P17 MBAS8 Lingua Franca 18/2/08 17:50 Page 1
Editorial
CAREERS
When to bow and how low
Ross Geraghty on the newly developing lingua franca of business etiquette
think. The Japanese, for instance, are aware
that they have several unique rules and social
behaviours, yet they are also extremely forgiving.”
He goes on to try and dispel the myths. “If you
do make a ‘mistake’, they are far more likely either
to laugh with you to diffuse the embarrassment
and explain it away by the fact that you are a
foreigner and therefore not expected to understand
it all, than to storm away cursing. If the deal breaks
undreds of years ago, when the Nobody is denying that little personal connections down, particularly in Asia, it is unlikely that your
H
world was being traversed by can help to facilitate deals (what is networking faux pas will be used as an excuse.”
sailors from dozens of nations, and about, after all?). But, is someone mixing their Far more important than trying to get all the
each vessel was manned by any wines at dinner, or slurping their noodles too softly, little details right, he believes that companies and
number of nationalities, new really such a deal-breaker? Should we be affording individuals would be better off focusing on, “the
languages called linguae francae began to emerge. the same sort of cliché avoidance to our interna- bigger picture. Trying to speak even a little of the
These languages were often a blend of Italian, tional business partners? language politely, even if your pronunciation is far
Portuguese, French, Greek, Mandarin and other from perfect, will get you far in most places. It’s not
local languages, and allowed for communication Keep smiling that we shouldn’t try to get the details right, but
and trade between the polyglot merchants, both There are several famous instances. In Japan, expressing a clear respect for your business
on board and on the mainland. Examples exist studying the business card and not putting it away partner’s position and communicating clearly is
today, the pidgin of Papua New Guinea being one. until your meeting is over is totally correct and something that many forget to do at a very basic
More recently, a famous high street bank polite. In Chinese culture, giving and accepting level and is far more crucial. And lastly, don’t
launched an advertising campaign, which money or important documents is traditionally forget that the other person is likely to be just as
confronted a major concern of many people, done with two hands, so that both parties know aware and fearful of your culture when they visit
particularly businesses, in a gradually shrinking where each others’ hands are during the deal. you. So if their offered handshake seems a little
and globalizing world. ‘We understand’, if I can In Thailand, one should keep smiling throughout limp, try and remember that only in some
paraphrase the theme of the campaign, ‘about all sorts of hardships, as losing one’s temper is Western cultures do we prefer the bone-crunch-
how to do business in foreign countries because considered extremely crass (and crass people do ing variety.”
we are a bank with considerable international not make good business partners). In Russia, vodka Coltrane believes that the same kind of
experience.’ The clear implication was that the is not ceremonial, but is interwoven into the social pattern that characterized lingua franca in the past
bank would invest your money worldwide and look fabric, and Russians like to do business with people is destined for the intercourse of business. “Already
after your business internationally too. The bank who don’t refuse their national drink. we are seeing western business people learning to
could communicate across borders and not make
errors in social etiquette that would cost your
“Trying to speak even a little of the language politely,
company money.
It was a clever campaign because it reflected
even if your pronunciation is far from perfect,
one of the great fears emerging in recent years,
which makes senior management quake with
will get you far in most places”
trepidation, to the extent that some companies
make their staff undertake language or cultural bow in East Asia (the trick is to look at the floor,
sensitivity courses. Nothing can scupper a Urban Myths not the other person’s eyes) and Asian business
relationship faster, goes the thinking, than forget- However, anyone who believes that making managers are starting to have more confidence in
ting to slurp your noodles in Japan, refusing your this kind of simple faux pas will regularly destroy shaking hands more firmly and to make eye contact,
Russian host’s offer of vodka, eating using your left perfectly good deals, is doing the foreign culture both of which are as alien to them as it is to
hand in India or changing from white wine to red an injustice. Craig Coltrane, a senior manager in westerners to bow.”
in the UK (suggested in a recent article Doing the pharmaceutical industry, whose work has taken Perhaps, in a generation or two from now,
Business Abroad? Simple faux pas Can Sink You, him all over the world, says: “Many of the myths there will be a lingua franca of etiquette and
USA Today, 23 August, 2007). one hears about errors in etiquette are quite true. everyone can get down to the real job of doing
Put to one of the nationalities above, these However, most people in most cultures are business without as much concern that they are
examples sound ridiculous, utilizing as they do the inclined to see your errors for what they are: simple causing the other person distress. Until then, as
tired international clichés that decorum, form, if misunderstandings, or cross-cultural differences. they say in France, vive la différence!
you will, is more important than substance. You will usually get a lot more latitude than you
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