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Text 1. Cultural Differences
Is the sun red or yellow? Should you crack a joke in a business presentation?
Are such questions important? Is it only language you need to learn?
International business people often invest time and money in improving their
knowledge of foreign languages in order to be able to communicate with col-
leagues from around the world. Language, of course, is vital, but it is only half the
problem.
There are hidden rules for playing the game of doing business with people of
other cultures. It is all to easy to "put your foot in it" by making mistakes which
can upset your foreign counterparts.
An American, greeting a mid-European businessman by saying "Hi Dieter,
great to meet you!" may not be favorably regarded in a country where more formal
modes of address are usual.
In the West, business cards are given a cursory glance and pocketed. In Ja-
pan, they are highly regarded, looked at closely and left on the table during a busi-
ness meeting.
In Britain, most business presentations would include a joke. In many other
countries, this would be unheard of.
Will you cause offence if you refuse to eat something generally regarded as
inedible in your country? Your counterpart may be watching your reaction when
he offers you this local delicacy.
Small talk and relationship building are considered highly important in some
parts of the world; talking about the weather, the wine and the local area come be-
fore business. In other places, people get down to business immediately.
It is important to know the way things are usually dealt with in your host
country. Problems arise because we see things differently. It helps to be aware of
how other nationalities perceive certain things.
The Japanese see the sun as red. It is an important national symbol which
appears on their flag. When Japanese children paint pictures, they paint a red sun.
European and American children paint the sun yellow. When children travel and
see the sun painted in a different colour, they are surprised and find it very strange.
Adults find these differences harder to accept. Both sides may feel uneasy
because they are unsure of the rules of the game in the opposite culture.
It is, however, very dangerous to have stereotyped views of what the other
culture is like. Such views are often narrow and can cause criticism and intoler-
ance. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" and can encourage you to make
predictions about what will happen in your business transactions. If your ideas are
too narrow, you may be surprised at all the people you meet who do not fit into
your pattern and who behave differently from the way you predicted they would.
Our ideas then, have to be flexible and constructed from thorough research
and observation. We should also recognise that it is not only people's national
background that influences their behaviour and personality, but also their particular
regional background, their personal background and their company culture.