"My aim is to bring to the surface the powerful connection between culture and business in Asia, and set out 24 practical skills that deliver success." Dr Margaret Byrne
It's now generally accepted that Australia's future is intimately bound up with Asia. There are economic, strategic and obvious geographic reasons why this is so. Consequently, the conversation has shifted from the out-dated, 'Will you engage with Asia?' to the current, 'How can you engage to best advantage?'
This practical, business-focused book draws on over 30 years of experience to distil 24 valuable skills that will help business people minimise cultural risk and maximise the business opportunities offered by the Asian Century.
The book is usefully organised into four key sections.
Section 1: Setting the scene
This section orients you to the skills needed to consider culture as a business risk and draws on research that shows what can go wrong when Australian organisations extend their operations into Asia. The section also introduces the Chinese philosophy of The Middle Way, as a useful perspective on managing East-West differences for success in the Asian Century and shows you how you can make use of this approach in your business.
Section 2: Building your analytical skills
Here you'll find a sound, evidence-based, framework setting out the most important things you need to know about culture and cultural differences. It includes key East- West contrasts in values and communication. This will help you to make sense of what you are likely to encounter and help to develop your crucial analytical skills.
Section 3: Applying your insights
To operate successfully across the region, you'll want a portfolio of everyday skills that can be used in most situations. In this section, you'll find the toolkit you need - from how to make meetings work, to how to work with interpreters and use English as an international language for business.
Section 4: Turning your new skills into habits
Your usual way of doing regular things, such as writing an email or making a presentation, is so deeply ingrained that it isn't surprising many people find it quite hard to implement a new cultural skill. It involves changing long-standing habits. This final section draws on the latest findings from neuroscience to give you a practical roadmap for successfully turning your new skills into habitual responses that deliver results.
About the Author
Dr Margaret Byrne has a BA and MA from Oxford, and postgraduate qualifications in adult learning from Bristol University. In 2005, she completed her PhD, exploring how leadership potential is identified in meetings, including meetings involving Australians working in Asia. Outside Australia, Margaret's consulting engagements have been throughout Asia, Europe and North America.
In 2004, Wollongong University appointed her Honorary Advisor on Leadership and Change. Margaret holds multiple awards for innovation in the design of executive development and change management programs and, in 2007, was a winner of the Telstra Business Women's Awards in the Corporate Sector Category and a National Finalist.
Margaret's films on the topic of 'international meetings where counterparts from different national cultures must work together to solve problems and make decisions' have been shown on Australian television. Her resources on cultural competence in print, film and online formats are widely used by consultants in Australia and internationally, as well as being used as texts in Masters Programs in universities in Australia and Europe.
