Cultural Detective® News

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Top News

Announcing cross-cultural training certification seminars at University of California Berkeley. Click here for more information.

Cultural Detective^® has proudly partnered with the Intercultural Communication Institute on our facilitator certification workshops.

2009-2010 updates to most packages have been completed, with the rest on the way. Be sure to download and use the latest versions.

Upgrade for site license customers: PowerPoint slides of the Cultural Detective^® core method and Values Lenses, as well as state-of-the-art Digital Rights Management.

Coming soon: Online interactive Values Lenses and Worksheets.

Archive

Our archive below provides you links to articles and resources for global business effectiveness and virtual team productivity, as well as designs and techniques for improving global managerial performance.

Newsletter: Clues to Intercultural Effectiveness

2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

Cultural Detective in the News

Updates: News Flash

Cultural Detective columns in Via Mei Magazine

June-July 2010

• An international study supports the Cultural Detective approach: Bertelsmann Stiftun-Fondazione Cariplo study.
• Overlaying Values Lens—people are complex, not charicatures.
• Coaching using Cultural Detective: a new program and movie.
• How a client uses Cultural Detective in study abroad: AFS high school exchange programs.
• Intercultural comes of age: Janet Bennett reflects on how far we've come.
• "The Lost Generation," a poem of shifting perspectives.
• The Southern Poverty Law Center's "Teaching Tolerance" programming, and the curriculum on Sergio Vieira.
• The Summer Institute forIntercultural Communication—professional development opportunity.

May 2010

• Of Terrorism and Leadership: An article on constructively channeling blended-culture experience.
• Collide-o-culture or Kaleid-o-culture: Jacqueline Wasilewski's GPS for Human Beings.
• Upcoming facilitator certifications in University of California Berkeley; Zurich, Switzerland; Portland, OR USA; and Istanbul, Turkey.
• Revisiting a classic: Adriano Celentano's Prisencolinensinainciusol, a rock song demonstrating how non-English speakers hear English.
• Cultural Detective Vietnam debuts.

January 2010

• Announcing our new partnership with the Intercultural Communication Institute.
• Lessons from the field: an article by Jolanda Tromp on Cultural Detective Global Teamwork.
• Upcoming facilitator certifications in Portland, OR; University of California Berkeley; and Zurich, Switzerland.
• An article by Kathleen Curran for the 2009 Linkage Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit.
• Various entertaining quizzes from Mental Floss magazine.
• Cultural Detective webinars enable more robust use of site licenses throughout an organization.
• Master's thesis by Eleni Katsouli on the learning effectiveness of cross-cultural simulations.
• Connect with Cultural Detective via Facebook, and take a fun quiz: "What's My Detective Style?"

August 2009

• Innovation Norway uses Cultural Detective Global Business Ethics.
• SIETAR India Congress in Pune, and Cultural Detective Facilitator Certifications in Pune and San Diego.
• Innovative business processes: Tata Motors, computer makers, and Cultural Detective.
• Debut of the much-requested Cultural Detective Global Teamwork.
• Funk music and cultural values.
• Cultural Detective webinars enable more robust use of site licenses throughout an organization.
• Connect with Cultural Detective via Facebook, and take a fun quiz: "What's My Detective Style?"

April-May 2009

• Scientific research supports the Cultural Detective method.
• Cultural Detective Facilitator Certification in New York City, 8-9 May.
• Innovative business processes: Tata Motors, computer makers, and Cultural Detective.
• Debut of Cultural Detective webinars.
• Chinese-German images: Yang Liu's illustrations of cultural differences.

January 2009

• Upcoming conferences in Singapore (Tripartite Centre for Fair Employment) and Houston (Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics) feature Cultural Detective.
• What is the difference between "culture general" and "culture specific," why are both needed, and how does Cultural Detective incorporate these approaches? An article by Dr. Janet Bennett.
• Cultural Detective Facilitator Certification in Chicago, 20-21 February.
• A recipe for "enlivening" critical incidents in the classroom.
• Debut of Cultural Detective Romania and Cultural Detective Turkey.
• Who is ruder, the Americans or the French? An article on cross-cultural perceptions of arrogance.
• Gaza-Sderot, a Palestinian-Israeli film project.

November 2008

• 51 packages are now included in the Cultural Detective series, with the debut of Denmark and Belgium.
• "Does Comparative Law Show 'Global' Values?" an article and upcoming book by Alan Richter, based on a study of constitutional law in 15 countries.
• International Anti-Corruption Conference in Athens, and a link to Cultural Detective Global Business Ethics.
• A fountain in a Japanese shopping mall redefines the meaning of fountain.
• Cultural Detective releases its online course, Cultural Detective Interactive Reality, for site license use.

25 September 2008

• "Put a Lens On It," an article by George Simons about designs and challenges for using Values Lenses with a large organization in Asia.
• Cultural Detective facilitator certifications in Granada, Spain in October, in Houston TX in November (rescheduled due to Hurrican Ike).
• Soft launch of our Interactive Reality series, online self-paced course, for site license use.
• The 15th anniversary, fourth edition of the renowned teaming and collaboration simulation, Ecotonos at a 10% discount.
• Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" in 3D -treat yourself!
• Do cities and regions have cultures? Personalities? View an interactive map of regional "personalities" of the USA.

September 2008

• Hyundai-Kia Motors is using Cultural Detective as the backbone of major intercultural competency efforts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and USA. View the in-house video.
• SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education Training and Research) will hold its Global Congress in Granada, Spain in October, and Cultural Detective has been asked to conduct a pre-conference Facilitator Certification.
• "The Georgia Crisis and Polish Values: Why wake the sleeping bear," an article by Pawel Walentynowicz.
• The 15th anniversary, fourth edition of the renowned teaming and collaboration simulation, Ecotonos has just been released by Intercultural Press. There are instructions for facilitating the simulation in a much shorter timeframe, and the game comes in a new hard plastic carrying case for enhanced portability. Also include theory underlying the simulation. For a limited time Intercultural Press has offered all Cultural Detectives a 10% discount.
• New strategic partnerships and reseller distribution agreements are announced, including those with GlobalLead, Australian Institute of Export, and Diversity Resources.

May 2008

• Do your employees have questions about ethics in global business? Do you struggle with how to promote cross-cultural sensitivity while still maintaining legal and ethical compliance? If so, then Cultural Detective Global Business Ethics is worth taking a look at.
• "To Ming or Not to Ming," the story of a team that wanted to fire a talented and professional colleague due to differences in values and communication style.
• An online quiz by Carrie Cameron on High-Low Context, Relationship-Task Orientation.
• 25% discount offer for a limited time on "Success Strategies," including chapters by Warren Bennis, Brian Tracey, Marjorie Blanchard, and Cultural Detective authors Dianne Hofner Saphiere and Kathleen Curran.
• D-PAN, the Deaf Performing Artists' Network, offers some terrific video resources.
• Why every employee needs a global mindset; link to article.

March 2008

• Cultural Detective Facilitator Certification workshops in Australia, France, New Zealand, and USA.
• "Securing Collaboration in International Projects: Combining Cultural Detective with cultural dimensions." Download a free graphic and full explanations for your use..
• New release on Jewish culture joins Cultural Detective Islam as the second CD package on a major religious tradition. Poland is also nwly released.
• "Six Billion Others:" the power of people, stories, images and sound for your use.
• A new video from CD Generational Harmony co-author Gretchen Neels.
• Why "U.S. Americans?" Quotes from Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico's, autobiography.

December 2007

• Personal success strategies for cross-cultural effectiveness.
• Last-minute executive briefing for expatriate heading to the Arab Gulf.
• Facilitator certification workshop in Paris.
• Maps as learning tools to see the world in new ways, including an online detective map quiz and maps of international migration, opportunities for women, health, trade, the environment.
• "Clash of Civilizations" video from avaaz.

October 2007

• Improve multicultural team productivity by creating and sharing Personal Values Lenses.
• Work more effectively with South Africans and across genders.
• Improve your ability to facilitate intercultural and global management effectiveness by attending facilitator certification workshops in Australia.
• Discover whether Deaf culture is universal.
• Review 5000 years of world religion in a 90 second video.
• Free offer: get a copy of the book, Men and Women: Partners at Work.

August 2007

• Learn fundamental theories of intercultural communication and global effectiveness, and receive graduate-level academic credit, with Cultural Detective facilitator certification workshops.
• Pursue eight steps to generational harmony in the workplace.
• Calling all ethics and compliance officers--how are those ethics and values statements interpreted across cultures, and how can we ensure they are acted out consistently and appropriately?

December 2006

• Develop your ability to work more productively and enjoyably with Deaf colleagues.
• Discover how secondary educators are improving students' understanding of international relations and global cultures.
• Gain valuable tips on recruiting, retaining and promoting culturally diverse employees.
• Cross-cultural professionals in the Arab Gulf inaugurate their professional association.

September 2006

• Understand culture beyond the passport level, including religion, physical ability, gender, and topical applications such as global diversity programs.
• A great new way for business people to learn the fundamentals of intercultural competence and gain fluency with a terrific tool for improving global business productivity.
• Intercultural professionals in India organize their first SIETAR conference.
• Truly effective global leaders know their ecological footprint--determine yours.
• Do you value diverstiy? Sign the Religions for Peace declaration.

June 2006

• The first introduction to cultural studies and intercultural communication for many people these days is via the dimensions of culture. What are the advantages of such an approach, and in what ways is a Cultural Detective approach different and complementary?
• Learn to learn about a culture--to detect what is important to people--through their use of space. In this issue, we give you complete instructions for an activity that looks at a Japanese department store through a Japanese Values Lens.
• Check out five online resources that use language as a window to enhancing cross-cultural competence.
• Play three video games designed to raise global awareness and citizenship.

December 2005

• Improve global management skills and multicultural team competence with six activities that use maps and mapping to help people discover their own mental maps--their ways of seeing and being in the world.
• Take an online "World Map Detective" quiz to gauge your understanding of how maps inform--and misinform--how we see the world around us.
• Then, read this article explaining how maps are created for specific purposes, and like any tool often distort other purposes.
• Free offer: get a Population Map, an Africa-centered Peters map, and a Mecca-centered Azimuthal projection.

July 2005

• How do you help people understand and utilize cultural differences, when so many of us are multicultural, global nomads? Three steps to effective intercultural training.
• Questions to ensure an indigenous approach to management education. How do we get beyond western practice into meaningful local and regional management education?
• Do you prefer gay over straight, black over white, fat over thin? Take this Implicit Association Test and find out.

May 2005

• What makes an effective intercultural learning tool? This checklist assesses both Accelerated Learning and Intercultural criteria.
• Four powerful experiential activities to improve multicultural team performance.
• Do it right the first time, without repeating others' mistakes: access hundreds of typical cross-cultural miscommunications and management mis-steps, sorted by culture, industry, professional function, and key word.
• How we communicate--our style of communication--is a very efficient window into our deeper assumptions and values, a window into ourselves and others. Learn more in Communication Highwire: Leveraging the Power of Diverse Communication Styles.

Cultural Detective: A Tool for Global Diversity and Inclusion Practices
Linkage Toolbox 2009. Kathleen Curran authored this contribution to the annual Linkage Toolbox, which includes a brief business case for Diversity and Inclusion, and provies instructions for a sample activity with debrief and application.

Understanding Values Differences
ASCA, November 2009. Carl Kay writes in Japanese and English to highlight some important differences between Japanese, US Americans and Germans.

The Project Manager home page showcases Cultural Detective's interculturally competent approaches to international project management.

• Securing cross-cultural collaboration in international projects.
• Project management across borders: India.
• Meeting the intercultural challenges of virtual project management.
• Plus a series of international project management tips of the day.

Cultural Detective: Some Clues for Decoding Each Other
Teaching Support Centre, University of Western Ontario, Canada, March 2007. Nadine LeGross, Language and Communication Instructor, discusses how to develop multicultural competence in higher education.

Cultural Clues: How Good is Your Cultural Intelligence?
Unlimited Magazine, New Zealand, February 2006. Fiona Rotherham deciphers cultural intelligence and Kiwi values.

Tools to develop your employees' intercultural skills
Expatica.com, November 2005. Eleonore Breukel profiles three easily accessible tools to help HR managers, trainers and employees who are working in international environments develop intercultural skills.

Developing Cross-Cultural Competence: Product Launch
Human Capital Magazine, India, May 2005. Profiles the international collaboration behind a powerful and dynamic new series of intercultural competence tools.

News Flash: Intelligence Gathering

31 May 2006
Enhance global business acumen and systems by using Values Lenses in executive coaching and teambuilding.

15 May 2006
How do the history of slavery and current realities of post-colonialism affect working in West Africa today? Learn to manage more effectively.

23 August 2005
Responsible global managers should be aware of the Scorecard on Globalization, published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Cultural Detective author is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Test your world knowledge with the Chocolate Detective quiz. Global organizational effectiveness and global managerial competence professionals meet in Nice.

The Intercultural Dynamics of Toxic Toys
Via Mei Magazine, January 2008. Written by Dianne Hofner Saphiere. Recent product recalls have had incredible negative repercussions for nearly everyone involved. Could cross-cultural skills have prevented the recalls?

China and the US: Regional Differences
Via Mei Magazine, October 2007. Written by Dianne Hofner Saphiere. China and the US are both huge nations with incredible regional diversity. Develop your cultural intelligence and learn some of the similarities and differences.

China and the US: The Value on Prosperity
Via Mei Magazine, June 2007. Written by Dianne Hofner Saphiere and Wei Wei. China does not recognize Taiwan Republic of China as an independent nation--an incredibly tense and awkward political situation--yet annual trade between the two entities could be well over US$200 billion. How does Chinese culture permit or enable such a dichotomy?

China and the US: The Perils of Perception
Via Mei Magazine, Spring 2007. Written by Dianne Hofner Saphiere and Wei Wei. What do Chinese and Americans' perceptions of one another tell us about ourselves? How can we learn to collaborate across cultures more effectively?

Introduction to Intercultural Viewpoints
Via Mei Magazine, July 2006. Written by Dianne Hofner Saphiere. Chinese friends are disappointed their US friends don't compliment them. A US businesswoman is stunned when she gives an apparently ill-received presentation yet nearly everyone in the audience stays afterward to talk with her. Professionals working in China should understand mianzi, the concept of face.