Page 326 - Crossing Cultural Boundaries - Cees den Teuling

Has the consultant been perceived as a professional? Could he find a common language, choose the right words to "ignite" the audience with a common cause? How would you describe the style of the consultant’s behaviour?
Please describe the process of knowledge and experience transfer from a foreign consultant to you and your colleagues. Was there anything that prevented successfully absorption of new knowledge and approaches to business? What, on the contrary, simplified the process of assimilation?
Were there barriers in understanding due to the cultural distance between the consultant and employees? Was the consultant available for the employees and for you? Were there any difficulties in understanding of what the foreign consultant wanted to convey to you? Did the language barrier hinder? What about different cultural and managerial experience? Organisational culture and management practices? Previously learned ways of "doing business", making decisions and solving problems?
How significant were the differences between you and the foreign consultants/trainers - in regard to the previous managerial experience; the amount of knowledge; the approaches to business management?
How would you rate the level of knowledge of a foreign consultant / business trainer in terms of their compliance with the realities of the Russian business? Please give examples of conformances or discrepancies.
Please, evaluate how aware the foreign consultants / business trainers were about the Soviet command-administrative system, the conditions of work in it and the "consequences" of its existence in the current Russian business environment?
Were the consultants themselves interested in Russian experience? Did they want to “dive” into the culture?
Perception of the results of cooperation (30 min)
If summarizing your interaction with consultants - what are the difficulties you (or average Russian manager) may encounter when working with foreign consultants / business trainers? What do you think are the reasons of these difficulties? Why Russian managers cannot always find a common ground with foreign partners? What are the pitfalls for doing business easily?
What do you think, are Russian companies working with foreign partners ready to share with them management experience and business knowledge? Do they have the unique experience and knowledge that can be demanded by foreign companies? Please, give examples.
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