Cross-Cultural Business

Behavior
Taken from Richard R. Gesteland (2002)
Cultural differences appear to be a great problem for
international deal makers since they are confusing and
unpredictable.

The purposes of studying this book are to reduce that

confusion and to introduce some predictability by
classifying international business customs and practices
into logical patterns.
The material for this book comes from three decades of
observation.
Patterns of Cross-Cultural Business Behavior
Two iron rules of international
business
In International Business, the Seller Adapts to the
Buyer

In International Business, the Visitor Is Expected to

Observe Local Customs
enter village, follow customs, when in Rome, do as
the Romans do.
Considering the 2nd rule, the author disagree and gives an
advice to not to mimic or copy local behavior. Instead, just be
yourself. But of course, being yourself includes being aware
of local sensitivities and honoring local customs, habits and
traditions.
To avoid conflicts, each group (DF or RF) should be aware of
that fundamental difference when they try to do business
with another group.
Deal-Focus vs. Relationship-Focus
There are two kinds of people based on their cultures:

Deal-Focused People task-oriented. According to RF people DF people are

pushy, aggressive and offensively blunt.

Relationship-Focused People people-oriented. According to DF people, RF

people are dilatory, vague and inscrutable.
 Informal vs Formal Cultures

Egalitarian Cultures Informal Cultures

Hierarchical Societies Formal Cultures
 Rigid-Time vs Fluid-Time Cultures
We should be aware that there are two groups of societies
considering how they think of their time.

Rigid-Time Culture: worship the clock, regard fluid-time people as lazy,

undisciplined and rude.

Fluid-time culture: more relax about time and scheculing, regard Rigid-Time
Culture people as arrogant matinents enslaved by clocks and arbitrary
deadlines.
 Emotionally Expressive vs
Emotionally Reserved Cultures