Manual for Azerbaijan companies Rena Safaralieva
Yüklə 0,5 Mb. Pdf görüntüsü
|
- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER VIII. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS. ETIQUETTE AND PROTOCOL
- Negotiation etiquette norms
- Invitation to a dinner or reception
- Think for yourself to follow or not to follow rules
each piece to be served in strict accordance with the hierarchy of guests. The most honorary guest will be served the head, especially eyes, while a woman will get lamb’ tail.
In some countries people would turn a glass upside down to show their delight with the cuisine, while in Azerbaijan this jest might end up in brawl with a teashop keeper, who can demand explanation. “Comrade, let’s light up!” Different customs are not unanimous in their attitude towards smoking at the table. In some countries cigarettes will be served to signify permission to start smoking. In Britain smoking is allowed only after dessert was served, while in some business clubs smoking is strictly prohibited. The rules of leaving the table also differ in different societies. In some cultures people may stand up after a hostess and other ladies withdrew, in others – after the most important guest left. Cocktail parties are less formal. People may come and leave any time they please, however, this does not concern guests in honor of whom the cocktail party is organized.
The French say that silence drives people away more than distance. G. Flober strongly recommends to exclude politics and religion from social discussions. 68 When talking to somebody from another firm, with which you hope to establish business relations, it is prudent to avoid delicate topics, such as politics, religion, equality of women, vegetarianism, as well as somebody’s income and private life. A potential customer may be alienated by your views. One of a good catches to prevent such embarrassment is to try the ground with probing questions. A question “Have you ever lived in this region?” is a good way to probe if you can praise or speak poorly of a certain place.
It is recommended to show up strictly on time, as people might be offended with your being late. However, there is nothing unusual for Latin Americans to be late a couple of hours (it is so nice to be able to refer to other people!), British and Americans are usually on time and Germans arrive several minutes earlier. In many African countries the notion of time is very elastic. Azerbaijan people find nothing blameworthy if somebody is 15 minutes late for a business meeting and up to one hour for a social event.
Americans, thanks to their disarming simplicity, invented bad manners and saved people from many problems related to conventions. They are followed by many Europeans or Asians, who traveled or studied in the U.S. Still, the Germans, British, Japanese and French would stick to their etiquette rules.
Rules of etiquette are not mandatory, but as demonstrated by international experience, people participating in international relations and contacts prefer to follow certain rules. Sincerity helps to overcome barriers. Europeans, Asians and people from Central and Eastern Europe and CIS regularly meet each other at international conferences and, in most cases, they manage to avoid offending each other, because people indulge the mistakes of others. For example, we are pleased to mention that Americans working in oil companies in Baku stopped going to the Opera House in jeans and with a bottle of beer, although it is difficult to perceive that this would be possible in America.
Jonathan Swift wrote that “A person who puts the least number of people into embarrassing situation has the best manners” 69 . Therefore, people visiting other places, shall give preference to local traditions, rather than international etiquette norms, because the proverb recommends “When in Rome do as Romans do”!
68 E.A.Utkin, Business Ethics, Moscow, Zertsalo Publishing House, 2000, p. 167 69 Ibidem, p. 146 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS TO CHAPTER VIII. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS. ETIQUETTE AND PROTOCOL The questions below are designed to assess your understanding of the material.
♦
♦
Why do people need to follow rules of etiquettes? ♦
Under what circumstance rules of etiquette are used? ♦
Are rules of etiquette universal? Why? Etiquette as a tool of conflict settlement ♦
Why conflict settlement helps to receive material and moral benefits? ♦
How can etiquette assist in settling a conflict? ♦
How do different people view compromise? ♦
In what cases it is impossible to reach a compromise? Negotiation etiquette norms ♦
Please give etiquette rules for discussion ♦
What are peculiarities of behavior of various peoples during negotiations? ♦
Please give rules for speaker, listener and for perception of information. Invitation to a dinner or reception ♦
What is the minimum acceptable notification time for invitations and why? ♦
What is the standard dress code for ladies and gentlemen for business lunch or dinner? ♦
Is the dress code something redundant or useful? ♦
What would your response be, if someone is not dressed properly? Table manners ♦
How are people prescribed to sit at a table? ♦
What are rules for eating? ♦
How do people eat in Azerbaijan and other countries? ♦
Is smoking at table acceptable? ♦
Which topics are usually a taboo? Think for yourself to follow or not to follow rules ♦
Is it mandatory to follow norms of etiquette? ♦
Why you should know norms of etiquette accepted in the country you are visiting? ♦
Which etiquette is more preferable to follow: universal or local? ♦
How shall people respond to ignorance of etiquette norms? ♦
Can local etiquette norms be preferred to international standards and vice versa? CASE STUDIES FOR CHAPTER VIII. INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS. ETIQUETTE AND PROTOCOL Please read the cases below and chose your answer from the options provided. Please substantiate your answer. The notes to cases can be found at the end of the book.
1. You have been invited by one of your foreign partners. Being a very busy person, you have never had time to familiarize yourself thoroughly with rules of etiquette and protocol. However, you do not wish to disgrace yourself and would like to represent your country and your firm with dignity. What would you do:
(a) Study all rules of international etiquette to be in good shape? (b)
(c)
You follow neither of one principles of above and believe that everything will be clear once you are on site? (d)
Presume that your country’s norms would do? (e)
Yüklə 0,5 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|