Consider the following situations:
u Companies:
-
Culture ignorance means losing business:
Steve, International Marketing Manager, arrived to the
host country after a 19 hours
of flight. He has his big meeting next day with a major
foreign distributor.
Due to the jet lag, Steve couldn't sleep very
well. He woke up around 5:00 AM and decided to go jogging
to unwind. While running he slipped. To break his fall, he used his hand
and ended up with a wrist sprain.
Since his meeting was at 8:30 AM,
he decided that it would be best, after the meeting,
to tell his host about it and may be get a bandage.
Steve arrived to the meeting on time and he had his right
hand (sprained wrist) in his pocket (using it as a support to minimize
the pain). He was met by the manager who extended his right hand. Steve
shook his hand with his left hand and started to explain to him what happened.
The manager had a strange look on his face, and before Steve can say anything,
the manager, said:" The CEO wanted to meet you, he is coming down on his
way to the airport".
The manager looks at a gentleman approaching them and
the manager proceeds to introduce Steve. The CEO extends his right
hand and Steve does the same, shaking his hand with the left hand while
keeping the right hand in his pocket.
At this point, there was a terrible silence. The
CEO looks at Steve, then turns to his manager and starts screaming at
him in his native language. The CEO leaves without as much as one word
to Steve. Now, the manager shocks Steve with the bad news:
"I am sorry, but my CEO said
if you are not able to respect our culture, we will not do business with
your company, good bye."
The manager leaves, and Steve finds himself standing in
a foreign country, just lost a
huge account, and
doesn't
even know what happened!
What was Steve's mistake? And
how much did his company lose for this mistake?
u Finding
And Losing Distributors:
John,
a US executive spent several months in search for the qualified distributor
in the target country. The distributor, Nessos
even
came to the USA for a detailed training and orientation on company
policies and products.
Overall, the company invested
a lot of time and money in finding and training Nessos.
One day, the CEO asked John
who was rushing to catch a FEDEX pickup man: "What do you think of Nessos?
John
responded with the "OK" sign. Nessos
happened to be standing upstairs and saw John's
response.
When John
came back to the office, Nessos
told him that he has to leave for urgent business and took off.
Two days later, Nessos
called
John
and
told him, he no longer wants to handle the distribution for his company.
What happened? Why did Nessos
drop
the
distributorship and at what
cost to the company?
If you don't know the answer, you may consider
contacting DMS.
We can save your company lost time and revenue.
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Do You Know In What countries
You Will Find Those Gestures?
-
In (_____) , it is offensive to place your arm over the back
of a chair in which someone is sitting, or to affectionately pat someone's
shoulders or back.
-
In (_____) , the V for victory sign
made with your palm facing yourself, is a highly offensive gesture.
-
In (_____), people smile both when they are happy and
when they are upset or angry.
-
In (_____) , to signal that someone
is cheap, you would rub your nose with your forefinger from
the bridge in a downward motion.
-
When seated, (_____) men will cross their legs at their knees.
It is considered "unfeminine" for women in (_____) to cross their legs.
-
In (_____) , always pour wine with the right hand, never
with the left hand.
-
In (_____) , to express appreciation, one may pinch his earlobes
between thumb and forefinger.
-
In (_____) , holding the palm upward and then spreading the
fingers signals that someone is "stupid".
-
In (_____) , people love to applaud, thus don't be
surprised if you were received by a round of applause. To ignore the applause
is considered rude and to show respect, you should return the applause.
-
In (_____) , to show your respect to someone while talking,
you place your arms folded behind your back.
-
In (_____) , if you need to point, never use a single finger,
as this is used only with inferiors
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