Culturally Thriving or Merely Culturally Surviving?: The Hidden ROI of Intercultural Training

You are invited to the January 2011 education program of the Houston International HR Roundtable:

Culturally Thriving or Merely Culturally Surviving?: The Hidden ROI of Intercultural Training

We are excited to have Dean Foster as our first presenter for 2011! If you have not joined for 2011, please click here.

Most organizations working internationally learn soon enough that ignorance of cultural requirements can put a very costly international venture at great risk; nevertheless, recent budget and time pressures have produced a marketplace of intercultural services that claim to provide cultural competencies without the critical investment of real training. 

This presentation will evaluate the marketplace of intercultural services and products available, and the deliverables that they claim to provide.  Cultural training insures high-levels of competencies, that promote deep and longterm value for the entire organization, while cultural survival interventions, like coaching and passive webtools, provides no longterm value for the organization beyond the transactional success of the individual assignment. 

By the end of the presentation, attendees will be able to evaluate the benefits of various intercultural products and services, and assess their ability to provide real ROI, for both the international assignees and the organization, or just superficial cultural survival. 

As president of Dean Foster Associates, New York, Dean Foster conducts cross-cultural training worldwide and consults on intercultural business issues with most Fortune 1000 companies in the United States and around the globe.

For over twenty years, Dean has played a major role in the development of the intercultural training field: formerly he was founder and Managing Director of Berlitz Cross-Cultural Worldwide, Vice President GMAC/Windham Intercultural, and founder of Cross-Cultural Consulting Associates, New York. Dean is a frequent guest on CNN, CNBC and other TV and radio shows, and keynotes at major international professional conferences. interviewed in major publications, such as Newsweek Magazine, the New York Times,USA Today and others, Dean is also a frequent Guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, New York University, Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and other educational organizations.

Dean has written many articles, as well as the four-part Global Etiquette Guide book series (John Wiley & Sons), which includes The Global Etiquette Guide to Europe, the Global Etiquette Guide to Asia, the Global Etiquette Guide to Latin America, and the Global Etiquette Guide to Africa and the Middle East, and the book, Bargaining Across Borders (McGraw-Hill),which the American Library Association voted as one of the top ten business books of 1994.

Dean is a Contributing Editor for National Geographic Traveler, writing the CultureWise monthly column, Contributing Editor for American Express Executive Travel Magazine, and Senior Contributing Editor for the International webpage of Monster.com. Dean is adjunct Professor at the American University, Intercultural Management Institute, Washington, D.C., and received his M.A. and is a PhD candidate in Sociology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, New York City.

This program has been submitted to HR Certification Institute for review.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Membership for 2011 is available here. 
  
• Please join us on Facebook and Twitter
• February 5, 2011 - Hats Off to Houston!  The Big Greet!
• February 23, 2011 - The Challenges of International Assignments for the "Dual Career Couple" - Houston International HR Roundtable
• March 2 -3, 2011 - NFTC Annual International Human Resources Management Forum
  

Directions and Parking Information: Heritage Plaza is across from the downtown Doubletree Hotel.  Parking is available at the Doubletree hotel or  Heritage Clay Street Parking Garage,  200 Clay, Houston 77002.You can park at the Doubletree hotel and walk across the street to the building – proceed to the 45th floor.  Alternatively, park in the Heritage Clay Street Parking Garage – address of the garage is 200 Clay Street, Houston, TX 77002.  If you park in the Clay Street Garage, park in any space that is not marked "Reserved."  Take the elevator in the Clay Street Garage  to the Basement (‘B’).  Upon reaching Basement level, turn left and follow the hallway until you reach the wall with the large ‘H’ on it.  Turn left and immediately on the right you will see two elevators.  Take the elevator to the Sky Lobby (‘SL’).  Once you reach the Sky Lobby, turn right and proceed to the middle bank of elevators.  Proceed to the 45th floor to the Deloitte reception area – this is the floor where the meeting will take place.

2011 Host Sponsor - Deloitte Tax LLP

Please contact us regarding other sponsorship opportunities.