The Library Means Business: Business travelers should brush up on clients' cultures

Mike DePue is the business librarian at The Library Center.

It is one thing to travel abroad and learn about culture as you encounter it, but if you want to do business in the global economy it is important not to be the Ugly American. To be successful, it is important to size up those with whom you intend to do business.

To do business on a global scale you must learn how the business works and about the country you intend to do business in. The Springfield-Greene County Library District has plenty of books and materials available to help put you on the same page as your global business contacts.

Books @ The Library

Americans tend to extract objects from their environments, creating rules to establish relationships, whereas Eastern Asians see things as inseparable from their context.

"The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently and Why" by Richard Nisbett explores the different ways in which Eastern and Western societies see and understand the world. In a situation where Westerners see simplicity, logic and stability, Asians may well find complexity, paradox and change. Not only do we not speak the same language, we may not even define the same reality.

Not just another 9/11 book, the British bestseller "Why Do People Hate America?" by Ziauddin Sardar, explores the global impact of American foreign policy, corporate power, Hollywood and the often-unintended impact of our TV programming. Anticipating the inevitable criticism that will be aimed at it, the book concludes that our public image suffers from "double standards, self-obsessed, self-interest and an ahistorical naivety."

For businesspeople and their families, the "In the Know" series helps make sense out of being a stranger in a strange land. Grocery shopping, driving and finding a doctor can be as perilous as business attire, meetings and negotiating. The library's titles in this series include China, Germany, Japan, Mexico and Central America. There's also a USA volume, since people coming here from abroad experience similar frustrations.

Pertinent Web sites

www.frugalmarketing.com/dtb/xcultcomm.shtml

Avoid misunderstandings in cross cultural communication by becoming more sensitive to nonverbal means of communicating such as posture, gestures, expressions, eye contact and proximity.

www.expat.or.id/business/yesandno.html

Everyone is a product of his or her cultural environment and such "cultural baggage" is one thing that cannot be lost on an intercontinental flight. However, given some time in a foreign culture, a person begins to understand the unspoken assumptions and expectations.

http://international.monster.com/workabroad/articles/fauxpas2/

A hilarious but instructive look at cultural misunderstandings. Incidents such as these occur when newcomers remove the cultural training wheels early.