Bridging the Intercultural Gap in Business

Globalization is a fact.

We are living in an increasingly internationalized market place.

Thus it is important even for small- and medium-sized companies to attune themselves to the realities of doing business with partners and customers from other cultures.

In the United States, an outgoing and affable yet diversity-conscious and politically-correct approach is generally welcomed in business transactions. But that’s not the case in a number other countries.

What we call here “friendly banter” and “small talk” may come across as “lack of respect” and an unauthorized intrusion into someone’s personal space, for example.

Or too much deference to other person’s views and preferences may again be misinterpreted in some cultures as a lack of resolution and leadership.

Even the way you write the date in a contract, for example, may lead to confusion since not a lot of people write the month first. It would be safest to start with the day, then write the month as a word, followed by a comma and then the year. For example: 27 October, 2007.

Here is a fascinating list of the correct way to behave if you are doing business in Russia (The Wall Street Journal, Oct 27-28, 2007):

1) Practice authoritative, not authoritarian leadership.
2) Build a strong organizational culture with visible foreign element.
3) Work to create an empowered organization, step-by-step.
4) Respect local rules, but play your own game.
5) Stand firm on major goals and be flexible on details.
6) Learn to live and manage in a crisis.
7) Recognize that corruption is omnipresent in Russia and must be managed.
Cultivate relationships with government agencies at all levels.

Here is the link to the rest of this fascinating article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119247792825759622.html

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed