To establish, build, and maintain good relationships according to Asian cultural customs.

It’s estimated that 90% of western businesses failures can be traced back to cross-cultural mistakes. Simple mistakes that could’ve easily been avoided. And what’s worse is that we don’t know we’ve made them. Here’s the reason why.

What is commonly overlooked is what’s called a person’s self-reference criterion. This is the person’s unconscious reference (bias) towards own culture, values, even ways of doing business. These mental constraints (cultural blinders) are built up inside us and we don’t even notice them. It’s natural for us to assume that what applies in our corner of the world, applies just as well in others. But it doesn’t. Here’s an example. In North America, we like to get straight to the point and be direct. In Asia, doing that is rude, even insulting. Getting the point across is done indirectly and cautiously.

If you understand this and how Asia differs in terms of thinking, approaches, process, and practices, you will have a tremendous advantage over virtually every other competing business. However, this only a starting point there is much more to learn.