International Travel: Good for Children

Rebecca Ruiz at Forbes.com says: "Parents have been sending their children abroad for education and culture since at least the advent of the Grand Tour in the 15th century. At that time, young men from aristocratic families spent months traveling Europe with the aim of learning about music, classical history, languages and art, among other subjects.

Times have changed and now kids have countless demands on their time, from SAT-prep courses to playing the latest Wii game. But that doesn't mean parents should give up on turning their son or daughter into a world traveler. Even by taking one trip abroad each year, parents can instill in their children an appreciation for languages, food, history and cultural traditions.

Definitions of Culture

One definition, used by the CARLA project at the University of Minnesota states that, for the purposes of their Intercultural Studies Project, culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group. Read more here to explore other definitions of culture.

At Keogh & Associates Consulting, LLC, we define culture as the "shared values, beliefs and assumptions of a group that result in a shared, characteristic behavior"

Being able to solve problems is not enough anymore

Culture is not something that we think about analytically. As Americans, living in a multicultural society, we are particularly prone to this strategic error. In our business model, managers are expected to solve problems - there is usually a “right” way and a “wrong” way. In the international arena our managers, more often than not, will be required to solve “dilemmas”. “Dilemmas” result when the nuances of different cultural approaches may mean that what is “right” in my culture may not be appropriate in my host’s culture. Global managers need to be taught how to “reconcile” dilemmas - how to develop mutually agreeable solutions based, more often than not, on interpersonal trust and respect for cultural differences. When we reconcile dilemmas we come up with a new solution resulting from the synergy of divergent viewpoints. The power of the new approach may amaze us. Read more...