Business or personal

If you are in the middle of a negotiation and it is time for lunch, northern Europeans and Americans may order in sand wiches and coffee while everyone gets on with business. This is an indication that they are taking the matter seriously. Breaking off to go to a restaurant may be seen as an unnecessary interruption. However, for southern Europeans the signals are opposite. Food and drink figure higher in their value system. Going to a good restaurant is an indication of seriousness as well as an opportunity to take the discussion further. Wining and dining are more important the further south one goes in Europe, not because southerners are more sybaritic but because of different concepts of the role of personal relationships within a business relationship. In northern Europe and even more so in North America, it is possible to walk into the office of a complete stranger with a proposal and begin to talk business. A business relationship is seen as independent from a personal relationship. It is not that personal relationships don’t develop, they are independent of the business relationship. The further south you go in Europe and the further east around the world, the more important it is to cement social and personal relationships before you can even start to work together. Potential partners look for reassurance that the others are good people to do business with before they look at the deal itself. You need introductions, references, and time to develop personal relationships before getting down to business. Hospitality and gift giving are an integral part of the courtship period, unlike in COMMUNICATION 17northern countries where they belong to the honeymoon—is the Christmas gift in appreciation of last year’s business or in anticipation of next year’s? Northerners find it difficult to understand not only the importance of personal relationships but also their nature. This does not mean getting on well with others or even liking them. Trust and confidence are important factors, but that is true among northerners too. The essential element of a personal relationship in this context is mutual obligation. People in “relationship cultures” grow up in networks of mutual obligation, starting with family and extending to religious affiliation, school and university, home town or region, intake into the company, or common work experience. These are enhanced and enlarged by favors, gift giving, hospitality, and other intangible exchanges. There is an expectation that people linked by such ties are bound to give first preference to each other in whatever social or business context they interact. To people outside these cultures this sounds like nepotism and cronyism, even corruption. To those inside them it is the foundation of social and business organization. When employees of different companies do business with each other in non- relationship cultures, they are seen primarily as representatives of their companies. The companies are primarily responsible for carrying out the terms of the contract between them. If the people who did the deal leave or get transferred the business stays with the companies. In relationship cultures business is seen to be done primarily between individuals. They have a personal as well as a corporate responsibility to ensure that the terms are met. This obligation remains even if they get transferred. If they leave the company the business will go with them. If the business ceases for any reason the relationship will continue. It takes much longer to start business in relationship cultures than in non- relationship cultures. People invest more time and effort in the personal relation- ship because of its importance and relative permanence. A short cut is to be introduced and recommended by someone already in the network. This in turn creates debt on the newcomer, which one day will be called in, although it is still up to the newcomer to build up their own credit.