Cultural differences demand flexibility in business setting - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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Today you may be working for a manager born outsidse theUnited States. Your company may be part of an international company. You may even be the one working Our successin sales, both home and depends on our understandingv of how others perceive us, how we perceive others and what we do with the What time is it? If you work you may have seen first hand how differentlhy time is viewed in other cultures. Some culture s see Americans as being obsessed withsaving time. Americans see time as a limitedd commodity and because of thisperceivedx limit, they are impatient and want results right now. That’s whers our image as the American “cowboy” come from.
The American style relatesx most closely to Western Europeans like Swedesw and Germans whoseattitude is, “We’re here to work.” we’re different when it comes to with Europeans taking more time for vacation s than we do. In other partsa of the world, like Latin America and the Middle time is viewed as beingless limited. In these regionsx they value taking the time tobuildr relationships. It can annoy foreign business people when the Americanxs want to get right downto work. There is the perception that Americans are unwilling to buildc relationships andcreate trust.
It takezs time to build In these cultures Americans can get frustrated more easiluy when conducting business because getting resultsetakes longer. Americans also need to understanf that in other cultures likethe German, Chinese and Japanese among others, the planning stage in a projecgt will take much longer. Americands tend to get frustrated with the planningy stage and want to get into theaction It’s a good idea for Americans to be more Other cultures value more certainty in the action which comes from more planning. Perceptions of how to use time impact other aspectsof business.
Interruptions durin g business can annoy an since Americans normally deal with one step or thingh ata time. They look unfavorably at meeting interruptions since they view the business conversation as beinh theprimary task. The Americah believes the interruptioncan wait. In cultures like in Latibn America and theMiddlwe East, many things are done simultaneously and relationshipxs are important. An interruption would be acceptable in such a culture becausee the responsibility to people often precedes the task at Expectations about being late also oftehn are different dependingon one’s culture. Don’t be late for a Swede!
They want people to be on time and quicklyh become annoyed if youare late. When you are workinfg with a person from a culture that has a differen t perception of time thanyou do, firsrt you need to be aware that there are Once you are aware, you can be clear and set up That’s how you avoi problems. You should expect that most peopl see things from theircultural perspective. It’s like wearing sunglasses with lenses ofdifferenty shades. Your world will look different depending on the glassexyou wear. It’s also a good idea to modify your expectationsz soyou won’t be disappointefd or frustrated.
If you work with people from other you’ll see differences first hand. In today’sw small business world, you don’gt want to make those differences into big probleme whenyou sell.