doing business abroad

Microsoft Word - Cultures.doc

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Formador: Pedro Vargas

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Doing Business Abroad

Different cultures



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Introduction

To be successful in doing business abroad we have to learn about the customs and

practices of other countries. Here we look at some of the areas where such

differences are most noticeable. We also ask students to think about their own

country and what is normal for them.



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Table of Contents

Reading Common cultural differences

Exercise 1 Vocabulary

Grammar Adjectives

Exercise 2 Adjectives

Reading Focus on your country

Exercise 3 Vocabulary

Grammar Adjectives from verbs and nouns

Exercise 4 Adjectives

Grammar Proper nouns

Exercise 5 Proper nouns

Exercise 6 Questions about your company's culture

Final exercise 1 Choose the correct form of the adjective

Final exercise 2 Describe your country



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Common Cultural Differences

With English as the language of international business, communication between

people of different nationalities may seem more straightforward now than ever

before. But language is only a part of communication. We also send out powerful

unspoken signals from the way we dress, the expressions on our face and our

gestures. How can we be sure that these messages have been correctly

interpreted? To make sure that we are not sending out the wrong signals, we have

to learn about the culture and customs of the country we are visiting.

For example, some cultures, especially Latin ones, use a lot of physical contact:

shaking hands, putting a hand on the shoulder, even kissing. But in other

countries such informality would seem much too familiar among business

colleagues and would be inappropriate behaviour.

The main areas in which countries and businesses have different cultural practices

are:

- in the extent to which messages are openly expressed or more subtle,

- in attitudes to time,

- levels of formality,



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- levels of individual freedom,

-all the patterns of behaviour that are associated with the religious or social

traditions of the region.

Plain Speaking

Countries with what are called low context cultures prefer plain speaking. Here,

people say what they mean and there are no hidden messages. But to people from

high context cultures, such directness can seem abrupt, even rude. Typically,

Scandinavian business people are likely to be more direct than, say, British

people, who often use understatement and hints rather than say clearly what they

mean. If a British person says there could be a slight problem with deliveries, he

or she will expect you to understand that it is really serious!

Always Late?

Some cultures are ruled by the clock while others dont really notice time. In some

countries it is fine to be 15 minutes late for meetings it is even expected, but if

you go to Switzerland or Germany, for example, punctuality is essential.

You Can Call Me Al

People from cultures with fewer social hierarchies are usually more informal in

the way they address each other. They will probably use first names immediately

they meet someone. In many countries, however, this is considered disrespectful,

especially to more senior staff or older people, who will expect to be addressed by

their title and their family name.



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Who makes the decisions round here?

Levels of individual freedom vary greatly from culture to culture. If decisions are

normally taken collectively, then you cannot expect your business contact to sign

a deal on the spot. He or she will have to report back to the wider team so that a

full discussion can take place and a group decision can be taken.

Doing As the Romans

The English expression, when in Rome, do as the Romans, is good advice for

travellers thinking about dealing with a culture that has strong religious or

traditional values. If dress codes are very strict, if certain foods are taboo, it is

important to respect these customs in order not to offend your business partners.

Finding out about different cultures is very helpful in business. Although each of

us usually believes our personal perspective is the normal one, in the wider world

there are many different attitudes and points of view. This diversity can

complicate business deals but it is also what makes the world such a fascinating

arena.



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Exercise 1 Choose the best answers: A, B, C, D

1. Another word or phrase for the way we dress, the expressions on our face and

our gestures is:

A. signals

B. illustrations

C. body language

D. feelings

2. informality means:

A. lack of respect

B. rudeness

C. friendliness

D. a relaxed and casual attitude

3. Plain speaking means

A. using jargon

B. saying exactly what you mean

C. telling lies

D. making long speeches

4. Choose the best idiom to complete the sentence, British people are more likely than Scandinavian people to:

A. beat about the bush

B. hit the nail on the head

C. call a spade a spade

D. make a mountain out of a molehill

5. Punctuality means: A. arriving on time

B. arriving late

C. arriving early

D. postponing



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6. Disrespectful is:

A. an adverb

B. an adjective

C. a verb

D. a pronoun

7. A deal is:

A. a bargain

B. a business transaction

C. a sale

D. a purchase

8. When in Rome, do as the Romans, means:

A. learn from the past

B. try to be clever

C. behave like a tourist

D. try to copy local customs

9. To offend means: A. to help

B. to deceive

C. to displease

D. to cheat

10. Diversity means: A. Variety

B. eccentricity

C. uniformity

D. strangeness



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Grammar Adjectives

Adjectives tell us more about nouns and have the following characteristics:

most adjectives may be used before or after the noun (a sick man/the man [he] is sick)

most adjectives can be graded

(small/smaller/smallest; beautiful/more beautiful/most beautiful)

many adjectives are derived from verbs or nouns (enjoyable, attractive, distant)

most adjectives can themselves be modified (very late, quite pretty)



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Grammar Guide

To grade adjectives we can add these suffixes to words of one syllable:

-er (comparative); -est (superlative) tall taller the tallest

With adjectives that end in y, we add ier and iest happy happier the happiest

With multi-syllabic adjectives we use more and the most Interesting: more interesting the most interesting

Some adjectives have irregular forms: good better the best bad worse the worst

We use the definite article with superlative forms: It is the tallest building in the world

To make comparisons using negatives we use not/as/as for single syllable adjectives:

my office is not as big as yours

We can use the same structure for multi-syllable adjectives, or we can use less/than:

my computer is not as powerful as yours vs my computer is less powerful than yours.

For superlatives we use the least preceded by the definite article: this must be the least interesting job in the wor



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Exercise 2

Fill in the gap with the correct form of the adjective. 1. Companies with dress codes are .(formal) than companies that allow casual

clothes.

2. Many western people find Japanese is the . (hard) language to learn.

3. Northern European cultures are . (direct) in their way of speaking than Asian

cultures.

4. Latin people tend to be (punctual) than Northern European people.

5. Mediterranean people often speak . (loud) than British people.

6. You can travel by air, coach or train; the air service is the most frequent with

several flights a day; coaches are less frequent and, with only one train a week,

the train service is .

7. I prefer my office chair because it is . (comfortable) than yours.

8. This model is not only the biggest it is also ..(expensive) costing almost twice

as much as the others.

9. I think he finds foreign travel.. (interesting) than he did in the past.

10. I regret taking this new job, the salary is (bad) than in my previous one.



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Focus on Your Own Country and Culture

How would you describe your own country and its customs? When we think

of a particular country we often think first about its capital city:

Brussels, Rome, Moscow, Tokyo. For many visitors, the capital, with its

famous landmarks such as Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, or the Coliseum, may

be the only place they see but sometimes the capital city is not typical of the

rest of the country. In big cities, such as London or Paris, life can be very

stressful and people are often in a hurry and not always relaxed and friendly.

Is your capital city like that?

But cities are not the heart of a country. What people do, the way they think

and their general attitudes to life are what make each country unique. We can

think about the clothes people wear, especially in their jobs. Does the bank

manager wear a suit and tie or can he wear casual clothes? Do women wear

western dress or more traditional forms of clothing? The food people eat quite

literally helps give us a flavour of the country: raw fish, spicy food, rice,

potatoes, croissants? What are the favourite foods in your country?

Climate is another feature that influences a countrys way of life. Think of

Spain and the way that people have a long break in the middle part of the day,

when it is hottest. It is a time to relax and to enjoy a good lunch.

In more northerly countries, working people often take a much shorter lunch

break and perhaps just eat a sandwich in the office.

How do people in your country spend their leisure time and their holidays?

How much free time do they have? In many countries public holidays, such as

Christmas, Easter, are based on events connected to religion, but important

historical and social events are often marked by holidays too. What events

does your country celebrate?

When we do business with other countries we have to observe and understand

and respect the differences between cultures in order to be successful. In the

words of Mark Twain: Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-

mindedness, and many of our people need it solely on these accounts. Broad,

wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by

vegetating in one corner of the earth all one's lifetime.



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Exercise 3

Choose the best answer: A,B, C or D.

1. Brussels, Paris, London, Tokyo are all examples of:

A. common nouns

B. collective nouns

C. abstract nouns

D. proper nouns

2. We associate croissants with which country?

A. Japan

B. France

C. Germany

D. Saudi Arabia

3. Christmas and Easter are examples of:

A. Christian holidays

B. Muslim holidays

C. Hindu holidays

D. celebrations of political events

4. In Spain

A. workers do not take lunch breaks

B. workers take short lunch breaks

C. workers stay in the office and eat a sandwich

D. workers take a long, leisurely lunch break

5. Mark Twain believes travel is important because

A. we need holidays abroad

B. it helps us to understand other cultures and customs

C. we have to speak foreign languages

D. we can try different foods.



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Grammar Forming adjectives from verbs and nouns

We can make adjectives from verbs and nouns in the following ways: By using the present participle;

examples are:

cooking pots, writing paper, running water, a boring film By using the past participle;

examples are:

I am interested in languages; he was surprised by the food; By adding or changing suffixes;

examples are:

enjoy/enjoyable, permit/permissible, hope/hopeful, attract/attractive history/historic, distance/distant.



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Grammar Guide

The choice of present participle or past participle as an adjective has an important effect on meaning.

The ing form is used to describe activities, events or objects. Examples:

a boring meeting; an interesting journey; a tiring job

The ed form is used to describe the reactions of the people to an activity, event or object. Examples: he was bored by the meeting; she was interested in the journey; they are tired of their jobs.

A change of suffix alters the meaning of an adjective. Examples: Latin people are often more excitable than northern people. Discovering new countries is exciting. My boss said she was impressed by my excellent report. Landmarks such as Big Ben are very impressive.



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Exercise 4

Select the correct form of the adjective: 1. Travelling can be very tiring/tired.

2. It is exciting/excitable to travel to new places

3. He was pleasing/pleased to win the new contract.

4. The bright new offices are delightful/delighted.

5. It is illegitimate/illegal to travel without a ticket.



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Grammar Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are unique names rather than general names always have a

capital first letter. Proper nouns include:

continents, countries, states, cities and town, seas, lakes, mountains, rivers:

Asia, Turkey, Virginia, Berlin, the Mediterranean, Lake Windermere, Everest,

the Tagus river

Personal names with or without titles:

Romano Prodi, President Bush, Paul McCartney, Dr Watson, Professor Jones

Calendar events including festivals, names of months and days of the week:

Christmas, Passover, January, Tuesday

Names of books, newspapers, films, magazines:

Great Expectations, The Times, Gone with the Wind, The Economist

Institutions:

The Bank of England, the Houses of Parliament



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Exercise 5 Match the proper nouns below with their definitions by writing the correct number next to the name: a. The Stock Exchange b. The Royal Mint c. Bank Holiday d. The Budget e. The Financial Times f. Wall Street g. Copenhagen h. The House of Commons i. Whitsun j. The Trevi Fountain

i) site of the New York Stock Exchange ii) a place where stocks and shares are traded iii) a public holiday in the UK iv) a UK daily newspaper focusing on business v) the capital city of Denmark vi) the seventh Sunday after Easter vii) tourist attraction in Rome viii) one of the Chambers of the houses of Parliament in the UK ix) the UKs annual announcement of its financial plans x) where money is coined in Britain



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Exercise 6

Answer the questions below to build a picture of your countrys company culture. Try to give explanations of your answers wherever possible.

1 Do you address colleagues, superiors and subordinates by their first names? 2 How seriously is punctuality taken in your company? 3 What procedures exist for appraising people's work? 4 Are meetings usually formal, with an agenda, or more casual? 5 Do people make personal telephone calls from the office? 6 Are individuals encouraged to make suggestions to improve the way the company is run? 7 Are workers consulted before major decisions are taken? 8 Are flexible working hours permitted? 9 Are employees encouraged to acquire new skills? 10 Is your company open to change and innovation? 11 Does your company rely heavily on computerized systems? 12 Is the relationship between management and employees co-operative or combative? 13 Does you company organize social events for its staff? 14 Do people stay with your company for a long time? 15 Do staff understand and participate willingly in the company's administrative systems?



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Final exercise 1

Insert the best form of the adjective in the text.

When you travel abroad on business it is a good idea to carry a few small gifts

to give to your overseas business partners. Your new/newer/newest contacts

will be very appreciative/appreciable of such gestures and this helps to create a

relaxed/relaxing atmosphere. Always be willing to try the

traditional/traditionalist foods of your host country, even if you are not sure if

you will like them or not; your hosts will be delightful/delighted that you are

interested/interesting in their cuisine. Of course you will find some customs

difficult/more difficult/most difficult than others to accept. But dont forget

that you often practise some of them before your trip. For example, if you will

have to use chopsticks, try a few visits to your near/nearer/nearest China town

so that you can learn how to use them. Even if you use English for business,

will seem very polite/politer/politest if you can say a few words in the

language of your hosts. And dont worry if your pronunciation is

funny/funnier/funniest. If you make your business partners laugh, you well

help create a much friendly/friendlier/friendliest atmosphere.



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Final exercise 2

Read text 2. Then write a description of your country, its customs and traditions (250 - 300 words).

doing business abroad

Education

grammar guide

proper nouns

grammar adjectives

definite article

pedro vargas

present participle

business abroad

correct form