08/22/2005 - 08/23/2005

good cross cultural etiquette key to global business

If you burp after a meal in Korea, it's OK. But don't look away from your host in Russia when he's making a toast. And try not to gulp when you're offered the eye of a goat in Kazakhstan or the head of a fish in Hong Kong.

These are some of the customs business travellers to be aware of -- and not only because it's polite. Deals worth millions of dollars can be lost if foreign hosts are insulted.

"These things don't matter that much when things are going well and when you have a good working relationship with your colleague," explains Dean Foster, the author of numerous guidebooks on global etiquette. "But if things aren't going well, if there's a problem, if you haven't established a good relationship, the result can be, 'Why should I bother working with you? You're insulting me.'"

Voorhees begins cross cultural exchange in Brazil

The first International Student Exchange Program at Voorhees College is now a reality, thanks to a Fund for Improvement of Secondary Education grant from the U.S. Department of Education and a matching grant from the Ministry of Education in Brazil.

The program's central theme is the development of international entrepreneurship and business abilities with a focus on multicultural negotiation and cross-cultural ways of doing business.

Oracle to transfer Think.com to foundation

Oracle announced that it will transfer Think.com, its online learning community for primary and secondary school students, to the Oracle Education Foundation (the Foundation).

The Foundation presently operates the highly popular ThinkQuest Web site building competition and its library of student created educational Web sites. Integrating these two popular, collaborative, learning programs will strengthen the Foundation's mission to enhance cross-cultural learning and global citizenship through the innovative and effective use of technology.

Tesco faces protests over sacked Polish staff

Tesco stores are being targeted by protesters upset at the sacking of two Polish workers formerly employed at its distribution centre in Ireland.

The two men, who were employed by a recruitment agency, claim to have been “sacked�? after complaining about working conditions at the warehouse. They had also objected to the fact that Tesco staff were paid more than those employed by the agency. Tesco has attempted to tackle labour shortages by recruiting hundreds of staff from Poland over the past 12 months.

expatriates.com banned

learning arabic

Arabic language is one of the most difficult languages to learn. But with the right software you can learn the basics very easy and quickly. One of the many difficulties in learning Arabic is its Grammar which a number of software publishers uses by giving comprehensive introduction to this subject and leads people off learning the most widely spoken languages in the world. Initially all you need to know is there are 28 Alphabets, Learn how to read and write these Arabic alphabets, learn basic words, listen to the Arabic pronunciation of words and finally learn common Arabic words & phrases. One such software that does not teach Grammar nor uses text books, tapes and the like is Arabic School software for beginners. It is a multimedia interactive Arabic lessons uses pictures and sounds to learn Arabic without any text books or tapes.

ebay must win in china

For all its reputation as the city of tomorrow, a place that will marry capitalism and cool as effortlessly as New York City or London, the city of Shanghai, truth be told, is not a particularly pleasant place during the summer. It's a steambath, and when the occasional typhoon blows through, it will rain for three days nonstop. Many of the streets simply reek as garbage rots in the oppressive heat. Most people, if they have a choice, try to avoid Shanghai this time of year.

Meg Whitman would not be among those people—at least not this summer. If the CEO of eBay, the world's most successful e-commerce company, had to write an essay titled "How I Spent My Summer Vacation,'' it might begin, "I didn't have one. I went to Shanghai instead, trying to figure out the China market, because my company's future may depend on it."

Internet Companies Set Their Sights On China

Merrill Lynch noted that Internet stocks in its coverage universe have underperformed over the past two weeks, down 4.6% versus a relatively flat S&P. E-commerce stocks were all down slightly, with Priceline.com , IAC/InterActiveCorp and eBay experiencing the widest declines.

The research firm said the Internet sector is showing increasing focus on China, with Google signing on three advertising product resellers in China, and speculation in the press that Google was interested in acquiring Baidu, the Chinese Internet portal. Yahoo! recently announced it will acquire a 40% stake in Chinese e-business site Alibaba.

word of the day: schadenfreude

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:
A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.

That the report of Sebastian Imhof's grave illness might also have been tinged with Schadenfreude appears not to have crossed Lucas's mind. --Steven Ozment, Flesh and Spirit

He died three years after me -- cancer too -- and at that time I was still naive enough to imagine that what the afterlife chiefly provided were unrivalled opportunities for unbeatable gloating, unbelievable schadenfreude. --Will Self, How The Dead Live