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We’ve all heard of those high-end luxury brand watches like: Cartier, Piaget, Rolex, Technomarine but because they cost many hundreds, even thousands of dollars they are simply out of reach of most people’s budgets. It’s like, should I get a second car or buy a Rolex and for most people it’s clearly the second car. Let’s face it, luxury watches are designed for the rich to provide them with a ’status symbol’ they yearn for that will help feed their, in most cases, large egos.

On the other hand, we all have human vanity and if you’re the type that would like yours massaged by such a symbol of affluence, there’s a little thing called Replica Watches that you might want to take a closer look at.

Replica watches provide the not so affluent with the opportunity to sport incredible imitations of various luxury watches like: Cartier, Piaget, Rolex, and Technomarine for a fraction of the price. On the other hand, the downside of replica watches is that in one way it could be considered a form of stealing. Like buying bootleg copies of CDs or DVD’s or illegally downloading music from the internet. You’ll have to make that call but replica watches do ‘borrow’ the copyrighted designs of the luxury watches.

Plus, the whole purpose of luxury brands is to not cater to just anyone. They are manufactured and designed with the utmost quality with full knowledge that as a result, their cost will be prohibitive for most people.

However, if you’re ok with the whole copyright thing and your heart is set on buying a replica watch; then, as the old saying goes, ‘buyers beware’. Just because it’s relatively dirt cheap doesn’t mean its bargain. You still need to exercise caution and wisdom before you buy.

The internet has become the home of thousands upon thousands of companies selling replica watches which makes it rather impossible to inspect anything you purchase beforehand. Not that you must inspect a replica watch before you buy but it certainly doesn’t hurt because even in a replica craftsmanship matters. Simple things like, does it have changeable batteries or is it simply a toy knockoff of the original is difficult to discern in a picture.

Omega, Cartier and Rolex are all popular replica watches today. While inspecting a prospective replica you should verify that brand names are actually spelled correctly. An example of this often occurs in knockoff bags, purses or shoes: ‘Prada’ becomes ‘Prado’ or ‘Chanel’ becomes ‘Channel’.

Another thing to remember before purchasing a replica watch is this: Are you or will you be comfortable enough, in your own skin, to wear such a watch when friends, family or colleagues realize that it is replica? I’m not here to judge because frankly, I partially agree with both sides of the argument but I bring it up only, so that you are aware of the fact that purchasing a replica watch ‘may not’ turn out to be the status symbol you hoped it would be. On the other hand, it may be just the ticket you’ve been looking for and if so - go for it!

This article may be reproduced only in its entirety.

Kevin Erickson is an entrepreneur and writer. For more articles he’s written visit: Mens Watch | Baby Crib Bedding | Wine Country Gift Baskets

What worse could have happened to the US economy then the 9th September 2001? Some perverted religious fanatics demolished the embodiment of the world trade. Terrorism is a threat to all the nations of the world. The human loss due to these activities cannot be condemned with words. The ruthlessness of the terror traders has an impact on each and every segment of life. The extent of these activities is extending by the day and the generally silent Europe too is feeling the cramps.

The world markets face the wrath of the terrorist activities in their faces. There is an overall loss to the business in many ways. The people suddenly fear traveling through air. The airline companies themselves are more apprehensive about continuing with their normal work. Apart from the loss in passengers, the security too has to be made very tight and the loss has to be born by the companies.

As a matter of fact, all sectors are put to a stand still due to these terror strikes. The direct effect of these is seen in the sudden drop in the markets. The stock prices do drop down and the trading comes to a stand still, however the business seldom stops and the markets show their cushioning effect by regaining the vigor. But at times the loss of even trading day can be fatal to a country’s economy.

Such attacks also incur a direct burden on the defense budget. It goes without saying that the governments do take desperate measures to minimize the losses and cover the country against the future threats. The new areas of defense research open up and thus fresh jobs are created. This brighter side of the attacks is over-shadowed by the loss of lives and panic that is created with in the country. The government, under such circumstances, looses the track of their priorities and the developmental works are sidelined. This causes damage to civic society.

The worst hit by terrorist activities is the third world countries. The terrorists make these vulnerable counties their bases and from here carry out the destructive activities. Their influence in such countries shows and threatens the developed world of their power and dominance. Thus such countries make an appropriate guinea pig. If a terrorists strike a big country or a city, the whole world knows about it. The tragedy with these countries is that their miseries are not broadcasted because of their non connectivity with the rest of the world. They are thus the breeding grounds of terrorism and worst hit areas by this destructive activity.

A joint effort by all the countries of the world, taking along the third world countries, is required to curb the growing tentacles of terrorism. Many big nations have joined hands against terrorism after major attacks in the world. They also need to include the most vulnerable victims of terrorism, the developing countries. Support to them, both economic and military, should be provided to them by the capable nations. Bodies like UN must pass resolutions and work upon them to uproot the cannibalistic practice of terrorism. Unless we don’t join our hands it would be very difficult to face these destructive forces and our economies will be victims of their activities.

Mansi aggarwal writes about terrorism and world markets. Learn more at http://www.terrormarketeffect.com

Hilary Duff does do Smokey eyes well! She is also combining Smokey with a slight cat eye. She takes the darker shade and extends it past her outer eye in an upward ‘cat’ eye motion. It’s not as severe as normal ‘cat’ eyes because she softens the look with a medium shade along the middle and a light shade along the upper eyelid just below the eyebrow. She also has a matching shade of eyeliner along the upper eye and also along the lower eye. She blends this color by using her medium eye shadow over her lower eyeliner. The only way she can do this is to use the proper brushes for application. You won’t get a good Smokey or even a good ‘cat’ eye with the applicator that comes in your eye shadow compact. You will need to invest in two brushes for this look.

You will need: Chisel Angle Fluff Brush - For all over color and under eye brow Chisel Double Shader Brush - For contouring and blending - A trio eye shadow or three shades of color:
light, medium, dark preferably in a Smokey hue like: Bren Cosmetics Eye
Shadow Trio Eclipse Grapevine Amoré

Bren Cosmetics Eye Liner color Charcoal Charcoal Prune

Bren Cosmetics Mascara color Black Black Black

Eye lash curler AND AN INDEX CARD!

I will walk you through Amoré.

1) Using your Angle Fluff Brush apply the cream color all over your eyelid

2) Apply the Prune eye liner along the upper eye closest to your eye lash in about 1/16th inch line, start at the inner eye and go all the way across your eye to outer most portion of your eye angling up and out at the end.

3) Use the Index card and place it at a 45-degree angle against the outer portion of your eye.

4) Using the double shader brush, apply the burnt red color over the Prune eye shadow and lower lid.

5) Keep the index card in place and using the double shader, apply the dark brown color in a diagonal from the center eye to the outer eye stopping just above the middle crease of your eye.

6) Remove index card.

7) Using your Angle Fluff Brush (it should still have a bit of the cream shadow in the brush) in a one directional brush stroke going to the outer portion of your eye, brush once or twice outward to blend the colors and to soften the line left by the index card. Clean brush and dip in cream color for the opposite eye.

Curl your eye lashes using a curler and 30 seconds of pressure on your upper eye lashes

9) Apply the black mascara in two layers.

And most of all practice, practice, practice as this will take a few times to get the look just right.

Article written by Katrina VanDoran, Editor of Make-up USA Newsletter: http://www.make-upusa.com. Ms. VanDoran is a top makeup artist at her Spa in Brussels, Belgium. She predominantly uses Bren and Colosé Cosmetics and Skin Care products.
Make-up USA © All Rights Reserved.

Are you trying to add lean muscle mass? Confused by all of the muscle building systems out there? Which system will work the best for you? There is High Intensity, Heavy Duty, Power Partials, Static Contractions, X-Reps, X-Size (different from X-Reps), High Volume, Pyramid, Twenty Rep Squats, Central Nervous System(CNS), my own Quick Hammer Routine, and many, many more to choose from. So, which one should you try? Why not take the best points out of each system and use them all? Obviously, you cannot do some of each of these systems, each and every workout.

What I like to do is take my basic, high intensity routine and add something to the end of the set. Although I really don’t use high volume, and I only occasionally play around with X-Size, I like to use parts of these other systems on a regular basis. Again, I start with a normal high intensity routine where I might do one set of one to three exercises for a bodypart. I will then add one, or a combination of more than one of some of these other rep styles to my set. For instance, if I am doing bent rowing, I do as many normal repetitions with a heavy weight as I can.

One I reach failure, I will do as many partials as I can. If this has not completely wiped me out, I will throw in a static hold, or an X-Rep for 5-10 seconds at the end. Static holds are like an Isometric rep. You hold the weight in a contracted position for a few seconds. An X-Rep is much like a Static Rep, except you kind of pulsate the weight as if your contracted muscles are vibrating. Again, I will do one of these reps for about 5-10 seconds. I cannot tell you which of these two hold reps work’s best, but they both really do work.

Now, if I am doing the benchpress, I prefer Pyramids over a single set. I feel much safer going up fifty pounds each set to get my mind and my muscles prepared for the heavy benchpress. At the end of my heavy set, I will do a Static Rep for around 10 seconds to really push the pecs. Squats are a bit different because I have a really bad right knee. The only way I will do a Full squat is with a very light weight while warming up. When I start going heavy, I do Only Power Partials.

Again, like the benchpress, I prefer to Pyramid the weight up to get my body ready for the heavy weight. I also rarely do less than twenty reps on squats. Even if I am doing 400lbs, I will do 20 reps. It is amazing about the legs, but no matter how hard you push them, they seem to always finish the set! At the end of the set, I will do a Static Hold for 10-15 seconds. I do Static Holds, or X-Reps on pretty much all of my other exercises including Curls and Triceps Dips.

I purchased Pete Sisco’s CNS Workout last year and I will use it from time to time. The idea behind it is to hammer the body in a quick, high intensity way to get a massive response from your central nervous system. I don’t use it regularly, but it is a very good system and I use it when I think the time is right. Another routine I like is my Quick Hammer Routine. It is ideal for people who want to build mass, but are very short on time. It work’s the major muscles of the body in a brief, ten minute workout. In this case, you pick one exercise for the chest, back and legs. You do the three exercises one after the other in circuit training style, with the exception that you are using heavy weights and lower reps. you perform three cycles of the exercises, wit about a minutes rest between cycles.

If you are going to use this routine for an extended period of time, you can throw in some crunches for the abs. I like doing the routine with dips, bent rows and squats, but you can also use benchpress, chins and leg presses, or any other combination you choose. You just need to make sure you are using compound exercises so you are hitting the other muscles along with your legs, back and chest.

Another thing I will do to add strength, is to do two or three weeks of Static Contraction workouts from time to time. Instead of doing the Static Holds at the end of your set with a weight that you can do a normal repetition with, you use a weight which is actually too heavy for you to perform a full rep with. You really need a power rack or smith machine for these, as you are handling extremely heavy weights and I would not like to depend on someone else to keep this weight off of me. Let’s use the benchpress for our example. You set the bar about four to six inches from full extension.

Now, load the weight on the bar. I mean, really load the weight on the bar! I can bench about 330lbs, but at the end of my last Static Contraction cycle, I was doing a ten second static hold with 450lbs! The theory is that you can handle much more weight when you lift in your strongest range of motion. When you lift such an incredibly heavy weight in this range, you incorporate so many more muscle fibres, spurring rapid growth and strength gains. I can personally vouch for the strength gains. I do not have the patience to stick with this system long enough to test the mass gains.
I change routines on a regular basis to avoid going stale. The routine I use most of the time is something I picked up from Dorians Yates book, ‘Blood and Guts’, and made my own adjustments to it. I work chest and triceps in one workout, back and biceps in workout two, then Legs and shoulders in workout three.

I will perform crunches every other workout. I work each muscle a maximum of once per week, with the obvious exception of abdominals which get worked one or two times per week.

On Chest day, I pyramid the benchpress for my chest, then perform a hard set of parallel triceps dips to finish off my triceps.
On back day, I do a set of deadlifts, a set of bent rowing after a lighter warm-up set, a set of chins and a set of barbell curls.

On leg day, I pyramid squats, usually performing twenty rep sets, a set of military presses and a set of dumbell side laterals.

This routine seem’s to work the very best for me. You should experiment to find what work’s the best for yourself.

For diet and nutrition, I like a diet that is simple enough for you to stick to for life. If it is too restrictive, you will fall off the wagon and usually go nuts on everything until you have gained back everything you lost and more! Restrictive diets also eat up alot of your valuable lean muscle tissue. What then happen’s, is you start out weighing 200lbs with around a 23% bodyfat percentage. When you fall off of your diet, you have catabolized muscle mass with the fat you lost, so when you balloon back up to 200lbs, your bodyfat percentage is now around 26% or more. Now you weigh the same as you did before the diet, but you look worse! Eat smart, train and rest.

I don’t recommend low carb diets unless you have alot of weight to lose. Then, I would use it in stages to break away at the fat a bit at a time, while cycling back to a more normal diet of complex carbs, protein and essential fats. Be sure to get a good protein/ carb meal or shake immediately after your training to quickly replenish your muscle protein and energy. Eat five or six small meals per day to get the most nutrients from the food, while storing less of the calories as fat.

Rest is very important for muscle growth. Your muscles do not grow while you are training. They grow while you are at rest. So if you have been training and eating well, and you are not making decent gains, you may not be getting enough rest to allow full recovery of your muscles.

I am a fitness consultant in St. Louis, Mo. I answer training questions via my website at:
http://dan4fitness.com

As a long time acne sufferer in my youth, I often felt the
need for relevant information and advice regarding acne.
However, those were the days before the advent of the
internet, and more often than not, I found myself poring
over health magazines, leaflets of new anti acne medicine
and discussions with friends. While browsing through various
websites however, I chanced upon a link that led to an online
acne forum. Now this is a revolutionary development that I
sorely wish I had in those days! An acne forum of any sort,
even if only offline, would have helped me deal with not
just the physical symptoms of acne, but also with the fear
and embarrassment that acne brought on. So, I delved into
the acne forum with relish to see what developments had taken
place in the acne field.

The adventure left me with mixed results. On the one hand,
there was an impressive growth in the amount of information
available in the acne forum to give even a casual reader all
the hard facts about acne. For instance, one of the acne forums
I visited busted some of the acne myths that we all grew up
with. This particular forum for instance once and for all set
to rest the age old belief that acne was a result of poor facial
hygiene. The acne forum did not do so through didactic arguments.
Instead, the acne forum was characterized by relevant scientific
facts, clear explanations and a lot of concrete, real life examples.
Another thing that I found in the acne forum was that a majority
of the participants were far better informed than in my time.
Thanks to the forum, they were well equipped with the knowledge
and the means to deal with their acne related issues.

But some of the other aspects of the acne forums set me thinking.
In one of these acne forums for instance, I found a participant
giving out all kinds of conflicting information. Some of the
information he doled out was right. But some of it contradicted the
right information. Ultimately, anyone going through this acne forum
would be more confused than informed. I also found that these forums
had become a sort of hanging ground for the depressed, the embarrassed
and the plain ill informed. These people, rather than concentrating
on getting the required knowledge and advice to deal with their acne
problems, became a source of fear and embarrassment for all the others.
Not only were they paranoid about their own problems, they were spreading
all kinds of negative information about acne in general and cooking up
conspiracy theories to scare of the others as well.

All things considered, I concluded that while such forums were important
to spread information about acne, they could also scare people by
including a few lumpen elements. I’m pretty sure the technology exists
to weed out such undesirables and hope that can be done sooner than
later for the greater common good of all acne forums.

Keith Londrie II has put up three informative web sites
so that you can learn more about acne and it’s control.
For more information please visit http://acneinformation.info/
as well as http://acne-solution-treatments.info/ and http://stop-your-acne.info/
for more detailed information.

House paint designed for interior or exterior decoration is sold at your local hardware
store, paint shops, and do-it-centers nation wide. Many decorative paint manufactures
show a huge range of colors on their charts, which are made by blending the main
tints and tones of their collection. It can be very frustrating to be forced into buying
gallons of paint when all you need is a sample to test the color. Most paint suppliers
will produce small test amounts of a color, especially if it is one of those, which you
have requested to be mixed. Virtually all-interior painting jobs today, including walls,
ceiling, and woodwork, are done using water-based paint, or oil-based paints.

Most good-quality commercial decorating house paint will last for many years if kept
airtight in a sealed metal can. Once opened, however, paint’s shelf life is immediately
reduced. Color decisions may be affected by the type of paint you have to use, for
example, paints that are specifically designed for use on rough exterior walls come in a
limited range of shades, while there is a huge variety of colors available for use on
interior walls. All paint should be kept in a cool place and out of direct sunlight. The
colors with which we surround ourselves will without doubt have an effect on us.

House paint offers an enormous variety of colors, texture and pattern. It transforms
the way in which we see them so that even their structures can seem changed.
Choosing how to decorate and protect them can be difficult. Paint has the ability to
make small structures appear larger and outside ones less overwhelming. The function
of a room is a crucial factor when deciding on its color and finish. When picking-out
colors, find out how they look both in daylight and at night. So before you go
decorating a room or anything else, it is worth taking the time to find out how colors
behave in combination with each other.

About The Author: Roger King has been writing articles on decorative interior painting for several years, and has been helping people find and review the best value for interior painting solutions. Visit his web site www.decorativeinteriorpainting.com for free tips and guides for your next painting project

You have seen them everywhere, price stickers, food labels, bumper stickers, product labels, racing decals, warning labels, the list is endless, the self adhesive sticker is an indispensable commercial resource and more importantly a fantastic opportunity to promote and advertise your business image.

One of the most cost effective promotional solutions to raise brand awareness is to put your logo or name on everyday objects and products with stickers, decals or custom printed self adhesive labels which come in all shapes and sizes. There are many choices when it comes to printed labels and stickers, the adhesives and backing liners range from permanent, removable to low tack. When a permanent sticker is applied to a surface, it is usually very difficult to remove it, normally leaving adhesive residue behind while the paper releases in the case of the paper type labels. Removable labels are meant to be temporarily applied to a surface and when required be easily removed without tearing or leaving glue or material behind. Low tack labels are similar to removable labels in purpose but adhere to a flat surface by means of static cling. An important consideration when choosing sticker type is the environment they will be used in, paper labels are not really suitable for exterior conditions, deteriorating rapidly with moisture and UV light exposure, other types of labels are affected by extremes of temperature. Labels usually come in sheets or rolls whereas stickers may also be supplied individually. Just like the possibilities for their use there is an infinite choice of colours and materials to choose from, they can come coated in matt and gloss paper finishes, vinyl for outdoor use, metallic, polycarbonate for heavy duty use and there are even asset management and security labels featuring anti tamper or destructible attributes.

Stickers or labels can be ordered from a colour printing shop, but the more unusual types may have to be ordered from screen printers or specialist digital label printers, in either case you can supply your own artwork to their specification or they can design your label in line with your brand image, it is important to convey however where you wish to use the sticker or label, interior or exterior conditions, inside or outside of glass, permanent or temporary as this will influence the choice of inks, artwork process and materials to be used in your order.

(c) Copyright 2006, Tim McCarthy. All rights reserved.
D-Signs, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland.
Signs, Printing and Display

The last five years has seen a revolution in how governments, people and industry view energy. The positive aspects of biomass energy have come to the forefront in this discussion.

Why Use Biomass for Our Energy Needs: The Pros

The primary positive aspect of biomass is it is part of the biocycle of life. This means it isn’t toxic to the environment because it is more or less the environment. An additional benefit is the fact biomass almost always breaks down relatively quickly to its natural elements. This means a biomass fuel spill would be far less damaging than an oil spill, particularly in the long run.

The burning of biomass does kick out carbon dioxide among other gases. Carbon dioxide, of course, is a greenhouse gas. Proponents of biomass energy, however, argue that the gases produced are not really a problem because they are part of the current biocycle. By this, they are arguing that carbon dioxide is a natural element produced in nature and they are correct.

Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are outside of the natural biocycle in the world because they are buried in the ground, which effectively means they are not part of naturally occurring phases. As we dig and drill fossil fuels out of the ground, we are adding the harmful elements found in them to a system that cannot withstand the massive influx.

We already use many biomass fuels in our daily lives. The first cavemen used them to light fires for warmth, protection and cooking. Today, we use them to power our automobiles in the form of biodiesal and bioethanol. Whether you realize it or not, these two fuels have been going into our cars at gas stations since 1990 in parts of the country. The reason is they are used as additives in gasoline for the purpose of cutting harmful carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, federal law mandates their use in certain cities such as Los Angeles as well as in most government vehicles.

Carbon dioxide produced from vehicles makes up over a third of all the greenhouse gases produced in our country. Bioethanol made from corn cuts these emissions by over 20 percent compared to your basic gasoline. Biodiesel made from soybeans cuts emissions by as much as 80 percent. Any way you cut it, using biomass fuel is a step in the right direction.

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com, a directory of solar energy companies. Visit our biomass energy page to read more about biofuels.

For either ‘market share’ or ‘growth share’ markets, there are a few techniques which have proven effective to get people to switch to you or to choose to begin doing business with you. Remember, unless the existing supplier alienates his customers through some form of poor service, they will not make a lateral move without cause. There must be an incentive to change old habits.

1. You can offer a reward card when the customer completes a reasonable number of purchases, give him/her a reward with high perceived value and low hard costs. The incentive should be significant enough to warrant switching.

2. The customers can get a referral coupon with their name on it, to be given to another party who is a new customer. When the new customer presents the coupon, the original customer gets a ‘credit’ (worth some reward), while the new customer gets his own coupon to pass along.

3. Offer free labor (or additional labor, service or product) to try the product the first time. Remember, discounts used to get customers to switch represents marketing ‘costs,’ just like advertising does. You will get your expected profit margins as long as you keep a new customer. All three of these techniques can allow larger-scale promotions, if used all at once, such as:

‘Call us today about our unique three separate discount opportunities; three ways to save while getting what you want!’

Daniel Wadleigh is a nationally published marketing consultant and has programs for start-up and existing businesses including effective web sites, e-mail/database, other non-internet ways to drive them to your website, and low cost ways to get more new customers.

Go to: http://www.more-new-customers.com to get free copy of ‘Marketing to Men vs. Women- the 8 different responses’ and a Free copy of ‘Market Research- 7 Questions to Ask to Start-up and 7 to Ask to Improve Any Business.’

Expatriates and foreign nationals who relocate to the United States to live and work often have mixed perceptions about this young nation. Those feelings are probably best described by the late Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, who referred to America as “a land of unmatched vitality and vulgarity.”

While most Americans rarely think of their country as “foreign,” the fact is that non-Americans who relocate to the United States to do business and “do lunch” are often surprised to find they experience a severe case of “corporate culture shock.”

According to recently conducted research with dozens of foreign business professionals working in Atlanta and other southeastern U.S. cities, the human resource departments of multinational corporations are woefully inadequate in preparing foreigners for the American workplace. The purpose of the study was to learn about foreign managers’ experiences and attitudes regarding the American business culture. More than half of this diverse group of CEOs, CFOs, vice presidents, directors, managers, engineers, and analysts were European. In total, 26 different countries were represented.

Equally disturbing is the finding that American employees lack cross-cultural awareness and skills that would enable them to draw on the diverse, global talents and business experiences of their non-American counterparts.

Once the physical relocation to the United States is complete, most foreigners and their families say employers provide little, if any, assistance to help them integrate into the American community and business environment. They often struggle up to a year or longer to adapt.

The financial cost of cross-border relocations is steep; often two to four times the transferee’s salary. But the cost of lost productivity because of months of isolation, confusion, and frustration is incalculable. The adaptation period could be reduced by 50 percent with adequate cultural orientation and training, professional coaching, and mentoring. If corporations would simply invest an additional 5 to 10 percent of their relocation cost into cross-cultural orientation, training, and coaching, they would be buying an insurance policy that protects their substantial investment in their expatriate and foreign nationals, realizing a greater productivity return on their investment much sooner.

Stages of Adjustment

Left on their own, foreign professionals frequently go through three stages of acculturation:

1. Discovery. First, they encounter the barriers and differences that create discomfort and frustration for them and their families.
2. Search. Second, they begin to look for the people and resources that can help them overcome the cultural barriers.
3. Adaptation. Finally, they make the necessary adjustments to their communication style, work style, and business practices to build relationships with their American colleagues.

Some foreigners never make it through the adaptation stage and continue to remain isolated from their American colleagues and are less-than-effective in their jobs.

Bottom of the Pyramid

In their home countries, most international professionals enjoy a certain degree of accomplishment and self-esteem. On arriving in the United States, however, they are pulled down to the bottom rung of Maslow’s pyramid of needs. Physical needs become top priorities again.

Even the most basic everyday needs become major obstacles for foreign transferees. Obtaining credit is often a major hurdle, even for affluent non-Americans. A general manager of a French company’s North American division moved from Paris, France, to Atlanta, GA, three years ago. He described his family’s effort to establish credit as a “nightmare.”

“We had no credit history here and felt like thieves,” said the transferee.
Another vice president also complained of credit problems when he moved his family from Paris to Atlanta with a global Dutch company. An Atlanta car dealer refused to sell him an automobile without a U.S. credit history, even though he had used an American Express credit card in Europe for four years. The executive and his wife said they felt like “criminals.” They were forced to pay cash for their first used car.

Other foreigners recalled the many frustrations they encountered in taking care of basic living needs–opening a bank account, connecting utilities, choosing a long-distance company, haggling over the price of a car, or buying home and auto insurance. The marketing manager of a British-based international hotel chain moved from London, England, to the American headquarters in Atlanta, GA, only to discover that she did not know how to dial long distance within the United States. Neither did she know the meaning of dialing “911.” Americans often take for granted the daily survival skills that foreigners must relearn when they arrive in the United States.

American English “Sports-speak”

Understanding American English is one of the first challenges foreigners–even native English speakers–encounter in the U.S. corporate culture. American business conversation is riddled with clichés, slang, regionalisms, and sports expressions that are not understood by non-Americans. “Sports-speak” is woven into business conversations constantly in the United States with references to American football, baseball, and basketball. Expressions such as “slam dunk,” “homerun,” “Monday morning quarterback,” “end run,” “curveball,” “full court press,” and “stepping up to the plate” only serve to confuse foreigners. Many Americans are oblivious to the fact that baseball and American football are not played in Europe and other parts of the world.

Acronym Soup

The language of U.S. human resource departments is equally foreign. Most international professionals come to the United States with no knowledge of managed health care or U.S. tax and discrimination law–complex issues that Americans barely understand. It is no wonder then that non-Americans consider these employee policies and plans a “nightmare” and glaze over when they read their HR manual of acronyms and alphabet soup: PPO, HMO, ADA, EEOC, FLMA, and 401K. Translation please?

Said one foreign executive, “You are screened by a nurse, and then you spend 30 seconds to two minutes with a doctor. You are reimbursed and talk to computers. All these plans, long-term and short-term disability, are extremely complex.”

Rather than proactively taking the time to explain these bureaucratic plans and policies to foreigners, most HR managers simply react and respond to questions. What HR managers do not understand is that non-Americans have no knowledge base on which they can even begin to formulate intelligent questions. Human resources must instead begin at the beginning.

The American Spirit at Work

Most foreigners first come to know America through its media–movies, music, magazines, TV sitcoms, and theme parks. Americans are projected as fun loving, risk-taking rugged individuals who “get to the point” and “tell it like it is.” Pick up most any book about American culture and you will read about the legendary open, honest, and direct communication style of Americans. And so it seems that the bold and brazen American is, indeed, alive and well when socializing or selling. But foreigners paint a different picture of the American at work. It is not John Wayne or Indiana Jones who they encounter behind the corporate cubicle–it is Dilbert.

According to the research, foreigners observe that there is little evidence of those cherished American values of equality and freedom of speech in the workplace, especially in big corporations. The single, greatest discomfort that foreigners report in the U.S. workplace is reconciling the perception of business informality (“I’m your CEO but just call me Bob;” “business casual is what we wear here”) and the reality of corporate hierarchy and extreme deference to rank and titles.

“People worry about political correctness all the time to the point where they won’t say anything in a meeting because their boss is in there,” said a British manager who has worked in the United States for seven years. A Dutch marketing manager agreed, “In Europe, if you have a good idea, you bring it to the table. In the United States, until the boss puts it on the radar screen, it’s not as important.”

A German manager says, “Here, I have to package my opinions very nicely.”
Foreigners also are surprised at how Americans avoid face-to-face conflict at work. Said one German who has worked in the United States for five years, “Everyone is hiding behind policy and not getting out from behind their walls.”

A Finnish distributorship president speculated that Americans avoid direct conflict because of the litigious society they live in. “This is a big difference between America and the rest of the world. People put things in writing here if there is some conflict or misunderstanding. Frivolous lawsuits don’t exist in the rest of the world.”

The lack of job security and an adequate “safety net” for unemployment is another reason given.

Conquering Corporate Culture Shock

If global companies would take the following four actions, they would help to ease the transition of foreigners into the U.S. workplace and greatly enhance their productivity.

1. Provide community orientation and logistical support beyond finding housing and schools. Help the transferees acquire basic survival skills and social ties with their community.
2. Take the time to explain employee benefits, policies, and laws. Do not assume foreigners understand the policies and plans or the words associated with them. They are unique to America. Give them an easy way to get their HR questions answered. Be proactive versus reactive.
3. Assign a trained American mentor or external coach to foreign transferees during the first few months of the transition process to hasten acculturation. Foreigners in the study strongly favored this idea. “Having a coach or mentor is absolutely essential for getting direct first-hand feedback, asking questions, learning how Americans see the situation, culture, work practices, even for subtle differences. The fact is, the U.S. is different!” said a Swedish program manager.
4. Build American cultural awareness and competence by offering cross-cultural training, multicultural team coaching, and cultural events. Many foreigners in the study referred to their American colleagues as culturally “insensitive,” “ignorant,” “egocentric,” or “isolated.” As a result, the foreigners believe that Americans do not fully appreciate and use their unique backgrounds, talents, global perspectives, and connections.

As global mergers and acquisitions continue and as America’s multicultural workforce expands, it is vital that both Americans and non-Americans understand each other and learn to work together to prevent cultural differences from getting in the way of good business. As Sheila (could this be Sheida?) Hodge states in her book, Global Smarts, “The trick is to capitalize on similarities without being ambushed by differences.”

If both Americans and non-Americans will adopt the mantra: “Think globally, act locally,” then their employers stand a much greater chance of bringing better ideas and approaches to the workplace and better products and services to the marketplace.

Susan Davidson is founder and president of Beyond Borders, Inc., an Atlanta-based coaching, training and consulting firm that specializes in improving the business performance of global managers and teams.
Susan has worked with Fortune 500 and global corporations for more than 25 years to improve the sales, leadership skills, communications and business effectiveness of leaders, employees and salespeople.

Ms. Davidson has published several articles on her groundbreaking research with foreign business professionals who experience “corporate culture shock” in the U.S. workplace. She is also a featured speaker for human resource, international and training organizations. She can be reached at 770.451.997 or by visiting http://www.beyondborders.us.