Challenge

Provide 500 employees in America and Spain insights into Japanese Business Culture.

In order to ensure clear communications, both verbally and non-verbally, Westinghouse Electric Company needed to help their employees become culturally sensitive. This was achieved with a program that was comprehensive, effective, stimulating and cost-effective.

Approach

Assess needs through a pre-briefing questionnaire.

Once Echo International understood the audience - everyone from professionals, technical staff, engineers and factory workers - they adapted the presentation to focus on the areas that would be relevant to each department. They educated the employees about the Japanese culture and explained how this would impact their daily working lives.

Solution

In-depth information made memorable via fun and lively presentations.

• Consistency. The same presenter traveled to various locations in the United States and Spain.
• Expertise. Since a native of Japan gave the presentation, it possessed detailed authenticity and insights not found in books.
• Relevance. Anecdotes and first-person stories from the presenter provided real-life, hands-on information.
• Use of humor. In an effort to appear less like an academic lecture session, a lighter tone was used to make the session fun, engaging and stimulating.

Results

A culturally sensitive behavior becomes second nature for 500 employees.

An initial, small-scale 90-minute briefing about Japanese culture was expanded into an extensive program for the entire company. Because of the success of this project, Westinghouse has hired Echo International for additional intercultural projects.