Many American managers feel frustration when working with their business partners in Russia. They report that completion of projects is often delayed, miscommunication is almost a norm and project costs double or even triple the proposed budget.  Of course there might be difficulties in language skills from both sides, but often problems lie much deeper with differences in culture. Russian and American business people grew up in different environments that shaped their thought process, values systems, perception and communication styles that in turn affect their management styles.  ONE World Training Systems of Dallas, TX, helps American and Russian business people learn how to do business effectively together.

- We learned that your mission statement is “ Bridging East and West for global performance and global understanding.” What does this mean?

Olga Ivanova-Nuss: - Growing economical interdependence forces people to learn how to understand and serve each other better. If we understand what drives our customers and business partners, then we will work more effectively and efficiently together. By “bridging” we mean the process of understanding and learning cultural commonalities and differences that give ONE World clients a distinct edge over their competitors. When two companies from different countries are involved in a joint project, almost always one is from the West and another from the East. It is especially true for the U.S. and Russia!

- Following such a wonderful statement, how exactly can ONE World help American and Russian business people work together?

Olga Ivanova-Nuss: -  One of our specialties is American and Russian business culture. We provide cross-cultural consultation and training sessions concentrating on working in the USA and/or Russia. During such workshops participants learn comparative analysis of management styles and practices, business and life values, approaches to setting goals, accomplishments, time and deadlines, competition, motivation, team/group work, relations and communication, local social and business etiquette and necessary skills. As an extra support for American and Russian businesses we offer interpreting and writing/editing services in English for foreigners working in the U.S. and Russian language studies for American and other international companies. Our classes on Russian language help to build better business relationships and communication patterns between American and Russian business people. But the U.S. and Russia are not the only two countries we help with. We have a list of country specific training sessions to help companies all over the globe.

Often our unique needs assessment shows a lack of skills and/or tools available for employees to conduct their global business with multiple countries or regions. In such cases we would recommend one of our “global” training sessions to help employees to become more comfortable and confident in working with their foreign team members both in the U.S. and abroad. Our most popular Global Workshops are “Global Mindset”, “Global Business Woman” (specifically designed for women-executives) and “Global Assistant”  for global executive assistants.

- What makes ONE World different?

Paul Durfee: - Our president, Mrs. Olga Ivanova-Nuss, is native Russian, and we are involved in many activities, research and writing projects about contemporary Russia to provide our clients with the most updated and practical information about doing business with Russians, as well as with Americans. I am a native-born American with 20 years of experience in the medical field, including training, management and administration. Using this unique experience we offer very specific needs and training assessments, data collection, and highly practical training and consulting sessions to business and medical professionals from other countries that establish medical practices and businesses in the U.S. With ONE World you will know the effectiveness of the educational dollar spent and the attendees retention!

- What have your initial results shown?

Paul Durfee: - We are constantly building our database, however, our results show that ONE World's Workshops are effective and needed by the participants we've worked with, including very large American companies conducting business with many countries. We provide management with a pre-workshop assessment that shows an initial level of perceived international knowledge/needs. At the end of each training session another set of data shows the progress of the participants in only one training session. At three-month intervals we conduct (with no additional charge) a “retention” assessment and provide management with a complete report about employees' progress.

We have also found that a one-hour introduction to global or country specific issues of conducting business during management meetings or “lunch-and-learn” sessions with a needs assessment can be an extremely powerful eye-opening experience for participants and upper management.

- What other Multi-cultural activities are you involved with besides helping businesses?

Olga Ivanova-Nuss: - We, at ONE World Training Systems, believe that we have to do what we are preaching. We remain very active with local and international communities by taking active roles in supporting and organizing many multicultural events, festivals and business exchange programs. We are partners with the Community Connections Program of the World Affairs Council of Greater Dallas and mentors for International Visitors Bureau. Paul is the Vice-President of UNA-Dallas Chapter and works with AMCIPS on New Americans Center. My goal is to establish partnership between the Park Cities Rotary Club in Dallas, TX, and Moscow-Kremlin Rotary Club in Russia. Additionally, I participate in the Dallas-Saratov partnership committee. I’m also a Member of the Multicultural Advisory Council KERA (TV channel 13), Dallas, TX, board member of DFW International annual festival and Director of Russian Winter Festival in Dallas, TX.

The readers can learn more about us by visiting our website: www.1worldskills.com and address their questions, concerns and requests to:  P.O. Box 600117, Dallas, Texas 75360; e-mail: Oneworldskills@consultant.com; call us:

1-214-679-6522 or 1-214-801-9343