The Culture Map

Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

By: Erin Meyer

An international business expert helps you understand and navigate cultural differences in this "brilliant guide to what all business leaders need to know right now" (Marshall Goldsmith, author of the New York Times and global bestseller What Got You Here Won't Get You There)

When it comes to communication styles, Americans precede anything negative with three nice comments; French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans get straight to the point; Latin Americans and Asians are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians think the best boss is just one of the crowd. It's no surprise that when they try and talk to each other, chaos breaks out.

In The Culture Map, INSEAD professor Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain in which people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together. She provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business, and combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice.

Critic reviews

"The book abounds with well-chosen anecdotes to illustrate the misunderstandings that can arise from clashing cultural assumptions, making this enlightening book a pleasure to read."—Foreign Affairs

"Amusing."—Financial Times

"Erin Meyer provides us with a brilliant guide to what all business leaders need to know right now: How to succeed in managing across the diverse cultural contexts of today's workplace!"—Marshall Goldsmith, author of the New York Times and global bestseller What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"Whether you are sitting at a desk in Boston or eating at a restaurant in Beijing, communicating across cultures is the great challenge of the global economy. Getting it right will be the difference between success and failure. Erin Meyer has written a very important book. Managers everywhere should read it." —Des Dearlove and Stuart Crainer, founders of the Thinkers50

"Whether you're a corporate or traditional diplomat, global traveler, government official, or passionate world citizen, this is the one book you should not miss. Chock-full of real-world examples and a simple framework that can be utilized in any cross-cultural context, Meyer's work is characterized by a fresh and relevant voice, distilling down the essentials of communicating, persuading and working effectively around the globe. It is rare that I pick up a cross-cultural book and can't put it down."—Cari Guittard, Huffington Post

"With business becoming ever global, there are a raft of books available on dealing with cultural differences. If you only read one, make it INSEAD professor Erin Meyer's...Skillfully blend[s] real-life examples...with an analytical framework... What brings this book to life are the numerous examples Meyer has encountered, both in her own life as an American living in Paris, and in her experience as running the Managing Virtual Teams module at INSEAD."—HR Magazine, 5 star review

"This readable book explains how to dramatically increase organisational success by improving our ability to understand the behaviour of colleagues, clients, and suppliers from different countries."—Professional Manager (UK)

"A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures...Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business."—Kirkus Reviews

"In a relaxed, entertaining, but always knowledgeable style, Meyer draws on numerous examples from her experiences to explain how to detect the invisible barriers in the global business world--and how to get past them."—Siemens Industry Journal

Sensacional

Ojalá lo hubiera leído 25 años antes. Muy y útil para trabajar en ambientes trans nacionales y también para entender puntos de vista personales diferentes a los nuestros

Excellent read for leaders at all levels

excellent read, it help us understand how culturally different we are still at core we are all humans. How to understand different culture and adapt is key.so within same country like India you will find people with different culture depending on which part of the world you are coming from Industrial or agricultural.

Eye Opening!

Suddenly so much of the conflict we have experienced on our global team makes sense!

Fascinating how we work!

Just finished this book. Was recommended by international businessman friend, Gary Ingram, and it did not disappoint!
Basically this is for anyone that wants to improve their cultural IQ especially if working with teams across the globe. It was fascinating that things from our history 1,000 years ago still impact how we relate. This is a studious book. Very insightful and I had several ah ha moments. Also she didn’t discuss Alaskan Native culture but I have learned many valuable lessons about my assumptions because of my upbringing in the south as a white person of English/German decent. It made me appreciate my southern upbringing even though it did not discuss all the diversity going on in the South. Having traveled to Spain and Japan so many many things are so interesting. I truly think everyone should travel outside their culture. It can be so amazing and I feel VERY blessed for the wonderful international and culturally diverse people in my sphere

Thank you for making me a more well rounded person and thank you for exposing me to so many different perspectives!

Very good information for working cross-culture

This book provides a lot of insight into the deferences in communication, action interpretation, and numerous other things you take for granted in all aspects of business from the purposes of meetings to what it means to be "on time". Many of the things discussed in the book are things one does not typically think about in their typical day-to-day operation but can lead to a lot of misunderstandings in cross-culture teams.