The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

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An international business expert helps you understand and navigate cultural differences in this insightful and practical guide, perfect for both your work and personal life. Americans precede anything negative with three nice comments; French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans get straight to the point; Latin Americans and Asians are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians think the best boss is just one of the crowd. It’s no surprise that when they try and talk to each other, chaos breaks out. In The Culture Map, INSEAD professor Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain in which people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together. She provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business, and combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice.

Why is this interesting for XMS

By Matthijs van der Veer: I know, I know, you’ve had diversity training and you’ve worked with some people from other cultures. But have you ever wondered why some people just ignore your amazing summary at the end of a meeting? Have you tried to find out why others need to find consensus, when you just want to go fast?

This book aims to measure different cultures based on different axes. Where do you think your culture falls on the Egalitarian vs. Hierarchical scale? And what about Linear Time vs. Flexible Time? My biggest takeaway from this book is that culture is relative. For instance, while most of the world consider people from Germany to be extremely punctual, this might sound strange to somebody from the Netherlands. The scales in this book can be a useful tool for anybody working in an international company.