Author’s Column “Bridging Cultural Barriers”
Debuts on Thunderbird School’s Online Knowledge Network
Author Boyé Lafayette De Mente, internationally known for his 60-plus books on the business practices, cultures and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico, has debuted a weekly column entitled “Bridging Cultural Barriers” on the Knowledge Network website of Glendale, Arizona’s Thunderbird School of Global Management.
His columns published to date include: The Pitfalls of Logic in Dealing with Foreign Cultures, Asian Art of Face-Reading Goes High-Tech, Finding China’s “Back Doors” to Beat Bureaucracy, Dealing with Japan’s Dynamic Diligence Factor, and Japanese Make Breakthrough in Universal Translation.
The columns can be seen at http://newsandopinions.thunderbird.edu/columns/category/de-mente-boye-lafayette-bridging-cultural-barriers/
A 1953 graduate of Thunderbird, De Mente has been involved with Asia and Mexico since the late 1940s—first as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency and then as a student, trade journalist, editor and author. His first book, Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business, published in1959 and still in print in its 8th edition, was a pioneer work in the field and was followed by similar books on China, Korea and Mexico.
In a follow-up series of books De Mente also pioneered the use of “culturally pregnant code words” as shortcuts to understanding and dealing with the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Mexicans.
Many of the key terms identified and explained in these books, including Japan’s kaizen (kie-zen), or “continuous improvement and China’s guanxi (gwahn-she), or “connections,” have since become a part of the language of international business.
The Thunderbird Knowledge Network website also features three of his recent books on the personal and business etiquette of China, Korea and Japan. A full list and synopses of his books are available on his home-page BoyeDeMente.com.
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Boyé Lafayette De Mente is a graduate of Jōchi University in Tokyo and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. He is the author of more than 50 books on the business practices, cultures and languages of China, Japan, Korea and Mexico. For a list and synopses of his books go to: www.boyedemente.com.
