Wal-Mart is having a rough time in Germany dealing with cultural differences.

Ethics manual
They recently distributed a US style “ethics manual” to its employees, which was not well-received to say the least. What was it about these guidelines that rubbed the Germans employees the wrong way?

- A caution against supervisor-employee relationships, which the Germans saw as a puritanical ban on interoffice romance.

- Being told to report improper behavior, which seemed as an invitation to rat on co-workers to the Germans.

Local customs
Walmart tried offering a grocery bagging service, which didn’t work out well at all. Germans prefer not to have their groceries handled by strangers.

Clerks received orders to smile at shoppers, which sometimes was taken as a come-on by male shoppers.

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As a result of a new law, physicians in New Jersey are now required to complete a cultural competency training.

New Jersey is the first state in the U.S. which has passed legislation requiring cultural sensitivity training for physicians. More states are likely to follow.

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Procter & Gamble employees in Toronto celebrated their diversity yesterday with jerk pork, samosas, Romanian meatballs and Fruit To Go from the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgendered employees booth. These 800 employees represent more than 40 different countries and speak at least 30 different languages.

While it might seem like nothing more than just a feel-good event for the employees, there was a bottom-line purpose to the event.

For one, employees are more productive in an environment that respects and accepts their differences.
Also, by “leveraging that diversity,” Procter & Gamble believes they can sell more of their products.

Read more: Procter & Gamble leverages cultural diversity

In Saudi Arabia cultural communication has become a necessity of modern-day life as an economic, social and information revolution takes hold. Many locals struggle with accepting foreigners, particularly those of different religions and cultural backgrounds. With privacy continuing to be a major pillar of Saudi society, this represents a major obstacle to cross-cultural integration.

Meanwhile, Westerners elect to accommodate themselves in highly secured compounds far away from the Saudi general public. There are several reasons for this, namely, the current political climate necessitates these precautions. However, even before the terrorist activities of recent years, Westerners chose to segregate themselves, due to the language barrier and the desire to fulfill a normal Western life in Saudi Arabia.

Read more: Cultural Integration Difficulties in Saudi Arabia

As part of the new generation of Community actions programmes for the period 2007-2013, the European Commission adopted yesterday a proposal for a programme for the promotion of active European citizenship. This programme will take over the current programme coming to an end in 2006 and is a contribution to addressing a major challenge of the European Union, namely how to bridge the gap between the citizens and the European Union.

This program aims to encourage cooperation between citizens and their organizations from different countries in order to meet, act together and develop their own ideas in a European environment which goes beyond a national vision and which respects their diversity. These intercultural exchanges will contribute to improving the mutual knowledge of the culture and history of the European peoples and will bring our common heritage to the fore and strengthen the basis for our common future. Mutual understanding, solidarity and a feeling of belonging to Europe are indeed the building blocks for the involvement of citizens and are reflected by each of the programme’s actions.
Citizens for Europe

This article about a girl who had her hair braided on vacation, describes an example of how taking up symbols of another culture can result in taking up the social context as well.

"I don't have to know everything ." - Mort Meyerson , CEO, Perot Systems

During its Annual Leadership Summit on Health Disparities, National Minority Health Month Foundation will award Kaiser Permanente the 2005 Mary Eliza Mahoney Award, an honor given to individuals or organizations for outstanding contributions to improving access to health care in minority communities.

Years of teaching English as a second language have taught Glenn Hawes the frustration of resettling in a foreign place. "It's more than the language, it's the culture," said the former American Language Program instructor. "It involves counseling -- it involves explaining."

Students at the University can frequently be heard complaining about discussion sections and teaching assistants. One issue that is often brought up is TAs for whom English is a second language.