Building intercultural bridges for reaching business agreements

1. More and more companies are increasing their language training budgets to equip staff for global business. But language alone isn’t always enough. Companies from different countries can usually deal with language differences by learning foreign languages. But they also need to be able to deal with cultural differences. That is where intercultural training comes in.

2. Differences between northern and southern European countries are well documented. Executives from Germany who want to do business in Italy or Spain need to understand the ground rules. Meetings are rarely used to solve problems and reach agreement in these countries. Instead, meetings are used to spread information about decisions which have already been made.

3. Similarly, business people need to understand the cultural systems of respect and deference when they meet up with Asian counterparts. For example, senior executives from Japan will only discuss business with people from the same management level. The message for companies here is, don’t send anybody but senior people to meetings with Japanese counterparts. In south-east Asian cultures it’s the group that’s important in decision making. An individual will seldom agree to something until a consensus has been reached among colleagues.

4. Companies are still investing more money in improving foreign language skills. Analysts want to see a situation where investment in intercultural awareness is on the same level as language training. Only then will the companies be able to send out well-prepared executives capable of building business bridges in the global environment. Training in intercultural awareness – as well as languages – is the key to overcoming the communication gap.

Ответьте письменно на вопросы после текста.

1) What factors can lead to disagreement during the meeting according to text?

2) What are the peculiarities of business behavior in Japan?

3) Where do companies invest money to bridge the communication gap?

4) What are the meetings like in Spain?

3. Какие предложения являются верными?

1) Executives from Germany who want to do business in Italy or Spain need to misunderstand the ground rules.

2) Companies from different countries can usually deal with language differences by learning foreign languages.

3) Senior executives from Japan will only discuss business with people from another management level.

4) Analysts want to see a situation where investment in intercultural awareness is on the same level as language training.