The British Museum in London will open two new galleries in October with material from the Middle East, tracing the rich history and culture of the region. One gallery will feature ceramics, glass and metalwork, while the other will display some 3,000-plus examples of textiles. The British Museum’s Curator for the Modern Middle East, Fahmida…
British Museum in London will in October open two new galleries with material from the Middle East, tracing the rich history and culture of the region. One will feature ceramics, glass and metalwork. The other will display some of the 3,000 examples of textiles held by the museum. Fahmida Suleman, the Museum’s Curator for the…
By Tim Kennedy Several millennia ago, the common house cat (Felis silvestriscatus) was revered in ancient Egypt and conferred the name “Mau”, a godlike honorific. Mau were welcome in households because of their ability to kill rats, mice and even snakes such as cobras. Egypt’s Pharaonic royal families also admired cats because of their dignity,…
In late 2016, Daisy Khan, a New York-based global-peace activist, grew increasingly alarmed by the surge in violent extremism worldwide and the resultant demonization of Islam in America. Khan, a long-time advocate for equality and justice for Muslims around the world, immediately saw a connection between the angry anti-Islamic rhetoric in US politics and media…
It’s no longer unusual for teams within organizations to span different countries and cultures. While there are many benefits to this, one of the challenges for leaders of these global teams is navigating everyone’s vacation schedules. Employees within a single team may have completely different holiday calendars, laws and customs. Most people are familiar with…
Robert was the head of an East Coast insurance company. His greatest asset was his large, extroverted personality. He was the classic glad-handing, backslapping, high-energy salesman. His problem was a familiar one, too: A great salesman – even one with charisma – doesn’t necessarily make a great leader. After receiving some 360-degree feedback, we met…
Many companies feel that they face a conundrum when it comes to determining remote work policies. Perhaps the most common misconception about adopting virtual work is that it is an all-or-nothing proposition, such that once we have networking tools in place, there is no need to come together – or conversely that we have to…
Cheating is most attractive to people when their window of opportunity is about to close, according to new research from London Business School. The research has been conducted by Daniel Effron, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, London Business School; Christopher J Bryan, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of California San Diego; and J Keith Murnighan,…
In cross-cultural negotiations, be aware of cultural differences but don’t feel you have to adapt your behaviour. A former student of mine who hails from Germany once called me in distress about a negotiation he was engaged in with a Chinese counterpart. “I’ve done the guanxi, I’ve done every Chinese cultural adjustment I can think…
Do you trust with your head or with your heart? There is a big difference between cultures when it comes to building trust, and not understanding that can put a business relationship in peril. Karl Morel, an acquisitions expert from Nestlé, found himself in a challenging situation when he was negotiating a joint venture in…
