...In Their Own Words

Multi-cultural customer service requirements in the U.S. "In the back of our minds, we Indians are looking for certain things,’ Mathai said as he viewed homes in San Jose's Evergreen neighborhood. ‘We can talk about it [with real estate agents], but some agents will still show us homes with entrances that face the wrong way, not realizing how important things like this are to     us.’ ” [1]       

– An Indian-American looking for real estate in San Jose

Working as a foreign-born professional in the U.S.

“The moment I entered (my patient’s room) and asked him about his problem, he commented on my casual wear [sic] of dressing. He commented on my not wearing a tie, my footwear, which he thought was highly inappropriate, and my accent which was above all too much for him to accept. Instead of focusing on his pain, I started giving him a hundred reasons why I should still be respected in terms of my foreign accent.  I forgot a while that he was a multiple myeloma patient…” [2]  

- An international medical graduate physician in the U.S.

Foreign Managers in the global economy

“I’ve seen foreign managers come in with a superior attitude. They say, ‘we’ve got the best ways. Your ways are old and no good.’ This will not be accepted, and believe me, if the organization doesn’t want to accept them, they cannot survive. These managers will be cut off completely. They will not be given information; they will not be included. We will find ways of undermining what they are doing…” [3]     

- An employee in Ireland

Adjusting to life overseas

“The walls seem to move in an inch every day as we sit in our room overlooking this foreign city in which we are supposedly living.” [4]

- Spouse relocating for partner’s international assignment

Localizing websites & e-commerce solutions

“ ‘Oh, most everyone on the Internet reads English.’ This remark clearly misses the very issue at the core of what marketing is. The main purpose of marketing is to get people's attention and convince them to spend a minute or two looking into a given product or service. Getting someone's attention, if they live in a non-Anglophone country, must take place in their own language. No two ways around this. Once their attention and interest are aroused, the next 30 seconds, when a product or service are described, can indeed take place either in their own language or in English. If they do not respond to English, too bad, they click elsewhere.” [5]

- European Marketing Specialist

Joint ventures & cross-border projects

“Believe it or not, the European business world doesn’t think much of “the American manifest destiny.”  Yes, the United States is the world’s economic and military powerhouse. Indeed, Europe does thank America for its assistance in WWII. And, when Bill Gates speaks, the world does listen. When you’re outside of U.S. borders, however, those feats don’t hold much relevance. Unfortunately, most Americans working abroad don’t seem to be aware of that fact.” [6]

- International Manager