Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands (The Bestselling Guide to Doing Business in More than 60 Countries)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 592 pages
• Published by: Adams Media
• Edition: 2nd Edition July 24, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1593373686
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1593373689
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.6 inches
• Weighs: 2.2 pounds

Product Review
In a global economy, it is crucial for business people to be sensitive to cultural differences. And although the best reason for doing so may be ethical, it's great for business as well! This is an invaluable book for "doing well while doing good" in your intercultural relations, covering the protocols of appointments, business entertaining, greetings, forms of address, gestures, dress, and gifts in sixty of the nations you're most likely to be doing business. Some interesting excerpts:

• Australia: The "thumbs-up" sign, which in the U.S. indicates "O.K." is considered rude.
  
• Brazil: The colors of the Brazilian flag are green and yellow, so avoid wearing this combination in any fashion.
  
• China: Avoid making exaggerated gestures or using dramatic facial expressions. The Chinese do not generally use their hands when speaking, and become distracted by a speaker who does.
  
• Indonesia: Since it is impolite to disagree with someone, Indonesians rarely say "no"a clear way to indicate "no" is to suck in air through the teeth.

The authors are very aware that no generalizations apply to all residents of a nation, and are careful not to stereotype or judge. Highly recommended to any business traveler--or any student of the diversity of human cultures.

(Note: a great companion volume for this book is Gestures, which is devoted entirely to explaining the varieties of hand gestures in 82 countries!) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Written by executives who prepare other executives for international travel and one Fulbright scholar in cross-cultural communication, this work is a godsend for rapidly growing international collections. It is affordable, to-the-point, and easily understood book by those who as yet have no stamps on their passports. The introduction discusses cognitive styles, value systems, and negotiation strategies in different cultures, explaining how delicate they make the process of intercultural relations. Sixty countries are examined in terms of background, cultural orientation, business practices (e.g., negotiating, entertaining), and protocol (e.g., gestures, dress). Morrison and cohorts cover some countries not included by more costly "Doing Business In" publications by Business International and Price Waterhouse. The average entry length is five pages-more than Brigham Young University's Culturgrams (Garrett Park Pr., 1993. 2d ed.). Recommended for all business and international studies collections.
Lisa K. Miller, Paradise Valley Community Coll. Lib., Phoenix
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries (Paperback) For we who live in the US, our knowledge of the geography, language, and customs of other countries is sometimes appalling. So, it's a good thing there are books like this to help relieve our gauche-ness and keep the egg off our faces whether traveling or putting our businesses out on the Internet. An alphabetical listing from Argentina through Venezuela, each country section has a small line map with the name of the capital city located inside. They all begin with a short cultural note, followed by: => Country Background: Short history; Type of government; Language; Religion; Demographics. => Cultural Orientation: Cognitive styles; Negotiation style; Value Systems. => Business Practices: Appointments; Negotiating; Business entertainment; Time (in relation to Greenwich Mean Time). => Protocol: Greetings; Titles/forms of address; Gestures; Dress; Gifts. Things you might not know include: => more than 14 major languages are spoken in India => in Ecuador, make appointments about 2 weeks in advance => literacy is almost 100% in Russia => Danes tend to get down to business right away, with a minimum of small talk => in Malaysia, one who expresses anger in public has shamefully lost face => nearly all Egyptians speak Arabic. Most business people who deal with foreigners speak English, French, or both The appendix contains interesting & valuable information, too. I especially liked the pictures of phone, electrical, & ground adaptors. There's an entire page of metric equivalents for those who don't use them daily. Morrison includes a page about travel medical insurance, too. What's missing? Information about African countries is nearly non-existent. Other than Egypt, no other country is covered, not even South Africa. And, if you're looking for in-depth information about online courtesies, you'll have to dig deep to find them. There are few.