Test Your Global Business Smarts
It's a truism that business is getting more global every day. Do you know the basics of how to act when you're working with people from other cultures?
Here are 10 social gaffes that can screw up an international business relationship. Match each gaffe with the region where it's considered the most serious:
- ___ Arrive early for a meal or other social engagement.
- ___ Ask about your colleague's family and personal life.
- ___ Bring up business issues during a casual meal.
- ___ Complain loudly when government bureaucracy slows down a deal.
- ___ Dress casually for business meetings with top managers.
- ___ Forget to bring a small gift for every business contact.
- ___ Insist upon promptness, then be offended when people are late.
- ___ Make a disparaging remark about the country's King.
- ___ Try to negotiate in a language other than the local native tongue.
- ___ Wear a formal business suit to every meeting.
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ANSWERS:
- Belgium: Bring up business issues during a casual meal.
- China: Forget to bring a small gift for every business contact.
- Germany: Ask about your colleague's family and personal life.
- Hong Kong: Arrive early for a meal or other social engagement.
- Israel: Wear a formal business suit to every meeting.
- India: Complain loudly when government bureaucracy slows down a deal.
- Japan: Try to negotiate in a language other than the local native tongue.
- Saudi Arabia: Insist upon promptness, then be offended when people are late.
- Thailand: Make a disparaging remark about the country's King.
- United Kingdom: Dress casually for business meetings with top managers.
READERS: Are there some worse blunders that ought to be on the list?