Having just returned from our annual family skiing trip I have been reminded of how important it is to conserve and restore your energy resources. A few consecutive, full days of skiing can easily sap your physical energy. But we all know that our mental energy is a finite resource as well. And sometimes it […]
Tempted by Escape
I believe all of us are familiar with the temptation to escape… Be it a from difficult conversation, an anxiety-provoking situation, or a tiring social environment, it is so tempting to just leave, to escape from it. Sometimes, though, leaving the room is just not enough and one is tempted to escape on a bigger […]
Biculturalism Revisited: The Confused Bicultural
It shouldn’t be of a much surprise to meet a bicultural today – the world is increasingly interconnected, people are more mobile, there is a lot of migration, many live abroad and form multi-cultural families, hence many are exposed to and hold at least two identities. It is also a commonly accepted notion that biculturalism […]
When We Need More Cooperation, We Should Look for More Hope
Any working relationship, be it romantic, friendship- or business-related, implies mutual trust, doesn’t it? Indeed, any successful cooperation requires trust as well. Usually, the more we know people, the more we trust them, which is probably why cooperating with familiar people is easier than with strangers. Consider the prisoner’s dilemma, one of the most famous […]
Latest Research: ‘Navigating between Home, Host, and Global Identities’
Business activities today regularly reach across cultural boundaries, and collaborative work with people of different cultural backgrounds becomes an everyday normality. Alongside the increasing exposure to culturally pluralistic settings, the question of cultural identities and the process of acculturation also receives more and more attention. In fact, we increasingly see cases of people holding multiple […]
Electric Vehicles, Climate Change and Trump
Now that Donald Trump has pulled out of the Paris climate deal, what hope is there for addressing the more than critical issue of climate change? As discussed in one of my previous blog posts on the topic, I believe we shouldn’t despair, especially to the extent that moving towards clean energy makes sense for […]
What Can Corporations Learn from Digital Nomads?
In your opinion, what would be the trending job-related ‘wannabe’ and fantasy many people, especially millennials, have these days? I would definitely vote for keywords such as flexibility, meaningfulness, entrepreneurship, global travel and digital… basically everything that is so well captured and ‘romanticized’ by digital global work, or a digital nomad lifestyle. Even without looking […]
When Robots Are Not Science Fiction Anymore
‘Rise of the machines’, ‘Robots are taking over’ and ‘AI is here to replace humans’ – don’t these sound like science fiction movie titles, which bring to mind images of human-like robots with burning eyes and hands, made of steel? And if not inspired by ‘Terminator’ movies, maybe you picture the ‘old-school looking’ robots like […]
The French Election: Shall We ‘Keep Calm and Carry on Globalizing’?
This Sunday was an important day. Yes, it was the second round of the presidential election in France, but the results seemed to be quite important far beyond its borders. Namely, the second round of the French presidential race was viewed by many as a race between globalization and populism/nationalism, between further European integration and […]
The Real ‘Up in the Air’ Story?
Today there are many different ways to tap into the global interconnectedness of businesses, many of which do not even imply any physical relocation. For example, locally based businesses can use global digital networks to reach out to potential international clients with ‘just a click’, or utilize highly multinational teams, where people from different locations […]
M&A deals: How to bring cross-cultural teams together?
‘Merger and acquisition deals’ (M&A deals) – these often imply potential opportunities and profits for business leaders, yet may invoke resistance and anxiety among employees, and create headaches for managers. Indeed, it is hard to argue that M&A deals, similar to other business deals, have certain business goals, be it access to a new market […]
The Culturally Humble Expat
International assignments are costly, which is why both researchers and practitioners are in constant search for the right formula of successful expatriation. Given that international assignments are meant to be ‘bridging the gaps’, be it in terms of knowledge sharing or the transfer of other resources, good relationships and cooperation between expats and locals seem […]
Work-Life Balance AND (OR) Flexible Work?
Donald Trump notoriously sends out his tweets early in the mornings and reports on sleeping for only 3-4 hours at night. Naturally, Trump is not the only one, as plenty of success stories about ‘short sleepers’ can be found. What is the message of these stories? Or, to put it differently, are these stories telling […]
Not Eager to Go on a Business Trip? How about Bleisure Travel?
What comes to your mind, when you think about business travel or business trips? If you are a novice in this, I assume you would feel excitement. Business travel may sound like a great opportunity to get out of your daily routine, visit new places, meet with new colleagues and do some sightseeing, all of […]
Startup Mindset
In today’s volatile global market, it is quite challenging to sit back and enjoy stability, as rapid changes are increasingly part and parcel of doing business and being flexible and agile is essential to keep up with the flow. For companies these ever-changing business conditions mean both risks and opportunities, in terms of moving operations […]
More Thoughts on Globalization
In January I wrote about the era of protectionism and populism, which we seem to have entered. As discussed, these trends seem to indicate a globalization backlash, voiced by Brexit and Trump supporters, who probably haven’t felt the benefits of a globalized market. As one Financial Times article puts it, the current socio-political climate is […]
Latest Research: Expats and Ethnic Identity Congruence
Let’s say you are a multinational corporation with headquarters in Canada and plan to send an expatriate to your subsidiary in China. Who would you most likely send, a French Canadian manager, or an ethnic Chinese manager? I suspect you would pick the latter as we quite naturally assume that expatriates, who share similarities with […]
