Akteos The Business Meal Around the World
Akteos The Business Meal Around the World explains how a business meal is conducted in seven countries and what each expects of a guest. Akteos, an intercultural training company, gives a section to China, the United States, France, Japan, India, Germany and Brazil, setting out the essential codes of each and adding a practical tip, then closes with five habits to carry into any international meal.
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How It Helps Your Business English
Each country has the same two parts: the essential codes of the meal and an intercultural tip. China covers hierarchy, seating and the building of guanxi; the United States, speed and early business talk; France, the meal as part of the negotiation; Japan, silence and harmony; India, hospitality and symbolism; Germany, rigor and punctuality; Brazil, warmth. A closing summary lists five habits.
Read the country you are dealing with before the meal, and read its tip twice: it tells you what is expected of you as a guest, not only what the host will do. If you are negotiating, set the French and American sections side by side, because they treat the meal in opposite ways and that tells you when business can be raised. Keep the five closing habits for the trips you cannot prepare.
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