PRODUCTION

 

Speaking 

1. In what way do differences in culture determine differences in business etiquette? Why is it possible to speak about Western, Asian or Latin cultures?

Look at The Cultural Profile Chart which shows you the potential problem areas in cross-cultural communication and international business etiquette. On the left of the Cultural Profile Chart is a list of 10 key sectors of business life. For each sector, there is a word or phrase on each side of a row of 10 squares which form a continuum.

In the Chart you have the cultural profiles of two different countries. Guess which countries are these? Choose from: the United Kingdom, Italy, China, Germany.

 

THE CULTURAL PROFILE CHART

 

 

 

2. Where do you think your culture falls on these continuums? Create the Cultural Profile for your country. Compare your Cultural Profile with that of your partner’s. Same or different? How can you explain any existing differences?

 

3. In your opinion, what should foreign business partners know about cultural peculiarities of Belarus?

Imagine that you are a cross cultural communications consultant who works for an international company. You have been asked to give a talk about communication and behaviour in Belarus to a group of foreign business partners to minimise the negative consequences of poor cross cultural awareness. What kind of things would you tell them. Here are some ideas to get you started:

a) distance when talking to people: what is comfortable? b) eye contact: how much of the time do people look directly at each other? c) gesture: do people make lots of facial gestures? How much do they move their arms and hands? d) greetings/goodbyes: do people shake hands every time? Are there fixed phrases to say? e) humour: is this a good way of relaxing people? Or is it out of place in some contexts? f) physical contact: how much do people touch each other? g) presents: when should you give them? When should you open them? What should you say when you receive one? h) rules of conversation and the role of silence: how long can people be silent before they feel uncomfortable? Is it acceptable to interrupt when others are speaking?

 

Writing 

1. Write a tip list giving advice to a foreign business person coming to your country to do business with local companies.