Who Should Attend ?

Employees preparing for an assignment in Taiwan and their partners

Benefits of Attendance

This seminar aims at significantly improving the ability of the participants to meet the challenges of living and working abroad. The objective is to enable them to identify the stumbling blocks that lie ahead and to be able to adapt and integrate in Taiwan.

At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to:

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Understand Taiwanese context and culture
• Analyse situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating more effectively
• Reduce and manage the symptoms of culture shock
• Understand Taiwanese mindset, work practices, decision-making processes and negotiating styles
• Strike the right balance between personal et professional lives

Training Approach

• A cross-cultural approach of International Mobility
• Country specific trainers
• Personalized and familiy focused action plan
• Access to the Nomad’ Network, an exclusive online tool for Akteos’ clients and experts:  find resources, exchange experiences, knowledge and insights

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Successful personnal integration in Taiwan

1. Cross-cultural awareness : the key to a successful expatriation

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• Culture shock and the integration process
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Taiwanese culture

• A "nationalistic" and capitalist Chinese island state
• A native aborigine minority
• A warm, humid climate
• A tense relationship with mainland China
• A successful and efficient economy

3. Taiwanese values and behaviour patterns

• A combination of Asian values and American traditions
• Inherited agricultural values
• Taiwan's Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist heritage 
• A cyclical view of time and the notion of collective space 
• The importance of the family and private life
• Chinese thought: Harmony is the key

4. Practical day-to-day information in Taiwan

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities
• Learning the language
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Taiwan

1. The Taiwanese corporate world

• A rigid and well-established hierarchy
• Discipline, rigour and productivity
• A tradition of initiative
• The role of national and local authorities

2. Effective communication with the Taiwanese

• Forging relationships, the special features of guangxi
• The hidden meanings of Yes and No, the true significance of smiles
• Controlling one's emotions to master the situation at hand
• Traditional Mandarin and English used for business

3. Working with Taiwanese teams

• Deference and respect for superiors
• Building trust to generate loyalty
• Listening, understanding and learning
• The importance of saving face. Dealing with touchy and sensitive people

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Taiwanese

• The art of negotiation
• Understanding the Taiwanese sense of time
• Perseverance, discipline and precision
• The contract is signed! But is this the start or end of the negotiations?

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code, banquets,
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Humour: a double-edged sword