Culture shock is a concept related to the emotions we experience when interacting with another culture. This process is typically divided into several stages: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment. The names are self-descriptive enough to understand their essence. Culture shock in business increases business risk. It’s easy to commit a faux pas, even (or maybe especially) when we follow all the rules known to us from our cultural circle.
Some examples: not engaging in or engaging in physical contact, accepting a gift instead of refusing it, treating your boss like a friend or being overly formal, being very attached to social relationships or treating them as a waste of time… there is no easy way to deal with all of these situations.
Certainly, in-depth knowledge of a given culture helps, but for many reasons it is often impossible to gain this knowledge. The alternative is advice – like the kind provided by Empatyzer, as well as speaking directly. But it’s hard to know what to talk about and what not to talk about when you don’t know what you don’t know.
