Culture Quiz

Our  Culture Quiz  offers an opportunity to assess your cross-cultural experience and skills.  Below are three questions for each of six business cultures:  China, France, Germany, India, Japan, and Spain.  These questions cover the areas of negotiation practices, presentation styles, and levels of formality.  Clicking  Submit  will take you directly to the evaluation page.  You can leave answers open when unsure.
 

China

True   Not true
	Negotiations in China are best conducted on a one-on-one basis, since people generally prefer getting to know you well.
	When starting a presentation in China, it is helpful to spend significant time discussing the history of your company.
	Chinese banquets tend to be lengthy and tiresome, but it is ok to excuse yourself politely if you need to be well rested for the following day's interactions.

France

True   Not true
	French negotiators may start debating your first agenda point even after you already covered and agreed on the first five agenda points.
	In front of a French audience, always present your points and ideas in a very logical fashion, even if doing so may be seem a bit boring.
	As the French are proud of their lifestyles, don't be surprised if someone quickly invites you to his or her home.  They love "showing off" a little.

Germany

True   Not true
	When engaging in business negotiations in Germany, it is a good idea to avoid any last-minute changes.
	Germans pay much more attention to the underlying ideas and intentions of a presentation than to the details of what is being shown.
	In Germany, even if a boss is wrong on an issue, people will hesitate to speak up, because Germans tend to be obedient.

India

True   Not true
	Indian negotiators will make it clear when they don't like your proposed terms.
	One should use lots of humor when presenting in India, because people there are very friendly and like to laugh.
	In India, it's ok for bosses to be authoritarian as long as they are competent in their work area.

Japan

True   Not true
	It is a good idea to bring a legal counselor along for business negotiations, as the Japanese prefer to define all contractual details precisely.
	When presenting to a Japanese audience, expect several interruptions because they will want to discuss many details.
	It is easy to pick out the decision maker when meeting with a group of employees of a Japanese company.

Spain

True   Not true
	Spanish negotiators rarely compromise, so a tit-for-tat strategy of offering concessions and expecting reciprocity will not work well.
	When presenting in Spain, expect people's attention to span only about 20-30 minutes.
	When meeting someone in Spain for the first time, emphasize your position and title.  Spaniards pay attention to such aspects.