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Nobody actually wants to hurt the feelings of others but, as business becomes ever more international, it is increasingly easy to get it wrong. There may be a single European market but it does not mean that managers behave the same in Greece as they do in Denmark.
In Many European countries handshaking is an automatic gesture. In France good manners require that on arriving at a business meeting a manager shakes hands with everyone present. This can be a demanding task and, in a crowded room, may require great efforts if the farthest hand is to be reached.
Handshaking is almost as popular in other countries – including Germany, Belgium, and Italy. But Northern Europeans, such as the British and Scandinavians, are not quite so fond of physical demonstrations of friendliness.
In Europe the most common challenge is not the content of the food, but the way you behave as you eat. Some things are just not done. In France it is not good manners to raise questions of business over the main course. Business has its place; after the cheese course. Unless you are prepared to eat in silence you have to talk about something -something, that is, other than the business deal which you are continually thinking about.
In Germany, as you walk sadly back to your hotel room, you may wonder why your apparently friendly hosts have not invited you out for the evening. Don’t worry, it is probably nothing personal. Germans do not entertain business people with quite the same enthusiasm as some of their European counterparts.
The Germans are also notable for the amount of formality they bring to business. As an outsider, it is often difficult to know whether colleagues have been working together for 30 years or have just met in the lift. If you are used to calling people by their first names this can be a little strange. To the Germans, titles are important. Forgetting that someone should be called Herr Doctor or Frau Direktorin might cause serious offence. It is equally offensive to call them by a title they do not possess.
These cultural challenges exist side by side with the problems of doing business in a foreign language. Language, of course, is full of difficulties – disaster may be only a syllable away, But the more you know of the culture of the country you are dealing with, the less likely you are to get into difficulties. It is worth the efforts. It might be rather hard to explain that the reason you lost the contract was not the product of the price, but the fact that you offended your hosts in a light-hearted comment over the wine served. Good manners are admired but they can also make or break the deal.
SPMB-03-53
As business has become more international, ___.