International business culture and etiquette....

An understanding of business culture and etiquette in other countries is a critical competency for survival in a global business environment. Most business programs now incorporate international business etiquette into the curriculum. Listed below are a few recommended web sites that might be useful for building your business etiquette knowledge and skills:

Kwintessential offers a great collection of free and fee-based resources on inter-cultural communication, cross cultural training, translation services.... SEE esp. the "country profiles" (scroll down on left) - for business etiquette, customs and protocol.

The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Service has published "The International Business Etiquette Internet Sourcebook" (March 2007) which provides a very useful list by country of web sites devoted to business culture and/or business etiquette.

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions is the result of research on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. The model measures countries on dimensions such as "power distance", "individualism," "masculinity," "uncertainty avoidance," and "long-term orientation." Select a country to see how it ranks on these dimensions.

A more complete list of recommended web sites can be found here: http://del.icio.us/marcylibrarian/business_etiquette.

You can also find additional resources listed in the USF library catalog. For example,"Kiss, bow, or shake hands : the bestselling guide to doing business in more than 60 countries" is a popular book available for reference use in the USFSP library. Electronic databases such as "Countries and their cultures" and "World factbook" are also very useful for a little more in-depth background on a country.