A practical course · Japan & U.S. negotiation · 40 years in practice
Read culture like a professional skill.
A practical course on cross-cultural communication, built from 40 years of practice. Five cultural foundations and seven negotiation phases for the U.S. Five foundations and six phases for Japan. No theory for theory's sake.
Lifetime access | 6 video lessons | ≈ 3 hours total | 14-day refund
Engagements across 30+ companies and institutions in Norway, Japan, and the U.S.
The problem
Why most international deals stall (and how to spot it early).
Most cross-border deals do not fail on price. They fail on culture. The same patterns show up over and over.
Polite "yes" misread as agreement. You leave the meeting confident. Two weeks later, nothing has moved.
Direct push misread as aggression. You stated your number clearly. The other side felt attacked, not informed.
Silence misread as resistance. You filled the pause to keep momentum. They were about to give you the answer you wanted.
Hierarchy misread as bureaucracy. You asked the wrong person. The real decision-maker was never in the room.
You don't need to memorize 200 countries. You need a system for reading the room.
The method
What this course does.
01
Operating skill
Culture treated as an operating skill, not a soft skill. Frameworks from Hall and Hofstede, applied to deals.
02
Specific
Two markets covered in depth. Japan and the United States. Five foundations and the full negotiation flow for each.
03
Practical
Phase-by-phase moves you can use in Monday's meeting. No abstract advice.
Inside the course
What you'll learn (six lessons, three parts).
From the cultural iceberg to the full negotiation flow for Japan and the U.S. Every framework is cited and applied. You leave with a system, not a stack of trivia.
The cultural iceberg, applied. What culture really is, and why most of it sits below the waterline.
The six unwritten norms that decide every cross-cultural interaction — directness, hierarchy, silence, feedback, formality, decision-making.
The real cost of cultural blindness, and the upside when you get it right.
Five foundations + six phases for Japan. Indirect communication, formality, group consensus, hierarchy, high context, and the full negotiation flow from first meeting to long-term follow-up.
Five foundations + seven phases for the U.S. Direct communication, informal tone, individual ownership, low power distance, low context, and the full negotiation flow from preparation to closing.
What's included
What you get.
6 video lessons
Three parts split into six focused lessons. About 30 minutes each.
Negotiation phase maps
Six phases for Japan. Seven phases for the U.S. Phase by phase, what to do and what to avoid.
Lesson cheat sheets
One page per lesson. Foundations, phases, pro-tips, ready to print.
Recommended reading list
Curated bibliography across Hall, Hofstede, Trompenaars, Meyer, and Japan/U.S. specialists.
Cultural foundations cards
Quick reference for Japan and U.S. foundations. The deck you actually use.
Lifetime access
Buy once. Watch on your schedule. Updates included at no extra cost.
FIT
Who it's for, who it's not for.
This course is for you
Founders, sales leaders, and consultants preparing for a Japanese or U.S. deal.
Professionals who keep losing deals abroad without knowing why.
Managers leading teams across two or three cultures.
Anyone who has felt "the room turn cold" abroad and could not name why.
This course is not for you
You want an academic treatise on Hofstede. Frameworks are cited and applied, not exhaustively reviewed.
You want country-by-country coverage of 50 markets. The deep coverage here is Japan and the U.S.
You want a 90-second hack. This is a system, not a hack.
ABOUT
About August Kjerland.
August Kjerland is a Norwegian entrepreneurship lecturer at BI Norwegian Business School and the University of Agder. He has spent forty years building, advising, and negotiating across Europe, Japan, and the United States.
August has worked with Japanese partners in both the maritime and food industries, giving him broad international experience across sectors, cultures, and business models. After living in the United States for 12 years, he went on to help several Norwegian companies build and develop markets there. This course is based on the practical playbook he wishes he had been given before making his first international deal.
The frameworks are 60 years old. The mistakes founders make with them are made fresh every week.
PRICING
Instant access:
€49
(one-time)
Lifetime access
Learn at your own pace
14-day refund policy
Updates included at no extra cost
Secure checkout via systeme.io · cards & PayPal
What participants say
From founders and operators working across cultures.
"August’s sessions are calm, structured, and immediately practical. I left with clearer thinking and tools I could use the same day."
Greta N.
Interior designer
“August connects theory to practice with concrete examples and smart questions that spark reflection. His sessions consistently make complex topics feel more accessible and actionable.”
Preethy M. J.
Norstellar
“Thanks to August, I was finally able to gather my thoughts, clearly define my plans, and most importantly, get my business off the ground! I highly recommend it.”
Kacper K.
Freelance Graphic Designer
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Lifetime. Buy once, watch on your schedule, including any future updates.
No. Founders, sales leaders, account managers, and consultants all use the same frameworks. The course is built around real negotiation phases, not career stages.
No. Both are introduced and applied inside the course. Citations are there if you want to go deeper.
14-day refund, no questions asked. Email and you get your money back.
The principles in Part 1 apply everywhere. The deep negotiation playbooks cover Japan (Part 2) and the U.S. (Part 3). More countries planned for future courses.
Both. Many teams buy a seat per person and use the lesson cheat sheets in pre-meeting prep.
