Business & protocol

39 cards in this category — of which 38 complete, 1 drafts.

• Receiving a business card with both hands (meishi)In Japan, taking a meishi with one hand is a near-affront to protocol.
  CompleteInsult
• Writing on the business card you receiveWriting on a business card you have received, in front of its bearer, amounts to crossing out the person themselves (Japan, Korea, China).
  CompleteInsult
• Put the card in the back pocket of your pantsPutting a card in your back pocket in Japan is the equivalent of literally sitting on it.
  CompleteInsult
• Strict to-the-minute punctualityArriving five minutes late in Germany: already a professional failing.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Latin American punctuality (flexible)In Latin America, time is relational, not absolute. Lateness is an invitation to talk.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Silence in meetings (Japan)In Japan, silence in a meeting is active thinking (ma 間); in the West it is perceived as a deadlock.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Interrupting in a meeting (Mediterranean)A Mediterranean who does not interrupt is taken for uninterested; someone from a Germanic culture who does interrupt is taken for ill-mannered.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Using the first name immediately (Asia)Switching to first names at the very first meeting: natural in the United States, misplaced familiarity in Japan, Korea or China.
  CompleteInsult
• Asking someone's age in business (Korea)A Korean asks "how old are you?" over the very first coffee; a Westerner sees an intrusion in it. It is a matter of grammar.
  CompleteInsult
• "Yes" means "I heard" (Japan)A Japanese man says "yes" twenty times during a meeting, then refuses afterwards.
  CompleteInsult
• Soft handshake (Maghreb, Middle East)A firm handshake in Morocco can be perceived as brutality.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Documenting/writing with the left hand (Islamic cultures)Passing a document with the left hand in an Islamic context is a serious religious and social offense.
  CompleteInsult
• Business gift ceremony (Japan)In Japan, the wrapping, refusal protocol and seasonal calendar of business gifts are codified rituals. Poor presentation or a taboo gift can damage a business relationship.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Refusing a Gift (Professional China)In China, refusing a gift one to three times is a modesty ritual (kèqi 客气). Accepting immediately seems greedy. Guanxi (关系) makes the gift an investment in a long-term relationship.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Business gifts (anti-bribery law, EU)No statute sets a threshold in euros: Sapin II, the UK Bribery Act and the FCPA punish the improper quid pro quo, and gift caps (30, 50, 150 EUR) are internal corporate policies. The same gift is a ritual of respect in Tokyo and a compliance file in Paris.
  CompleteOffense
• Alcohol at business meals (Japan)In Japan, the after-work nomikai is part of relationship work: systematic refusal reads as withdrawal from the group, not as a private choice.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Refusing alcohol (Gulf, Muslim areas)Pressuring a Muslim colleague to drink at a business meal in the UAE is unacceptable.
  CompleteInsult
• Modesty in dress (Gulf, Middle East)A woman in a knee-length skirt in the UAE causes lasting professional discomfort.
  CompleteInsult
• Negotiating during RamadanNo business lunches or demanding meetings at local midday. Propose meetings before dawn or after sunset (iftar). Hydration is forbidden to those fasting.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Indirect negative feedback in Japan"It's difficult" in Japan means "no". Voicing criticism in public = fatal humiliation. Every sentence carries unspoken layers; what is absent speaks as loudly as what is present.
  CompleteInsult
• Dutch head-on feedback"This report is not good" in the Netherlands = neutral technical criticism, a sign of respect. In indirect cultures (East Asia, but also the Anglo-Saxon world) = a personal attack. The same sentence, two feedback codes.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Email greetings (France)In France, professional email closures (Cordialement, Bien à vous, Sincères salutations) codify hierarchical respect and relational depth.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Academic titles in business (Germany)In Germany, "Dr." and "Prof." remain customary in formal professional address; omitting them with a counterpart who values them comes across as offhandedness.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Informal du vs. formal Sie in business (Germany)In Germany, the switch from "Sie" to "du" is a ritual offered by the more senior party; using "du" from the outset comes across as presuming an equality that has not been granted.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Negotiation and bargaining (Middle East)In the Middle East, haggling in the souk is an expected practice; refusing to negotiate seems ignorant.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Verbal vs. written contracts (United States)Le droit américain rend le contrat oral exécutoire — Texaco l'a appris pour 10,53 milliards de dollars en 1985 — mais la culture d'affaires exige l'écrit exhaustif : « get it in writing ». Pour les cultures relationnelles, ce contrat-forteresse dit la défiance ; pour l'Américain, il dit le sérieux.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Decision by consensus (Japan)In Japan, nemawashi and ringi are mandatory consensus processes.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Guanxi in business (China)Guanxi is a system of reciprocal relationships; to ignore this network is to fail.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Wasta (intermediation) in the Middle EastWasta is a resource access system; ignoring it makes business impossible.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Jeitinho (creative bypass) in BrazilJeitinho is not dishonesty but a valued skill in Brazil.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Open-door policy (United States)The open-door policy is a symbol of managerial accessibility in the US.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Small talk: United States vs. GermanySmall talk is an expected opening ritual in the United States; its absence in Germany marks respect for the other person's time, not hostility.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Laisser passer les femmes d'abordGalanterie appréciée ou paternaliste selon le contexte : valorisée dans une partie de l'Europe latine, la préséance donnée aux femmes passe mal dans les pays nordiques et dans l'étiquette d'affaires contemporaine, où la préséance suit le rang et non le genre.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Complimenter l'apparence d'une collègueAux US, risque harcèlement ; en Italie, banalité relationnelle.
  CompleteInsult
• Photographier des collègues sans consentementRGPD : l'image d'un salarié identifiable est une donnée personnelle, et le consentement au travail est la base légale la plus fragile. En France, la Cour de cassation répare l'atteinte au droit à l'image sans preuve d'un préjudice (Cass. soc., 19 janvier 2022).
  CompleteInsult
• Félicitations publiques sur LinkedInLike ostentatoire US vs retenue scandinave — mêmes outils, cultures d'usage opposées.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Emailer hors des heures de travail (France : droit à la déconnexion)Email de 22 h : signal d'engagement aux États-Unis, intrusion en France, où le droit à la déconnexion est inscrit au Code du travail depuis le 1er janvier 2017 (loi du 8 août 2016, art. L. 2242-17).
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Refusing a drink offered by a senior (South Korea)In Korea, refusing the boss's first drink at a hoesik without a clear health excuse signals withdrawal and disrespect.
  CompleteInsult
• Firm handshake (United States)A limp handshake in the U.S. immediately classifies you as unreliable.
  DraftCuriosity