First & foremost: Cultural awareness
Cross-cultural awareness is an understanding of why people from backgrounds that differ from our own act, think, and communicate the way they do. Using that information, one can establish better personal and professional relationships with people and companies from diverse cultures. This knowledge not only illustrates the willingness of a company to negotiate on fair ground, but also aids in predicting how your counterparts will act, speak, think, respond, make decisions, and perceive the world.
In Canada, it is important to note, particularly with regard to Indigenous culture that ‘culture’ is not static, nor is there a general ‘culture.’ Companies must take great caution not to endorse stereotypes or pigeonhole people/communities into categories. Each community must be researched on an individual basis and as a sovereign entity that differs from one another in land, language, traditions, population, government, etc.
Any one person or company that deals with people from different cultures, particularly in a professional capacity, must acquire a reasonable awareness of the cultures they are working with. It is imperative both from an economic and social perspective to be fully aware of the strategies foreign cultures employ when doing business with others. Ensuring that all proponents involved in a business transaction are able to make an informed decision paves the way to project success with minimal risk to either side.
Cross-cultural awareness in the business world is a two-way street. An understanding of Canadian customs is equally important for your counterpart. However, some counterparts may not have the same access to your business culture; therefore, a concerted and genuine effort must be made to provide them with as much information as possible about the reasons and rationale behind proposals and projects.
Transparency is vital to project support and success. If you make the effort to learn about your counterpart, you will both be making the attempt to understand each other; opening the lines of communication and increasing your chances for success.
Understanding how culture may affect a person or communities’ character gives you an edge in business interactions and cross-cultural communication.
Services
CorporateCorporate / Private Sector Consulting Services
- Frontline community and industry engagement
- Industry and Indigenous cultural awareness training presentations and workshops
- Aboriginal Engagement Strategies
- Conflict mediation, negotiation, and facilitation services
- Cross-cultural awareness education
- Understanding Aboriginal protocols
- Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
- Aboriginal/industry emergency response and security advisors
- Professional writing services
- Project risk management
- Marketing & sales
CommunityIndigenous Community Consulting Services
- Capacity building initiatives
- Life skills training
- Cross-Cultural Industry Awareness
- Indigenous employment assistance
- Environmental protection and monitoring
- Risk assessment and management
- Natural Resource Industry Relations, Mutual Benefit, and Impact Benefit Agreement Negotiations strategies
- Professional writing services
- Marketing & sales
- Project viability analysis
- Chief and Council governance support
- Workshops - Case Law and Best Practices of Consultation
- Development of Aboriginal Consultation offices (create policies, processes and project reviews)
- Indigenous community safety and crime reduction advisors
- Advisors on Indigenous policing agreements
- Indigenous Emergency Prevention, Response , Mitigation and Recovery advisors
- Indigenous Emergency Capacity, Hazard and Risks Assessments
GovernmentGovernment Consulting Services
- Government relations and support for development and implementation of records of engagement
- Risk management services
- Emergency management
- Effective negotiations and engagement
- Aboriginal supply chain logistics and development
- Economic development, project management, scheduling challenges, and regulatory uncertainty
- Regulatory log development
- Traditional land use and traditional knowledge gathering and reporting for regulatory filing purposes
- Providing strategic and operational advice, guidance, support, review, and evaluation
- Aboriginal Engagement Strategies
- Conflict mediation, negotiation, and facilitation services
- Cross-cultural awareness education
- Understanding Aboriginal protocols