Business & protocol

39 cards in this category — of which 38 complete, 1 drafts.

• Receiving a business card with both hands (meishi)In Japan, taking a meishi with one hand is a near-affront to protocol.
  CompleteInsult
• Writing on the business card you receiveWriting on a business card you have received, in front of its bearer, amounts to crossing out the person themselves (Japan, Korea, China).
  CompleteInsult
• Put the card in the back pocket of your pantsPutting a card in your back pocket in Japan is the equivalent of literally sitting on it.
  CompleteInsult
• Strict to-the-minute punctualityArriving five minutes late in Germany: an accepted professional error.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Latin American punctuality (flexible)In Latin America, time is relational, not absolute. A delay invites discussion.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Silence in meetings (Japan)In Japan, silence in a meeting is active thinking (ma 間); in the West it is perceived as a deadlock.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Interrupting a meeting (Mediterranean)A Mediterranean who doesn't interrupt is seen as disinterested; a German who does interrupt is seen as unlearned.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Use first name immediately (Asia)Call a Japanese CEO "Yamada-san" after three meetings; call an American CEO "John" after the first coffee.
  CompleteInsult
• Asking age in business (Korea)A Korean asks "How old are you?" at the very first coffee; a Westerner receives this as an intrusion.
  CompleteInsult
• "Yes" means "I heard" (Japan)A Japanese man says "yes" twenty times during a meeting, then refuses afterwards.
  CompleteInsult
• Soft handshake (Maghreb, Middle East)A firm handshake in Morocco can be perceived as brutality.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Documenting/writing with the left hand (Islamic cultures)Passing a document with the left hand in an Islamic context is a serious religious and social offense.
  CompleteInsult
• Business gift ceremony (Japan)In Japan, the wrapping, refusal protocol and seasonal calendar of business gifts are codified rituals. Poor presentation or a taboo gift can damage a business relationship.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Refusing a Gift (Professional China)In China, refusing a gift one to three times is a modesty ritual (kèqi 客气). Accepting immediately seems greedy. Guanxi (关系) makes the gift an investment in a long-term relationship.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Commercial gifts (EU anti-bribery law)Aucune loi ne fixe de seuil en euros : Sapin II, UK Bribery Act et FCPA répriment la contrepartie indue, et les plafonds cadeaux (30, 50, 150 EUR) sont des politiques internes d'entreprise. Le même cadeau est un rituel de respect à Tokyo et un dossier compliance à Paris.
  CompleteOffense
• Alcohol at business meals (Japan)In Japan, the after-work nomikai is part of relationship work: systematic refusal reads as withdrawal from the group, not as a private choice.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Refuse alcohol (Golf, Muslim areas)Pressuring a Muslim colleague to drink at a business dinner in the UAE is unacceptable.
  CompleteInsult
• Modesty in dress (Golf, Middle East)A woman in a skirt on her knees in the UAE causes lasting professional discomfort.
  CompleteInsult
• Negotiating during RamadanNo business lunches or demanding meetings at midday local time. Suggest meetings before dawn or after sunset (iftar). Hydration is forbidden to fasting people.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Indirect negative feedback in Japan"It's difficult" in Japan means "no". Voicing criticism in public = fatal humiliation. Every sentence carries unspoken layers; what is absent speaks as loudly as what is present.
  CompleteInsult
• Feedback frontal néerlandais"It's bad" in the Netherlands = neutral technical criticism. Everywhere else = personal attack. The same word, two ethical universes.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Email greetings (France)In France, professional email closures (Cordialement, Bien à vous, Sincères salutations) codify hierarchical respect and relational depth.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Academic titles in business (Germany)In Germany, "Dr." and "Prof." remain customary in formal professional address; omitting them with a counterpart who values them comes across as offhandedness.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Informal du vs. formal Sie in business (Germany)In Germany, the switch from "Sie" to "du" is a ritual offered by the more senior party; using "du" from the outset comes across as presuming an equality that has not been granted.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Negotiation and bargaining (Middle East)In the Middle East, haggling in the souk is an expected practice; refusing to negotiate seems ignorant.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Verbal vs. written contracts (United States)Le droit américain rend le contrat oral exécutoire — Texaco l'a appris pour 10,53 milliards de dollars en 1985 — mais la culture d'affaires exige l'écrit exhaustif : « get it in writing ». Pour les cultures relationnelles, ce contrat-forteresse dit la défiance ; pour l'Américain, il dit le sérieux.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Decision by consensus (Japan)In Japan, nemawashi and ringi are mandatory consensus processes.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Guanxi in business (China)Guanxi is a system of reciprocal relationships; to ignore this network is to fail.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Wasta (intermediation) in the Middle EastWasta is a resource access system; ignoring it makes business impossible.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Jeitinho (creative bypass) in BrazilJeitinho is not dishonesty but a valued skill in Brazil.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Open-door policy (United States)The open-door policy is a symbol of managerial accessibility in the US.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Small talk: United States vs. GermanySmall talk is an expected opening ritual in the United States; its absence in Germany marks respect for the other person's time, not hostility.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Laisser passer les femmes d'abordGalanterie appréciée ou paternaliste selon le contexte : valorisée dans une partie de l'Europe latine, la préséance donnée aux femmes passe mal dans les pays nordiques et dans l'étiquette d'affaires contemporaine, où la préséance suit le rang et non le genre.
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Complimenter l'apparence d'une collègueAux US, risque harcèlement ; en Italie, banalité relationnelle.
  CompleteInsult
• Photographier des collègues sans consentementRGPD : l'image d'un salarié identifiable est une donnée personnelle, et le consentement au travail est la base légale la plus fragile. En France, la Cour de cassation répare l'atteinte au droit à l'image sans preuve d'un préjudice (Cass. soc., 19 janvier 2022).
  CompleteInsult
• Félicitations publiques sur LinkedInLike ostentatoire US vs retenue scandinave — mêmes outils, cultures d'usage opposées.
  CompleteCuriosity
• Emailer hors des heures de travail (France : droit à la déconnexion)Email de 22 h : signal d'engagement aux États-Unis, intrusion en France, où le droit à la déconnexion est inscrit au Code du travail depuis le 1er janvier 2017 (loi du 8 août 2016, art. L. 2242-17).
  CompleteMisunderstanding
• Refusing a drink offered by a senior (South Korea)In Korea, refusing the boss's first drink at a hoesik without a clear health excuse signals withdrawal and disrespect.
  CompleteInsult
• Firm handshake (United States)A limp handshake in the U.S. immediately classifies you as unreliable.
  DraftCuriosity