General Cultural Communication

Which of the following is considered poor etiquette in Japan?
 Offering a gift with two hands

 Placing your chopsticks upright in your food
 Taking off your shoes before entering someone's home
Which colour should you avoid wearing in Brazil?
Which colour should you avoid wearing in Brazil?
 Red
 Purple
 Yellow
In India, what do vegetarian Hindus typically not eat?

 Meat, fish, seafood, eggs and any dairy products
 Meat, fish, seafood and eggs
 Meat, fish and seafood
In which country is the number 4 considered unlucky?

 China
 Mexico
 Iran
In which country does nodding the head up and down mean 'no' rather than 'yes'?
 Bulgaria
 Russia
 Thailand
Which country has the most time zones?

 Russia
 China
 France
France has the most times zones with 12 due to its overseas departments and territories across
the globe. Russia has 11 time zones and China only has one time zone.
Which of the following is not one of the five pillars of the Islamic religion?
 Haj
 Ramadan
 Puja
A Puja is a Hindu ritual commonly practised in India.
What is the Chinese term used to describe the concept of having a network of reciprocal
relationships?
 Kegi
 Mianzi
 Guanxi
Guanxi is a Chinese term that is very difficult to translate but loosely means a network of
influential relationships and connections which help to facilitate business dealings in China.
Which of the following would you not offer as a gift to a Chinese business partner?
 A clock
 Wine
 A pen
In China, the word for clock sounds the same as 'the end' and so is associated with time running
out and death.
What is Jewish New Year commonly known as?

 Rosh Hashanah
 Yom Kippur
 Hanukkah
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and usually takes place in September or October
according to the lunar calendar.
You are managing a local team in China. How do you respond to the fact that after several
weeks in your role nobody in the team seems able to make eye contact with you?
 You are worried that the team don't trust or respect you as they can't look you firmly in the
eye.
 You aren't concerned as you know that in China firm eye contact is not expected and is seen
as inappropriate between managers and their teams.
 You think that perhaps there is a language issue and the team is embarrassed that they don't
understand everything you say.
Remember that non-verbal signals mean different things in different parts of the world. In China
there is more distance between hierarchical levels and so strong eye contact to superiors can be
seen as defiant or challenging.
What one piece of advice would you give to a colleague embarking on their first professional
international assignment?
 Be yourself and remain true to your own values and principles. When you are working
internationally it's important to be authentic as it can be very stressful to try to be someone
you're not.
 Do everything you can to learn the local language and become fluent. You will only
understand how people operate if you speak their language.
 Be aware that your new colleagues may work differently to how we do and be ready to adapt
your usual style.
When we are working internationally we need to find a balance between remaining authentic and
adapting to the other style. It is always important to understand that your new colleagues may
have different ways of working and to adapt when it will help things work more smoothly.
You have taken over the management of an international team based in Dubai. Halfway
through your first formal meeting with the team one of them picks up all his things and leaves
the room without saying anything. What do you do?
 Immediately follow them out to find out exactly what they are doing.
 Ask the rest of the team what they think the problem is it.
 Let the moment pass and continue the meeting then later speak with a trusted colleague to
try and understand what might have caused them to leave the meeting.
There may be personal or cultural reasons unknown to you that have caused this person to leave
the room. Challenging them or their colleagues in the moment may cause them to lose face and in
the early days it might be better to wait until you have all the facts before jumping in.
When communicating with new team members who don't speak your language as their first
language what is the best strategy?
 Speak more slowly and loudly than usual to avoid any misunderstanding.
 Speak naturally but make sure you avoid using colloquial language, jargon and idioms that
may be difficult to understand.
 Identify the person who speaks your language best and get them to translate for the team.
It is important to maintain a natural channel of communication while making sure you use low-
risk, more easily understandable language.
You are on business overseas for two days and have the evening to yourself. How might you
best spend your evening?
 Writing up your notes from your meetings while everything is fresh in your mind and
preparing in detail for tomorrow's meetings.
 Taking a walk around town and having dinner in a restaurant frequented by locals and with
no menus in translation.
 Checking out a local expatriate network social event.
Being curious and stepping off the beaten track is a great way of learning about a new culture.
You are delivering training to a group of Japanese expatriates on secondment at your offices
and you notice that most of the group have their eyes closed while you are explaining a
technical process. How do you interpret this?
 They are concentrating and listening hard.
 They are suffering from jet lag and struggling to stay awake.
 They have disengaged from your session.
Japanese people will often close their eyes to block out any visual stimulus when they need to
listen intently. The other answers may also be correct but don't make assumptions!
You are spending a week visiting clients around Latin America where you understand there is
a more relaxed attitude to time. When do you aim to arrive at your meetings?
 A few minutes ahead of the scheduled time just as you would at home.
 Within five to ten minutes after the scheduled time.
 Anywhere up to half an hour late as that is what you have experienced when these clients
visited you at home.
People may sometimes be late in this part of the world but you should always arrive on time.
What do you understand by ethnocentrism?

 Operating in an environment where everyone is from the same culture.
 Judging people from another culture only by the values and standards of your own culture.
 Experience your own and other cultures as relative to the context.
Ethnocentrism is the way we see our own culture as central to reality and we judge other cultures
as being inferior or abnormal.
You are preparing for the launch meeting of a new international project team. How are you
planning to run the meeting?
 To present the team with clear objectives, a detailed plan and to make clear your
expectations about how the team will work together.
 To listen and observe as you invite the team to introduce themselves and brainstorm how
they would like to work together and create team ground rules.
 To ask each team member to prepare a short presentation about their own experience and
expertise and what they would like to achieve from working on the project.
A launch meeting provides the opportunity to understand your team members and how they prefer
to work but also to establish team protocols and ground rules as a group.
Humour across cultures is:

 Best avoided as some cultures have a very different sense of humour and some cultures
don't really have a sense of humour.
 Best used only if you share the same language otherwise humour is likely to get lost in
translation.
 A great way to break the ice and build rapport providing you are careful about using
complicated word play or cultural references that could be misunderstood.
Humour can be a useful tool as long as you use it appropriately and don't make culturally
insensitive jokes.

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Which of the following is considered poor etiquette in Japan?

 Offering a gift with two hands

Which colour should you avoid wearing in Brazil?

Which colour should you avoid wearing in Brazil?

In India, what do vegetarian Hindus typically not eat?

In which country is the number 4 considered unlucky?

Which country has the most time zones?

What is Jewish New Year commonly known as?

What do you understand by ethnocentrism?

Humour across cultures is:

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