Professional interaction

1. Read and translate Text 1:

PROFESSIONAL INTERACTION

In intercultural communication people meet with a lot of problems
across culture nature. Understanding what the aspirations of people in
different cultures are is important. It's very important to be as open-minded
as you possibly can. You come across different kinds of cultures
and they affect business in different ways. You should be aware of a
number of things: there are different attitudes towards work, time,
towards resolving problems, working in teams and so on. In an Anglo-
American culture, they emphasise action, doing things and achieving
things. But when you're dealing with people who are much more
comfortable with consensus, in discussion, then you shouldn’t dismiss
that as time-wasting. You should have a very open attitude to how
people approach work. The simple things like inappropriate food, alcohol,
etc. are much easier to deal with than these more subtle things
To be more marketable in today's economy you have to develop
cross-cultural awareness and 'your attitude' (ability to see things through
your partner’s eyes). Every country has its own customs. Also you
shouldn't assume that because you understand the culture of the capital
city you also understand the culture in the provinces and other areas
in the country. For example, in Colombia where you have a very
sophisticated group of people working in Bogota, their lifestyle, their
way of life, their culture if you like is quite different from, for
example, one of the provinces a long way from the city where the
Government and the Government culture in the capital has had very
little chance to spread.

When speaking about different nations we use stereotyped definitions. Do you agree with the definitions given below? What definitions could you add? How could you define your nationality?

The Germans — hardworking, ambitious, successful, aggressive, arrogant, etc. The Japanese — successful, ambitious, clever, hardworking, etc. The Americans — successful, ambitious, aggressive, modern, etc. The British — boring, humorous, arrogant, aggressive, etc. The French — stylish, modern, arrogant, humorous, lazy, etc. The Italian — lazy, stylish, helpful, humorous, aggressive, etc.

AN UNPREDICTABLE AFFAIR Try to put pressure on a Japanese in a negotiation and you will be met with stony silence. Hold an informal fact-finding meeting with a German and you can expect a battery of searching questions. Disagree with the French on even a minor point and they will take great pleasure in engaging in spirited verbal combat. Doing business across culture can be an unpredictable affair.

CULTURAL AWARENESS Most of us prefer to do business with people we like, and it should come as no surprise that the people we like tend to be like us. So whilst we may dispute the accuracy of cultural stereotypes, it is generally agreed that good business relationships are built on cultural awareness. Across national frontiers ‘nice guys' do more business than nasty ones. But what constitutes nice-guy behaviour in a boardroom in Miami is not necessarily what they expect in Madrid.

THE US PERSPECTIVE For instance, most Americans will insist on the hard sell. It’s not enough that you want to buy their products, you must let them sell them to you. They have to report back to superiors who will be as interested in how the deal was struck as the result. Systems and procedures matter to Americans.

THE SPANIARDS TRUST YOU The Spanish, on the other hand, are unimpressed by the most meticulously prepared meeting and pay much more attention to people. In this they are more like the Arabs or the Japanese. In the Middle and Far East business is built on trust over a long period of time. Spaniards may come to a decision about whether they trust you a little sooner.

ANIMATED ITALIANS Italians too tend to feel that the main purpose of meetings is to assess the mood of those present and reinforce team-spirit. There may well be a lot of animated discussion at a meeting in Italy, but the majority of decisions will be made elsewhere and in secret.

SCANDINAVIANS WANT RESULTS Strangely enough, Scandinavians are rather like Americans. They value efficiency, novelty, systems and technology. They are firmly profit-oriented. They want results yesterday.

SUCCEED WITH THE GERMANS Don't be surprised if the Germans start a meeting with all the difficult questions. They want to be convinced you are as efficient and quality-conscious as they are. They will be cautious about giving you too much business until you have proved yourself. They will demand prompt delivery and expect you to keep your competitive edge in the most price-sensitive market in Europe. Succeed and you will enjoy a long-term business relationship.

PRISONERS OF OUR CULTURE Ask yourself whether meetings are opportunities to network or get results. Is it more important to stick to the agenda or generate new ideas? Is the main aim of a meeting to transmit or pool information? It all depends on where in the world you hold your meeting and whether you belong to an individual business culture like the French, Germans and Americans or to a collective one like the British, Japanese and Greeks. Indeed, who knows to what extent our views are our own and to what extent culturally conditioned? For in business, as in life, “all human beings are captives of their culture”.

2. The following business verbs are listed in the order in which they appeared in the article. Use these verbs to make up word combinations with nouns from the text, translate them and learn ten most useful by heart:

BUSINESS VERBS NOUNS

1. hold a meeting

2. disagree on

3. build

4. report back to

5. pay

6. come to

7. reinforce

8. stick to

9. generate

10. transmit

11. pool

3. Complete the sentences below using words from the following list. Referring back to the article will help you with some of them:

market price client cost

profit quality technology

1. We’re a firmly.......... oriented company, so the bottom-line for us is not how big our market share is but how much money we’re going to make.

2. Even at low prices inferior products won’t sell in such a..........conscious market.

3. The market’s far too.......... sensitive to stand an increase in service charges.

4. We’re constantly forced to respond both to changing customer needs and to what our main competitors are doing in a.......... driven business such as this.

5. The customer always comes first. We’re a very.......... centred company.

6. In a.......... led business, such as ours, it’s vital to plough profits back into R.&.D.

7. If the price of materials goes up any more, production will no longer be.......... effective.

4. Read the passage and fill in the blanks with the words below:

agenda, agree, decisions, follow, opinion, participants, prepared,

proposal, spontaneous, views, waste

There are many different sorts of business meeting, and how the participants behave varies from country to country. In France meetings are generally used for briefing and coordination rather than discussing (1)... and making decisions. They follow a detailed (2)... and comments are well thought out rather than (3).... The same is true at formal meetings in Germany, where you should be well (4)... if you wish to express an opinion. In the UK, on the other hand, (5)... often arrive at meeting unprepared, and papers distributed before the meetings will not be read.. This does not prevent anyone from expressing his opinion or putting forward a (6).... Everyone is expected to contribute their (7) ….... In Italy meetings seem to be the most informal in Europe. They

don’t usually (8)... an agenda and people often come and go as they please. In fact, sometimes Italian meetings are more like a social gathering, used to reinforce a sense of togetherness. It’s very different in Spain, where meetings do little to create a team spirit. The Spanish prefer to be independent and make (9)... on their own. Meetings are often a (10)... of time because it is impossible to get everyone to (11)....

5. Role-play and group-work:

1. Imagine you are having an interview with applicants of different nationalities. Who are you most and least likely to employ?

2. Imagine you are having a Board Meeting of an international company. Choose a nationality you are going to represent and try to behave in their style.

6. Fill in prepositions where necessary:

1) After leaving school a young person faces.... a very difficult problem —
choosing an occupation. 2) The majority of young people do not get around....
making a decision until they leave school. 3) Boys and girls seldom talk about this
problem.... with the family. 4) One has to take special courses to qualify.... the
job. 5) There is a special advisory service which counsels.... people who are
looking.... work. 6) There are nonprofit agencies that deal.... nonskilled positions.
7) This agency specializes.... placing people.... their qualifications. 8) The agency
helped me find.... the information I needed. 9) You can turn.... your teacher....
advice and help. 10) Counselors give practical advice.... interview techniques,
application forms, etc. 11) He made an appointment with the career officer....
11 o'clock. 12) A counselor can see only a few applicants.... a day. 13) An
interview.... any kind of job generally requires an appointment. 14) He was.... 20
minutes late and created a negative impression.... the employer. 15) American
business people schedule their day hour.... hour. 16) On the wall he saw a notice
"The agency works.... appointment only". 17) He didn't know how to fill.... the
application form. 18) It turned out that he travelled to the agency.... nothing as he
didn't make an appointment.... advance. 19) Appointment is a necessary courtesy,
you can't just drop....

7. Translate the following sentences:

1) Когда я вошла в офис агентства, секретарь, встречающий посетителей, спросил меня, назначена ли у меня встреча. 2) У меня назначена встреча с Мисс Харрис на 10:15. 3) Я проходил мимо вашего агентства и решил зайти и поговорить с одним из ваших сотрудников. 4) Он не пришел в назначенное время на встречу с Мистером Брауном, это, конечно, произвело крайне | при нательное впечатление. 5) Анкета для поступления на работу заполняется печатными буквами. 6) Вам придется начать работу с самой маленькой должности, чтобы приобрести необходимый опыт. 7) Вы должны пойти на курсы, чтобы приобрести знания, необходимые для этой работы. 8) Агентство поможет вам подобрать работу согласно вашей квалификации. 9) Агентство "Manpower" специализируется именно в этой области. 10) Ему предложили две разные должности, но он не мог решить, какую выбрать.

8. Fill in the right word from the word column:

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