Essay Example on Culture plays a vital role in business decisions and functionality

Culture plays a vital role in business decisions and functionality Business culture covers an organization s characteristics such as values visions working style beliefs and habits which sets them apart from another A culture of business is mirrored in its dressing code business hours office system employee benefits turnover client satisfaction etc Business culture of each country shapes people behavior differently A good business culture could be considered as a glue that holds the company together Marasco 2002 HISTORICAL CONTEXT France officially known as the French Republic is an independent nation in Western Europe It ranks 5th for the world s largest economy and 3rd in Europe France is a nation that takes immense pride in its history and prominent culture In ancient times France was included in the Celtic territory known as Gaul or Gallia Its name is derived from the Latin Francia i e country of Franks who conquered that area during he 5th century at the time when Western Roman Empire was demolished Later in 9th century it became a separate country Due to the damages of World War II country suffered huge loss however it survived and emerged from the struggles to become world s export hub and a major part of European Community Noin 1993 France has one of the highest populations in the European Union in 2013 it was over 65 million people 

Almost everyone in the French business can speak English fluently but they rather choose their native language first when communicating Their culture appreciates the efforts of other business if they try to deal in French Jones 2011 Body Language Good posture is necessary in French business They prefer to sit straight with their legs crossed at knee They also emphasize over eye contact and okay sign like for okay sign they use thumbs up sign eDiplomat 2016 Meeting and Greeting At any business or social meeting French people shakes hand with everyone present when arriving or leaving the place The hand shake is usually light and quick eDiplomat 2016 They view meetings as a source of discussing issues and not making decisions And appointments are necessary to hold a meeting with someone Commisceo Global 2017 Touching Friends and close colleagues might be ok with touching but touching and hugging in the workplace is not common in the workplace IOR n d Relationship Public vs Private The French are private people and they behave differently with social and professional circle Even though the French are polite in all dealings it is only with their close ones They prefer formal and professional approach to the business circle until a close social bonding is created with them Commisceo Global 2017 They also prefer to spend few minutes getting to know their colleagues before discussing business France is a country that aims on long term business relationships TodayTranslations 2018 Equality 

The French believe in egalite which means equality and is part of the country s motto Liberte Egalite Fraternite Many people express that equality has more importance among the three words in the motto Zimmermann 2017 Punctuality French people are serious about being punctual and consider being on time is a good practice Expatica 2014 Dress Code They value being sophisticated in this area Mainly men wear traditional suits and ties with white shirts and women prefers suits dresses and pant suits And in formal jobs jackets are also preferred However dressing is largely based on the personality of the company under which it conducts business Expatica 2014 Creative The French values flexibility and creativity and they do not feel sure to a previous decision Rochefort n d Polychronic The French are highly polychronic as they prefer to do several works together Rochefort n d POWER DISTANCE France scores 68 on the Hofstede s power distance dimension The score is fairly high and hence shows that French culture accepts and respects the opinions and values of rich and powerful members of the society This is because they have been raised under the dependency on their parents which then transfers to teachers and later to superiors Although the French people promotes equality in their culture they still recognise and appreciate the inequality among the hierarchy of business culture it means upper class people dominate on lower class people As the power is highly centralized in France the communication in business flows in hierarchical manner Hofstede 1980 GLOBE