Differentness comes in many forms: age, culture, ethnicity, thinking style, life experience, language, gender, etc. As Vice President of the Tampa Bay International Business Council, I work towards including our many diverse communities into the Tampa Bay economy, because this inclusion is a guarantee of growth and prosperity for the region.

My company, CPS, also trains fluency and inclusion of differentness, culture, generations, and diversity of every kind, because this is a guarantee of growth, innovation, security and development for the businesses and people of the Tampa Bay region.

The facts speak for themselves. More than half of the Silicon Valley companies founded in the past decade were led by at least one immigrant, according to a new study on the contributions of foreign-born entrepreneurs.

Nationwide in the US, about a quarter of technology and engineering companies created from 1995 through 2004 had at least one foreign-born founder, according to the report by Duke University’s Master of Engineering Management program.

The Duke University report expanded on a  study by UC Berkeley Professor Anna Lee Saxenian, which found that foreign-born scientists and engineers played a critical role in the growth of the California economy, particularly in Silicon Valley.

Successful innovators everywhere seek differentness, and invite new perspectives, input, and insights from the different minds in their organizations. They grow a culture of collaboration and critical thinking. They fight homogeneity and group-think as the path to stagnation, same-old-same-old or The Bay of Pigs (the classic case study of similar thinking people, who were not challenged by different perspectives).

Along with seeking differentness, successful organizations learn the ability to hear even soft murmurs from non-mainstream team members. One of Nissan’s most successful designs was created when the entire staff of NDI was brought out to see what was wrong with a model. A shy secretary mentioned quietly that the car looked sad: a simple redesign of the headlight angles was the key requirement.

Great companies walk the walk of growing their people from the (normal, human) position that most people occupy, which is  comfort with their own culture.  It is not easy to take the journey to recognizing, accepting, adapting to and integrating with other cultures or forms of diversity.  Good organizations provide innovative, enjoyable training and coaching that guides their people and supports them on this path. Ultimately, this helps everyone grow, to think in new ways, and to be ready to serve new markets and new customers in a multi-cultural, multi-generational and global world.

Differentness, distance and innovation require a set of thinking tools that are seldom taught in the US education system. However, once they are learned, these become key assets in 21st century business growth, innovation and project success. As they are learned, they also seep into homes and communities, improving the quality of life outside work, and preparing new generations for our ever-more complex world.

Tampa Bay is home to nearly 130 different ethnic and national groups – a wealth of differentness that can fuel an explosion of growth and innovation if we place a solid value on inclusion and diversity.

The Tampa Bay International Business Council is committed to this work – it delivers, but also values all the help we can get.

Competency & Performance Solutions is an innovative, exciting and affordable learning resource that delivers strong, sustainable and measurable  results within the area of differentness, thinking, management and communication. Call us at 813 598 9184.

There are two basic reasons for tackling diversity (seriously) in an organization. Both are valid.

Compliance and liability fall within one category. This is the risk management or ‘away from problems’ strategy.

The second approach to diversity is a ‘towards strategy’. Here differentness of many kinds becomes a driver of both short- and long-term profitability. The organization moves towards inclusiveness, innovation and engagement.   Differentness is leveraged as part the strategic vision, sales and marketing strategy, branding, talent development and retention, networks and organizational culture.

If you’ve read Stephen James Joyce’s Teaching an Anthill to Fetch: Collaborative Intelligence at Work, you already have a significant piece of the diversity picture.

Compliance and Liability: A risk management or  ‘away from’ strategy.

Please note: there is absolutely nothing wrong with focusing on differentness as a way of keeping out of trouble and away from lawyers.  The point here is that this is only half the diversity story, and can create a focus on “classic”  or on the more legal issues of differentness.

Compliance is essentially a brand, legal and dollar issue. The law of the land is on the side of previously-disadvantaged classes of employees, who are often still statistically disadvantaged by race, gender, disability etc. Corporate liability discrimination suits run into the hundreds of millions of dollars (e.g. 19 May 2010 award against Novartis AG, in New York: $250 million in punitive damages).

Federal law is maintaining its support for diversity in the workplace and has been expanding the rights of Blacks, Latinos, Asians, women, the disabled and other protected classes in the workplace over the past two decades. This aligns with international trends, such as the new Scandinavian laws which mandate 40% of women on company boards.

Employers may lawfully make decisions about hiring, promotions and access to training, using protected employee classifications. However, the most effective ways to grow successful, diverse cultures are through diversity training initiatives, cultural education, outreach programs, diverse recruitment, mentoring, supplier diversity programs etc.

The law permits companies to take direct action to redress imbalances, but diversity training initiatives are preferable.  One reason for a sophisticated approach is that reverse-discrimination claims occasionally arise. Their dollar liability value is minimal, but this is not only about money. This of Sonia Sotomayor’s firemen’s decision and how that became a public debate.  College entrance cases have also received publicity.  Given a polarized political climate, unionized employees or a conservative brand, it is more effective to improve your diversity culture with education than with the considerable power of diversity law.

Profitability: a ‘towards’ strategy.

In many economic thinkers’ opinions, profitability is the better reason for investing in a culture of diversity or differentness.

A culture of diversity attracts the best and the brightest. Many companies take a very keen interest in diversity because they keep an eye on Vault.com, GreatPlaceToWork.com, Glassdoor.com, Jobvent.com and other websites, that GenX and GenY use when researching companies to work for. High-talented members of these generations generally check cultural diversity as a basic requirement for career plans.

The core challenge of the 21st century is innovation. Competitive advantage lies in new perspectives on the eternal question: how do we create and sell more new products and services, or more of our existing products and services, to new or existing customers? How do we create better processes and higher quality? How do we do this cost-effectively, sustainably and creatively while having at least some fun along the way?

Innovation thrives in an environment of diversity of perspective, experience and input. The numeric-based business case for this is in places like Mobilizing Minds: Creating Wealth from Talent in the 21st-Century Organization, 2007, by McKinsey’s Bryan and Joyce. Richard Florida is more a accessible writer if you prefer something you can browse at bedtime.

Diverse environments widen people’s worldviews, remove people’s blinders, and build cognitive flexibility. People possess many areas of competence, knowledge and insight that remain separated from their working lives by an arbitrary boundary of “this is not work stuff.” Training and experience in differentness dissolve this artificial barrier, and a vast range of skills and knowledge becomes available.

Diverse environments attract many different types of differentness. Once a company culture opens up to different races and ethnicities, languages, gender and gender orientations, generations, religions, disabilities, veterans, parents etc (all the ‘classic’ diversities), this encourages other types of differentness to emerge. The gardener and the part-time artist, the choir leader and the runner, the geek, the writer and the traveller suddenly appear from amongst your people and their idiosyncratic skills, perspectives and experiences become team resources.

A truly diverse culture delivers an emotionally mature workforce with problem solving skills, project management competencies and interpersonal intelligence, and it has many other advantages. Customers, project partners, high-talent colleagues and valuable network members are often from different genders, races, ethnicities, religions or nations.

Many of these people are from diffuse cultures, and it takes time and trust to get to know them. Mainstream Caucasian US culture one of the most specific cultures in the world. The specific/diffuse cultural difference is one of those invisible cultural boundaries that cannot be seen, or truly understood, without either training or long-term interaction with diffuse culture members. The same is true of the individualist/collectivist divide, the universalist/particularist gap etc.

Companies who do not pay attention to differentness suffer “revolving door syndrome” as they lose high-talent minority hires. They are also mystified as their minority, multinational and diverse customers bleed away to competitors.

Similarly, organizations with good differentness programs and real diversity commitment (from recruitment and development to supplier diversity) find themselves making steady profits, and building trust, networks, employment brand and other advantages. They too are sometimes mystified at how powerful diversity values are in delivering dollar-based results.

Away from and towards:

In Teaching an Anthill to Fetch, Joyce observes that an ‘away from’ strategy begins strongly and tails off as it achieves most of its objectives. For instance, if a service desk wants to very few complaints, they will do enough work to get very few complaints , then ease off. A target of zero does not make a good, continuous goal.

A ‘towards’ strategy grows as it moves towards its objectives, because it is not based on avoidance. For example, a “get out the vote” initiative has no limits, a design team goes all out for better designs as an event draws nearer, or an entrepreneur’s dreams grow with success.

Business needs to pay attention to diversity-differentness for many reasons. They are all valid, and there’s no need to pick only one good reason, when you can pick all of them.

But ‘building a vibrant, creative, inclusive and thriving economy” is more fun that “avoiding lawyers” any day of the week.

“The change in our sales guys is great. They’ve had fun, but they are also thinking outside the box in a completely new way”.
Senior sales manager.

Sign up for this event

Tampa, Fla. – The National Association of Tourism and Conventions (NATC-TV) covered the 4th International Business Summit that was held on March 11th here in Tampa Bay. The event bought together nine multicultural Chambers of Commerce, Coca-Cola, the Tampa Port Authority, and other corporate sponsors. The NATC knows it witnessed something that will inspire the world to collaborate and cooperate with Tampa Bay’s business community,  not only to prevent chaos but create a beloved community. In short, the NATC knows it witnessed a model for unlocking the potential of the global economy.

Therefore, on Friday March 26th 2010 at 7pm, the NATC will be broadcasting this event on www.natc-us.com so that the world can see its vision reflected in the summit.

The NATC says the reason why it is sharing the exclusive coverage with the world with so much passion and conviction is because in times of great racial and international conflict along with explosive economic tensions at home and abroad, the world needs to see overwhelming American leadership and direction. The International Business Summit in Tampa Bay was an example of how American business can be a symbol of liberty and prosperity throughout the world.

Moreover, the NATC asks itself with will happen to Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, corporate America, and the commercial real estate industry if all Americans and the rest of the world didn’t see what happened in the summit. The answer to this question was so frightening the NATC said to itself it had better share what happened in Tampa Bay and do it in a hurry.

That’s why everyone should go to www.natc-us.com on Friday, March 26th to view the highlights of the annual International Business Summit. Let’s all see how we can reshape America’s potentially great business institutions to create more of a people centered global economy instead of a profit centered global economy.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Donald Hallback
813-625-0103
Email Donald@natc-us.com
Website www.natc-us.com

• British-American Business Chamber: www.babctampabay.org
• Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce: www.cacctb.com
• Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce: www.ccctb.com
• French-American Business Council: www.framco.org
• International Business Board: http://ctr.usf.edu/ibb/
• Indo-US Chamber of Commerce: www.indo-us.org
• Tampa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: www.tampahispanicchamber.com
• Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce. www.paccoftampabay.com
• Russian-American Association: http://russianamericanassociation.org
• Scandinavian  Trade Association: www.scandbalt.org
• Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay:www.tcctf.com

Preamble

Diversity is defined in a broadest sense by TBIBC. The bi-national Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations primarily bring the resource of (a) bi-national life experience and (b) new or wider connectedness to the West Central Florida economy.

TBIBC believes that differentness of all types is an economic resource. Diversity of gender or thought style, hobby or generation, occupation or religion, disability or nationality, language or personality type, veteran or parental status, industry background or learning orientation, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation, networks or cultural knowledge… each different orientation, set of life experiences or perspectives offers wealth for our economy.

Organization Name: _________________________________________________________________
Contact Person: ____________________________________________________________________
Email: __________________________________________________________________________
Tel (Office): ___________________ Tel (Cell)___________________ Fax: ______________________
Address: _________________________________________________________________________
City: _________________________________________ ZIP: _______________________________
Preferred Chamber Contact(s): _______________________________________ (Not required to win)

The Selection Committee is looking for Diversity, Collaboration and resulting Prosperity.

Diversity

Selection Criterion: Nominees looked for, supported and leveraged human differences as an effective business and economic resource.
The Selection Committee is interested specifically in any actions that took people or organizations out of their existing comfort zone(s), towards new behaviors or systems, using diversity (of any type) as problem solving or growth strategy.

Evidence of diversity might include:

• a diverse staff – in terms of gender, race, culture and ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, gender orientation, veteran status, thought style etc.
• diverse management – if the organization is large enough, this diversity will be seen at varying levels of responsibility.
• a relaxed atmosphere around the issue of diversity and inclusion.
• an awareness of the value of differentness and of the road blocks that differentness can create in economies. This will show in systematic use of strategies such as small or minority business supplier programs, mentoring of minority talent (e.g. women, racial minorities and unusual thinking styles), soft landing programs for new US residents, training in understanding the cultural differences between occupational groups, divisional, organizational and regional cultures, multi-national cultural preparation for those visiting other cultures on business etc.
• support for community projects that promote the acceptance and celebration of differentness from an early age (e.g. www.communitytampabay.org)
• creation of a community matrix or environment that is welcoming to difference (e.g. support for soft landing programs, development of an environment where diverse people and communities may thrive etc.)
• other evidence of diversity in this category.

Concrete examples:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Please feel free to add additional pages or evidence in support of your application.

Collaboration

Nominees encouraged collaboration between diverse people or groups to achieve business or economic objectives. The Selection Committee is interested specifically in on-going or systemic examples of collaboration, or successful culture change where collaboration is becoming (or has become) entrenched in an organizational culture. If management is consciously driving growth towards collaborative systems or processes, or supporting a collaborative culture where this is appropriate for their business and industry, this meets the criterion of Collaboration.

Evidence of collaboration might include:

• the emerging of new products and/or new services, suitable for either existing or new customers,
• process and systems improvements that arise from multiple sources within the organization,
• an innovative culture,
• easy cross-functional communication,
• openness to new ideas, irrespective of their origin,
• high employee engagement,
• a strong employment brand,
• low staff turnover relative to the rest of the organization’s industry.
• other appropriate signs of a collaborative environment.

Concrete examples:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Please feel free to add additional pages or evidence in support of your application.

Prosperity

Nominees achieved real measurable results, in terms of top-line revenue or cost-effectiveness (bottom-line profitability) as a result of their active investment in diversity and collaboration.
Evidence of prosperity arising from collaboration and diversity might include:
• new or increased revenue streams from innovative products or services, or from the development of new markets by innovative and collaborative processes,
• new or increased revenue streams developed by collaborative and innovative marketing, or as a result of collaborative networking, especially through diverse demographics,
• bottom line profit increases as a result of cost-effectiveness. This may be because of more efficient processes, or systems improvements, brought about by innovation and collaboration. It may reflect improved productivity resulting from team engagement, improved understanding and cross-functional communication
• improved productivity and execution from attracting and retaining talented people (because of being seen as an innovative, collaborative and diverse organization)
• cost-effectiveness from lower staff turnover (but should be resulting from high employee engagement, not from recession fears)
• products or services that make the region more attractive to diverse demographics.

Concrete examples:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Please feel free to add additional pages or evidence in support of your application.

Appendix: Further examples/ideas

Diversity

• All project teams are pre-assessed to ensure sufficient diversity of thought style.
• Diverse teams use regular process analysis to ensure that minority members (members of minority ethnic, gender, unusual thought-style groups etc) are heard. (This example illustrates that “minority” simply means statistical minority- e.g. in a predominantly female group, a minority group simply means men, who bring a different set of life experiences, world views and assumptions to the group.)
• Sales teams have concrete, specific annual multi-cultural community networking goals, and training in cultural diversity.
• The organization reviews the local soft-landing program when conducting an innovation brain-storm.
• A company with a foreign branch, manufacturer or call center operation sets goals to meet with the relevant bi-national Chamber and attend events to understand their international colleagues. (This example illustrates that the award is not only about Chambers and Trade Associations that are part of TBIBC.)

Collaboration

• The organization established or made good, economically-beneficial use of a supplier diversity program, perhaps with small, local, women-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned etc businesses.
The metrics are in line with, or above, the benchmark 7% savings achieved by NASA, Disney etc.
• Projects were measurably more successful than previously, as collaboration and communication improved between different business levels, silos, regions and/or divisions.
• The organization reached out to other industry players, perhaps through regional structures, to find ways to grow in ways that were not possible alone.
• Deliberate collaborative efforts have led to organizational rebranding, new products, new services, process improvements, staff engagement and retention, or other successes.

Prosperity

• An organization in the Tampa Bay/Lakeland/Sarasota/Bradenton region worked with a bi-national resident or bi-national resident group, to establish successful trade, manufacturing, innovation or any other cost-saving or revenue producing initiative that would not have been possible without collaborating across differences.
• A cross-functional group in an organization has measurably improved a process, solved a problem or worked together to create a new service/product or marketing campaign. Their different resources (perhaps including networks) were combined in a way that achieved unforeseen, positive results.
These results are visible in ‘hard’ income increases, real cost reductions or other measures such as share value, company expansion, market share, job creation etc.

Please contact glynis[@]c-psolutions.com, or the presidents or administrations of any of the Chambers if you need assistance in applying for consideration for the award.

Please note that the judges’ decision is final, and the TBIBC Board cannot enter into any discussion about the award choice after the final judgment is made.

Gabrielsen’s focus has not been on gender equality. His interest is in “the fact that diversity is a value in itself, that it creates wealth.” He is part of a movement has led to a law that requires all listed Norwegian companies to have at least 40% of women on their boards.

Despite much outcry about the law, research findings show that companies with the highest representation of women on their top management teams perform better financially than groups with the lowest female representation. The Norwegians have therefore made diversification mandatory, on the basis that  increased profits can be, and are, achieved through diverse boards, and that a company’s primary responsibility is to act in the best interests of its shareholders by maximizing profits.

One board chairman commented: “Now we have much better preparation before board meetings. You don’t see Board members opening their working papers in the elevator on the way to the meetings. The quality of decision making has also really improved.”

A Norwegian researcher, Mariel Hood, has done research to show that female participation has also created younger, more educated and more innovative boards.

In New York, Ilene H. Lang, a Harvard MBA, has shown how a lack of gender diversity hurts business, and how profitability increases with gender-diverse management teams and boards. Her organization has recorded jumps of 34% to 60% in profits, in  transparent and verifiable studies, when gender diverse teams have been created.

Peter Collett, a British psychologist, has studied diverse-gender teams, and analyzed why they are more effective.  His findings shows that mixed gender teams are more collaborative, broader thinking, take big picture positions  (as opposed to getting into minutiae), and regularly review contextual factors. His research shows that such teams are much more likely to encourage contributions from all group members than are single-gender team.

There is one limiting factor when bringing women into management teams or onto boards. A single woman is less effective on bottom-line metrics. It is much more effective to bring several women into the group/ This avoids isolating, stereotyping and therefore limiting this economic source of profitability and wealth. The women do not need to have board experience to create the wealth results. Hence the Norwegian legislation.

Sweden is in the process of introducing legislation to follow Norway’s example.

For details of numbers of women directors in various countries, follow the European thought leadership updates, e.g. http://www.egonzehnder.com/global/thoughtleadership/hottopic/id/78402633/article/id/11900485

IBS is in its fourth year, as an annual event that brings together the diverse communities of Tampa Bay to build economic prosperity for the Tampa Bay/Suncoast area. It is organized by the Bi-national Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations, including the British, Caribbean, Chinese, French, Hispanic, Indo, Philippine, Scandinavian-Baltic, Swedish, etc. Please see www.ibsummit.org.

IBS provides three tracks for education (the Collaboration, Diversity and Prosperity tracks) and is relevant to both local and international businesses.

Local businesses benefit from the valuable opportunities that lie in our diverse community. Support, learning, resource contacts and information are exchanged, and IBS creates connections – e.g. purchasing agents from many major small business and diversity supplier programs come to IBS to meet new vendors.

More globally-oriented business people can explore paths to new business ideas and prospects. Local partners  can provide international connections, cultural knowledge, business mentoring or partnerships for international business people and projects.

Major events in the IBS day are:
1.    The plenary opening and breakfast. The Mayor of Tampa, Pam Iorio, has confirmed that she will deliver the Summit welcome. The Plenary Keynote Address, by Dr. Rengen Li, Manager of Global Supplier Diversity and Global Procurement and Trading, of the CocaCola Company, will cover the subject of how small and medium sized businesses can do business with large corporations.
2.    Nine breakout learning sessions (two sessions before lunch, one session after lunch).
3.    The lunch – Brent Willis will be the keynote speaker.
4.    The speed networking (very popular).
5.    The International Panel. This is led by Dr Maria Crummett, head of the USF International School of Business. The panel includes Louis Miller (CEO Tampa International Airport), Jim Pyburn (Head of Port of Tampa), Frank Hibbard and other transport and transit experts.
7.    The Awards and Cultural Reception, including open bar, heavy hors d’oeuvres and cultural entertainment. This will include final remarks on the Summit by Gene Gray and Mike Meidel, Economic Directors of Hillsborough and Pinellas.

The continuing theme of IBS is prosperity, through collaboration and diversity.

2010 focus: Putting Tampa Bay on the Map.

IBS is a full-day event, held in beautiful, graceful surroundings. Higgins Hall has ample parking, and our caterers provide excellent food, beverages, elegant linens, service and flawless organization.

IBS attendee numbers: We expect 400 – 550 people at the 2010 event.

Sponsorships. The Lunch,  International Panel, and The Cultural Reception and Awards Sponsorships are taken.  There are still a  sponsorships available. Recognition sponsorships begin at $500.

Our thanks to the current confirmed 2010 sponsors, including:

Premier Sponsor: UK Trade and Investment. Gold Sponsors: Brighthouse, Fowler White, Nielsen, Ogletree Deakins. Silver Sponsors:  Tampa General Hospital, Ikea, Coca Cola, Partner Sponsors: SHRM, Tech Data. (If you have confirmed since the last update, please accept my apologies.)

The larger sponsorships include:

• A five to eight minute presentation at the start of the sponsored event.
• 6-8 full day tickets for staff and clients, including breakfast, all workshops, lunch, speed networking, and the Cultural Reception with open bar.
• If desired, an exhibition table to promote business objectives during the Summit, advertising banner etc.
• Sponsor Company logo and details, links etc appear on the IBS website, in the program and in all IBS marketing. A write-up also appears in the program (size depends on sponsorship level).
• Sponsor Company logo displayed throughout the summit.
• A complete list of all attendees at the Summit, and their contact details.
• Invitations to Bi-National Chamber events throughout the year, as we strive to promote our sponsors in the bi-national and diverse community.
• Year-round time with connected members of the various Chambers, so that we can help to build your connections in the Tampa Bay area.
• Assistance with your entry for the Brighthouse-IBS Collaboration Diversity Prosperity Awards.

There are many photos of IBS 2009 on-line, and pictures of Higgins Hall on the Hall website. www.stlawrence.org/higginshall/gallery/

Contact: Potential sponsors and media personnel can contact Hilton Ross-Munro at hilton[@]hiltonrossmunro.com or Glynis at Glynis[@]c-psolutions.com. Hilton’s cell phone is 813-598-9180.

To contact the IBS Board President: Grant Petersen of Ogletree Deakins. Joanne L. Cornell is his Assistant and International Paralegal: 813.289.1247 Office or 813.221.7243 Direct Dial. Email joanne.cornell[@]ogletreedeakins.com.

Sincerely,
Glynis Ross-Munro
Secretary
International Business Summit
www.ibsummit.org
813-598-9184

But it was worth it. Higgins Hall was the perfect venue, elegant, full of natural light, beautifully-maintained and decorated – and dedicated entirely to the IBS event. The break-out rooms were exactly the right size and the catering was highly satisfactory. Every speaker offered truly exciting ideas, and the lunch and speed-networking brought many people together for new opportunities. The organization went flawlessly even though there were some late nights behind the scenes.

We enjoyed the participation of a number of international business students, who worked hard to help participants and exhibitors have a great day. Here are some of their comments.

“My experience as a volunteer at the International Business Summit can be described in one word: AMAZING. As a recent graduate in a tough economy and in a new city, I know very well how hard it is to start a career. Every book will tell you that “Networking” is the key tool for every job seeker, the International Business Summit not only helped me to increase my network in size but it helped to increase my network in quality. The professionals I met during this event were the most interesting, open-minded, nice and helpful people. I also learnt from the workshops I got to participate in and from my responsibilities as a volunteer. The cherry on top had to be the organizing team, they were nice, always smiling, organized, helpful and determined to make this event as much of an opportunity for the volunteers that it was for the attendees. Overall the International Business Summit has been
the best event I have been to (as an attendee or as a volunteer) for a very long time. I could not thank enough all the persons who gave me the opportunity to participate, who trusted me and who made of this event a great success.”  Sarah M, Graduate 2008 from UNF, Jacksonville, FL.

“When I first signed up to volunteer at the IBS 2009 I expected it to be just another networking opportunity. By the end of the day, I was entirely wrong and greatly surprised. From the moment I arrived I was put to good use and I felt welcome by all the members. We were faces from across the globe united by a common interest in international business. Regardless of our cultural differences, the environment was so collaborative that the long hours of work went by quickly. Yes, my priority was working and making sure I supported the event as much as possible. At some moments, it actually felt like I had let networking fall into a second plan.  But at the end of the day, instead of networked, I had “team-worked”.  I closely interacted with every person involved in the event; I got to meet them in a much deeper and broader sense than I could have done had I just networked.  I left the IBS happy and with a much more valuable experience:  I left knowing more persons and not merely having more contacts.” Bruna Zanolini, International Studies, Business, USF, Tampa FL

IBS team, I would like to thank you for the wonderful opportunity of volunteering at the IBS.  I must say I was completely taken aback by the level of success of the event, it was very impressive to see how well run and well prepared everything was. As a volunteer it definitely gave me the opportunity to see first hand what it takes to make an event run as smoothly when it comes to game time. As an international business student I couldn’t help but to be drawn to a few of the workshops and I discovered that they were each led by professionals with great knowledge and a wonderful disposition to share it. As a future international business woman I found the opportunity to meet with so many prominent and well established business people absolutely fascinating and extremely beneficial. Meeting so many different people from different backgrounds was wonderful. Volunteering during the IBS, meeting the people that I met and learning everything I did, was a fantastic experience that I would repeat without any hesitation. Congratulations team IBS you truly pulled off a superb event, I can’t wait for the next International Business Summit! Julie Molina, USF, International Studies

Building trust and understanding between these diverse groups is not easy, either for the team members concerned, or for managers and learning specialists who facilitate the process.

Everyone has an “I” consciousness and a “we” consciousness. The “I” focuses on self achievement, self responsibility and autonomy. The “we” identity focuses on connection to our reference groups, and our relatedness. This emphasis varies from person to person, and from culture to culture.

I grew up in Africa, where many people have a mainly collectivist approach to life. In business, one usually asked African clients about their families, because it is impolite and cold to do otherwise, yet one discussed impersonal subjects like the weather and a little politics or economics with Caucasian clients. (In some cultures, like the UK, it is quite normal to discuss politics. Right after the weather, which always comes first!)

When working with learning groups from both Collectivist and Individualistic backgrounds (think of Puerto Rico and the US for example) it was often helpful to ask how some of these differences might affect group dynamics, for instance:

Innovative out-of-the-box thinking (I) vs. loyalty to group interests and approval (C)
Individual achievement (I) vs. group affiliation as a basis of group standing (C)
The right to have unpopular opinions (I) vs. the importance of group harmony (C)
Personal initiative (I) vs. consensus-based group action (C)

This concept can be used for team-building and inclusivity work, because people love to teach others about their worlds. People also love understanding what makes them tick – e.g. in Africa, Individualism is stronger in people who are more urbanized and whose tribal identity and affiliation are of lower importance. (This showed up as a factor in my first graduate degree thesis).

Create space for concrete and personal narratives, and jumpstart these by sharing a story of your own – e.g. I have an Anglo-Indian father, and Welsh, Irish, French, Dutch, African and Malay blood, and can trace threads of both traditions through my family and friends. It gets people thinking and talking.

A critically important issue when working with culture is to create a cheerful awareness that differences exist, that we’re learning to understand them, learning about each other, and that different is not wrong, it is merely different.

Heavy read: Try “The Geography of Thought : How Asians and Westerners Think Differently…and Why” by Richard Nisbett. It explains how people from Eastern and Western cognitive traditions often process information differently. Nisbett gives details of how a mix of thought patterns may offer a competitive edge, and lead to innovative breakthroughs in many industries.

Hilarious read: Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Social Anthropologist Kate Fox. Not related to Individualism/Collectivism, but an essential for any bewildered American who has to deal with the British, and a great gift for anyone who grew up in English culture, so that we can laugh at ourselves.