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| Marketing Overseas: Manners Maketh the Trip |
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When in Rome, should you do as the Romans do? We begin a two-part series on culturally appropriate business strategies, starting with the perils and pleasures of international business meetings.
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| "A traveler of taste will notice that the wise are polite all over the world, but the fool only at home." –
Oliver Goldsmith
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Are you what Joyce Miller, of the cross-cultural communications training company Culturalsavvy.com, terms "culturally savvy"? Being culturally savvy means more than knowing whether or not you put down your fork in between bites at a business lunch. Whether you are traveling to Japan, Mexico, Germany or the United States, your level of cultural awareness could make or break the trip.
Business meeting etiquette is based on each country's cultural norms and education. While the trend towards globalization has seeped through to many areas of our lives, methods of conducting business remain strictly local. Sensitivity to the sometimes subtle, sometimes extreme differences of approach is essential for advancing your company's interests in the international arena.
You need to know when a silence is considered embarrassing and when a long pause is desirable; when to shake hands and when to bow; even when to get to the point and when to refrain from specifics. Speak to colleagues who have already conducted business in the countries you intend to visit, do some reference work, sign up for a cross-cultural training seminar — anything to give you a strategic advantage necessary to walk into your meeting with a clear, culturally appropriate plan of action and an understanding of your hosts' expectations and communication patterns.
Here are a few pointers:
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| Greetings, Stranger
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Life on Other Planets
Executive Planet is the Ms. Manners of the international business world. It is a well organized source of information on business culture and etiquette, negotiating tactics, gift-giving, and even correct business dress, for 35 countries (to date). They also have specific advice for women business travelers.
Even if you are not planning a trip to Venezuela or China in the near future, the site is fun to navigate, although both business travelers and the "natives" of each country, including Israelis, might find the style a little patronizing. (Do we really need to be told to close the door upon leaving the bathroom in Germany and the Netherlands? Are we therefore supposed to keep it open in France and Brazil?)
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When do you shake hands? Do you present business cards? How close do you sit? What you say, how you say it and what you do when you meet, transmits specific messages to your hosts. Common sense suggests that you take your cues from them. It's like watching at a dinner table to check which cutlery is used for which course. Japan poses the biggest cultural challenge to most visitors, and it is particularly advisable to get some pre-trip prep tips about Japanese business culture and etiquette.
Don't be fooled by thinking you can get away with casual behavior in the United States or England just because you might speak the same language. Do you? In the Netherlands, if the executive means "No," she or he says "No." In India, the word "No" is rarely used at all. You will be politely rejected with "We'll see" or another vague phrase.
According to Maurice Contal of World Executives, a company that prepares executives for working in France, "it is not enough to share a common language. Success can only derive from business skills based on understanding of the different business practices, work ethic and culture."
The potential cultural pitfalls are so great in Southeast Asia, for example, that Trendlines Senior Consultant David Simons, who has notched up years of experience in overseas business travel, recommends that you team up with a local agent or representative when traveling in the region. "It is best to leave all financial and organizational arrangements to someone with local knowledge," Simons explains. "Let them see to all these matters as you could end up misunderstood, embarrassed, compromised or worse."
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| It's All in the Timing |
Even the presentation timing and handling of business cards varies from country to country — it's another "watch and learn" situation if you haven't done your homework.
In Japan, business cards are viewed as a measure of your seniority. The quality of paper used, whether the type is embossed, the design — all are examined by the recipient and speak for your worth as a negotiating partner. By the way, it is considered disrespectful to scribble on the business card that your Japanese counterpart has just handed to you, or to stuff it into a back pocket.
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| The Gift |
| "Whatever it is, I fear Greeks even when they bring gifts."
–Virgil's Aeniad
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Gift giving in the business world is rather more complicated than one might think. Culturalsavvy.com points out that "selecting an appropriate and proper gift requires knowledge and sensitivity." It is acceptable to arrive bearing gifts in the Far East, India, and Latin America, for example. It is not usually expected in the United States, England, and Germany, where the giving of a business gift is could be interpreted as an attempt to win friends and influence proceedings. Those in the know suggest bringing along innocuous items such as desk organizers (no letter openers though, especially in Spain and Latin American countries where they symbolize death).
Several websites offer hints on what and what not to bring, including Culturalsavvy.com and Executive Planet.
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| Now We're Talking |
In negotiations, as in classic comedy routines, timing is everything. When to be silent, when to come to the point, when to fudge it. In a bizmove.com article "Tips for Business Travel Abroad," the author notes that companies should "pay close attention to different styles of doing business and the degree of importance placed on developing business relationships." The article continues, "In some countries, business people have a very direct style, while in others they are much more subtle in style and value the personal relationship more than most of us do in business." A business acquaintance relates that in England you can sit with your hosts through a four-course lunch without a word about the business at hand. Then the coffee arrives and wham — straight to the nitty-gritty.
Your strategy has to factor in the nuances of negotiating in the country you are visiting. The issue of cross-cultural communication is taken very seriously these days — witness the proliferation of seminars, academic courses, papers and "how to" books in the past decade. Here is how Dr. John L. Graham, professor of marketing and international business at the University of California-Irvine Graduate School of Management, explains what he terms the "Japanese Strategy":
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| | The correct strategy for Americans negotiating with Japanese or other foreign clients is a Japanese strategy: ask questions. When you think you understand, ask more questions. Carefully feel for pressure points. If an impasse is reached, don't pressure. Suggest a recess or another meeting.
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| As meetings are, after all, probably the point of your visit, cross-cultural communication is key to successful negotiation. Even if you fly home without the desired agreement, you will have left a positive impression on your hosts that (one hopes) will be remembered for the next time. See the Trendlines article "Letter to a Client" for more on the fine art of negotiation.
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| Mi Casa Es Tu Casa ("My home is your home") |
In India, a strictly business meeting could conclude with an invitation home to meet the family. This is considered entirely acceptable, and you will find it hard to refuse. But in the United States, other colleagues and superiors could look on such an invitation — however genuinely offered — with suspicion. If you are uncertain, call your office to determine protocol before you accept (or politely decline). Simons recommends "playing it by ear, but your decision has to comply with your company policy."
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| It's Just Not Funny |
"Humor is the first of the gifts to perish in a foreign tongue," as Virginia Woolf reminds us. Humor keeps us sane, keeps us human, and under the right circumstances can be a great icebreaker. However, jokes can cause awkward silences or worse if your listener finds them offensive. You might find the latest priest joke so funny that you have to share it with your new-found friends, one of whom is a devout Catholic. And I won't even go into the risks of relating risque or racist one-liners, or gender-bashing jokes. Use your judgment and, to paraphrase my mother, "if in doubt, leave it out."
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| Vive La Difference |
You can be culturally clued-in without compromising your integrity. The key is to learn the country's culture, customs and business procedures, and to maintain flexibility and awareness in your approach. Bizmove.com emphasizes the need for cultural "savviness":
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Understanding and heeding cultural variables...is critical to success in international business travel and in international business itself. Lack of familiarity with the business practices, social customs, and etiquette of a country can weaken a company's position in the market, prevent it from accomplishing its objectives, and ultimately lead to failure.
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| Point taken.
Next month we look at culturally appropriate marketing strategies. Or, why Pepsi Cola raised eyebrows in Asia and Perdue Farms sent chickens running in Mexico.
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The Trendletter team welcomes your comments.
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