Duty Trip

The duty trip is only a short exposure to another national culture but even in this period of a few days things can easily go wrong. A well-known example is the Dutch businessman visiting Saudi-Arabia. The Dutchman is all focused on doing business, while the Saudi expects a series of meetings to get well acquainted before even starting the discussion of possible business. Similar stories mention that you first need to get drunk together or singing karaoke. Although a pinch of salt would not go amiss with these stories, the point remains that expectations and ways of doing things could be quite different and that much depends on that first contact; later contacts are at least of less importance for the relationship as such. For this reason, the cultural factor for a straight-forward trip of even a few days should not be neglected.

Culture in the context of a duty trip encompasses the following key steps (in consecutive order).

▽ An awareness of something

like cultural differences (only a

limited idea of culture).

▽ The focus is on national

cultures without any further

nitty-gritty.

▽ Aspects and impact of culture

require only general

awareness.

▽ Dealing with cultural

differences is also required

during a duty trip but the time

required for learning the ins

and outs of this topic should be

offset against the duration of

the duty trip. Hence, a focus on

attitudes, respect, a reminder

of how to present oneself and

to consider how you come

across to others.

▽ Time permitting, attention

should be paid to

communication.

Tread carefully and do not close doors to areas of co-operation. The problem is of course that much of this happening subconsciously and that you may fall in the trap you so carefully tried to avoid.