The book begins by refuting the notion that professional life interacts with culture only at the level of etiquette. Distinguishing between rule-based and relationship-based cultures, the author examines the roles of authority, individualism, competition, security, negotiation, contracts, supervision, lifestyle, and even humor in different cultures. He shows how different concepts of time, space, information, and wealth shape everyday life across cultures. The book concludes with a comprehensive reading list for more than one hundred countries.