B.I.G.

Bespoke Intercultural Group (BIG) provides consultation, training, and coaching services to facilitate cross-cultural communication between Asia and the rest of the world.

Its team of specialists has worked with corporations from Apple to 3M to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, helping them pinpoint and overcome the specific cultural obstacles preventing smooth operations. As no two organizations are alike, all of BIG’s solutions are customized to meet the particular needs of their clients.

But why are cultural obstacles so challenging to overcome? After all, a company in Dubai working with a company in Japan can simply hire an interpreter to break through the language barrier.

And when an interpreter isn’t available, translation apps provide a quick and easy substitute—and translation technology is improving at an astounding pace. The problem, however, is not linguistic.

Everything from how you sit at the meeting table with your foreign clients to how you frame feedback to your foreign employees has a profound impact on your company’s reputation and your company’s bottom line.

One misstep—unintentional that it may be—might not only spell the end of a big contract; it might also result in serious legal action.

That’s why BIG gives you the opportunity to step into the hot seat with a simulation before the main event. Give your pitch to a foreign CEO or field a complaint from a disgruntled employee and experience genuine and unrehearsed reactions to get a feel for what to expect.

After the simulation, find out what you did right and what could stand to be improved.

Don’t put your organization at a disadvantage by facing other cultures unprepared. Instead, think BIG.

Hiroshi Kagawa is an internationally recognized trainer, coach, consultant, and author.

In addition to his home country, Japan, Mr. Kagawa has worked extensively in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and across the Asia Pacific region, particularly in Korea, China, and Taiwan.

Mr. Kagawa has coached more than 4,000 executives, focusing on developing their intercultural communication skills.

Mr. Kagawa also founded and serves as the chairman of IBC, a publishing company and consulting firm specializing in global and cross-cultural management and communication.

Mr. Kagawa has authored more than twenty books, and his articles on cross-cultural management and related issues have appeared in such publications as The Japan Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Publishers Weekly, and Nikkei.

He received a publishing academy award in 2000 in Japan.
Mr. Kagawa has also supplied commentary for the NHK radio program, Tokyo FM, and others.

Born in Washington, D.C., Andrew Robbins has been living in Japan since 2006.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania and his master’s degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Mr. Robbins frequently consults with major automobile manufacturers and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in matters of intercultural communication.

He is the author/co-author of several books concerning language and communication, and he frequently produces English language learning and study materials for major publishing organizations and cram school chains in Japan.

Mr. Robbins is also a technical consultant and has been working as a programmer and system administrator for more than two decades.