13 December 2013: Eleonore Breukel & Tao Yue: ‘Leading with a Global Mindset'
The Amsterdam MBA Leadership Speaker Series hosted Eleonore Breukel and Tao Yue on Friday, December 13, 2013 on the topic of “Leading with a Global Mindset.”
In a session strategically timed to help prep students heading to the University of Cape Town on the Amsterdam MBA’s annual International Study Trip, Eleonore and Tao shared pointers on how a “global mindset” creates value for internationally operating companies. A global mindset entails a deep understanding, appreciation and respect for local ways of doing business, and is a critical success factor for the international manager trying to deal with cross-cultural issues. In their presentation, Eleonore and Tao used examples from a host of different cultures to explain how localization matters. Towards the end, they brought Sue Jurgens, one of their business partners in South Africa, into the auditorium live via Skype to offer insights into some of the contrasts inherent to South Africa, in particular the persistent racial divides, and how this places additional burdens on businesses. In a moment of levity Sue also hinted at more subtle South African traditions, such as the friendly rivalry between Johannesburg (“fast paced and no nonsense”) and Cape Town (“lazy and casual”)—much to the amusement of a Capetonian who happened to be in the audience. It soon it became clear that Johannesburg’s sense of superiority is actually rooted in deep-seated jealousy, and after travelling to Cape Town in mid-January, Amsterdam MBA students can easily understand why!
Eleonore Breukel has been working with her company Intercultural Communication in the field of intercultural organizational development for global corporations, governments and higher education in 60 countries since 1994. She is author of the book Doing Business in 19 Countries (Amsterdam 1998) and has published over 100 culture-related articles.
Tao Yue is founding director of China Cultural Consultancy, an Amsterdam-based intercultural training company. She also works at the Rotterdam School of Management’s Case Development Centre, developing business cases and giving workshops on case writing and teaching. Two years ago Eleonore and Tao started the Global Training Alliance with offices in the Brazil, India, China, Germany and South Africa.
About the Amsterdam MBA Leadership Speaker series
The Amsterdam MBA Leadership Speaker Series is a series of events organized on a bi-monthly basis during the academic year, in which members of the business community are invited to speak on topics related to leadership and management. The series aims to serve as inspiration and provide networking opportunities to MBA students, alumni, friends, colleagues, and other interested members of the Amsterdam MBA community. For information on upcoming events or opportunities to speak in the series, contact the director of the MBA programme, Dr Alan Muller (amuller@uva.nl).