Reflection on culture & stereotypes
Roadmap for Business Efficacy
Europe vs. America
Meuh!Mooh!
“Diversity is the one true thing
we all have in common”!
• 13 colonies 1 purpose: “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”
• « Manifest Destiny » - The spirit of conquest
• Go West Young Man! - Opportunity and Mobility
• HERE AND NOW - local media & world ignorance
• Consensus society: « We’ll have to agree to disagree »
• A fabulous Melting Pot
• Friend or Foe? Black and White world view - Grey does not exist!
To step into American business, THINK BIG!
The United States: myths and realities
Heaven & hell in Europe…
Heaven
�The chefs are all French… Or Italian!
�The cops are all British or Dutch…
�The mechanics are all German…
Hell
�The chefs are all British…
�The mechanics are all French or Spanish…
�The cops are all German…
Censure!
Censure!
Where is the American?
Guess? Guess?
• TABOOS: sex, politics and religion
• Power Breakfast and Working Lunch
• Greetings: shaking hands and first-name basis
• Talk in turn
• Factual: use stats & data and the passive voice; avoid « I »
• HEADQUARTERS vs. SUBSIDIARIES!
• TIME IS TIME - RULES IS RULES - PROCESS is PROCESS - Stick to the agenda!
• 3 KILLER ARGUMENTS: Savings, generates revenue, reduces risks
• Cost vs. Benefit & Risk vs. Rewards
• Trial and error!
• Entertainment
ROADMAP FOR BUSINESS EFFICACYWITH THE US
THINK BIG!
From EGOtiation to NEGOtiation
“There are no foreign lands!
It is the traveler only
who is foreign.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
www.topvirtualmeeting.com www.christine-morlet.com
Christine Morlet conference at the Global Speakers Summit - 2011