1. READING
Read the following text bearing the title of «Cultural Behaviour in Business» available on the website of the British Council:
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.
Fuente: British Council.
Answer the following questions:
1. Which language could be considered as the most widely spoken in global business?
2. Could you give at least two examples on why it is important to get to know each
country’s cultural norms?
3. How would you normally address a General Director from Argentina you are going to
meet with?
4. You are about to have a meeting with a customer based in Chicago. According to the
text you have just read, could you imagine a way to break the ice at the beginning of
the meeting?
5. Could you name a pair of countries in which smiling in a business context is
considered as a deceiving attitude?
6. Is prolonged eye contact positive for business when dealing with a Tokyo seller?
7. Can you indicate at least three elements contributing the way our attitude and
thinking are shaped?
8. How could you improve to avoid miscommunication in a business context?
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2. LISTENING
Listen/Read to the story below:
A – I’ll never forget the first time I met our new contact from Retrolink, one of our top five
customers. I had travelled to their office to meet him in person, talk about the history of our
companies together and define a shared vision for future co-operation. I wanted to focus on
building a good relationship with him which would be a good foundation for working together. So, when we met I wanted to make a good impression and also show him respect. I greeted him with a handshake and addressed him by his surname. When I put my hand out I realised he had been moving in to give me a hug, so we did an awkward mixture of the two! Also, when I greeted him by his surname, he responded politely, though he used my first name. It was all a little uncomfortable.
In this situation, I guess I made assumptions about the level of formality he expected. Even
though he had never met me before, he knew our two companies had been doing business with each other for years and he wanted to build on that history by being less formal with me from the beginning. The real learning here for me was that I shouldn’t assume we all have the same ideas about meeting people for the first time.
B – I’d never worked with a virtual team on an international project before. It was quite exciting, though also challenging to work with people from different countries, many of whom I would never actually get to meet in person. There were a lot of things that were different about working in the same office and it was quite challenging at the beginning.
For example, there were different time zones, different IT systems and even different local
regulations, which impacted on what each person was allowed to, or able to, do for the project.
There were also interpersonal differences, such as different ways of working, approaches to
deadlines and when to reply to emails. And we shouldn’t forget the fact that English was the
project language and that most people on the team had to work in a language which wasn’t their first. A positive of this was that it meant that everyone, including the native English speakers, had to make the effort to communicate clearly and clarify their own and everyone else’s understanding.
To help us all get on the same page, we defined the communication norms and the rules the
team would follow, as well as the meeting dates and deadlines. We laid this all out in a document called a team or project charter. This was really useful and in the end the project was a great success. I’m looking forward to working on my next international project.
C – I went through a bit of a rough patch last year at work. I was already committed to too much and then we lost a team member through restructuring and I quickly became overloaded. This led to me doing too much overtime and feeling very stressed. My boss was really helpful and she pushed back against the unrealistic targets that had been set for our department. She also introduced me to the smart approach to goal setting. It’s an acronym, S-M-A-R-T. You use it to create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely.
I used this approach to deal with all of the things that were overloading me. It helped me to
prioritise some tasks, to do some later and to drop some completely. I often use this approach now and feel much more in control of my time and workload.
D – Have you ever missed a flight or had one cancelled? I did. It happened to me last week. My flight home from a business trip was the last one of the day and we were told it was going to be delayed. That’s always a risk at the end of each day. The ground crew kept extending the delay until eventually they cancelled the flight completely. They then told us to go back through the airport to the departures area to talk to their agent who would organise hotels for everyone and rebook us on the following day’s flight.
As soon as they made the announcement about the cancellation, I knew I had to think quickly
as it would not be likely that the flight would have capacity to take everyone from my cancelled flight. I hurried back through the airport and was one of the first to make it to the desk. That turned out to be a good idea, as there were only nine seats available on the flight the next morning. Everyone else had to fly to a different airport and then continue back to our destination airport in coaches. Lucky me! Right?
Answer the following questions:
1. Why did my new contact from Retrolink want to be less formal from the beginning?
2. Which were the advantages of working in a team of non-native English speakers?
3. When setting goals, which approach was implemented by this person? And what was it
useful for?
4. What was the air company’s agent supposed to do after the flight had been cancelled?
5. What turned out to be a good idea?
3. WRITING
You are doing some teamwork activity. You and your colleagues have to organise a Business
English training aimed to small business/store owners, so you all need to set goals at different
levels, including but not limited to the type of tasks to be completed, tasks assignment, deadlines, and budget. Write down at least eight goals concerning different aspects of this
project.
Don’t forget to use the terms and expressions you have just learnt in this context (minimum 150 words).