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