A Citizen of the World

 

Brigitte Opel was born and raised in Germany.

She studied and worked in the US, Japan, Russia, Australia and various countries in Europe before settling in the Netherlands. In all these places, she studied cultures first hand and experienced the differences.

At the Thunderbird School of International Management, she learned about cultural patterns and their impact on doing business in the global marketplace.

She worked with IBM in Germany and the Netherlands in international project teams for 17 years. The interaction with colleagues from very diverse countries inspired her to learn more about the Hofstede model and focus her career on cross-cultural communication.

 

Over the years, she has has helped students, professionals and executives to understand the distance between their own and the Others' perspective, to reflect on these differences and to bridge them. 

• Workshops / Coaching: IBM, PCV, CoolBlue, KPN, Nuon, Fresenius

• Lectures: Maastricht University, RUGroningen, TU Delft, Den Bosch College, Hogeschool Utrecht, Universiteit van Amsterdam

• Expat trainings for: Germany, Netherlands, Japan, China 

Clients & Testimonials

 

As a certified Hofstede trainer, Brigitte can draw from her international experience and from the expertise of Hofstede Insights to help you with a range of communication questions and generate synergies in a diverse environment.

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Brigitte is also a founding member of Connect2us.eu, a foundation to bridge cultural misunderstandings for migrants in the Netherlands, Germany, Luxemburg and France.