Cross-Cultural Training for Global Business
Assignment: You have been tasked by either your workplace or a government contractor (you select a company) to provide business executives with a report detailing key insights into conducting business in a specific country. You choose the country.
o Write your report to a primary audience of senior-level decision-makers as well as a secondary audience of middle management employees who will be conducting business in the country of your choice.
Become familiar with a specific country/culture through interviews (if possible) and research. Based on your interviews and research,
create a report summarizing how to perform business in the culture you selected.
Here are a few ideas to begin researching from your selected culture. You do not need to include each topic. Again - think about your audience. What will be the best way to present this information?
- Key customs and courtesies necessary for social and business interaction
o Greetings
o Gestures that might be offensive
o Appropriate dress (colors that indicate respect, mourning, love, joy)
o Interpersonal communication style - attitudes towards conflict
o Eating customs and preferred foods
o Formal meetings of men and women
o Punctuality - different approaches to deadlines and completing tasks
o Collective or individualistic societal focus
o Decision-making styles
o Attitudes towards self-disclosure
o Political aspects
o Religious aspects: prohibited behaviors, foods?
o Tolerance/friction between groups
o Important cultural values - work ethic - value applied to money, family
o What do they respect? Value?
o Competitive or cooperative behaviors
o Politeness versus factual honesty