who we are

Cultural Business Consulting (CBC) provides coaching in cultural competency to enable globally diverse corporate work teams to function harmoniously with a deep appreciation of the dimension of culture, enhancing productivity and profitability. The master facilitators that lead CBC programs study the nexus of culture and business, politics and current events to provide the most up-to-date insights about the people, places and values that influence borderless global commerce.

Our corporate clients are among the most renowned companies in the world and span myriad industries including technology, automotive, financial services, insurance, professional services, manufacturing and consumer products.  We also work with various governmental agencies with an inherently international focus.  Every organization that recruits talent from diverse locations around the globe can benefit substantially from our training sessions, which are conducted exactly the way our clients work – both live and onsite, and through tech-enabled multi-location telephone and Internet conferences.

why culture is important and its impact on the workplace

Culture is a universal characteristic of all humanity and pervades all aspects of social interaction.  Each of us views the world through a lens of values, morals, mores, behaviors, attitudes and ethics that are unique to our country of origin.  Culture informs every aspect of how we live, function and interpret the world around us. When diverse cultures are brought together in one workplace, inadvertent misunderstandings that hamper productivity frequently occur, despite a common shared language.  CBC removes this barrier by offering instruction in successful intercultural communication that advances the organizational agenda.  Our training essentially lifts the lens of culture to promote clear understanding of multicultural perspectives in the workplace, much like removing a pair of sunglasses enables seeing the world in a more accurate and in fact, realistic, light.

Understanding Cultural Ideologies

CBC training promotes awareness of the values, beliefs and collective mindset of persons of the same culture.

Communication in Culturally Diverse Settings

CBC provides guidance for successful communication and collaboration in culturally diverse organizations and workplaces and addresses stylistic differences in leadership, project management and on-time performance.

Advancing Your Organizational Mission

CBC works with each client to understand its mission and tailors our cultural competency instruction to reinforce the shared goals that advance the organizational agenda.

our services

Whatever challenge in cultural connectivity an organization is encountering, CBC has a training program to address the issue. By fostering understanding between cultures, we enable corporate entities and other global organizations to position themselves for optimal international engagement and workplace productivity.

Live Training

With a network of master facilitators around the globe, CBC is prepared to offer instruction virtually anywhere in the world in a team or individual coaching format; half day, full day and two-day curricula are available.

One-on-One Coaching

In addition to live training and group webinars, CBC offers one-on-one coaching ideal for C-level executives, professionals relocating abroad for long-term assignments and spouses and children affected by a corporate relocation.

Web Training

CBC works the way our clients work. Many have global multi-location, even multi-continent, work teams connected via the Internet and teleconference. CBC can administer our training exactly the same way. Our webinars score high marks from diverse teams the world over.

Re-patriation

Returning to one’s country of origin after a long-term assignment can be a jarring experience. CBC helps professionals and their families who are returning from abroad leverage new skills and global competencies to ease social and professional integration.

Course Material

CBC customizes the course curriculum for each and every client session. We hone in on providing the information your team needs and every class is uniquely tailored to meet client goals.

Diagnostics

CBC helps our clients assess their needs in the cultural competency arena. We work with each organization in identifying the most vital aspects of culture affecting their workplace, productivity and profitability. The entire CBC experience is always a program fully tailored to each client; there is no “one size fits all” model for cultural competency training. CBC recognizes that each organization has a unique identity and faces unique challenges — CBC embraces such uniqueness and elevates client success.

Assessment

We provide cultural assessment tools and questionnaires, including our trademarked Individual Cultural Blueprint Indicator ™, ICBI, to measure one’s own cultural preferences as well as gaps in comprehension of other cultures. The ICBI tool provides a framework for narrowing these gaps and promoting improved intercultural interaction.

Country-to-Country Training

CBC training is micro-focused on navigating the challenges of country-to-country relocation as well as fostering cultural understanding within culturally diverse work teams. CBC has the resources to offer instruction to individual professionals as well as teams relocating from India to Belgium, or from the United States to China, essentially anywhere to anywhere. We work with professionals whose assignments and travel itineraries require them to immerse in and address a myriad of unique cultures.

the team

Val Bath

Val Bath

President
Claudia Zysk

Claudia Zysk

Director of Learning and Development
John Leih

John Leih

Vice President
Rossina Gil

Rossina Gil

Director
David Sanford

David Sanford

Senior Intercultural Consultant
Sirous Kavehercy

Sirous Kavehercy

Senior Intercultural Consultant

why a shared language is only one dimension of cross-cultural communication

Though the predominant language of global commerce is English, being fluent in English does not necessarily promote genuine understanding between colleagues of different cultures.  We often must learn to both speak and listen in the second language of culture. The cultural perspective of an individual cannot be severed from his character, nor is such an objective desirable. CBC enables diverse work teams to comprehend their unique cultural perspectives and honor each, resulting in a dynamic and unified workplace sharing the business objectives of a single organization.

In the current knowledge economy, companies consistently procure talent from every continent. Workplaces are more diverse than ever before and more professionals are working outside their home countries than at any other time in history.  On a planet comprised of 196 countries and even more unique cultures and subcultures, culture becomes either a potential impediment to productivity in a multicultural workforce or a gateway to the most innovative products and services created collaboratively by the best minds in the world.

Similar to teaching a foreign language, CBC instructs in multicultural competency. For instance, we can train an American corporate team to live abroad in Finland for a work project and we can also provide instruction to Chinese scientists relocating to Brazil for a long- or short-term assignment. CBC frequently partners with our corporate clients as extensions of their training and development departments to provide ongoing instruction about cultural perspectives in the workplace; we have maintained relationships with many of our clients over several years, instructing thousands of employees, year after year.

CBC training focuses on how the multicultural members of a work team are more alike than different while fostering a respect for the cultural perspective of each.  When culturally diverse colleagues understand each other’s ingrained perspectives and linguistic interpretations of simple concepts (such as yes and no), common goals that bolster the productivity and profitability of the corporation can more easily be achieved.

"Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another."

Geert Hofstede

our clients

CBC is proud to work with the most renowned international organizations in business today, many of which have benefited from thousands of hours of customized cultural competency training for thousands of employees all over the globe from the entry level to senior management. Here is just a sample of our prestigious client roster:

our work

IT Services

A leading IT services company with offices on six continents needed cultural business skills training to improve communication and collaboration with teams in India. CBC trained and coached over 3,000 employees as well as the firm’s clients’ employees in the U.S., Europe and Asia.  The parties involved were able to meet service level agreements due to improved collaboration and deepened understanding of how work styles vary by culture.

Lending Institution

A lending institution was receiving complaints related to U.S. Fair Lending practices.  CBC provided the firm’s employees a better understanding of expected business practices and cultural context as a dimension of client service.  The organization was then able to close more loan transactions with a broadly culturally diverse clientele.

Aerospace Company

A major aerospace company transferred a couple to live and work in another country. Both were experiencing assimilation and cultural challenges.  CBC provided a two-day cross-cultural training session for the couple.  After completing CBC’s “Living and Working Effectively in your Host Country” course, the couple had a better understanding of culturally relevant business practices as well as the local community.

Strategy Services Firm

A U.S.-based scientific and commercial strategy services firm was organizing an international conference. The company contacted CBC to deliver cultural awareness sessions for employees involved in the conference. Understanding business protocol and etiquette as well as culturally unique business practices gave this firm the competitive advantage to deliver a successful conference.

testimonials

We believe our many satisfied clients are the best people to ask about the effectiveness of our cultural competency training. Here is just a sample of the feedback we have received:

contact us

Phone: 1-800-304-3159

Email: info@culturalbusinessconsulting.com









    For Media Inquiries:

    CBC president Valerie Bath is a recognized authority on cultural relativism and its impact on the productivity and profitability of global organizations. 

    Ms. Bath is available for media commentary and public appearances with regard to the nexus of culture and global commerce. Please contact CBC via inquiries@culturalbusinessconsulting.com,  or telephone 1-800-304-3159 with media and conference inquiries.