|
|
|
|
Standard
II. International Business Communications... Achievement Standard: Apply
communication strategies necessary and appropriate for effective and profitable
international business relations.
|
|
|
B. Non Verbal
|
|
|
Level
3 (Secondary) - Performance Expectations: Recognize gift giving in business
relationships in several cultures and give examples of appropriate and
inappropriate gifts for persons in a given
country. |
|
|
Gifts in International Business |
|
|
TIME
REQUIRED:
|
Two
50-minute class periods
|
|
RECOMMENDED
GRADE:
|
Grades
11-12
|
|
MAJOR
CONCEPTS:
|
Gift
giving is not the same in different cultures. One example is that
choosing the wrong color, type, or number of flowers may offend the recipient.
|
|
INSTRUCTIONAL
OBJECTIVES:
|
To
identify appropriate gifts in business relationships
To identify appropriate behavior when receiving gifts |
|
MATERIALS:
|
Do
s and Tabos Around the World, 3 rd Edition, Edited by Roger E. Axtell,
published John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1993
Do s and Taboos of hosting International Visitors, Roger E. Axtell, published by John Wiley & Sons., Inc., New York, 1990 Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands by Terri Morrison, Wayne A. Conaway, and George A. Borden, PhD., published by Bob Adams, Inc., Massachusetts, 1994 Multicultural Manners by Norine Dresser, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1996 |
|
RATIONALE:
|
Knowing
various rules for gift giving and receiving in business relationships may
help students avoid embarrassment for themselves or for their employers
in the future.
Religious beliefs often have a bearing on gift giving. For example Muslims would be offended with a gift of alcohol, art work showing exposure of the female body, pork or pig skin, or knives. Many people in India consider cows sacred. Therefore, gifts of cowhide or beef must be avoided. If a business person is dining in a restaurant with natives of India, beef should not be ordered by even one person. Many cultures would not open gifts at the time that they are given. Some gifts should be given when leaving. Some should be given when alone with the host so that no one else is embarrassed if they did not bring a gift.
|
|
PROCEDURE:
|
1.
Students research a country for examples of appropriate and inappropriate
gifts. A distinction should be made between formal business gifts
and informal gifts used in social occasions, which arise as a result of
business relationships. Presenting gifts can also be a problem.
Examples include avoiding presenting gifts with your left hand and knowing
whether or not to wrap gifts.
2.
Students may also look for examples of how to receive gifts. Some
cultures do not open gifts at the time that they are received; they open
gifts in private. Some cultures believe in the evil eye and will
make a gift of something that they may treasure because a person admires
it. Business people need to know how to refuse such a gift if they
have made a mistake in admiring something offered to them as a gift.
Dressers gives examples in Multicultural Manners.
|
| EVALUATION: | Daily one-minute reports on students findings. Once students
have had sufficient time to research a country, one or two students should
make a one-minute report at the beginning of each class. Students
who are listening to the presentation should write notes and their own
reactions to what they learned. When each students has completed
their report, other countries could be chosen or assigned, and the process
repeated.
At the end of each week, each student writes a paragraph to be handed in. The content of the paragraph should include a summary of the one-minute presentations and each students reactions.
|
|
AUTHOR:
|
:
Dr. Dorothy Wiese, Elgin Community College, Hampshire, IL.
|
|
EDITORS:
|
Les
Dlabay, Lake Forrest College, Wildwood, IL.
Robert
Ristau, Eastern Michigan University (ret.), Ypsilanti, MI.
|
|
Click here to download Microsoft Word version of the plan including handouts. |
|