"Because international business includes people from different cultures, every business ... is subject to cultural challenges".

Cultural factors are so important they can sometimes raise the cost of doing business. The cultural environment has influences on some of the other environments: the cultural environment strongly influences the labor environment and the socio-economic environment and the politics of the populace o Which affects the Political / Regulatory / Legal Environment. The cultural environment is in turn influenced by some of the other environments: the economic environment o is the standard of living comfortable, or stressed the technological environment o how people are able to do things o do they walk to work, drive o can they use a phone, access the internet the geographic environment o effects weather o growing food o housing and living conditions Cultural Awareness Knowing about the cultural circumstances of your target country can either help you save money, or prevent making mistakes - and no consumer products company can afford to make mistakes in a intensely competitive market. The degree to which you must be culturally aware in marketing international business products and services depends, to some extent, on whether the product/service is a consumer product or an industrial product. Rules for Doing Business across Cultures

Be prepared

Don't use slang expression and metaphors when speaking English to non-English speakers think carefully about your vocabulary and prepare simple words to explain jargon and slang that might be common in your business sector. If you say something is "a piece of cake", you might think it means easy, but a person using a foreign language-English dictionary might interpret this as meaning "a portion of a pastry". Canadians might not think we use a lot of slang, but as a result of our multi-cultural influences we do use many many slang expressions and metaphors. For example from the younger generation we have "my bad" to the older generations "beg your pardon". Also, keep in mind that we don't speak the same language across Canada, there are some regional accents that can be slightly difficult to understand. So - part of being prepared is to look at the vocabulary in your marketing promotions material and think about the words in your presentations and consider substituting any phrases or terms that might be difficult for people to understand if they did not know the cultural references of some expressions.

Slow down
When people are listening to you in a language other than their birth language, it takes several seconds longer to hear and understand the meaning of phrases, even for long-time speakers of secondlanguages.

 Establish trust
This is one of those pieces of advice that is easy to say but difficult to explain "how to do" clearly - the personal experience of Prof. Richardson has revealed two little things that can help establish trust in the very beginning 1. be precise and accurate about directions to a meeting location - make it easy to say after "See, right where I said it was, trust me" 2. be reliable and trustworthy about time - if the meetings start at a particular time, always be early, even if the culture of the host country is casual about time

Understand importance of language

Some languages are very "old" and the saying of certain words carries a meaning far beyond the dictionary meaning - depending on the context . This means do not be too eager to say words in a new language unless your translator has advised you of the proper context and accompanying body language

Respect the culture

"De gustibus non est disputandum" - Latin: About taste there is no argument" - don't be overly-familiar - many cultures have quite formal rules for meetings, meals and conversations - North Americans tend to be overly eager to touch other people and to address people without using titles and rank - this is uncomfortable to some culture, particularly some cultures in Asia "Beyonce" recently (Oct 2007) made headlines when she decided NOT to do some concerts in Malaysia in response to Malaysia's restrictions on what performers can "reveal" in their clothing on stage. CBC reported that "Malaysian authorities are warning once again that music performers should follow strict government policies if they want to stage concerts". The Ministry introduced a "compulsory dress code and other rules for performers in 2005." Entertainment is "big business" and "international business" and is an obvious situation where clashes in the "social-cultural environment" meet with rules and regulations of the "political environment"

Understand surface culture and deep culture

Some subjects are taboo, unless you are from that culture. As a non-Japanese, it would be very difficult to phrase a question about Nagasaki or Hiroshima without offending someone in Japan, so don't

Be sensitive to different body language and different meanings of gestures

In some cultures, some parts of the body might be considered offensive if you touch them, or cause them to be shown. listen to an example

Keep the appropriate physical space/distance and eye contact in conversations Understand that within each culture there may be strong differences based on
o gender, - some culture have very different rules for interaction among men and women o education, - some societies have a small % of college and university grads o religion, - some cultures have extremist groups which have objectives much different than the majority of the mainstream adherents to the religion