cross-cultural consulting: bridging the cultural...

d e a r i n & a s s o c i a t e s

Cross-Cultural Consulting:

Bridging the Cultural divide


Are you sending staff to work in a foreign country? Do you have team members from different cultures in your office? Maybe you work with clients and suppliers overseas. Have you ever wondered…

● “What does my staff need to know to create a good impression in a new market?”

● “How do I get colleagues from overseas to understand deadlines?”● “How do I ask a question and get a meaningful answer?”● “What is the etiquette for meetings in other markets?”● “How do I create a sense of urgency among my team members?”● “How do I collect money?”● “Who are the decision-makers?”● “How do I rebuild a damaged relationship?”● “How can I get partners to commit to timelines?”● “Why won’t anyone give me a decision?”● “Why do my foreign staff think I’m rude?”

These are the kinds of questions which clients ask us every day. Airlines, mining companies, pharmaceutical companies, advertising agencies – they all face the challenges of having staff from different countries scattered around the globe. People from different places don’t always understand each other … and they don’t always get along.

Cultural differences are a well-documented source of conflict for business people operating in foreign markets or in culturally diverse teams. Failure to understand these differences and find ways to bridge the cultural divide can lead to conflict within your team, difficult relationships with clients and suppliers, delayed decision-making and reduced productivity. All of which is bad for the bottom line.

If your business is expanding to a new country, your team will encounter very different expectations about communication, time management, contract negotiations and social and professional etiquette. Understanding the culture of the new market is key to successfully transacting business there.

Similarly, if you work in your home country, but with people from diverse backgrounds, understanding how they perceive the world is key to building a healthy, trusting, productive working relationship with them.

Bridging THe CUlTUrAl DIvIDe

What We dodearin & associates is an international business consultancy that helps companies to succeed in fast-growing international markets, including china, south-east asia, the Middle east and north africa region and iran.

We work with staff travelling to new markets, companies with established teams working cross-border and culturally diverse teams in Australia. Our goal is to create realistic expectations about the experience of working abroad or in a culturally diverse environment and we strive to help clients to build productive, harmonious working relationships between members of cross-cultural teams. Our briefings are tailored to the seniority, role, gender and interests of each participant. We focus on cultural differences, understanding cultural frameworks, core values, religious considerations, political subtleties and private and professional etiquette. We also address the wider economic and regulatory contexts of each culture.

dearin & associates provides workshops and one-to-one coaching for staff in australia and the abroad. We work with companies and institutions from a broad range of sectors.


hoW to Work WITH USWe offer two ways for you to work with us to improve your team’s cross-cultural capability, minimise conflict and maximise profitability:

On-site workshopsWe deliver full-day, on-site workshops for your team, which are tailored to the seniority, role, gender and interests of each participant. We address the cross-cultural challenges of our participants, focusing on cultural frameworks and differences, private and professional etiquette, management styles and conflict resolution skills. We can also address political and religious considerations and the wider economic and regulatory contexts of the target country. We draw on the experience of our principal and consultants, who have extensive experience living and working in foreign markets.

One-to-one coachingWe offer one-to-one coaching to deepen participants’ understanding and provide practical advice on strategies to improve cross-communication with stakeholders in foreign markets. Coaching can take place in-person or via Skype, with remote support provided in between sessions. We also provide a report on each coaching session conducted, including skills learnt and outcomes reached.

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Ego Pharmaceuticals’ business in the Middle East has grown to represent a significant proportion of our world-wide business. This has meant that our business has grown more complex and cultural differences have a much greater

impact. We were aware that for some functions, such as planning and forecasting, our teams were operating under starkly different paradigms and that in general, communication between Australia and the Middle East didn’t always go to plan for either party. Sitting in between both groups it was clear that there were some frustrations and issues that our internal processes, procedures and values were not adequately addressing.

Based on a thorough situation analysis, Dearin & Associates put together a training program for ego Pharmaceuticals across a wide range functions that have some interaction with, or are impacted by the Middle East. This involved providing some models to explain the basis for the differences but more importantly, lots of interaction and discussion of real issues and misconceptions.

Following on from the feedback from this training Dearin & Associates then put together an “Australian” training session for ego’s senior management team in the Middle East. The program forced participants to confront the reality that there are some big differences between how Australians and Arabs view the world. There were many “aha” moments for both groups as they discussed examples of “strange” behavior that, in fact, turn out to be perfectly normal if you understand the differences in culture between the Middle East and Australia.

The training covered a wide range of topics but what really stood out were the changes in behaviour from staff who have regular contact with each other. At its simplest, the clear message from the training and subsequent interactions is that if both parties make a genuine effort to appreciate their cultural differences, things do work better and in fact, working together actually becomes far more enjoyable.

Dearin & Associates‘s feedback also helped senior management to identify some key areas to focus on and provide support for.

It is easy to feel that our challenges are unique to ego Pharmaceuticals. Dearin & Associates unpacked this thinking and helped us to understand that the challenges are exactly what many companies experience and that with a bit of extra effort that our “challenges” do, indeed, become “opportunities”.

John WarmbrunnMiddle East North Africa Business Manager

our Methodology

3Design custom workshop,

or coaching program, drawing on cultural

frameworks and our expertise.

5Survey participants

to learn about participant learning outcomes and report to client.

1Strategy session to deep

dive into clients’ operations, challenges,

goals and needs.

2Survey session participants to learn about challenges of individual team members,

impact on performance and desired outcomes.

4Deliver on-site custom

workshop for up to ten people or coaching program for individuals

and larger teams.

Here’S WHAT Our CliENTS SAy:


our ConsultantsCynthia Dearin Cynthia began her career after law school as a political officer with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She was posted to egypt, the United Arab emirates (UAe) and Qatar as a diplomat, an experience which spurred a deep interest in the Arab world.

After completing a master’s degree in Middle Eastern politics at the University of london’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Cynthia crossed over to the private sector and became a management consultant. She completed consulting engagements with Adam Smith International, BearingPoint and Grant Thornton in the UK, the United States, Iraq, Pakistan, the UAe and Jordan.

Most recently, Cynthia served as the first female CEO of the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a peak level trade organisation in Australia, where she led a complete branding and strategic reorganisation.

As Managing Director at Dearin & Associates, Cynthia specialises in business consulting services, business matching and government relations, with a focus on the Middle East & North Africa (MENA). She also lectures at the la Trobe law School in Melbourne.

Cynthia commentates on topics associated with international trade, the MENA region, and is author of Camels, Sheikhs and Billionaires: Your Guide to Business Culture in the Middle East and North Africa. She speaks english, French and Arabic.

Barnaby Caddy Barnaby has worked for fifteen years on international affairs, with particular expertise in Indonesia.

Barnaby studied Indonesian language, politics and culture at university, including semesters in West Timor and lombok. He started his career working on Australia-Indonesia foreign policy with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Department of Defence. He later managed international development assistance programs on behalf of government, the united Nations, international non-government organisations (NGOs) and private consultancy firms.

Barnaby moved into the aid sector in response to seeing first-hand the devastation in Aceh following the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. He has led projects across the Indonesian archipelago (Aceh, yogyakarta, lombok, Flores and West Timor),

including as Country Director with international NGOs, and later as Emergency Operations Manager at the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). He also represented the Australian Government in Jakarta on disaster-response coordination efforts.

As a fluent Bahasa speaker, Barnaby brings a deep knowledge of Indonesian culture to his cross-cultural consulting work. Barnaby’s cross-cultural experience has also been developed through living and working in diverse cultures across South east Asia, liberia, and North Korea where he recently worked as a consultant to the united Nations.

Most recently, Barnaby has provided consultancy advice and training on the complexities of managing foreign projects, particularly the softer skills needed for successful business operations in difficult foreign environments.

Carsten Primdal Carsten Primdal is an international trade consultant with extensive experience in assisting businesses dealing with China. Carsten has worked and lived in Asia since 2001, assisting businesses in minimizing the risk and optimizing their results when dealing with the Chinese. From 2007 as an independent consultant based in China assisting global brands such as AlDI Supermarkets, lIDl and lindt Chocolate.

Through personal cultural immersion, Carsten has a unique perspective and deep understanding of the cultural challenges faced by companies when starting out building economic and cultural bridges into China, particularly in relation to business norms, communication style and general risk mitigation.

In addition to mainland China, Carsten has successfully delivered projects in Hong Kong, Japan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Spain and Denmark. With close family ties in China, Carsten also has a personal insight and understanding of Chinese culture.

Driven by a strong and innate desire to see business evade the avoidable risks and maximize the return on the investment made in opening the Chinese market, Carsten help businesses ensure that they start out on the right footing when dealing with the Chinese.

Carsten is also the Author of “Red Flag – Your Guide to Risk Management when Buying in China” a book in which he shares his extensive experience in supply chain risk mitigation in China.

Lydia Santoso lydia Santoso specialises in the niche area of Indonesian-Australian law. She is an Australian qualified lawyer and Public Notary, having obtained a combined Arts/law degree from the university of New South Wales. lydia speaks fluent indonesian and English and has worked in law firms both in Sydney and Jakarta. She is well known in the Indonesian community in Sydney and has amassed a large number of Indonesian clients both in Australia and Indonesia. lydia has also acted for many Australian businesses with interests in Indonesia, Indonesians living in Australia and Indonesian business owners located in the greater Sydney area.

Being half Indonesian and half Australian, lydia understands the Indonesian culture and provides valuable assistance to Australians who are unfamiliar with the Indonesian culture, language and the Indonesian legal system. Similarly lydia advises

Indonesian nationals who do not understand the Australian legal system fully or who do not speak the english language.

Having worked in Indonesia, lydia has gained the knowledge and skill in how to operate within the unique Indonesian legal system. She has provided advice as country expert for companies who are looking to enter the Indonesian market.

lydia’s work in the Australian-Indonesian relations is widely recognised by the Australian Government, having just been recently appointed by the Government to be a director of the prestigious Australia Indonesia Institute and a member of the selection panel for the New Colombo Plan 2014 and 2015. lydia also holds the title of Advisor to the National Board of the AiBC, Committee member of the iDN NSW Chapter and is the current vice President of the Australia Indonesia Association.

to find out More about dearin & associates’ cross-cultural

consulting services, contact us on [email protected]

or +612 8076 4660.

Pouyan Afshar Pouyan Afshar specialises in providing advice on doing business in Iran.

He has a deep understanding of Iranian culture and commerce practices, having been Iranian born and raised and having worked extensively with Iranian businesses both in Iran and abroad. As a lawyer, he brings experience in strategic planning and of operating in the Iranian business and legal environment.

As the principal of Caspian Capital, he focuses on assisting businesses wishing to invest or deploy in Iran in the energy, agricultural, financial services and technology industries.

Nawaf Almohaimeed Nawaf is an international business consultant with experience in corporate strategy and international management.

A native of Saudi Arabia, Nawaf has lived, worked and studied in the United States of America, Germany and Australia. Nawaf holds a Master’s degree in International Business from Monash university, Melbourne, a Bachelor of International Business from Cleveland State University and a Project Management Professional (PMP) qualification from the Project Management institute. He was the recipient of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program. Cross-cultural consulting and international management are two of his key areas of specialty.

He has worked with and advised a number of industry-leading firms in Saudi Arabia Arabia and Australia, including Tatweer education Holding Company and Itik Consulting in riyadh, and Dragoman Consulting in Melbourne. His work has focused on exploring, identifying, interpreting and hedging foreseeable corporate risks.

At Dearin & Associates, Nawaf couples his expertise and first-hand cultural familiarity with Australian commercial culture with his deep understanding of Saudi Arabian and Arab culture and the commercial and political scene within the MENA region.


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