Lesson Two Blog
The avoidance of cultural gaffes in relationship to business interactions with members of distant lands is crucial since it is unwise to disrupt or otherwise upset the often delicate established social norms, values, and cultures recognized by the members of the foreign culture of the nation that you find yourself in.
According to have to Samovar and Porter “ in order to work effectively in a multicultural environment, one should recognize these and study the cultural specifics of the country or area to be visited”(Moran, 2014).
One would hope that considerable levels of tolerance exist when members from another nation, and or cultural designation are enlisted as business personnel on assignment, who are dispatched abroad to a foreign land, and working on personal interactions as well as transactions in efforts to establish gainful business relationships, although it often proves to be easier said than done. This sounds like quite a complicated business venture, but in recent times it is well often the case within our global society.
The paragraph that I have written above mentions the aspect of tolerance within the broad spectrum of multicultural business ventures across the world. Hopefully the representatives of these businesses will have a tendency to be a bit more understanding than the rest of their society.
In the textbook that I have been reading throughout this course I have noticed that some foreign nations have great expectations regarding the representatives from business that are located in foreign nations. So much so that to be able to understand and be able to comprehend every nuance of their cultures, including understanding all the odd idiosyncrasies, that it would practically take a well programmed android to say, and do the exact things at the appropriate times without mistake in order to negotiate a business deal.
However it is my understanding that the representatives sitting on both sides of the fence would be well served to both possess, and display immense amounts of tolerance as well as understanding, which they direct towards the associates representing their perspective business partners that are often from across the globe.
If not the chances of any corporation having combined business ventures with representatives from a corporation that is based on the other side of the world are very slim.
We as Americans, who are fortunate in many ways to live in a multicultural society, as we often have more understanding, acceptance, and experience of the vast array of different ethnic, and cultural relationships that we may interact with on a day-to-day basis.
Although when an English businessman travels abroad to Morocco for example, he may well be expected to interact with the nations inhabitants with extreme levels of cultural knowledge, and tactfulness if he harbors any hopes of performing a successful business transaction in this foreign country. And if by chance he does not have the international espionage agent’s level of interaction with members of the foreign land he happens to find himself in, he may find himself being extremely unsuccessful in any business transaction that he had hopes to entertain.
However if he is hopeful to succeed in his business venture he would do well by avoiding to either insult or disrupt their complex societal, and often intertwined cultural attitudes, social norms, and values that occur on a daily basis.
This is especially important since “ roles in our society our expectations within a culture concerning behavior that made affect communication” (Moran, 2014).
References:
Moran, R.T., Abramson, N.R., & Moran, S.V., (2014) Managing cultural differences, 42.
Thank you for an interesting blog on cultural gaffes.
I think you have a viewpoint that is worth exploring. I agree that tolerance of people that do not understand the cultural norms is important, but is it as important and respecting the culture of they country you are visiting more important? For example, if you went to a dinner party and it was polite to remove your shoes at the door, and everyone else’s shoes were removed at the door, would you you be more likely to remove them out of respect for the host’s wishes or would you not remove them and expect tolerance since you were a guest? I think this is an interesting way to look at having tolerance of other cultures but also at the expectations we have in global business transactions.
Great view point!