Intercultural Communication - Group
As the Manufacturing Procurement Lead for an American/Japanese automobile manufacturer, my main task is to coordinate several characteristics of production and delivery schedule of an Italian designed and manufactured electronic braking system for a new high performance sports car to be launched to the American market. An important aspect of achieving this goal is conducting a three-day meeting that incorporates various social activities, price, negotiations of delivery schedule, and creation of a preliminary contract. The social activities include cocktail reception on the first evening and a final dinner on the final day of the three-day meeting. The other vital component of success in this meeting is an understanding of group dynamics since it will affect discussions and negotiations.
The American/Japanese automotive manufacturer will be doing business with an Italian company, which implies that understanding cultural differences and business interactions with the Italian customer is essential for successful negotiations. This is crucial towards achieving cross-cultural success through an understanding of and respect for cultural differences. Similar to most south European people, Italians are relationship-oriented given that they have preference for developing direct relationships before engaging in business. Italians tend to prefer direct relationship, which is developed by establishing a climate of respect and...
In addition, these people consider business meetings as means to obtain deeper understanding of an issue instead of generating conclusions in decision-making. Therefore, the Italian customer will largely focus on analysis and explorations instead of emphasis on decision making ("Business Meeting Etiquette," n.d.).
With regards to culture, protecting and safeguarding the natural heritage of Italy is important even in business negotiations and discussions. The Italian culture does not necessarily prioritize punctuality, which implies that some delays should be expected in the discussions between the American/Japanese automotive manufacturer and the Italian customer. While the American and Japanese culture may consider delay as a sign of disrespect, punctuality is not a major issue for Italians ("Business Etiquette," n.d.). Therefore, Italians tend to allow flexibility into work plans, especially when setting deadlines. However, when some deadlines must be strictly met, it's important to clarify to the Italian customer. Given their preference for doing many things simultaneously, Italians have a tendency of multitasking. This implies that the business interactions should accommodate shift of priorities in case of emergence of new demands but without significant interruptions.
Gift giving is not common in the Italian business culture though a small token of appreciation is suitable for Italian…
