www.iTrainingExpert.

com

Cross-Cultural Intelligence in the Malaysian Working

Environment

Select Date Time Country Venue

Overview

Are your expatriate staff comfortable working and communicating within a culturally
diverse environment like Malaysia?
How comfortable are they to adapt to the Malaysian style of communication?
How well can they deal with conflict or negotiations with individuals here in Malaysia?
In this cross cultural intelligence workshop, our expert speaker, (westerner himself who has
blended into the Asian culture for the past 15 years), will help your staff to achieve their
greatest individual and organizational success.
By the end of the training, they will not only understand other cultures and specifically
Malaysian culture, but be empowered to look forward to their next opportunity to engage in
cross-cultural communication confidently and tactfully.

Learning Outcomes

Increase positive attitudes towards people of other countries and cultures.

Increase awareness of challenges that arise in communicating with people of other
cultures specifically Malaysian.
Understand how cultures are measured and see how cooperation and collaboration can
be developed across cultural boundaries.
Increase awareness of problems that arise in communicating with people of other
cultures.
Increase awareness of participants own cultural values and unstated cultural
assumptions.
Call attention to any counterproductive stereotypes and prejudices toward people of
other cultures.

 Assist participants to better adapt to and be more productive during interaction and
communication with local colleagues and clients.
Adjust and adapt to a new home environment and be able to engage in daily activities
with a measure of ease and comfort.
Learn to emphasis similarities rather than differences with those of other cultures.

Who Must Attend

MNC managers and staff, anyone involved in international sales or support, frequent business
travellers, all involved in any form of the tourism industry including medical and hospitality.

Course Details

Module 1: An Introduction to Malaysian Society and Culture

Malaysian history and geopolitical landscape
The Malaysian perspective
A general overview of doing business in Malaysia
Module 2: What is Culture?
Understanding what culture is and how it affects us
Getting to know our own culture
Cultural values and how they affect your work
Module 3: The Culture Scale to Measure East Asian Cultures
Hierarchy vs Egalitarianism
Indirect vs Direct
Communicating problems and differences
Identifying the decision makers
Relationship vs Task
Who is at fault? Dealing with mistakes
Caution vs Risk
Initiative-Presumptuousness or Resourcefulness?
Case studies for examination and discussion
Module 4: Developing Cultural Understanding in the Workplace
How to get timely and reliable information
Get the understanding and background of important Malaysian values and how they
influence your Malaysian co-workers behaviour & how your understanding and
application of these values can improve the performance of your operation
How to interpret Malaysian behaviour correctly
How to motivate the Malaysian
How to improve communication between Malaysians and Expatriates
How to give instructions in an effective way
How to conduct effective meetings together with Malaysians
To understand the Malaysian expectations and behaviour in a subordinate/manager
relationship
Overcoming misunderstanding
The role of face in the Malaysian work environment
Negotiating with a Malaysian
An insight into Manglish
Module 5: Communicating within Workplace and Social Scenarios
Social etiquette strategies
The international conversationalist
Culturally sensitive phone manners

 Emailing with cultural understanding

Module 6: Communication Styles Across Cultures
Understanding our own communication style
A contrast in communication styles
Bridging the gap in communication styles
Dos and Donts when communicating within Malaysian cultural context
Module 7: Seeing Beyond Bias and Stereotypes
Common blocks to cross-cultural communication
Overcoming counterproductive stereotypes
Moving passed bias
Module 8: Working Together with Cultural Understanding
You CAN work together and communicate effectively
Strengthened by way of diversity

Methodology

An interactive and practical approach incorporating group discussions and exercises, case
studies, presentations, role plays and video.

Course Leader

Mr S. L Muhs, M.Ed. BA (Canadian)

Before beginning his teaching career, Steve worked for one of the oldest and most established
brokerage houses in Canada. His role within the company was that of regulatory compliance
and education.
After realizing his true passion was in education he decided to change his career path and
focus more on teaching. This brought him to Malaysia 12 years ago and he has worked within
all areas of education here ever since. In this time he has been involved in instruction, training
and curriculum development within the ESL community and the corporate world. As of 2011,
he wrote an upper-intermediate reading textbook to be used in EAL teaching for secondary
schools throughout Malaysia.

Steve is an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher who operates an active classroom and always
keeps his students amused and challenged. He thrives on challenges and is always looking
for ways to make his training better.

Steve is a member of the global community and as such has enjoyed the opportunity to work
with and train people from over 30 different countries. Having spent the last 12 years living
and working in Malaysia, he hasn't just taught cultural awareness, he's lived it. During the past
8 years Steve has had the privilege of working with many multi-national organizations, such as
Dell, HP, Intel, CIMA, GM, Kia, Philips, Fischer Scientific, AmEx and many more. All have

seen the evidential effects of investing in cross-cultural training for their organization and staff.

Steve is an excellent communicator and has enjoyed working with a variety of organizations
throughout Asia, designing and facilitating courses that have cooperatively met their objectives
with great success.

Testimonies

The trainer is very good at giving relevant examples to make us understand better. During the
course, I learned about the way to bridge the culture gap between Malaysian and Indian.
CH, Tan Chern Huay, Associate, Biocon Sdn Bhd.

During the course, I learned that understanding on others cultures is very important in an
multinational corporation. After the course, I gained new perspective on how to work with
others. Steve has good communication skills. I was impressed by how well he knows
Malaysias and others cultures. Nur Mazratul , Associate, Biocon Sdn Bhd.

Red Cross
"It was definitely an aha moment working within a diverse culture doesnt guarantee good
interaction but this course helps clarify ways to work with colleagues of varying backgrounds.
Thanks Steve!"

" Steve is a great teacher, comedian & guide to navigating cross- cultural challenges rolled into
one. I recommend his course for our whole office as what he teaches can be applied to
improve any relationships."

"This Cross Cultural Communication Training is is really helpful for an expat moving to Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. A must course for all expats!"

"The tutor in my Cross Cultural Communication two days training, was engaging, fun and easy
to follow. He was knowledgeable about the topics and subject matter."

CAE
"This Cross Cultural Communication program is really a must do course to prepare
your people for todays global business environment."
"Hi Steve, I enjoyed how you challenged the audience especially the western members
of the audience to question our perceptions of and interactions with (Asian) cultures."
Kuliche + Soffa
"Steve is a great trainer who manages to break the language and cultural barrier of his
audience right from the get go. His contents were excellent and addressed all grey areas in the
cross cultural topic."
"The speaker is GREAT for the Cross Cultural Training! We love how he conduct the training!!
He makes the subject of the training lively, interesting, excited & FUN!! :-)"
"Steve Muhs's classes are always interactive throughout the training and definitely can relate
some of the real work life scenarios. Simply enjoyed the Cross Cultural training!"

Panalpina
" A wonderful experience to know and assimilate into the local culture. A nice blend of thought
processes."
International School Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (ISKL)
"Mr. Steve is an intelligent person and has more cross-cultural knowledge than anybody that I
know. His examples and understanding of the varied culture gave me an insight to look at my
life at ISKL and people around me. Thank you, Steve!"

"Hi Steve, I enjoyed how you challenged the audience especially the western members
of the audience to question our perceptions of and interactions with (Asian) cultures."
Kuliche + Soffa
"Steve is a great trainer who manages to break the language and cultural barrier of his
audience right from the get go. His contents were excellent and addressed all grey areas in the
cross cultural topic."
"The speaker is GREAT for the Cross Cultural Training! We love how he conduct the training!!
He makes the subject of the training lively, interesting, excited & FUN!! :-)"
"Steve Muhs's classes are always interactive throughout the training and definitely can relate
some of the real work life scenarios. Simply enjoyed the Cross Cultural training!"

Panalpina
" A wonderful experience to know and assimilate into the local culture. A nice blend of thought
processes."
International School Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (ISKL)
"Mr. Steve is an intelligent person and has more cross-cultural knowledge than anybody that I
know. His examples and understanding of the varied culture gave me an insight to look at my
life at ISKL and people around me. Thank you, Steve!"

Investment

This highly specialised course is available on an in house basis

Please click HERE to request for a Proposal and Quotation now.
One professionald and friendly consultant will get in touch with you soonest.
Request for a Quotation Today
http://www.itrainingexpert.com/Request-for-Quotation/
We can also design train-the-trainer programs for internal implentation by your own trainers
Other Popular and customisable Cross Cultural Communication courses and workshop.
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION (Tailored to the specific audience's level)
This awareness seminar provides participants the understanding of cultures, cultural vanies,
motivators and how to avoid common cultural mistakes. This workshop is an excellent choice
for organisations with existing international markets and customers or for those businesses

who plan to expand internationally.

MANAGING A MULTICULTURAL WORKPLACE (Specially for staff, teams and
management, HR)
This workshop is meant for organisations that employe people from multiple national or
cultural backgrounds. Delegates will understand major cultural differences between staff
members and then gain skills for maximising diversity via full utilisation of talents and skills.
CONNECTING WITH CHINA AND THE CHINESE (Establishing Guan-Xi for effective
business relationships)
Partnering with China-Cross Cultural experts, we have developed a practical, client- centered
program that can be delivered as a four-hour briefing; a full day awareness and skills
workshop, or a two-day skills- based workshop.