Paragon Relocation announced on June 11^th at the Worldwide ERC® conference in London that Statim, a leading relocation and destination service provider based in Madrid, Spain will join Paragon Relocation. Paragon Relocation Spain will provide relocation, housing, visa & immigration and move management services, adding a global presence and service that will benefit both companies. 
 
"We are pleased to announce that Paragon Relocation Spain has joined the Paragon family. Being strategically located in Madrid, Paragon is uniquely positioned to provide global relocation and destination services throughout Europe," said Joseph Morabito, President and CEO of Paragon Global Resources. "Together, we will offer a strong combination of relocation services on a global, yet local basis.  Paragon's financial stability is a real asset for our current and potential transferees that may relocate to and from Spain."
 
Soledad Aguirre, Managing Director of Statim, added "Becoming part of Paragon Relocation will allow us to access global markets for our existing customer base in Spain and assist us in developing the growing market for relocation services. Without access to global networks, the potential to expand our business was limited. Together, we will be able to provide clients with services wherever their transferee is moving in the world."
 
Paragon's Spain initiative is the next stage in their long term expansion plans outside of the United States following recent openings in South Korea, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the development of Destination Services capabilities in Britain, Ireland and the U.S. 

Now more than ever, it's important for companies to stay financially healthy.  This global recession will have long legs and every decision we make will impact our financial strength.
 
The answer in these times is to 'stick to our knitting', focusing on our core business and doing it well. As such, we must question everything, make tough decisions, and invest in those functions at Paragon that will lead to continued growth and success in a business environment that is likely to reflect higher taxes and more regulations. When the dust settles, we will be positioned to continue our growth and development..
 
We've recently added Paragon Relocation Spain. Being strategically located in Madrid, Paragon is uniquely positioned to provide global relocation and destination services throughout the world. We can provide global relocation services, yet by having boots on the ground so to speak, we can reflect local preferences. This initiative is the next stage in our long-term expansion plans outside of the United States.
 
Lately, I've been focused on the issue of VAT Recovery in Europe.  It is one of the most confusing topics I have ever encountered in my 30 years in the relocation industry. The VAT Task Force Committee that I co-chair continues to uncover VAT issues as we lift rocks. More to come on this!
 
Finally, it is important for all to realize that passing the CRP test is quite an accomplishment. We are celebrating Paragon's five newest CRP recipients in this issue of Paragon Press. So congratulations to all that passed the test!! 

President and CEO

Paragon Global Resources, Inc.

 

 

 

The quality of your international business interactions will increasingly depend on your team's ability to communicate competently with their colleagues from other cultures. There are some obvious implications of living in an intercultural world - changing expectations and  uncertainty that specific behaviors, routines, and rituals mean the same things to everyone. Creating a constructive learning environment in an age of cultural diversity requires that people be sensitive to different and sometimes competing experiences.^[1]
 
Paragon Relocation Holland recently completed a successful cross cultural training program for a pharmaceutical client with offices in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
 
The training focused on how culture can impact the way we communicate and what strategies the groups could use to maximize their effectiveness within the corporate culture.
 
Our culture plays a huge role in how we develop behaviourally. The values we develop are heavily influenced by our surroundings. Geert Hofstede, an influential writer on the interactions between national cultures and organizational cultures, calls them the 'core of culture'. Unless we make a real effort to 'see them from the outside', we don't know what they are, or what effect they have on people from different cultures. For example, in the movie Gung Ho Michael Keaton plays the foreman of a failed American auto plant that supplies most of the jobs in a small town in Pennsylvania. Keaton's character flies to Japan to try and convince the Assan Motor Corp. of purchasing and reopening the plant. He arrives late, informally dressed, speaks informally and is constantly cracking jokes. His would be investors find his behavior appalling. Why? High-context cultures such as Japan rely on minimal language exchange that is brief, indirect and implicit.
 
Developing a better understanding of the way we communicate and how it is received by other cultures is empowering and can lead to positive change within organizations.
 
With growing corporate globalization, more and more teams are faced with the challenge of teamwork across country borders. Rather than one group suppressing the values of other groups, companies should be looking to maximize the return on the skills and experience from their multi-cultural employees, strengthening their global footprint.

 

Michael Manning	Michael Morabito
Shannon Thielke	Regina Vera
Sander Gottlieb

 

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