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24 Feature
Business Trend Magazine
Chattanooga on
Top of the world
New resource puts cultural know-how
on map for growing businesses
Local companies with an eye on
international growth will soon get a leg
up on crossing the global threshold,
thanks to a new year-long seminar series
that explores ways cultural literacy can
open doors and close deals.
The program, called “Developing
A Global Mindset,” is a series of
six seminars the
Chattanooga
Area Chamber of
Commerce will offer
in 2012 in which
local international
business leaders will
share their expertise
with local companies.
The seminars will
cover a wide range of
topics, including employing multicultural
sensitivity at home and abroad, navigating
cross-cultural business environments,
selling to global markets and executing
culturally-sensitive HR strategies.
“The globalization of business has
opened borders between countries and
dramatically broadened the scope of
“It’s natural to be most
comfortable with the
familiar, but be careful
not to assume that
your own culture is the
norm for everybody.”
trade,” says Gladys Pineda-Loher, business
diversity coordinator for the Chattanooga
Area Chamber of Commerce. “Even if
your own firm is local, you may have
U.S.-based clients with an international
presence or foreign clients that operate
satellite offices in North America.”
This heightened level of contact
between businesspeople
of different cultural
backgrounds, says
Pineda-Loher, calls for
businesses to redefine
their relationshipbuilding
strategies
across the spectrum,
from customer
service and internal
communications tactics
to multi-market outreach.
“We must keep in mind that while
some professional standards may converge
across cultures, there is no universal way
to conduct business,” she says. “In some
settings, actions as seemingly innocuous
as putting your hands in your pockets
or writing with a red pen could convey
disrespect that, though unintended,
could damage your relationship with the
other party. That’s why it’s crucial to
become critically-attuned to the cultural
nuances of diverse customers and clients
as you seek to build your business and its
reputation.”
The “Developing A Global Mindset”
series will take place periodically
throughout 2012 beginning in February.
All seminars will take place from 8:30-
10:30 a.m. in the Technology Conference
Center at the Business Development
Center, located at 100 Cherokee Blvd.
Price of admission is $10 for Chamber
members and $12 for non-members.
Advance registration is required. Please
contact Gladys Pineda-Loher at gpinedaloher@chattanoogachamber.com
to RSVP.
Developing A
Global Mindset
Feb. 1 Diversity in the
Workplace
April 4 Cross-Cultural
Business Environments
June 6 Cultural Differences
in the Global Business
Environment
Aug. 1 Cultivating a Global
Mindset
Sept. 5 Selling to a Global
Market
Nov. 7 Cross-Cultural HR
Strategies