The Global Economy and Business

Не that talks much errs much.

A good English proverb, but it is not acceptable for modern business. Doing business worldwide I must be aware of what you are talking about. Here is some tips to help you conduct talks successfully.

Spain:

- In conversation, Spaniards may not only stand uncomfortably close, but may also pat your arm or shoulder. If you are put out by such gestures, it will only cause offence to try to retreat into your own private space.

Topics to avoid:

- Bullfighting [if you and your counterpart are likely to disagree];

- Religion [i.e. any aspect of Roman Catholicism];

- The Civil War and WWII;

- Franco;

- Basque separatism and Catalan regionalism;

- Gibraltar;

- Enquiries of a personal nature, especially during first introductions;

- Machismo and feminism.

France:

- Give opinions only on subjects that you are knowledgeable about.

Topics to Avoid:

- It is extremely bad manners to ask an individual about his political leanings or how he voted. You can, however, inquire about the political system or public opinion about political leaders.

- Do not criticize Napoleon, who has a lasting identity with the French spirit.

- Refrain from using the standard U.S. conversation opener, ‘What do you do?’

- Avoid making personal inquiries in the course of a conversation, especially during first introductions.

Germany:

- Be prepared to take the first step as the newcomer to introduce yourself to an established group when you arrive in a new environment.

- Giving compliments is not part of German business protocol and can often cause embarrassment and awkwardness. Compliments, especially from strangers can be taken with suspicion [“What does he/she really mean to say or want?”].

Topics to Avoid:

- World War II/the Holocaust

- Personal questions [especially salary, cost of personal objects] among people you don’t know or know well, especially in a business environment [work and family life are usually kept separate]

So, as you see that it isn’t rather difficult to converse in European countries, but the rules of conversation in Moslem countries are stricter.

I could say that Islamic people are very proud of their country, language, culture and history

Turkey:

- Avoid giving opinions over sensitive issues involving Turkey, especially Turko-Kurdish relations, EU membership.

- Turkey has had a turbulent political history which may be best left in the past. Try and avoid this subject as a whole.

- There is a West-East divide in Turkey on the issue of Islam. Generally, the Eastern Turks are a lot more conservative due to their closer adherence to Islamic values. Western Turks, especially those in Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir are usually a lot more westernized. Islam takes on more of a cultural feel rather than a religious one. Depending on where you are, be careful how you approach any topic about Islam.

Iran:

- Avoid questions around polemics in Islam, inquisitive questions about Islam are possible.

- Contentious issues that may lead to debate are the Revolution of 1979, Iranian- US relations and domestic policy.

- Do not ask personal questions unless a very close relationship has been established.

- Avoid making any negative comments about Iran regarding the leadership, infrastructure or people.

- And try to be always honest in the conversation. If they feel that you are hiding smth or there is an element of suspicion about your motives, you may not get very far.

So, as you can see that in conversations with the Moslem people you should be very attentive…

Japan:

- You may be asked extremely personal questions regarding your salary, education, and family life. If you don’t want to answer, remain polite but try to side step the question.

- It is considered polite to frequently say “I’m sorry.” For example, the Japanese will apologize for having a cold, taking you to see a disappointing movie and practically any other personal flaw. Visitors are encouraged to do the same.

- Don’t make direct refusals. In your dealings with Japanese business culture, remain indirect.

- Use as many Japanese sentences as you can.

Please, remember some Topics to Avoid:

- World War II

- Making jokes [unless they are very easy to understand]

China:

- Negative replies are considered impolite. Instead of saying ‘no’, answer ‘maybe’, ‘I’ll think about it’.

- You may be asked questions concerning your age and income. If you don’t want to reveal this information, remain polite and give an unspecific answer.

- Make an effort to learn and use at least a few words in Chinese.

India

- Most Indians enjoy good conversation on a variety of topics.

- Sometimes, Indians ask questions which can be seen as too personal. However, one must remember that discussing one’s family and personal life is normal among Indians.

- Indians seldom express their disagreement in a direct manner.

Please, remember the topics to avoid in conversation:

- Religious beliefs

- Pakistan

- The large rich-poor divide in India

So, now you know about welcome and unwelcome topics of conversation and the tone of voice to be used.

Just an interesting fact – there are so many companies that are using franchising system that many people really consider every huge company a franchiser. I decided to confirm this idea by organizing such a survey. There were just a couple of questions and the main was: “Name the company you would buy a franchise at”. The most interesting results are below.
1. Gazprom (Russian natural gas giant). I even don’t need a franchise license. Just a couple of pipeline meters.
2. McDonalds. You could call it primitive but I have an idea how to organize a business even better than McDonalds do. I gonna add some new traits to the idea that would help me to be competitive.
3. Wal-Mart and you have no need to persuade me that they don’t have franchises. Still I want to.
4. Exxon Mobile. I want to get a little oil well and organize such a franchise.
5. Franchise? Could you explain please what is it?
6. I don’t know. Are there any franchises that don’t require hard work?
7. I WILL NOT ANSWER YOUR STUPID QUESTIONS, YOU, FRANCHISE FRANTIC!
 

Still I should state that the structure of answers mostly represents the common idea on franchising. There are too many food and fast-food restaurants and retail stores. Unfortunately I haven’t found the ideas that will be interesting to launch immediately.
So the main conclusion is that if you want to buy a franchise you have to think carefully on the industries and ideas. No one could help you more than you do.

The idea of combining franchising and e-auctions is divided into to possible businesses, as I think.
 On the one hand, the company can provide services of Internet auctions bidding. I wrote about it a bit earlier when I told about eBay franchises. Really, not many people are enough familiar with the procedures of selling and buying goods through the Net. They can overcharge or sell for too low price. Ordinary people usually don’t have many good references and this can decrease the possibility to get all possible advantages of e-auction…
So, this kind of franchise business is developing now and it concerns not only eBay auction but any other – cars (like Copart),  web-design and software development services (like Elance) and so on.
 

On the other hand, big e-auctions start selling franchises themselves. Here we are not speaking about consulting or assistance services. Usually, the system works the following way. Franchisee gets the necessary software to start the auction himself. Why people will use this small one instead of the main? The main reason is territory or specialization on particular kind of products. But territory is the main reason. Franchisee has the opportunity to meet the needs (and legislation) of particular state or country. And if to speak about different countries the main advantage will be using of native language.
 So, I think that franchising + e-auction = good business opportunity.

Today I would like to continue the previous topic and to say some words about Public Behavior in the countries, which were a question of yesterday’s post.

Spain:

- When summoning someone [e.g. a waiter], you should turn your palm down and wave your fingers or entire hand.

- Foreign [especially blonde] women continue to hold a particular fascination for the older generation but, although it is now considered rude to whistle, any attractive woman must be prepared for turned heads and lengthy stares from admiring males. The correct response is to smile and ignore such unwanted attention.

France:

- When you speak their language, be gracious if the French correct your mistakes in grammar or pronunciation. Usually, people who make these efforts care about the French language and are only trying to help you speak it effectively.

- Men should stand, or at least initiate a move to do so, whenever a superior makes an entrance.

- Despite the formality of French business culture, people tend to stand close when speaking to each other. Moreover, touching a shoulder or patting an arm is also commonplace and usually within the bounds of French business etiquette.

- Maintaining eye contact is important, but try not to focus too intently on the other person.

- If you feel the need to point, motion with your whole hand, rather than your index finger.

Germany:

- Eye contact during the introduction is serious, direct, and should be maintained as long as the person is addressing you. Even in public between strangers, eye contact or out and out staring can be direct and not necessarily smiling.

- Although this is usually a very formal, law-obeying society, pushing, shoving, and other displays of impatience in lineups are not uncommon. Apologies are in such cases not necessarily the rule. Interestingly, despite the high value of rules and social order in most aspects of public life, queuing and waiting your turn are not strong traits in present day Germany.

- Having made this point, be aware that the liberty taken with lines at a bakery doesn’t translate to lines at any bureaucratic institution.

Moslem countries (United Arab Emirates, Iran and in Turkey )

- Generally, one should always shake hands with every man present but not with women. If a man knows a woman well enough to touch her at all, he knows her well enough to kiss her [e.g. blood relatives]. The respectful greeting between subjects and rulers is a kiss on the nose. In Turkey holding hands with someone from the opposite sex is acceptable in the cities.

- Not only is it improper to eat with the left hand, it should be reserved only for unclean usage. To offer someone something with the left hand is very rude.

- Do not forget that Friday is a traditional Islamic holiday, although this is now Sunday in turkey.

Japan:

- Maintain a quiet and polite manner at all times.

- The American “O.K.” sign actually means “money” in Japan.

- Blowing one’s nose in public is regarded as impolite. When this action is necessary, use a disposable tissue only and then throw it out immediately. Generally speaking, the Japanese find the idea of keeping a used handkerchief disgusting.

- Laughter may indicate embarrassment or distress, rather than amusement.

- Smiling is a popular gesture here. It is often used, however, for self-control, particularly in masking displeasure.

China:

- The Chinese do not use their hands when speaking, and will only become annoyed with a speaker who does.

- The Chinese dislike being touched by strangers.

- Members of the same sex may hold hands in public in order to show friendliness.

- Blowing your nose with a handkerchief is acceptable, but it is advisable to turn away from people while doing so.

India:

- Among Indians, it is normal for them to use their hands to gesticulate while talking with each other.

- Feet are considered unclean in India. In the case that your feet or shoes touch another person, you are expected to apologize by saying ’sorry.’

- Indians do not maintain continuous eye-contact while talking with others. On the other hand, do not feel uncomfortable if you find an Indian gazing at you; this is because Indians are curious.

- The comfortable distance is much closer in India than in most Western countries. In general, a distance of about 2 feet is seen as comfortable.

Now you have learned acceptable behavior, rules for eye contact and gestures

International relations are primarily official contacts among the governments of independent countries. Such contacts may be peaceful or warlike and they are very important for the global economy.

Agreement is an arrangement or promise to do something, made by 2 or more people or organizations. A treaty is a formal agreement made by national governments. The agreement may be bilateral (signed by 2 countries) or multilateral (signed by more than 2 countries). Only the official representatives of independent countries may draw up a treaty. Before the agreement can go into effect, it must be approved by the governments of the countries involved. A nation may sign a treaty to promote its own economic interests.

When governments or other bodies wish to reach an agreement they usually organize a visit or hold or have talks, discussions or negotiations. And it’s very important to have special skills doing business worldwide. I have already told about the importance of cross-cultural skills in modern business. And now I’d like to give you some tips. I hope they will help you to understand business etiquette better.

First of all there are some words about greeting in some countries.

Spain:

Initial introductions with Spaniards are always formal: extend a brief but firm handshake, while maintaining eye contact and saying «buenos días» or «buenas tardes» depending on the time of day.

Men will continue to shake hands on all subsequent occasions. Women will embrace and kiss. In the company of friends, it is also common for men to hug or pat each other on the back as well as shaking hands.

France:

Expect to be greeted by a handshake; kissing on the cheeks [across genders] is also common amongst colleagues at work. It is not extended to outsiders and you should not attempt it until your female colleagues have made the initial move.

Germany:

Germans do not expect to be greeted by strangers, even when eye contact has been made, in the office environment.

Firm, brief handshakes at the time of arrival and departure are standard in both business and social relationships. Hugging and kissing on both cheeks are common only among good friends and family members. When arriving and leaving, take the time to shake hands with everyone individually in a group. The simpler American «group wave», for example, will not be appreciated in all but the most casual and familiar gatherings.

 

I should say that the greeting in United Arab Emirates, Iran and in Turkey does not vary significantly, because they all are Moslem countries.

The standard greeting is «As-salaam alike», [peace be upon you] to which the standard reply is «Wa alaikum as-salam» [and upon you be peace]. On arrival at the reception room, the visitor should stand in the doorway and utter the former of these phrases. Only after receiving the reply is he entitled to enter. In the event of no reply, he may repeat the greeting but continued failure to reply means that he is not welcome.         

If the room is carpeted, the visitor should remove his shoes and leave them outside to avoid bringing in impurities and thereby rendering the carpet ritually unclean for prayer. Once inside the room, he should shake hands with the most senior person first [usually but not invariably the host]. Then, he should make his way around the room in an anti-clockwise direction, shaking hands with each person in turn before taking his seat and joining in the conversation.            

The visitor should not change the subject of conversation except by logical opportunity or invitation. If there are more than fifty or so people in the room or if the seating is inconvenient, there may be consensus permission for him merely to shake hands with the host and wave a greeting to the others.    Once seated, crossing legs is perfectly acceptable, provided one does not direct the sole of the foot to an individual, which is a «go away» gesture.

 

Japan:

The Japanese greet each other by bowing. A bow can be a way of expressing thanks, saying “I’m sorry” or even asking for a favor.

China:

The Chinese will sometimes nod. Bowing is seldom used except in ceremonies. Handshakes are also popular.

If you visit a school, theater, or other workplace, it is likely that you will be greeted with applause as a sign of welcome. In turn, you should respond by applauding back.

 In Chinese culture, the question «Have you eaten?» or «Where have you been?» is the equivalent to «How are you?» in North America. Simply answer, ‘yes’ or smile and say «thank you».

India:

The traditional way of greeting in India is performed by holding your palms together, as in praying, and saying «Namaskar» [nah-mas-kar], with a slight bow. While «Namaskar» are Hindu ways of greeting, they are also accepted among all other communities. Shaking hands is also an acceptable way to greet people, but shaking hands with women is not universally accepted in Indian society.

 

Now you know how to greet your business partner according to the customs of his country.

In my previous article I discussed only consulting in the Internet sphere. But at the same time some companies sell franchises to provide general consulting or training using the Internet technologies and special systems of distance learning. It may cover all spheres of consulting: medical, psychological, economic, legal and any other. Some companies specialize on one direction, the others try to combine many. But in general the main idea remains the same – they teach and consult people through the Net.
 Why should you buy their business? In most cases the main reason to become a franchisee is the software provided by franchisor. Usually it’s much cheaper to get it from the main company than to develop yourself because the development costs are divided between many franchisees. Also franchisor provides the already tested system. So, you can start consulting or training immediately.
 

Also I want to say few words about one more hidden benefit. As you understand franchise package includes compulsory training. Training in some professional sphere! Usually in also includes ongoing training too. So, it seems that you can get professional knowledge and business at the same time (as if you attend the college for free….)
  As for me it’s one of the business ideas or opportunities when you exactly understand what you get.
 And what about weaknesses? To my mind they are the same as I mentioned in the pervious article.

So, I decided to continue the Internet franchising topic using the example of the most (as I think) well-known company in the sphere of web-consulting. I mean the WSI  or (as they call themselves) #1 Internet and Technology Services Franchise.
 And what do they mean by Internet and Technology Services?
The first thing I need to speak about is their target market and the problems they are trying to solve. WSI helps small and middle-size private companies to use the Internet resources as efficient as possible. Does it mean that many of them are using the Internet inefficiently? Unfortunately, yes. Global network provides a lot of opportunities to decrease costs and to increase sales at the same time. It allows to increase productivity and to improve the communication with the clients, suppliers and partners. It opens a wide variety of different marketing instruments (not only just web page registered in Google…).
But for most middle and small-size companies my previous paragraph brings nothing more than a disappointment. They understand that do not have enough experience in e-business and Internet technologies and have no time to study it.
 

So, WSI decided to present solutions that assists these businesses. They’ve created proven and patent pending Business Systems and established an outstanding Franchise System to reach as many small and middle-size companies as it’s possible!
 What do you need to know before making a decision if the become a WSI franchisee? I hope the following summary can be helpful.
 

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Number of current franchisees: 1,000 franchisees in 87 countries around the world. More than 1500 offices of the company.
Franchise fee: $49,700 USD
Founded: 1995
Franchising Since: 1997
Estimated total cost of franchise: As the franchise is a home office based enterprise, costs on top of the initial fee are small. I can even say that it’s equal to franchise fee, not more.
Territories Available: There are franchises available both nationally and worldwide.
Royalty fee: 10%
 The main idea:
As new Internet technologies appear and will continue to appear, as a trained and certified WSI Internet Consultant, franchisee is positioned to assist businesses in capitalizing on these new possibilities.
WSI franchise program includes compulsory training of all potential franchisees to become Professional Internet Consultants, allowing them to act as a one-stop shop of internet solutions for small and middle-size businesses. Consultants help boost firms’ internet profits by offering a variety of web-based services, while still being able to work from the comfort of their own home.
As they say
“WSI liken their Internet Consultants to ‘architects’, who assess their clients’ business needs using WSI’s Lifecycle System. Each client is then provided with a tailor-made internet solution, which aims to both reduce business overheads and increase revenues.
Once the internet solution has been formulated, it is then independently built at one of WSI’s Global Production Centres, located in a low-cost, high-tech area such as India or Australia. The clients are then delivered a results-orientated, technologically advanced internet solution at an economical cost”.
To train the company also uses the Internet technology called e-learning or on-line education. It provides additional benefits to the potential franchisee as this variant is much cheaper (no transportation costs, you can choose better time and stay with your family).
 

Following current support:
WSI uses developed by themselves Client Support System. It can provide franchisees with an on-going stream of reoccurring revenue from each client. The company also helps franchisees by offering an on-going support program that is custom-made to meet the unique needs of each new franchisee.
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 As for me, I think that I’d buy the franchise license. Why not yet? Maybe because I still see a very serious competition in that field. Certainly, the WSI company has a well-known brand and a wonderful advertising campaign, but…
Small business owners are trying to save every dollar and pound. And there are too many freelancers in the consulting sphere (undergraduate and graduate students and even former employee of WSI franchisees) that can provide that services for lower costs. I agree that in most cases WSI-trained companies using good software and technologies will perform better quality. But I’m still afraid…. Can anybody overpersuade me?

Ok, I’m back to continue writing about Internet and computer franchise opportunities. Last time I was so busy that I managed to write only about the first – providing web-services. So, now I’m going forth.
 2. On-site computer services will be the next idea to write about. The franchisee has to hire a specialist(s) in the technical sphere. Usually it’s not necessary to have prior experience in computer repair because franchisor will provide all the training. For example, Geeks On Call® Company says:
“Everything starts with “Geek University,” which is an in-depth, weeklong training program”
 

The benefits: the market of home and office computers is rather big and it’s growing; franchisor provides training and some other useful stuff for start-up (business plan, results of marketing research and so on); you can reach small business owners and households large service-centers are not interested in.

The potential losses: the competition in the industry is very tight; every technical specialist with even little experience in computer-repairing can provide the same services himself anв for lower cost (as he doesn’t have to pay royalty and other payments to franchisor).
 (to be continued)

I’ like to compare the history of two famous companies “Ford” and “Bic”. At first sight we can say that nothing common could be in the history of these companies, but I’d like to say that there are several common points.

As we know “Ford” company produces cars and it was the first company which began to produce horseless carriages and then cars. And what about the “Bic” company, it was the first in producing disposable products such as ballpoints pens, razors and lighters. Also the profit of these companies is always increasing.

As for differences, as I mentioned these companies are specialized in different products. Besides the “Ford” company was founded earlier then “Bic”, so it was founded in 1903 while the “Bic” company only in 1950. Also “Ford” was founded in America and is considered to be an American company, but the “Bic” company is French one.

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First and foremost, I’d like to say that men and women do things differently. So, it’s difficult to choose from males and females.

But in general I should say that the male approach to business is competitive, direct and confrontational. It’s doesn’t matter what methods they use, success is the only important thing.

The female method is collaborative. Collective action and responsibility are more important than personal achievements.

I think if I need a book- keeper or a worker, whose job is to meet and to talk with people, I’ll choose a female, because women tend to talk about staff problems and personal matters.

And if our company needs, for example, an attorney I’ll choose a male, because males approach to solving problems is to go the hart of the problem. Male behavior can include forceful gestures, for example, banging a fist on the desk for effect. Sometimes it has its results.

In conclusion I want to add, if a person is highly skilled, it’s doesn’t matter whether it will be male or female…

 

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