subject: Know The Basics Of International Business Gift Giving [print this page] Those who are involved in any type of business know that they can never avoid giving gifts once in a while. Gift-giving is one of the most effective ways of establishing stronger ties to those who matter to you and your business, be it Christmas or an important clients birthday. Even though many are into this kind of view point, this isn't totally factual. In international business, for instance, giving gifts can be the worst thing that you can do. This is because each race or nationality has its own belief about business gift giving.
It's interesting that while some countries may be very open to gift-giving, others can actually take the act to be completely unacceptable. For example, in the Czech Republic, Columbia, Indonesia and some others, giving gifts is a warm gesture between corporate people. But in other countries such as Australia, Uruguay and Denmark, this can be misconstrued as bribing.
Some countries in fact find this act completely offensive. Of course, there are countries that find this act to be very warm and friendly. This can be misunderstood as bribing when youre on other countries like Australia, Denmark or Uruguay.
It can be critical for you to take time to research on the gift-giving customs of the people you deal with if you're involved in international business. Generally, we feel that when we give a gift to a client or a colleague during his birthday, it can strengthen our business relationship. The result can be the opposite. It may even create negative vibes that can significantly affect the business relationship. It is significant to always know the background of the people you consider giving presents for this reason.
The issues around gift giving may not even be purely cultural but religious as well. Even when working for a company, it will be a wise idea to research on the culture of the people you might plan giving a gift to. For instance, you may want to give your boss a little token on his birthday. For instance, if your boss is Indian, then you can't give him anything made of cowhide since these animals are sacred in their culture.
There will be rituals or rules that have to be pursued as giving gifts is not really discouraged in some cases. The Chinese, for instance, consider red a lucky color. The financial value of presents may also influence its meaning approximately in all situations. Whatever thing that is costly can make the receiver feel uncomfortable or even embarrassed. In other cases, a gift should fit the level of relationship that the giver has with the receiver.
There are more dissimilarity among nationalities when it comes to customs of giving gifts and it is significant in considering these before you give something, no matter how well meant.
