1、Global Social Customs and Business Etiquette1 Business and Social CustomsCustoms are behaviors generally expected in specific situations and are established, socially acceptable ways of behaving in given circumstances. Customs vary not only by country but by regions or locations within a country. Fo
2、r example in the United States, customs differ along north-south lines and urban-rural lines (Althen, 1988). In addition, religious backgrounds and ethnic identities account for differences in customs.People of the United States have customary behaviors associated with certain holidays such as eatin
3、g turkey on Thanksgiving, giving gifts at Christmas, and staying up until midnight on New Years Eve. Other customary behaviors are associated with greetings and verbal expressions, male/female relationships, dress and appearance, use of humor, belief in superstitions, and special foods and consumpti
4、on taboos. While it is impossible lo identify all customs of a particular culture, certain customs are important to conducting business interculturally.2 Greeting and Handshaking CustomsCustomary greetings vary from culture to culture. Persons from other cultures are struck by the informality of U.S
5、. Americans who often say “Hi!“ to complete strangers. In most countries of the world, this practice is uncommon. People of the United States are often perceived as insincere when they use the standard greeting “Hi, how are you?“ which does not mean that they are actually inquiring on the state of o
6、nes health. This outward show of friendliness is often misleading since people from the United States are in reality private and slow to form friendships. The use of “Hello, Im pleased to meet you“ is preferable as it conveys a more sincere message.British-born journalist Henry Fairlie, in writing “
7、Why I Love America,“ recalled this encounter with a four-year-old boy riding his tricycle in the suburbs shortly after his arrival in the United States:“As I passed him, he said Hi!just like that. No four-year-old boy had ever addressed me without an introduction before. Recovering from the culture
8、shock, I found myself saying in return: Wellhi! He pedaled off, apparently satisfied.“Fairlie, who comes from a country where one can tell another persons class from their greeting, observed that the greeting “Hi!“ is a democracy. In America, anyone can say “Hi!“ to anyone else (Fairlie, 1983).In ad
9、dition to the informal “Hi!“ when meeting someone, persons of the United States engage in other ritualistic greeting behavior. When greeting an office colleague, one person will say, “Good morning, how are you?“ The appropriate response is, “Fine, thank you. And how are you?“ Some people make the mi
10、stake of forgetting that this is only a ritual and will proceed to tell you in great detail the state of their health. Remember, the appropriate response is, “Fine, thanks.“Guenther Lengues, an exchange student from Germany, recalled his experience with ritualistic greetings when he returned to the
11、campus apartment he shared with three U.S. students following his first day of classes.When one of his roommates said, “Hey, man, whats going on?,“ he was impressed that they seemed interested in how his day had gone and proceeded to recount his experiences in his classes. Noticing the strange expre
12、ssions on his roommates faces, he asked, “Did I say something wrong?“ They then explained to him, “When we say, hey, man, whats going on?, we dont really want to know. Youre supposed to say, Not much, man. and whats going on with you?; then well say, Not much.“When greeting people, the handshake is
13、customary in many countries. While a firm handshake is considered the norm in the United States, it may be considered impolite in some cultures. Handshakes in other cultures vary from the soft grasp of the British to the brusk grasp of Germans. Thiederman (1991) presented the following summary of ho
14、w various cultures differ in their ideas of a proper handshake:Whereas embracing is considered inappropriate as a form of greeting in the United States, in other countries it is customary. For example in Saudi Arabia, the handshake is accompanied with a light kiss; even males in Saudi Arabia kiss bo
15、th cheeks after a handshake. In the Russian stales, the “bear hug“ may follow a strong, firm handshake between good male friends; neighboring Finns, on the other hand, do not hug, kiss, or have body contact with strangers. People in Latin American countries also embrace, often ac-companied by a coup
16、le of slaps on the back (Figure 9.1).Asians, northern Europeans, and most North Americans are uncomfortable with touching and hugging. People of Greece have no firm customs for greeting others; they may shake hands, embrace, and/or kiss a person at the first meeting or at every meeting. Bowing is th
17、e customary form of greeting in Japan. In China, bowing is customary, but a handshake is also acceptable. When conducting business with people of Japan or China, the handshake is often combined with a bow so that each culture shows the other proper respect (Baldrige, 1993) (See Figure 9.2).3 Verbal
18、ExpressionsAlthough you are not expected to learn the language of every country where you conduct business, if you plan an extended relationship with a particular culture, learning to speak the language, especially commonly used expressions, is important since you may have to communicate with person
19、s who do not speak your language.Make an effort to learn to say such basic expressions as please and thank you, greetings, and other terms commonly used by people in the culture. Examples of such terms in French, German, and Spanish follow.In addition to these expressions, a knowledge of other verba
20、l expressions customarily used in a culture is useful. In the United States, people often respond to someone with a one word reply: “sure,“ “okay,“ and “nope.“ While such brevity seems blunt and abrupt by foreign standards, it is simply an indication of the informality typical of U.S. persons. Some
21、expressions are used only in certain regions of the United States. For example, people in the southern United States will often say “Yall come to see us“ when bidding someone good-bye. The expected reply is “Thanks! Yall come to see us, too.“ This verbal exchange should not be taken as an invitation
22、 to visit but is rather only a friendly ritual. In many other cultures and certain regions in the United States, however, such an expression is meant to be an actual invitation to visit.Other expressions such as “Dont mention it“ and “Think nothing of it“ in response to a courtesy or favor are consi
23、dered rude by persons of other cultures. These expressions, however, are consistent with the U.S. custom that people should be modest and should not brag on themselves. Some persons feel awkward when people compliment or thank them and simply do not know how to respond (Lanier, 1996). When being tha
24、nked for a courtesy, a response of “You are welcome“ is preferable. Other confusing verbal expressions used in the United Stales include “Whats up.“ and “Hows it go-ing?“ Persons for whom English is a second language have no idea what the phrases mean. Using idioms and slang when conversing with new
25、 speakers of English should be avoided because they rely on the literal translation of words. For example, a newcomer to the United States did not accept a job on the “graveyard shift“ since he thought he would be working in a cemetery (Dresser, 1996).Upon meeting someone for the first time, U.S. pe
26、rsons engage in chitchat (small talk or light conversation). Small talk is important in getting to know another person before concentrating on business. In most cultures, starting business without light conversation is rude and insensitive. Chitchat often includes comments about the weather, the phy
27、sical surroundings, the days news or almost anything of a nonsubstantive nature (Althen, 1988; Baldrige, 1993). People of the United States excel at small talk as do Canadians and Australians. The British and the French are likewise masters of small talk. In the United States, small talk would not i
28、nclude topics related to politics, religion, personal income, or discussions of ones personal life. Likewise in Saudi Arabia, conversations about family members are usually inappropriate. In Latin America and Mexico, on the other hand, it is not only appropriate to inquire about the health of family
29、 members but to have lengthy discussions about their well-being. Any inquiries about ones family in the United States would be brief: “How is your wife?“ would be answered with “Fine, thanks“ (Althen, 1988). Small talk seems to pose problems for people of some cultures. Germans, for example, simply
30、do not believe in it. Swedes, usually fluent in English, have little to say in addition to talking about their jobs which lasts 10 to 15 minutes. The Japanese are frightened by the idea of small talk as are people of Finland who actually buy books on the art of small talk (Lewis, 1996).South America
31、ns can talk incessantly for hours despite their relatively deficient foreign language skills. Author Richard Lewis reported attending an all-Latin American cocktail party in Caracas that lasted from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. He said: “There were 300 people present, very little to eat, nobody stopped talking,
32、 except to draw breath, for six hours flat; I do not remember a single word that was said“ (Lewis, 1996, p. 152).When engaging in chitchat with someone of another culture, the best advice is probably to follow the other persons lead. If they talk about their family, you would talk about yours. If th
33、ey initiate discussions of a political nature, you would continue the discourse with your own perceptions.4 Male and Female RelationshipsIn high-context societies such as the Arabic culture, people have definite ideas on what constitutes proper behavior between males and females. In low-context cult
34、ures such as the United States, little agreement exists. Thus, both people of the United States and visitors from other cultures have difficulty knowing how to proceed in male/female relationships in the United States since a wide range of behaviors may be observed.A problem with understanding accep
35、table male/female relationships in any culture is the stereotypes that exist. For example, a stereotype of U.S. women is that they are domineering and “loose“ (have no inhibitions regarding having sexual relationships with a variety of men). Correspondingly, U.S. American men are viewed as weak who
36、permit women to dominate them. Stereotypes of women in other cultures include that Asian women are nonassertive and submissive; a stereotype of Latin American males is that they are predatory and constantly pursue women. for sexual relationships (Althen, 1988). One tail and handsome Middle Eastern g
37、raduate student said he had come to the States with the notion that women were readily available for sexual activities with people such as himself. Everything that happened to him during his first two years in the States confirmed his opinion. After about two years, though, he began to realize that
38、the women who were so readily available were not representative of the whole society. They were a certain type of personinsecure, socially marginal, apparently unable to find satisfactory relationships with American men so they turned to foreign students (Althen, 1988, p. 89).The equality of men and
39、 women in the workplace has been a sensitive issue in the United States. Although 61) percent of U.S. women of employment age work, they still do not receive equal pay and responsibility. Some U.S. men feel threatened by the more assertive roles many women are assuming. However, most people accept t
40、hat men and women can work side by side in the workplace (Lanier, 1996) and that they can have a friendship which does not have a sexual component. US. men and women often have business colleagues of the opposite gender. These work relationships may involve business travel, and no assumption is made
41、 about any sexual involvement.In other countries, however, treatment of men and women in the workplace differs substantially from that of the United States. In Mexico, for example, male supervisors customarily kiss their female secretaries on the cheek each morning or embrace them. Despite this cust
42、om (seen as undue familiarity by US. managers), problems with sexual harassment and gender discrimination are uncommon according to Mexican managers. U.S. managers interviewed, however, reported the opposite (Stephens however, they will laugh out of politeness when a joke is told. They take what is
43、said quite literally and do not understand U.S. American humor. Germans, too, find humor out of place during business meetings. They take business seriously and do not appreciate joking remarks during negotiations. When a presentation in Germany was begun with a cartoon deriding European cultural di
44、fferences, no one laughed. As the week progressed, people started laughing, both in and out of the sessions. Later the presenters learned that cartoons were not appropriate in a professional setting of strangers (Trompenaars in Australia, humor is barbed and provocative (Lewis, 1996).Some businesspe
45、rsons with global experience recommend that jokes be avoided with people of diverse cultures; they maintain that American humor is hard to export and appreciate. Even though the intention of humor is to put your international colleagues at ease and create a more relaxed environment, the risk of offe
46、nding someone of another culture or of telling a story that no one understands, is great (Thiederman, 1991). In short, we do not all laugh at the same things.A New York businessman who frequently traveled to Japan on business, often used a translator for his speeches. After one such speech, he learn
47、ed that the Japanese interpreters version of his opening remarks went like this:“American businessman is beginning speech with thing called joke. I am not sure why, but all American businessmen believe it necessary to start speech with joke. (Pause) He is telling joke now but frankly you would not u
48、nderstand joke so I wont translate it. He thinks I am telling you joke now. Polite thing to do when he finishes is to laugh. (Pause) He is getting close. (Pause) Now!“The audience not only laughed appreciatively but stood and applauded as well. Later he commented to the translator: “Ive been giving
49、speeches in this country for several years, and you are the first translator who knows how to tell a good joke“ (Axtell, 1990).6 Superstitions and TaboosSuperstitions are beliefs that are inconsistent with the known laws of science or what a society considers to be true and rational. Examples of superstitions include a belief that special charms, omens, or rituals have supernatural powers. Superstitions which are treated rather casually in Europe and North America are taken quite seriously in other cultures. While few U.S. persons consult astrologers o
