Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

Erin Meyer

4.37 · Rating details · 7,916 ratings · 887 reviews

Whether you work in a home office or abroad, business success in our ever more globalized and virtual world requires the skills to navigate through cultural differences and decode cultures foreign to your own. Renowned expert Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain where people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harm

...more

Get A Copy

Kindle Edition, 290 pages

Published May 27th 2014 by PublicAffairs (first published May 6th 2014)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Culture Map, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Blue Line Imperative by Kevin Kaiser

Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader by Herminia Ibarra

Competitive Supply Chains by Enver Yücesan

Books written by INSEAD Professors

91 books — 3 voters

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

Barbara Oakley Learning How to Learn Book Recommendations

100 books — 6 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.37 ·

Rating details

· 7,916 ratings · 887 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

Jan 31, 2018 Lori rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A practical guide for navigating cultural complexity while conducting global business. Interesting examples of everyday failures to communicate and work around solutions. Implements personal changes sounds like a challenge, but that is the way things are.

While strong cultural expression makes for good stories, it can impede effective communication with people from different traditions.

Of course, downgraders are used in every world culture, but some cultures use them more than others. The Briti

...more

flag 118 likes · Like · see review

Jan 25, 2018 Adina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, business, non-fiction, kindle-nou

This book can be an excellent tool for any person that works or even just interacts with different cultures.

The author has an extensive experience as a cultural trainer and she shares interesting and educational events from her many years working with different people from all over the world. The focus is on European countries (UK, France, Scandinavia, Russia, Germany), USA and Asia (Japan, India, China, South Korea) and South America (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico) and Oceania. Africa is not covered ...more

flag 107 likes · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2016 HBalikov rated it liked it

There is a minefield out there for anyone who steps from their own familiar territory into foreign turf. The consequences might only be embarrassment or they could be a lost client or you might never know what you did or did not do.

“Cultural patterns of behavior and belief frequently impact our perceptions (what we see), cognitions (what we think), and actions (what we do).” If Meyer’s goal is “to help you improve your ability to decode these three facets of culture and to enhance your effective ...more

flag 35 likes · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2017 Tarek Amr rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Being a person who is born and raised in Egypt, then moved to work in the Netherlands a couple of years ago, this book is an eyeopener for me regarding cultural differences I used to notice but wasn't able to articulate very well. Erin Meyer's books focuses on 8 aspects where cultures differ; how are people from different cultures communicate, evaluate, persuade, lead, decide, trust, disagree and schedule. The author maps culture differences onto those 8 scales, and funny enough, the Middle East Being a person who is born and raised in Egypt, then moved to work in the Netherlands a couple of years ago, this book is an eyeopener for me regarding cultural differences I used to notice but wasn't able to articulate very well. Erin Meyer's books focuses on 8 aspects where cultures differ; how are people from different cultures communicate, evaluate, persuade, lead, decide, trust, disagree and schedule. The author maps culture differences onto those 8 scales, and funny enough, the Middle East and the Netherlands fall almost always on the two opposite ends of each scale.

When it comes to communication, the scale goes between low context vs hight context cultures. Anglophones and Dutch/Germans are on one end, while Japanese are on the other end. Arabs and Indians slightly lower context than Japanese, and French among other Latin cultures are in the middle. High context read between the lines, looks for layers and hidden meanings. They use irony and don't need to explicitly say "just kidding" after joking. Brits are higher context compared to Americans, thus the latter seldom get the former's humour. Low context cultures tend to have broader vocabulary in their languages. And, I understand, high context ones use metaphors more. Low context culture tend to have stuff written while high context tend to express things verbally. Thinking of Egyptian Arabic, we have just one word for leg and foot; however we have different word for each in traditional Arabic, and maybe we move to a slightly lower context when we write, as we write in traditional Arabic most of the time.

When evaluation each other, Dutch are direct and low context, Americans/Brits are indirect and while still having low context. Israelis and Russians direct and high context. Arabs indirect and high context. The French stress on negative feedback and give positive feedback subtly, while Americans are just the opposite.

I wouldn't go on and summarise all 8 aspects, of course. I recommend you read the book, but let me mention some things I notices.

I used to think Germans and Dutch should be very similar in everything, especially after seeing them showing close to each other on many scales, then later on, I discovered that when it comes to leadership, the Dutch are more egalitarian and the Germans and hierarchal.

When I stumbled upon the term, egalitarian, I didn't know exactly its meaning, but since I know what the national motto of France (liberté, égalité, fraternité) means, I could easily deduct its meaning in English, then came the irony that the French are more hierarchal than egalitarian.

Imagine being in a queue, and the person in front of you is asking a teller a question that sparks a 30 minutes discussion, while you just have a 2 seconds question, should I go from this gate or that one. In Egypt, it is understandable that you can interrupt their discussion to ask your question, and when I came to Europe, one of the shocking moments to me was that in linear-time cultures, that's a big no no!

Similar to my initial perception of German and Dutch cultures, I also thought Israelis would be very similar to Arabs, in the end of the day, they all are Middle-Easterns, till I read that people Israel, Germany, France and the Netherlands are confrontational; while Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Peru avoid confrontation. Arabs and Israelis are kinda similar on 50% of the scales here, and dissimilar on the other 50%.

Societies may base their trust on relations, or be task-oriented. Societies with relationship-oriented business attitude are most likely ones with weak legal systems, where relationships provide better safety nets than contracts.

In the end, I am not a big fan of the post modernist approach of seeing all cultures are equal, and considering any criticism to be a form of racism. I see empirical evidences that some cultures are more economically successful that the others, and I think it is good for individuals and societies to learn about those differences and learn to adapt to what is best. ...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

Jun 06, 2016 Hyperion rated it liked it

The book was OK. It offers a good overview of differences between cultures. Sometimes we may assume that 2 cultures are similar, but in the end there is a possibility of conflict, because they have different "mentality" on a certain point (trust or time perception, for instance).
But Erin often limits herself to personal stories and doesn't cite almost any researcher or study. Where did she take her scales from? What indicators did she use? Hunch? Gut feeling? Statistical analysis? Sometimes sto ...more

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Jul 04, 2017 Camie rated it really liked it

I picked up this book at Schiphol airport while traveling in Holland, on a vacation that included London, Germany, and a cruise of the Baltic Sea to Russia, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Denmark. It was highlighted as a " must read" and though it is a book written about the complexity of people from different cultures working together in the business world, I found it a very interesting read which maps out the general social customs of people from different countries. I kept thinking of my broth ...more

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

Nov 10, 2017 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: uni, non-fiction, read-in-2017, i-own

Meh. It started off really good but the generalisations got annoying towards the end.

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Dec 18, 2019 Maciej Kuczyński rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Cool, cool. Now I just need to become a manager of an international team in order to see if all this is true. :D

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Dec 03, 2017 Wen rated it it was amazing

When you offer a drink to a guest, and she says “no, thank you”. Would she be expecting you to ask her again or she really meant what she said? The answer depends on if she’s from a “high-context” culture like China or a “low-context” culture like America.
Erin Meyer used many enlightening real-life examples like this to illustrate the cultural differences around the world.
I particularly like Erin Meyer’s approach of using 8 self-standing yet interconnected scales, communicating, evaluating, pers When you offer a drink to a guest, and she says “no, thank you”. Would she be expecting you to ask her again or she really meant what she said? The answer depends on if she’s from a “high-context” culture like China or a “low-context” culture like America.
Erin Meyer used many enlightening real-life examples like this to illustrate the cultural differences around the world.
I particularly like Erin Meyer’s approach of using 8 self-standing yet interconnected scales, communicating, evaluating, persuading, leading, deciding, trusting, disagreeing, and scheduling, to map cultural differences. She position each country on the scales for visual comparison. This systematic method and the abundant real-life examples together made the book very easy to follow.
The book mainly targets business managers leading multi-cultural teams. I think some of the examples and conclusions are also enlightening to an everyday reader enjoying international travel and curious about different cultures.
Being an immigrant from China who lives and works in the U.S, I experienced a number of aha moments in the book. Remember when my very first U.S boss told someone I was her life saver after I finished , to myself, a trivial task, I felt being put on the spot. People in America do ten to over-use words like “excellent” and “thrilled” (chapter 2), which strikes people from some other cultures as fake and insincere. Indeed It took me a while to recalibrate and adapt., Luckily for me, Americans and Chinese are both confrontation-averse chapter 7).
Putting accounting standard in the cultural context as Meyer described in chapter 3 Why versus How, I came to a realization why IFRS is principle-based, and U.S GAAP is rule/application-based.
That said, I had my reservations in seeing America and China as single cultures. Meyer did include some qualifiers regarding to this point, however with only moderate conviction. For example, she pegged American leadership approach as egalitarian (chapter 4) , but to me the financial and public sectors are leaning more toward hierarchical. As Chinese major cities increasingly westernized, linear time (chapter 8) has become more of a norm in both corporate and social settings.
There are plenty of funny moments; I found myself chuckling from time to time.
Overall a wonderful read; the best culture self-help book I have read so far.

...more

flag 10 likes · Like · see review

Oct 20, 2018 Jake Goretzki rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018

This one came heavy with praise from various colleagues. Strong concept, but profoundly tedious and slow-going in its execution. As per the form with very many business books (this happens nearly every time), it's making points that could easily be condensed into a short essay.

Somewhere in there, there are a handful of useful dimensions to think about (e.g. high context vs low context communication). But successive dimensions feel narrower and narrower - to the extent where I'm not sure 'giving This one came heavy with praise from various colleagues. Strong concept, but profoundly tedious and slow-going in its execution. As per the form with very many business books (this happens nearly every time), it's making points that could easily be condensed into a short essay.

Somewhere in there, there are a handful of useful dimensions to think about (e.g. high context vs low context communication). But successive dimensions feel narrower and narrower - to the extent where I'm not sure 'giving negative feedback' deserves its own axis. As with a lot of it, you could probably make some more universal, multi-behavioural generalisations (I'd probably start by looking again at Hofstede actually).

What I found most grinding about it though was the high corporate tone of it all, and the heavy reliance on dreary anecdote populated by dreary business lounge dullards - being, no doubt, ultimately pitched at Americans, who buy 97% of the world's business books. Every faithfully named and job-titled character is slightly wet behind the ears and in for a big surprise that the half self-aware reader has seen a mile off. And then you start to notice the writer's tic of picking out one element of an appearance ('a lady with a neat bob', 'with smiley eyes', 'with snowy white hair').

At intervals I wanted to yell "Look, sod Geoff Tipple. Just sum the point you're making up in two lines". And as with many a business book too, we're never far away from a pitch for consultancy work or conference speech opportunities. Thus:

'While providing leading edge consultancy for a lot of money at a range of major businesses across Western Europe, I was approached recently by Jens Kugelschreiber, a London-based VP from Amsterdam who was working with a team across Indonesia and Legoland. Kugelschreiber, who sported a jet black moustache, explained that he had been experiencing tensions with Chinese colleagues after exposing his private parts during meetings. 'I don't understand it. I do this all the time at HQ'. I told him to read my book, and stop exposing his private parts during meetings. 'It worked! Now I only expose them to Germans', said Jens. Lesson: don't expose your private parts during meetings in China. And maybe everywhere else. Actually, just don't be a prick'.

...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2016 Asif rated it it was amazing

Candidate for the best book I have read in 2016 unless another one can beat it. The author made is fun to read with great examples that I could easily relate to.

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Oct 20, 2019 Cic il ciclista stanco rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: s-infinita2019, sss9, sst2019, in-acquisizioni-2018, in-regali

Well, I would rate this book 4 stars, but it was the first time I read something about trying to "measure" differences among different cultures and I found it fascinating and rather helpful for anyone who has to deal with people from all around the world. ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

May 19, 2020 Tom Koolen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

A practical and comprehensive guide to how different cultures should be approached regarding business relations, but it can also be used outside of that.

If you've read multiple books about cultural differences already, some parts might already be known. However, the way all the information is combined makes it really good.

The quote that really fits (and which is used several times in the book) is "once you identify your sickness you are halfway cured". This book helps you identify the gaps bet ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2019 All My Friends Are Fictional rated it did not like it

A book full of oversimplifications, generalisations and self-contradiction. Plus many of the examples felt simply made up. Although it had one or two good ideas thrown in there, I am honestly not sure if this book can hardly help anyone. I guess if one has never heard words "culture" or "team" before? ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2021 Cathy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: did-not-finish, nonfiction

Do you have books that you have been sort-of-reading for ages? They are not really gripping and you read or skim a chapter here or there, but you never seem to make real progress and you don‘t want to DNF the book either?
This is the book that probably has been hanging out on my currently-reading shelf the longest — since September 2018!

A work colleague recommended this to me. I generally struggle with non-fiction, unless it is a topic that really, really interests me. Work-related literature is ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Aug 22, 2020 Grace rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This should be mandatory reading for all ex-pats and folks working at multicultural/international companies. It's given me so much more language for what I've experienced in Rwanda, whose culture is nearly the exact opposite that in America. I'm really looking forward to employing Meyer's strategies in my new and upcoming professional experience, with colleagues and students alike. ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 22, 2019 Philippe Le Grand rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 24, 2015 Aayla rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016, nonfiction, culture

I found this book to be fascinating, enlightening, important, and highly relevant. Erin Meyer talks about culture in a way that is respectful and also relative, so that we can understand cultural differences by contrast and comparison.

Even though this book is designed to help business-people, I would argue that it is relevant and useful to all people. Everyone could benefit from reading it.

Even if you don't agree with everything she has to say (though I personally can't say that I found her to b ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2020 Csilla rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"The Culture Map" is a captivating read for someone who interacts with people from different countries. It describes a practical framework with 8 scales to understand the differences and similarities in the ways people from different cultures express emotions, schedule their time, lead, persuade, choose words they use when they communicate, give feedback or take decisions.
For each scale the differences are explained by linking the chosen way to behave to aspects from the cultures' history and p ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 09, 2020 Andrea Grandi rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Possibly the worst book I've ever read.

It's a huge collection of biases for all the possible countries and cultures. The whole book is structured with examples like: if you are working with Chinese people, you should take this approach, instead if your team is composed by German people you should do this etc....

While I can't possibily verify all the claimings for every culture mentioned (since there are no references about all these claiming. No studies mentioned. Nothing. All based on author ow ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2017 Moh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Eye opening introduction into how cultures affect work relationships

I was quite impressed with how much I’ve learnt from this book. The book talks in detail about how culture manifests itself at work and how it can sometimes cause clashes. It was really interesting to learn about ‘low context’ and ‘high context’ cultures which differ in the level of directness of communication, and how that can cause issues in the workplace. It was also super enlightening to see a ‘map’ of how various cultures r ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2015 Bredo Erichsen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is the book I should have read 20 years ago when starting to work abroad! @erinmeyerinsead gives the background and the examples. I will recommend this book for all people working abroad or working with foreigners back home. Understanding and respect differences are a good start for a successful collaboration.

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2020 Kamil Goungor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I saw this book in a store at the Brussels airport, and, since I work on international, multicultural environment, I thought it might be useful to check it out, so I bought it. Often this kind of books disappoint me, but not this one.

The 'Culture Map' is a really great read for all those that work or act in a multinational setting (and for everyone else too). Even if your work is going great and you don't have any issues with your colleagues from other countries, you will still find the book in ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2021 Gunay rated it it was amazing

Loved it!! Insightful, fun, with lots of personal “a-ha” moments for me! I have experience of living in 3 different cultures and interfacing with even more through the job I have in a multinational company. Not only did I find the insights provided in the book very relatable, but the language and anecdotes scattered throughout the books made it even more memorable and digestible.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2020 Herve Tunga rated it it was amazing

Excellent! Clear concepts, illustrative examples, without falling for easy stereotyping. A reference on the subject.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2020 Gopal Sadagopal rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

good observations of cultural differences and practical guide to interpret and navigate them

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2020 Karen Chung rated it really liked it

Unlike many books or discussions on culture, which often tend to be rather abstract, vague and impressionistic, this one covers many of the solid, verifiable differences between people who grew up in different cultures, including how direct or indirect they tend to be, how they provide and react to negative criticism, how to build trust, what it takes to get them to respond to an email quickly or at all, and perceptions of time and punctuality. Indispensable for anybody interacting with or manag ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 06, 2019 Andy Moore rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wish I had this to read (at least) 13 years ago. Insightful and practical, with great additional resources available online.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 12, 2017 Sera rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Sera by: Work

Shelves: own, favorites, non-fiction

I was required to read this book for a program that I am involved in through work.

I thought that the author did a great job describing the nuances of working with people from other countries and the differences among cultures when it comes to among other things, leading, persuading and trusting. We had a great conversation regarding these activities, how they vary by country or region, and then we shared examples of how we had each by impacted by these differences within our company. Meyer also ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2020 April-Sterling Mills rated it it was amazing

You have to read this book if you work closely with anyone who comes from a different cultural background than you (so hopefully everyone??). I couldn't recommend this book enough, especially to my friends working in cross-cultural contexts or serving globally.

Being from the US but working in the UK/Ireland, the differences are very subtle. YET, looking at the culture map validated the hardships I've encountered while looking at the US and the UK in relative terms to one another as they are map ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Business

307 users

Nonfiction

301 users

Psychology

78 users

Cultural

57 users

Leadership

54 users

Business > Management

44 users

Sociology

27 users

Language > Communication

19 users

Culture > Society

18 users

Self Help

15 users

See top shelves…

About Erin Meyer

Erin Meyer

173 followers

Erin Meyer (born August 22, 1971) is an American author and professor based in Paris.[1] She is most known for writing the 2014 book, The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business a study that analyzes how national cultural differences impact business.

Meyer is a professor at INSEAD, an international business school with campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. S ...more