A nice pen? Maybe just a card. These days, it has become common custom to present business partners with a gift after a deal. However, that is where the similarities seem to end, as what gifts to give varies greatly with each culture. Write a letter to a partner in China with red ink and you'll be sure never to hear back from them as this signifies their death. Now, business theorists have been writing about the great differences not only in gift giving, but in many other aspects of business and their managers. The differences in problem solving between Western and Eastern business culture is almost night and day at times.
When it comes to problem solving, Western businessmen tend to go into things headfirst without thinking it over as much, This make sense however, when we look at a book written by Zelmer-Bruhn, which relates this to the large amount of individual independence shown in Western cultures.In Eastern culture on the other hand, businessmen problem solve extensively before taking action on business measures. This is in turn due to the strict authority figures and lack of risk taking in their cultures. These differences strike me because I didn't think that different cultures could create such a discrepancy in how businesses are run. This could lead to many issues when dealing with companies from other countries.
