Create your own Personal Cultural Profiles

The World’s Business Cultures contains a unique tool – the Personal Cultural Profile – that enables you to master international business etiquette.

Creating your own cultural profile is easy. On the left of the Personal Cultural Profile chart is a list of 10 key sectors of business life. For each sector, there is a word or phrase on each side of a row of 10 squares.

Put a cross in the square that represents your approach. For example, if you never miss a deadline and are always on time for meetings, put a cross on the far left (Scheduled) side of the Attitude to Time row.

Join the crosses in each of the ten rows with a zigzag line: you now have your own Personal Cultural Profile.

Do the same for the country that you’re dealing with. For example, if you think that the Chinese communicate in a very indirect way, put a cross on the right-hand side of the Communication Style row.

Join the country’s crosses with another zigzag line. Now you can compare your Personal Cultural Profile with that of the country you’re dealing with:

• In a row where your two crosses are close together, you both have a similar
  approach;
• But – danger! – where the two lines are wide apart you have different
  approaches, and you should modify your behaviour in this area.

The World’s Business Cultures then tells you how to change your behaviour to create rapport and trust with your clients. In each of the chapters on the world’s 10 biggest economies, we use the cultural profile chart to show you how that country’s business etiquette compares with the UK – and the potential problem areas.