Doing business in italy

Matteo Giovannangeli – Cross Cultural Management

DOING BUSINESS IN ITALY

General Information

-Capital: Rome

-Population: 60,157,214

-Language: Italian

-Religion: Catholicism (strong influence)

-Currency: Euro

-Business centre: Milan area

-Anthem: Fratelli d'Italia

To begin with…

North vs South

Wide cultural gap between:

onorthern people - cold - rushed

osouthern people - warm - easy-going

…because of…

…historical reasons

oItaly is a very young country (unification: 17th of march 1861)

oDuring the 19th century Italy was divided in two parts: - the Spanish in the South - the French and Austrians in the North

Business background-Big percentage of small and medium sized, family-run businesses

-Larger companies are still controlled in large part by single families (Fiat, Benetton etc.)

-The idea of an enterprise being an arrangement of strongly felt relationships

-Long-standing affiliations – old society

-Regionalism - one of the least mobile management populations

-High degree of hierarchy – usually old man (wisdom)

-The number of women and young in senior management positions is quite small

That’s it because of…

… Catholicism and Vatican

The values of Catholicism in Business Culture:

-sense of family

-paternalism

-dignity of the person

-confidence in the others

-respect for the elderly

Business Etiquette

-Indirect

-Fond of behavioral formulas

-Stylish

-Talkative

-Warm and tactile

-Easy-going

-Convinced (proud)

Behavioural Formulas

-Good manners and courtesy are prized qualities in Italy

-Italians rate considerateness above behavioral formulas

-In the presentation: shaking always the right hand absolutely on your feet.

-When meeting and departing always shake hands

-The guest seats always before the host

-Women enter inside the places always before men

-the importance of appearance in Italy should not be taken lightly otherwise people think you neclect yourself as your worK

-importance for the accessories (watch, pen, jewels…)

-women visiting Italy might be surprised to hear compliments made to them on their appearance. (Such comments are not considered politically incorrect in Italy.)

Italian dress code

SPEAKING LANGUAGE:

-ITALIAN ENGLISH (don’t joke about this, Italian are really touchy and try to understand them)

-loquacious speakers

-linguistic tips for italian speakers: use the polite 'lei' form for formal situation, use 'tu' form for informal situation.

-in formal situation address people using 'Signor' (m) or 'Signora' (f) followed by their surname. 'Dottore' (m) or 'Dottoressa' (f) is used for those who have graduated.

-conversation topics: the three F, sport (football), women, motors; avoid religion, politics and mafia.

BODY LANGUAGE:

-little personal space is left between people

-a lot of body language also during a simple conversation Italian like this kind of communication

-After doing business in Italy for a period of time and building relationships do not be surprised if you are embraced

Italian communication style

Concept of time-Italians are usually relaxed

-If you are late of 10 minutes, don’t worry this will not have any negative consequences

-However punctuality is always welcome

-Pay attention to the daily schedule:breakfast (around 8 a.m.) lunch (around 1 p.m.)dinner (8 p.m.)

Italian Meetings and Negotiations

-The best time for meetings is between 10 - 11 a.m. and after 3 p.m.

-Avoid August as most businesses will run on skeleton staff due to holidays

-Try to make presentation less heavy is possible in Italian business life

-Meeting are really caoticnever follow the schedule people arrive late people answer the phone

-At the beginning of a meeting avoid business and concentrate on some small talk. Topics of discussion could include Italian culture, food, wine and football

-Negotiations can be slow. Demonstrating a sense of urgency isseen as a sign of weakness.

:Italian Entertaining

-Hospitality Invitations to lunch and dinner are to be expected

Bring always a present…wine is very welcome

-Dining does have certain protocol:-the host always pays-keep your knife in the right hand and fork in the left -do not answer phone calls at the table-don’t put the elbow over the table-drinking wine and water in the right glass

Free day and festivity

-Days in which is better not to organize work meeting:

Saturday and Sunday

August

All the catholic festivities (Easter, Christmas, all saints, etc…)

25th april: national party

1st may: feast of the workers

2nd june: feast of the republic

Grazie Mille per la vostra attenzione