courses -

Challenges in cross cultural marketing and advertising

Understanding languages and other cultures builds bridges. It is the fastest way to bring the world closer together and to Truth. Through understanding, people will be able to see their similarities before differences. - Suzy Kassem - *** "The world’s worst advertising gaffe": a cross-cultural perspective on the "D&G Loves China" campaign. In two…

Category : Articles 15-11-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Language, Thought, and Reality - 4th Issue

Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations. - Edward Sapir - *** Dear Reader, Please allow me to start this fourth issue of "Oddities & Curiosities" with a huge THANK YOU. Since October, when the 3rd issue landed in your inboxes, several exciting milestones have been…

Category : Mudita's digest 03-12-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Time Tracking - Best Practices and Mistakes to Avoid

He who every morning plans the transactions of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. - Victor Hugo - *** Maria ’s intro: The readers who have been visiting this blog over the past few months might have noticed that…

Category : Articles 01-12-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Expressions of power and status in non-verbal communication

You can't possibly have a reasonable expectation of privacy at your income level. - Gregory Scott Katsoulis, All Rights Reserved - *** As highlighted in the latest issue of Mudita’s newsletter, both chronemics - the study of the use of time in non-verbal communication - and proxemics - the study of human use of space and the effects…

Category : Articles 26-10-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

The Role Of Chronemics And Proxemics In Communication - 3rd Issue

"For negotiations or meetings, it is always wise to lure others into your territory, or the territory of your choice. You have your bearings, while they see nothing familiar and are subtly placed on the defensive." - Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power - *** Dear Reader, Welcome to the third issue of "Oddities &…

Category : Mudita's digest 08-10-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Global Leadership and Time Management Skills

Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first. - Angela Ahrendts - *** The findings of studies conducted over the years suggest that cultural diversity and the misunderstandings that often arise as a result of different temporal perspectives have an impact on staff retention: workers will either…

Category : Articles 29-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Time Management Across Different Cultures - 2nd Issue

"Aside from velcro, time is the most mysterious substance in the universe. You can't see it or touch it, yet a plumber can charge you upwards of seventy-five dollars per hour for it, without necessarily fixing anything." - Dave Barry - *** Dear Reader, Welcome to the second issue of "Oddities & Curiosities", Mudita's "no-frills", irregular…

Category : Mudita's digest 21-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Buyer Personas and the role of lifestyle, values, and beliefs in market segmentation

If I have a handful of silver it is because I work and my wife works, and we do not, as some do, sit idling over a gambling table or gossiping on doorsteps never swept, letting the fields grow to weeds and our children go half-fed! - Pearl S. Buck…

Category : Articles 03-09-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

The importance of context in the communication process

Dear Reader, As you may have noticed, Mudita has recently launched its first course (available here): going forward, I will share here on the blog snippets of the courses that are currently on offer or due to launch soon. Here’s a short preview of the course on Intercultural Communication: hope you’ll…

Category : Articles 25-08-2020 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Global business and the reasons why we need to talk about race in the workplace

Maria’s intro: Dear readers, Those who’ve visited the blog in the past few days might have noticed that a new section - Introductions to Culture Clusters - is now live: while this isn’t strictly a blog about Diversity & Inclusion, we cannot have meaningful and stimulating conversations about global business and national…

Category : Articles 13-02-2020 by Mildred Talabi

II/II: "Why do we work so hard?”: Introduction to guilt- and shame cultures

A man must not be without shame, for the shame of being without shame is shamelessness indeed. - Mencius - There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us…

Category : Articles 16-12-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Masculinity-Femininity (Tough-Tender)

I have an extremely strong, masculine mind and a feminine sensibility level, which is kind of an unusual combination. Both men and women tell me things and I can relate on two levels simultaneously - Truman Capote - According to Hofstede’s definitions, masculinity is “a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness…

Category : Introductions to cultural dimensions 18-11-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Marketing Relativism: Glocalized Tea vs Globalized Coffee

The hallmarks of a potentially successful copywriter include: obsessive curiosity about products, people and advertising. A sense of humor. A habit of hard work. The ability to write interesting prose for printed media, and natural dialogue for television. The ability to think visually. Commercials depend more on pictures than words. - David…

Category : Articles 16-07-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Communication: High- and Low-Context Cultures

Always be careful, as they say, 'Text without context is usually pretext - Ted Mallory - In 1976, anthropologist E.T. Hall developed the iceberg analogy of culture: he theorized that if culture was an iceberg, some of its aspects (above the water line) would be visible and obvious to everyone, while most…

Category : Introductions to cultural dimensions 17-09-2019 by Maria Antonietta Marino

Monochronic and Polychronic Time

Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do - Jean-Paul Sartre - Chronemics is the term that indicates the study of the role and use of time in communication: it includes both individual perceptions about time, and the ways time affects interactions (e.g., punctuality, speed…