Cultural Behaviour in Business

Cultural behaviour in business
Read a blog post about doing business in different cultures to practise

and improve your reading skills.
Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.
Reading C1: Cultural behaviour in business

Match the words with the definitions.
• to pigeonhole someone: to decide that they belong to a particular class or category,

often without considering all their qualities or characteristics.
• Stark: severe or bare in appearance or outline.
• to stand someone in good stead: to be useful or helpful to someone or something. His
language skills will stand him in good stead when he is traveling.
• nuances
• to break the ice: If you break the ice at a party or meeting, or in a new situation, you
say or do something to make people feel relaxed and comfortable. That sort of approach
should go a long way toward breaking the ice. No one had said a word until I broke the
ice.
• to be conceived as: noun. something conceived; notion, idea, design, or plan.
• Pompous: affectedly and irritatingly grand, solemn, or self-important.
• Mundane: everyday, ordinary, or banal. 2. relating to the world or worldly matters.
1. subtle iferences in meaning:
2. to be useful to someone in the future:
3. arrogant and self-important:
4. extreme and obvious, often used with ‘difference’ or ‘contrast’:

5. to be thought of as:
6. boring, uninteresting or ordinary:
7. to do something that helps relieve the tension and get conversation going,
especially :
8. between people meeting for the first time:
9. to label someone and put them in a restrictive category:
Reading text
Much of today's business is conducted across international borders,

and while the majority of the global business community might share
the use of English as a common language, the nuances and
expectations of business communication might differ greatly from
culture to culture. A lack of understanding of the cultural norms and
practices of our business acquaintances can result in unfair
judgements, misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication.
Here are three basic areas of differences in the business etiquette
around the world that could help stand you in good stead when you
next find yourself working with someone from a different culture.
Addressing someone
When discussing this topic in a training course, a German trainee and
a British trainee got into a hot debate about whether it was appropriate
for someone with a doctorate to use the corresponding title on their
business card. The British trainee maintained that anyone who wasn't
a medical doctor expecting to be addressed as 'Dr' was disgustingly
pompous and full of themselves. The German trainee, however,
argued that the hard work and years of education put into earning that
PhD should give them full rights to expect to be addressed as 'Dr'.
This stark difference in opinion over something that could be conceived
as minor and thus easily overlooked goes to show that we often attach
meaning to even the most mundane practices. When things that we
are used to are done differently, it could spark the strongest reactions
in us. While many Continental Europeans and Latin Americans prefer
to be addressed with a title, for example Mr or Ms and their surname
when meeting someone in a business context for the first time,
Americans, and increasingly the British, now tend to prefer using their
first names. The best thing to do is to listen and observe how your
conversation partner addresses you and, if you are still unsure, do not
be afraid to ask them how they would like to be addressed.
Smiling
A famous Russian proverb states that 'a smile without reason is a sign
of idiocy' and a so-called 'smile of respect' is seen as insincere and
often regarded with suspicion in Russia. Yet in countries like the United
States, Australia and Britain, smiling is often interpreted as a sign of
openness, friendship and respect, and is frequently used to break the
ice.
In a piece of research done on smiles across cultures, the researchers

found that smiling individuals were considered more intelligent than
non-smiling people in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, China
and Malaysia. However, in countries like Russia, Japan, South Korea
and Iran, pictures of smiling faces were rated as less intelligent than
the non-smiling ones. Meanwhile, in countries like India, Argentina and
the Maldives, smiling was associated with dishonesty.
Eye contact
An American or British person might be looking their client in the eye to
show that they are paying full attention to what is being said, but if that
client is from Japan or Korea, they might find the direct eye contact
awkward or even disrespectful. In parts of South America and Africa,
prolonged eye contact could also be seen as challenging authority. In
the Middle East, eye contact across genders is considered
inappropriate, although eye contact within a gender could signify
honesty and truthfulness.
Having an increased awareness of the possible differences in
expectations and behaviour can help us avoid cases of
miscommunication, but it is vital that we also remember that cultural
stereotypes can be detrimental to building good business relationships.
Although national cultures could play a part in shaping the way we
behave and think, we are also largely influenced by the region we
come from, the communities we associate with, our age and gender,
our corporate culture and our individual experiences of the world. The
knowledge of the potential differences should therefore be something
we keep at the back of our minds, rather than something that we use to
pigeonhole the individuals of an entire nation.

Cultural Behaviour in Business

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Cultural behaviour in business

Read a blog post about doing business in different cultures to practise

Reading C1: Cultural behaviour in business

• to pigeonhole someone: to decide that they belong to a particular class or category,

1. subtle iferences in meaning:

2. to be useful to someone in the future:

3. arrogant and self-important:

4. extreme and obvious, often used with ‘difference’ or ‘contrast’:

6. boring, uninteresting or ordinary:

8. between people meeting for the first time:

9. to label someone and put them in a restrictive category:

Much of today's business is conducted across international borders,

In a piece of research done on smiles across cultures, the researchers

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