World without words
Contact and contract-oriented cultures One of the most significant differences between diverse countries is a focus either on personal relationships between business partners or written juridical agreements which are considered to be a basis for any present or future partnerships. In countries like the Netherlands, United States, Germany, Denmark and South Africa contracts and legal documents are tended to be much longer and have higher value. On the contrary, in Spain, Italy, India, Brazil, most of the Asian countries and big part of the Arabic and African world the relationships are more important than a deal at hand. This fundamental distinction influences many aspects of business relationships. Most of the initial meetings in contact oriented cultures are intended to get people acquainted, to establish personal connections. They do not get straight to business. Many of these gatherings are quite formal and that is where the recognition of the system of more subtle signals might play a great role in successful closing a deal.
Trends Nowadays, it is very clear that trends are shifting in the world of communication. New technologies are being introduced after one another. This movement shows that people have to be ready for new ways of communicating. People should have knowledge of the most effective technologies, which can be used for both social life, and business related matters. In a split second everybody can have contact with anyone, but only the people who know how to communicate correctly will be successful. But first it is important to discuss the current movement of public perceptions on cross cultural communication, as the impact of terrorism has caused people to think and act different (e.g. during travelling or doing business abroad). This new global environment makes people be more careful than ever before, when dealing with other cultures. People are not used to being observed or to be reticent, but there is no other choice than to hold on to the comfort zone. Nowadays, it is less easy to receive trust from someone. This means people will be communicating in a different business context.
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