Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
In the US, a firm, short handshake indicates self-confidence and (heterosexual) masculinity. A
limp handshake by a man can be interpreted (usually wrongly) as a sign of homosexuality or
wimpiness. But in most parts of Africa, a limp handshake is the correct way to do it.
Furthermore, it is common in Africa for the handshake to last several minutes, while in the
US a handshake that is even a few seconds too long is interpreted as familiarity, warmth and
possibly sexual attraction.
In Britain, men do not look at women on the streets. The French do. Recently, a French public
figure mentioned in a speech that the Brits are all gay -- the evidence was their lack of overt
interest in women.
Monochronic vs Polychronic
Present-oriented societies include the rest of the spanish-speaking Latin American countries.
They see the past as passed and the future as uncertain. They prefer short-term benefits.
Future-oriented societies have a great deal of optimism about the future. They think they
understand it and can shape it through their actions. They view management as a matter of
planning, doing and controlling (as opposed to going with the flow, letting things happen).
The United States and, increasingly, Brazil, are examples of future-oriented societies.
Power Distance
Individualism vs Collectivism
A market research firm conducted a survey of tourist agencies around the world. The
questionnaires came back from most countries in less than a month. But the agencies
in the asian countries took months to do it. After many telexes, it was finally done. The
reason was that, for example, American tourist agencies assigned the work to one
person, while the Filipinos delegated the work to the entire department, which took
longer. The researchers also noticed that the telexes from the Philippines always came
from a different person.
You greet your Austrian client. This is the sixth time you have met over the last 4
months. He calls you Herr Smith. You think of him as a standoffish sort of guy who
doesn't want to get really friendly.
A Canadian conducting business in Kuwait is surprised when his meeting with a highranking official is not held in a closed office and is constantly interrupted. He starts
wondering if the official is as important as he had been led to believe, and he starts to
doubt how seriously his business is being taken.
A British boss asked a new, young American employee if he would like to have an
early lunch at 11 am each day. The employee said 'Yeah, that would be great!' The
boss immediately said "With that kind of attitude, you may as well forget about
lunch!"
Dave Barry tells the story of being on a trip to Japan and working with a Japanese
airline clerk on taking a flight from one city to another. On being asked about it, the
clerk said "Perhaps you would prefer to take the train." So he said "NO, I want to fly."
So she said "There are many other ways to go." He said "yes, but I think it would be
best to fly." She said "It would very difficult". Eventually, it came out that there were
no flights between those cities.