepare sound, workable strategies for their next negotiating session.

Typical Content

Principles of Negotiation: Find out the keys to successful negotiating

Building Rapport: Learn how to foster strong relationships to ensure a successful working relationship

Communication Skills: Understand key factors in getting your message across

Approaches to Negotiating: Which approach to take and the pros and cons of each

The Art of Persuasion & Influence: Theories to get your counterpart to think like you do

Negotiating Style Analysis: Understand both your and your counterpart’s way of negotiating

Assertiveness & Problem Solving: Don’t be walked over during proceedings

Negotiations & Cross Culture: Develop an understanding for how cultures affect the negotiating process

Negotiation Tactics & their Effects: What are they and how can we counter them

Simulations & Practice: A great opportunity to put the skills you learn to the test

For further details, email us at negotiating@rlcglobal.com

04/03/2011

Ning Wang: Riversdown House Winner

Chinese-born Ning Wang, now based in Sweden, has won the free week at Riversdown House advertised in our January Newsletter. She was the lucky 40th person to enquire, echoing our 40 years delivering English language training at Riversdown House.

Ning Wang (photo by Robert Rundberget)

Ning works for the Värmland Chamber of Commerce, an autonomous and independent commercial organisation with 1,200 member companies in Värmland, Sweden. For further details, click here.

Ning is an active user of her international communication skills having worked and travelled to many countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Singapore, Nepal, Mexico, Finland, Norway and the UK.

23/02/2011

Executive MBA, University of Wuerzburg, Germany

The University of Wuerzburg has included a cross-cultural component - based on the Lewis Model - in its Executive MBA Business Integration. The topic of "Cross Cultural Management" is now part of the module "Leadership and Communication" within the MBA.

The Lewis Model of Culture will be applied within the lectures under the professional guidance of Philo K. Holland as instructor. The MBA students will learn to estimate themselves as well as their project partners and their cultural mental states. Interactive case studies support the learning process and offer individual approaches to the topics of Cross Cultural Management for the MBA participants.

See this link for further details: www.businessintegration.de/en/news/cross-cultural-management.html

01/02/2011

Cross-Cultural Dialogue Mat

This month we have launched our new ‘dialogue mat’ for cross-cultural learning.

‘Dialogue mats’ are a learning aid developed by a French/Norwegian company, Specifique. They have worked with Richard Lewis Communications to create what we believe is the world’s first tool of this type for learning about cross-cultural themes in a professional context.

The premise is that adults retain information best when they have been able to engage in dialogue with others on the topics in question.

The Cross-Cultural Dialogue Mat aims to develop cross-cultural competence by:

1) Engaging session participants in a structured discussion about what culture is, and why it is important for their work;

2) Leading them through short case-studies on presentation, meetings, negotiation, leadership, teams and trust;

3) Getting them to apply the learning to their real-life work situation, and commit to making some personal changes.

Participants work in teams of four, led by a trainer or facilitator. Sessions can last from half a day when run with very little trainer intervention, or can be integrated into a one or two day cultural training programme led by an experienced guide.

The creation of the mat involved trials with a client focus group to ensure relevance to the real-life internal and external global challenges faced by organisations.

It is ideal for:

A) Organisations that need to get a message about working successfully across cultures to very large numbers, and wish to do a lot of this with internal trainers;

B) Cross-cultural trainers licensed to use the Lewis Model, or wishing to be licensed through one of our Train the Trainer courses;

C) Organisations who wish to add an extra dynamic to existing or potential training courses run by Richard Lewis Communications or one of our partners.

The mat, and/or more information about it, is available by emailing Michael Gates at michael.gates@rlcglobal.com

19/10/2010

Film Arc

Our MD, Michael Gates, performed at Film Arc's Master Class session entitled "Promotion, Financing & Distribution" on 21 March 2010 in Skellefteå, Sweden. His workshops focused on improving self-presentation and communication style, coupled with effective negotiation techniques. Click for an account of the programme.

01/04/2010

Partnership with Comartis

We are pleased to announce that Richard Lewis Communications (RLC) has formed a partnership with Comartis, a leading provider of assessment and talent development solutions and services designed to align enterprise training with business objectives.

RLC is in the process of implementing Comartis’ “Human Performance Suite”, a modular solution to assess compliance, manage training, track competencies and drive performance.

The first modules relate to Assessment and Feedback and are being set up at our flagship training centre in England, Riversdown House.

Comartis’ customers include public and private organisations from all around the world and across all industry sectors. Companies such as AXA Insurance, BMW, Bombardier, Cornelsen, Credit Suisse, Epise, F-Secure, Hewlett-Packard (HP), La Prairie, Lonza, National Bank of Kuwait, Nestle-Nespresso, Raiffeisen, Scrum Alliance, SwissRe and TAP Pharmaceuticals are using the innovative products of Comartis to increase their competitiveness, performance and profit.

Comartis was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. It also has regional offices in Morocco and the United States, and a wide network of partners and resellers in America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

 

For more information, please visit www.comartis.com

05/02/2010

Specifique Business Mat™

Richard Lewis Communications has recently begun a partnership with Specifique. One of our clients has already implemented a company-wide cross-cultural training programme based around the Business Mat™.

About Specifique

Specifique creates unique communication and training processes and tools for leading national and international companies worldwide.

They help their clients to reach business objectives by providing a proven process for organisational implementation: they guarantee that people understand and are able to act on strategic direction and their learning objectives. Their primary tool, the interactive Business Mat™, is specifically adapted to a client's individual needs.

The learning theory behind the mats is that people retain 90% of what they learn if they can interact on new information with other people and relate the new knowledge to their current work situation.

What’s the process?

 

Step 1. Pre-project and decision basis:

Specifique performs an analysis of the specific strategies/training that the client wants to broadcast internally. Based on the analysis and learning objectives, Specifique creates and presents a visualised tailor-made concept and process for the particular change needed.

Step 2. Development and testing:

When the client has made a decision, the design process begins. Specifique consultants work closely together with an internal project group to develop content and sketches. Before final production, the mats are tested on the relevant target group in the client’s organisation to ensure the quality.

Step 3. Train-the-trainer/Train-the-leader:

The trainers or leaders from the organisation are trained to run Business Mat™ sessions within the organisation. A facilitators’ guide is provided to give practical support to trainers and/or leaders.

Step 4. Mobilisation and implementation:

In close cooperation with the client, Specifique designs the implementation process and provides assistance in cascading the events throughout the organisation. An important factor for success is the initial mobilisation to create focus and buy-in from the leaders in the organisation.

Step 5. Follow-up:

Change happens over time and therefore Specifique offers several tools for follow-up most often aligned with the already existing parallel internal processes.

The process itself helps your internal planning team think through complex issues and decide how to convey them in a simple way.

In actual events, your staff works with mats in teams of four. The only limit to the numbers who can take part is the size of the location. The technique is ideally suited to large company events, where you can keep even up to 1000 people engaged and occupied on issues of importance for up to half a day with minimal facilitation. The end result is a series of company-specific action points, which participants commit to.

For cross-cultural initiatives, the Business Mat™ can be used as part of training led by Richard Lewis Communications. For very large programmes, we can also train your internal trainers to facilitate cross-cultural training, which includes use of the mats.

There is no limit to the type of initiative or subject that can be handled. For instance, communicating vital Health and Safety information, helping a merger or acquisition process, or moving from a product-orientated to a solution-orientated organisation. The underlying aim is communication, which results in the actions you wish for.

If you would like to hear more, please contact us at specifique@rlcglobal.com or for more general information visit www.specifique.tv

19/10/2009

Saïd Business School, Oxford

Michael Gates, our Group MD, has been delivering a number of programmes for the Saïd Business School at Oxford University. A recent and fascinating one was a cross-cultural session for the Small Countries Financial Management Programme, aimed at helping tiny economies like the Cook Islands, Samoa, St. Kitts and Nevis, etc., run their financial affairs more effectively and securely, and negotiate more successfully with larger countries. More information here: http://www.gov.im/treasury/scfmc/programme.xml

The main initiative he has been working on, though, is the Oxford Programme on Negotiation (OPN) http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/execed/leadership/opn/Pages/teaches.aspx

This is a high-level open executive programme given by some of the world's top negotiation, persuasion and ethics trainers, mainly from Harvard and Oxford. Some years ago a little-known gentleman called Barack Obama attended the sessions on persuasion which one of the OPN trainers, Professor Gary Orren, has now brought from Harvard to Oxford!

If you are interested in seeing how a customised in-house version of OPN could work for your organisation, write to michael.gates@rlcglobal.com

28/09/2009

Richard D. Lewis awarded second honour from Finnish Government

On 16 June 2009, Finnish Ambassador to London, Jaako Laajava, presented Richard D. Lewis with the Insignia of Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland, in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to furthering the understanding of Finland.

Throughout his long career as a linguist and cross-culturalist, Finland has been a special focus for Mr Lewis, who has also written two books about the country: Finland: Cultural Lone Wolf (2007) and Finland: Europe’s Hero Nation (1997).

During the Finnish EU Presidency, he provided cultural training and advice to all Finnish Ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office. Mr Lewis’ connection with Finland remains strong and he is currently chair of the Finnish English Speaking Union, which he helped to re-establish in 2008.

In 1997, he was awarded the Insignia of the Knight of the Order of the Lion of Finland.

17/06/2009

AJAN Consulting

Richard Lewis Communications is pleased to announce a partnership with Helsinki-based training and consultancy organisation, AJAN Consulting. This new venture offers a dynamic range of services to its clients, combining Richard Lewis Communications’ expertise in language and cross-cultural training with AJAN Consulting’s focus on customer service and personal development.

With extensive experience in customer service management, AJAN Consulting delivers targeted, practical, interactive training and coaching to help organisations focus more effectively on making a difference to their clients.

Customer service skills training covers the basics of customer service from rapport building, listening skills, and dealing with demanding clients to more advanced techniques for influencing your customer relationship through language.

The AJAN coaching and training model draws on accredited skills in Executive Coaching, Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Psychometric behavioural profiling.

See www.ajanconsulting.com

14/05/2009

IMEX exhibition in Frankfurt

Richard Lewis Communications will be exhibiting at the IMEX exhibition in Frankfurt (Frankfurt Messe), 26-28 May 2009. IMEX is the major European exhibition for the meetings and incentive travel industry, attracting some 9,000 visitors in 2008. You are cordially invited to visit us on stand D755.

We have a close training partnership with both IMEX and Meeting Professionals International (MPI). These partners recognise that developing cultural competence is vital in this most international of industries.

As well as having a stand at the exhibition, our Group Managing Director, Michael Gates, will deliver a presentation on "Cultural Issues in the Meetings Industry" on 26 May 2009.

28/04/2009

Alphe Brazil

From 18-20 March 2009, Richard Lewis Communications took part in Alphe's international conference for educators and agents in São Paulo. David Lewis, Director of Riversdown House, and Michael Gates, Group Managing Director, met over 40 agents from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay and Peru. If you are involved in business in this region and would like to find out about how Richard Lewis Communications can support you, please get in touch with either David (david.lewis@rlcglobal.com) or Michael (michael.gates@rlcglobal.com).

08/04/2009

Riversdown Tournaments 2009

Our annual golf and tennis tournaments will be held on the following dates this year:
- Golf: Friday 31 July 2009
- Tennis Singles: Saturday 1 August 2009
- Tennis Doubles: Sunday 2 August 2009

Location: Riversdown House in England. See www.crossculture.com/riversdown

If you would like to take part, please contact David Lewis by email david.lewis@rlcglobal.com

01/04/2009

The Possessive Apostrophe

Official changes in the way a language is written always cause hot debate. Just remember the German spelling reform of 1996. Now Birmingham City Council in the UK is suddenly in the spotlight regarding its decision to do away with the possessive apostrophe. Read Richard D. Lewis' reply to this linguistic conundrum.

24/02/2009

FILM ARC Initiative

Richard Lewis Communications held a workshop in January 2009 for FILM ARC - an interregional film initiative set up by four regional film funds in the Nordic Region. The audiovisual sector includes filmmakers and film and documentary producers. Representatives from 40 companies from the Film Arc region took part in order to gain inspiration and knowledge. The event was held during the prestigious Tromsö Film Festival in Norway. For more information see www.cineregio.org/working_groups/film_arc

15/02/2009

Martin Králik

Czechoslovakian-born, multicultural, globe-trotting polyglot, Martin Králik, has joined our blogging team of Richard D. Lewis, Michael Gates, and Jacques Méon. Read Martin's blog published today entitled "Culture and the Failures of our Time", asking the question as to whether our seemingly better understanding of cultural issues is having a positive impact on global events.

09/02/2009

ICEF Dubai

From 1-3 February 2009, Richard Lewis Communications took part in ICEF's international conference for educators and agents in Dubai. David Lewis, Director of Riversdown House, and Patrick Dudley, Global Business Development Manager, met over 50 agents from the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. If you are involved in business in this region and would like to find out about how Richard Lewis Communications can support you, please get in touch with either David (david.lewis@rlcglobal.com) or Patrick (patrick.dudley@rlcglobal.com).

06/02/2009

Collaboration with GGallery

Richard Lewis Communications is pleased to announce a partnership with GGallery, a leading multimedia training specialist in Italy. Our first area of collaboration is in the field of Web TV and is called englishLIVE. Further details and an introduction can be found at www.englishlive.tv. If you have any questions, please contact Daniele Canepa at daniele@ggallery.it

20/01/2009

Culture and the Credit Crunch

In Richard D. Lewis’ book, The Cultural Imperative (2003), he posited that economic determinism was perhaps not as an effective predictor of global trends as culture. Read Michael's Gates' blog about whether this still holds true in our new credit-crunched world.

09/01/2009

British Council Accreditation for Riversdown House

In December 2008, the English language training services at Riversdown House in England were officially accredited by the British Council.

This means Riversdown House's standards of training, management, resources, premises, and welfare have all been independently assessed and shown to meet the very strict criteria stipulated by the British Council.

To enquire about training programmes at Riversdown House, please contact David Lewis: david.lewis@rlcglobal.com, tel. +44 1962 77 11 11.

19/12/2008

Georgian on their mind

During the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia, few commentators have highlighted the linguistic angle. Read Richard D. Lewis' blog illustrating how language can often be stronger than guns. Click here for the full article.

08/12/2008

English-Speaking Union of Finland

The next meeting of the English-Speaking Union of Finland will take place on 9 December 2008, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the Hanken School of Economics. The speaker is Professor Roger Ainsworth, Master of St. Catherine's College and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He will be talking about Oxford and the current challenges for universities in general. There will be canapés and cocktails during the evening. The inaugural event in September was a great success with around 100 attendees. For further information about this event and about membership, contact us at info@esu-finland.org

11/11/2008

Association of Film Commissioners International

Richard D. Lewis will be speaking at the Association of Film Commissioners International's annual 'Cineposium' to be held in Wellington, New Zealand, from 19-23 November 2008. His session entitled 'When Cultures Collide' is introduced as follows: Cultural understanding is vital when hosting foreign production groups, and film offices need to know what cultural behaviors to expect. This session will teach you how best to prepare, plan, react and respond to a growing global clientele, with tips and guidelines for doing business with international productions. See www.afci.org/events/cine_program.htm

02/11/2008

Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA

EVA is a policy and pro-market think-tank financed by the Finnish business community. On 28-29 August 2008, our Group Managing Director, Michael Gates, took part in a 2-day seminar at EVA and discussed, among things, how brain drain could be transformed into brain gain. Mr Jorma Ollila, Chairman of EVA and Nokia, and Secretary of State Mikko Alkio (Ministry of Employment and the Economy) also took part in the event. See http://www.eva.fi/eng/index.php?m=2

15/09/2008

The English-Speaking Union of Finland

The English-Speaking Union of Finland is starting up again on 30 September 2008, with an event at the British Embassy in Helsinki. Richard D. Lewis and Ulla Ladau-Harjulin from Helsinki School of Economics (HANKEN) are joint chairmen. The first speaker will be Sir Eldon Griffiths, National Patron of the World Affairs Councils of America, and former government minister in the UK. For more information, please download the PDF here (120k).

25/08/2008

How to... Implement Language Training

Read Richard D. Lewis' article in People Management on how to implement language training in the work place. You might not believe it, but the British should be excellent linguists! Click here for the full article.

29/07/2008

Denmark

Richard Lewis Communications is pleased to announce it has formed a new partnership with Mette Rousøe in order to develop its business in Denmark.
We currently are proud to work with some Danish companies, such as Vestas and Jysk, and are looking to build on our successes to create a significant presence in Denmark.

Mette is a cross-cultural expert in her own right, currently living in the UK having just finished postgraduate studies in Communication and Language skills at Portsmouth University to complement a previous MA in English and Design in Denmark. Before moving to the UK, Mette worked six years for the Danish Design Centre within their business development section.

Mette sees the fit between the Lewis Model of cross-cultural interaction and her own experience and believes the Danish market – being such an international crossroads of business – could benefit from the cross-cultural training, workshops and seminars that we currently offer.

30/06/2008

Stiff Upper Lip

The British are famous for their 'stiff upper lip' - but do they still have one? Read Michael Gates' commentary on Andrew O'Hagan's article in The Telegraph. Find out whether the British are finally starting to show a few emotions. Click here for the blog article.

03/06/2008

Cross-Culture according to The Lewis Model

The Lewis Model has been receiving attention in a number of business and academic books recently, as well as in magazines. There are chapters including it in three books out in the near future:

• A chapter in a book published by the Icfai University press, India, due out in July 2008, entitled "Communicating for Diversity";
• A chapter in a business guide published by Børsen, the main Danish financial newspaper, entitled "Communicating Successfully Across Cultures in Times of Change" (this article is in Danish);
• A chapter in a book due out late 2008 or early 2009 in the USA, entitled "Beyond Hofstede: Cultural Frameworks for Global Marketing and Management". This latter draws on our work with Duke Fuqua Business School.

The Lewis Model will also feature in a panel due to be presented by Richard D. Lewis in association with the World Bank and Duke Fuqua at the 8th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Management from 5-8 August 2008 at Cambridge University. The presentation will use the World Bank as a case-study, showing how the Lewis Model has been integrated into all behavioural training at the bank, with measurably successful results.

15/05/2008

Riversdown House Tennis & Golf Tournaments

Our annual tournaments for alumni of Riversdown House will be held on the following days this year:

• Golf Tournament: Friday 25 July 2008

• Tennis Tournament (Singles): Saturday 26 July 2008

• Tennis Tournament (Doubles): Sunday 27 July 2008

If you would like to play in any of the tournaments, please get in touch with David Lewis by email david.lewis@rlcglobal.com

08/05/2008

Nestlé and Azerbaijan

Michael Gates has today written an article in the Richard Lewis Communications blog about Nestlé's unfortunate cross-cultural incident in Azerbaijan, recently reported by the BBC. Click here to read the article

06/05/2008

The Decline and Fall of the Pax Americana

Read Richard D. Lewis' latest blog about the fate of the USA. Will the American Dream come to a rapid end in the face of Chinese and Indian competition? Find out whose culture is strongest! Click here to go to the blog.

13/04/2008

The Lewis Model of Cultural Analysis

Are you a trainer who wishes to include cross-culture in your services to clients? Why not take part in a "Train the Trainer" session at Riversdown House (last programme took place on 19-20 May 2008). If you are interested in joining future sessions, please contact Jacques Meon, Head of Licensed Partner Programmes, at partners@crossculture.com.

12/04/2008

President Nicolas Sarkozy's State Visit to England

President Sarkozy is finding it hard to stay out of the news these days and his recent visit to England was no exception. But who was cross-culturally more adept? The President himself or his glamorous wife, Carla Bruni? Read Jacques Meon's blog to find out more.

02/04/2008

Blog

Today we launched our blog at blog.crossculture.com. Our cross-cultural consultants, headed by Richard D. Lewis, will post thoughts and observations on current affairs and everyday events. You can automatically receive an email every time a new post is made by clicking on the link "Subscribe to Cross-Culture by Email" on the main blog page.

17/03/2008

Licensed Cross-Culture Partners

The 6th "Train the Trainer" session for consultants wishing to incorporate the Lewis Model into their cross-cultural modules took place at Riversdown House on 21-22 February 2008. The training was run by Jacques Meon, Head of Licensed Partner Programmes. If you are interested in joining future sessions, please email us at partners@crossculture.com.

02/02/2008

Cross-Cultural Communication: A Visual Approach

The second, expanded edition of Richard D. Lewis' popular visual guide to cross-culture has just been published. It now contains over 360 diagrams and covers more than 70 cultures. Click here for further details of this and other books by Richard D. Lewis.

15/01/2008

The Diplomat

We were featured for the first time in The Diplomat magazine with a general article about culture. The Diplomat is the oldest magazine for diplomats in the world and for the past 60 years has provided essential reading for the diplomatic community in London, covering foreign affairs, interviews with ambassadors and London lifestyle. The article will be followed by a regular "Final Thought" feature on the last page of the magazine, called "The Cultural Commandments" and giving 10 essential rules for understanding and dealing with a different world culture each month.

01/12/2007

Cross-cultural Advice in the Telegraph

Following on from our article about becoming a culturally-competent Expat last August, The Telegraph newspaper has published an article by Richard D. Lewis on "Anglo-Saxons – World’s Worst or Best Linguists?" Telegraph Expat readers get continuous advice on dealing with other cultures through our permanent mini-National Cultural Profile resource at their website.

20/11/2007

Oredev Software Developer Conference

Michael Gates spoke at the Oredev annual conference for software developers in Malmö. Many participants are from the local area, but there are also plenty from abroad, and the speakers are from every corner of the globe. The majority of the conference is technical, but there were also presentations and workshops on future trends of a more general nature, and on the topic of skills development. Michael’s main session was on the importance of global relationship skills for your business, as a software developer. You can read a pre-conference interview with him here, and in the first quarter of 2008 a full video of his session will be posted at the conference site.

13/11/2007

Swedish Lapland Conference

Richard D. Lewis spoke on 25 October 2007 to the Swedish Lapland conference in Northern Sweden. The theme was how to deal with the different cultures who send tourists and people having corporate events to a part of the world that is becoming increasingly of interest as a destination.

25/10/2007

Keeping fit at Riversdown House

If you are coming for intellectual training at Riversdown House, you will have no excuses for not keeping physically fit as well – despite the great meals! We have just opened a new gym comprising treadmill, elliptical cross-trainer, static bike, step machine, rowing machine, multi-gym, weights centre, pilates ball, and more. Don’t forget, also, our superb new astro-turf tennis courts, if you have not yet had chance to try them out.

19/10/2007

Cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions

Richard D. Lewis and Jeff Russell of Duke Fuqua Business School, our academic partner in the USA, were published in the popular Troubleshooter column in People Management, the UK-based magazine of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), on the topic of cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

18/10/2007

Speaking at PROCOM

Michael Gates, Group Managing Director, Richard Lewis Communications, was a guest speaker at PROCOM in Oulu. PROCOM is the association of Professional Communicators in Finland. Finnish speakers can find information here.

20/09/2007

"Cultures of the World" Map

Richard Lewis Communications’ long-awaited "Cultures of the World Map" has been officially released. The map is based on the Lewis Model of Culture, and is colour coded to illustrate clearly some key behavioural differences between world cultures, with blue for predominantly linear-active cultures, red for mainly multi-active cultures and yellow for reactive ones. Many cultures are a mixture, and you also get differences within countries. The map has the World on one side, and Europe on the other. If you are interested in ordering a copy, please contact us.

08/09/2007

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