TimeZone Journal

Chinese companies are increasingly expanding into international markets. But there is a significant difference between selling products overseas and building a business overseas. A company can continue to manufacture in China and sell through distributors, logistics partners and local sales organisations. It can establish warehouses, service operations and subsidiaries in overseas markets. It can form a joint venture with a local company, acquire an established business, or e

I've seen this scenario many times in international meetings. Three or four people do most of the talking, a few others contribute occasionally, and several say almost nothing. In the end, it's easy to decide who was engaged, who understood the issue, and who had the most to contribute. It is also very easy to be wrong. Over the years, I became increasingly cautious about interpreting silence in international business. Sometimes silence is cultural or hierarchical. Sometimes

When something goes wrong in international business, very few people describe it as a cultural problem. They say the project is moving too slowly, the customer has stopped responding, the supplier keeps agreeing to things but nothing seems to happen, or head office simply doesn't understand the local market. The problem gets labelled as poor communication, weak management, lack of urgency, resistance to change or, quite often, simply difficult people. Sometimes that diagnosis

Many people preparing for international business begin by looking for information about the country they are about to work with. They search for guides on business etiquette, meeting protocols or negotiation styles, hoping to avoid making cultural mistakes. There is nothing wrong with that approach. Understanding the business environment in another country can provide valuable context and help people feel more confident before an important meeting. However, there is a danger

When something goes wrong in international business, it's often tempting to look for a cultural explanation. A negotiation slows unexpectedly, a supplier misses another deadline or a customer stops responding, and before long someone suggests that it's simply "the way business is done" in that country. Sometimes they're right. However, after more than thirty years working internationally, I've found that many of the challenges organisations face have very little to do with na

The UK-India trade agreement has created fresh opportunities for businesses looking to expand into one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. Reduced trade barriers and improved market access are likely to encourage many organisations to explore India for the first time, while others will look to strengthen existing partnerships. But trade agreements don't build business relationships. One comment from a discussion this week stayed with me. The point being made was s

If you've worked internationally for any length of time, you've probably experienced it. The meeting goes well. Everyone speaks good English. The discussion feels productive, there is agreement on the next steps, and everyone leaves believing the project is moving in the right direction. A week later, something has changed. The deliverable hasn't arrived. Decisions that seemed settled are suddenly being revisited. One team believes work has already started, while another has

We've all experienced it. A project is moving along well. The deadline has been agreed. Everything appears to be on track. A few days before delivery, you discover the work isn't as far along as you believed. The immediate reaction is often, "Why didn't anyone tell us sooner?" Many people assume this is about poor planning or a relaxed attitude towards deadlines. In my experience, that's usually the wrong conclusion. The deadline isn't the issue Indian businesses are no stran

Over the years, I've had countless conversations with clients who have returned from China convinced a project was moving ahead, only to discover a few weeks later that very little had actually happened. It can be frustrating, particularly when the meeting itself seemed to go so well. There was plenty of discussion, questions were asked, ideas were explored, and nobody appeared to disagree with the proposal. Everyone was polite, engaged, and constructive, so it's easy to leav

"I feel like they just want to make us happy. I understand that....but can't they actually do what they said 'yes' to"? A participant made this comment during a recent USA-Japan training session. The team had reached a point where every conversation seemed positive. Meetings went well. Nobody appeared unhappy. Requests were rarely challenged. Yet progress often felt uncertain. The question being asked was simple. If everyone agrees, why does it sometimes feel as though nobody

Many companies invest heavily in building international teams. They recruit talented people, use modern collaboration tools and make English the common business language. Yet misunderstandings still happen. Projects slow down. Meetings become frustrating. Decisions are interpreted differently. People leave discussions thinking they are aligned, only to discover later that everyone understood something different. The reason is often not language. It is culture. Communication I

Boots is back in the takeover conversation. Sigma Healthcare, the Australian group behind the unmistakable fluorescent-yellow Chemist Warehouse stores, is reportedly circling the 177-year-old British chemist, in a deal that could value it at around £7.5bn. Most of the commentary around that story has, fairly enough, reached for a familiar cautionary tale: Wesfarmers' takeover of Homebase. It deserves to be told properly because it's a far better cross-cultural case study than

There has never been more information available about how to work across cultures. Books. Frameworks. Training programmes. Online courses. Country guides. TED talks. Academic research. Entire consultancies are built around the subject. The volume of material on cross-cultural business has grown enormously over the past twenty years and is now saturated with ‘experts’. And yet. The same problems keep appearing. The same frustrations. The same misunderstandings. Deals that stal

There’s a habit in international teams of using follow-up emails to tidy up conversations that were never clear in the first place. A meeting ends with polite agreement. Nobody openly disagrees. Nobody really tests what’s being said. It feels productive. Afterwards, someone sends: “𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙...” But in many cases, that email is doing something else; it’s turning a vague, untested and unquestioned discussion into something that loo

Meetings often end with agreement. Heads nod Notes are taken Next steps are discussed Everyone leaves feeling positive, confident that things will move forward. And then… nothing happens. Weeks pass. Emails are exchanged. Follow-ups are sent. Progress feels slow, or completely absent. What felt settled suddenly feels uncertain. This is one of the most common frustrations in international business. The problem is not usually dishonesty. It is misunderstanding what agreement ac

Aside from the feeling that we might not survive the journey, discovering the fare is far higher than expected, realising the driver has no idea where he is going because he is the brother “helping out for a few hours”, or wondering whether this is even a real taxi… We can actually learn quite a lot from a taxi ride. Some of the most informative conversations you can have in another country are with taxi drivers. In a short journey, you can pick up insights that would otherwi