World Trade Resource CEO on bringing cultural intelligence to drive better business performance

Arabian Business

07-07-2025

Stephan Branch is no stranger to global boardrooms. He's led multi-billion-dollar companies, taken organisations public, and worked in over 50 countries across five continents. Now, as CEO of World Trade Resource (WTR), a global consulting firm helping multinational organisations optimise performance, he's bringing his global expertise in cultural intelligence to the UAE with a bolder message. Relationship-building isn't optional. It's the engine of performance.
With a childhood shaped by exchange students in the house and professional life on five continents, Branch brings a rare blend of lived experience and executive leadership to the challenges of globalisation. At a time when the UAE is increasingly becoming a nexus for international commerce and innovation, he explains how global businesses are being encouraged to operate here.
WTR is known for tracking tens of thousands of culturally relevant metrics across nations, sectors, and teams to improve workplace outcomes, leadership effectiveness, and business performance. 'We don't just look at demographics or surface behaviours,' Branch explains. 'We dig into how people view time, hierarchy, trust, and success, and how those views affect everything from negotiations to employee retention.'
In the UAE, for instance, where the workforce and executive landscape is profoundly international and relational, that kind of understanding is not just useful; it's essential. 'In a place like Dubai, if you walk into a room and expect to be treated as an equal on your resume alone, without building credibility or connection, you'll be politely ignored,' Branch says. 'Hierarchy and respect matter. So does taking the time to get to know someone: about their family, their background, what drives them. That's where the real business starts.'
Branch shares the example of a business leader failing, not because they lacked skills, but because they misread the cultural environment when moving from Milan to Barcelona. 'She would assume Spain would operate similarly to Northern Italy. But her entire education was Germanic in structure: transactional, linear, and results-driven. She has never allocated time to build relationships with her team. In Spain, that will be seen as dismissive,' he recalls. 'Six months down the line, she would be floundering, and her team disengaged.'
The WTR CEO gives another instance wherein an executive from Paris might fail after relocating to Montreal. He shares: 'One would think that speaking French is enough. But Quebecois culture is more egalitarian. Titles don't carry as much weight there. You have to earn your team's buy-in personally. If the executive doesn't, it would derail their career.'
Branch further explains that this is not optional. For him, labelling cultural intelligence as such undermines its value. He says, 'Cultural competency impacts mergers and acquisitions, branding, sales, leadership, team cohesion; everything that hits your bottom line.'
And he's right. He's observed this himself: organisations that fail to adapt their leadership and internal culture across regions see dips in performance, morale, and even market share. And that's especially dangerous in a place like the UAE, where reputation and relationship precede results. 'You won't get traction here with a US or German-style transactional mindset. You must adapt your leadership and build relational capital. That's how deals get done,' Branch states.
As more companies build globally distributed teams, Branch sees an urgent need for internal alignment. He says, 'I've seen different teams in different countries. Each one interprets time, status, hierarchy, and trust differently. No one trains leaders for that. You won't get results unless you create a unifying, inclusive internal culture that still respects regional nuances.'
Through WTR's team profiling and Branch's decades of expertise, companies are able to assess how cultural expectations play out inside their teams, not just between countries but between individuals. 'Cultural norms aren't static. You might have a Brazilian on your team raised in South Africa with a German business education. That's a unique combination. We train leaders to lead that person, not a stereotype,' he says.
Branch further points to 'status attainment' as a cultural difference. 'In the US or Scandinavia, success is defined by position and achievement. But in the Middle East or Latin cultures, it's balanced with community, legacy, and family. Leaders will need to tap into that to truly connect without rushing the process and losing credibility as well as the deal,' he shares.
Stephan Branch isn't asking companies to slow down. He's showing them how to go faster by getting smarter. 'This is about achieving optimum performance,' he says. 'If you're not embedding cultural intelligence into how you lead, manage, and grow globally, you're leaving money, talent, and opportunity on the table.'
As UAE-based firms continue to expand across borders and as foreign companies seek to grow within the Gulf, he has one message: 'You can't lead globally until you learn how to connect locally.'