SUMMARY - The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer

* Our summary is short, simple and pragmatic. It allows you to have the essential ideas of a big book in less than 30 minutes.


*By reading this summary, you will learn to recognize the professional and relational codes ordering work in the world, codes that every expatriate manager must master even if the different cultural references encountered are sometimes far removed from their own original pattern.


*You will also discover that : each invisible frontier that draws the world map protects a cultural identity, a characteristic expression, an art of communication; depending on the history of the country, verbal and non-verbal language are shaped by millenary traditions or are the result of population movements and ethnic mixes from waves of immigration ; in the professional context, the most frequent relational difficulties are conditioned by the cultural environment of the country; to manage intercultural misunderstandings and gain acceptance, the manager must possess qualities of listening, humility and diplomacy.


*Erin Meyer was born in a small town in Minnesota and her only big trip was moving to Minneapolis where she grew up. As an adult, she travels the world as a cross-cultural management consultant. Her missions consist in preparing managers destined for expatriation in their wish to adapt to a team with cultural references far from those they are used to.


*Today, Erin Meyer teaches intercultural management at INSEAD, an institution in the Paris region, where 93% of students are foreigners. She transforms this place of diversity, a veritable breeding ground for disparities, into a laboratory for experiments. Her observations have led her to draw up a list of eight areas identifying cultural differences. These axes revolve around communication, evaluation, persuasion, leadership, decision making, trust, disagreement and time management. Erin Meyer develops and illustrates her theory based on her personal experiences and numerous anecdotes from expatriate managers.


*Buy now the summary of this book for the modest price of a cup of coffee!