Week 3

1
Week 3

• Cultural differences quiz

2
Cultural differences in business, around the world

• Grace went to ___ countries in ___ weeks.
• Which countries?
• In which countries did Grace
• Give a gift?
• Visit a local family?
• Buy a clock?
• Why does Grace say she will give a knife to Jack?
• Now choose the right answer from page 15

3

• Jack Hi, Grace! Welcome back! How was your
  business trip?
• Grace It was very tiring! I went to six
  countries in only two weeks!
• Tom Wow! Thats not easy to do! What did you
  find interesting?
• Grace Well, when I was in Mexico and Costa Rica,
  I learned that its not good to give knives to
  customers. Do you know why?
• Jack Because the customer may kill you because
  your price is too high?
• Grace No, silly! It suggests that you want to
  cut off the relationship!
• Jack I heard Thailand has some customs that
  influence business.
• Grace Yes, for example, in Thailand, you have to
  shake hands gently because it shows that you are
  respectful and want to be friends. But in
  America, shaking your hands weakly can mean that
  you have a weak character.
• Jack How else does culture influence business in
  other countries.
• Grace In Jordan, I wanted to give a gift in
  private but it was a problem.
• Jack Oh, really? Why?
• Grace No. He asked me to give my gift to him
  outside where all his workers could see us. This
  was to show that he was not a accepting a bribe.
• Jack Thats interesting! What else did you find
  unusual in the Middle East?
• Grace Well, besides Jordan, I also went to Saudi
  Arabia on a Friday. On that day, I suddenly
  realized that in Muslim countries, most offices
  are closed on Fridays! Everything is very quiet
  during their holy month of Ramadan. Their mosques
  are full of people praying.
• Jack How about your trip to Japan? Did you
  learn any new business customs?
• Grace Well, I had to bow a lot when I was
  introduced to new customers. We studied each
  others business cards carefully for a few
  seconds before putting them away. We couldnt
  even write on them!
• Jack Didnt you go to India, too?
• Grace Yes, my Indian customer invited me to his
  home to help celebrate his daughter's birthday
  with his relatives. During the party, I asked if
  I could visit his factory the next day. He wasn't
  very happy about that.
• Jack Why not?

4
Traveling to Canada on business

• You have to apply for a visa at the Canadian
  Affairs Office
• In pairs, write a list of 10 questions the
  officer might ask
• How long?
• How much?
• (maybe some funny questions too)
• Complete the visa application form on page 9
• Find a new partner
• Student 1 Canadian visa officer.
• Look at Student 2s visa application
• Ask Student 2 questions about the trip

5
Presentations

• So far, people have asked to do
• PE7
• Lessons 1, 2, 4 and 6
• PE8
• Lessons 1, 4 and 5
• I need an email from every group