Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development

Doing Business Across Cultures

Forks in the Road

• Attitudes toward task completion

• Attitudes toward conflict

• Communication styles

Getting Down to Business

• Punctuality

• Amount of personal information exchanged

• Offers of food and drink

Communication Styles

• Degree of Formality

• Hierarchy

• Silence

• Saying No/Degree of directness in communication

Interpreting Behaviors

• Attention to status and hierarchical structure: forms of address, style of dressing, customs of interaction

• Showing the bottom of your shoe

• Where to keep your hands at the table

• Degree of physical proximity/contact

• Business card exchange

Source: Hardwood Review Weekly March 12, 2010

The U.S. from the Outside Looking In

• High degree of regard and admiration for the U.S. around the world

• Sensitive to the perception the U.S. can seem to be the center of the world

Where Good Intentions Can Go Bad

•Talking about country’s problems with poverty or violence

•Talking about politics

•Drawing associations among very different socio-economic groups from the same country or region

•Assuming a high degree of knowledge about the U.S., while having limited knowledge of other person’s country

Business is Global but People are Local

•Learn basic history

•Learn a few words of the language

•Have a basic sense of the geography and current events

•Understand market, pricing, & shipping considerations

Building a Relationship

• Persistence in communication: An email is not a relationship

• Patience

• Follow-up

Communication

• Use standard English whenever possible

•Limit use of acronyms, slang, and idiomatic expressions

•Beware the automatic translator

•Be careful with industry-specific terms

• Be realistic & plan for the language expertise that will be needed to be successful in sales and service as your international business develops

Enjoy the Learning Curve

• Intention is very important

• Nobody knows everything

• Opportunity to see your own culture in a new light