When
doing business outside of your own culture, it is easy to mess things up by
being unfamiliar with the protocol of the visiting culture. By reading this
post, I hope to inform all readers of just exactly what one would need to know
about doing business in Denmark. As noted in previous blogs, Denmark is very
similar to the United States on many aspects. Business is another in which we
share common practices. However, do not be mistaken by the word similar, for
there are differences! With that being said, Lets’ talk business.
First
and foremost, setting a meeting up is very important. It is not okay for
someone to drop by or to make a "cold call" as mentioned in the class
text book. It is also important to be courteous of the Danish vacation season.
The Danes rarely do business during summer month or around holidays because
they like to spend time with their families. Therefore, meeting should not be
scheduled during these times. Once the meeting time is set, an agenda should be
sent before the meeting to let the counterparts know of how the meeting will
go. Danes, like American, Like to get down to business, so staying on track is
important as well as being on time. If you will be late, you must contact
someone and let them know in advance.
When
preparing for your visit to Denmark for a business adventure, there are a few
things to know about the attire to be worn and brought. For men, you will wear
a dark suit that has been pressed accompanied by a starched white shirt and
tie. Your shoes will need to be well maintained. Women need to dress
conservatively. A skirt suit or pant suit is acceptable along with a white
shirt. Pumps are acceptable for women; however other accessories should be kept
to a minimum. While visiting Denmark, the business executives whom you are
meeting with might schedule a black tie event at any moment, so it is important
for both men and women to bring formal attire with them. For men this means a
tux and women, a formal evening gown. Also in your suitcase should be attire
for rain such as a rain jacket and umbrella and cool weather.
Upon
arriving to the meeting, it is expected that you address Danes by their last
names until given permission to do otherwise. This is also done with a
handshake. If for any reason you are sitting while being introduced, you should
stand before extending a handshake. When women are present, you shake hands
with them first. For a heads up, there will be plenty of women in the workforce
in Denmark. Denmark is ranked number one in having the largest percentage of
women working outside the house. You may be asking yourself, what is the
handshake like? It is just like the American handshake, firm and short. After
the handshake, the exchange of business cards is likely. Unlike doing business
with many Asian or Middle East countries, it is not necessary to have English
and Danish printed sides of the business card. Most Danes are about to speak
and read English. What is important that your business card states if your
company has been in business for ten years or longer. The Danish culture respects
stability.
Most
people would now expect some small talk to get to know one another at this
point. If small talk is engaged, there are some topics that you should avoid.
Danes do not like discussing personal information such as family, religion or
money. That being said it is important to avoid any comment that could be taken
personal, such as commenting on an individual’s attire. Safe topics to talk
about are current events, culture, and your home town. If you want to stay on
the safer side of things, you can let the Danes bring up a topic for
discussion. One this to remember while in discussion is that Danes have a
rather dry sense of humor so it would be best to avoid trying to make a joke
with them. Danes, however do not engage in much small talk. They prefer to get
right to business as do Americans. This brings us to the negotiating table. At
this point it is important to understand that Danes are much like Americans.
Getting to the point and having facts and figures to back your statements are
important. "Truth is grounded in a faith in the ideology of social
welfare, with objective facts used to make points" (Denmark, 2008). People
in the Danish culture are very open about their opinions and speak freely. Like
Americans, you can expect this from all levels of employees. Equality is
stresses in their society. Due to the fact that Danes are concerned with conserving
the environment, no business plan that could be detrimental to the environment
should be discussed with them. Decisions are often not made until it has been
discussed with everyone, then a final decision is made by a group of top
leaders.
Lastly,
I would like to discuss gift giving. In Denmark, gifts are required for
business relationships. However it is nice to give a gift to the host if
invited to their home. Flowers are accepted at this time but should be sent in
advance to your arrival. Most commonly, a bouquet of wild flowers but roses are
accepted, just not white roses. In Denmark, red is a positive color, making it
a good color to wrap gifts in. Since gifts are not required for business
relationships, it is not customary to have a gift at the first meeting.
However, if the business between the two countries is going well, a small gift
is acceptable after the contracts have been signed. Danes enjoy receiving fine
wines and whiskey, anything from your home town (illustrated books), as well as
the common pen, paper weight or keychain with your company logo on it. If a
gift is presented to you, it is acceptable to open the gift in front of them
rather than having to wait until a later time.
While
this information is not as detailed as one will find upon further research, I believe
that this information is what an American company or individual would need to
know while doing business in Denmark. Like America, Denmark is a straight
forward culture ready to take care of business. Once business id taken care of
you can assure that the project with be put into motion. I hope this helps
anyone who will be conducting business abroad in Denmark.
Works Cited
Denmark.
(2007, October 18). Retrieved April 14, 2012, from Executive Planet:
http://www.executiveplanet.com/index.php?title=Denmark
Business Etiquette in Denmark. (2008). Retrieved 2012, from Danishnet.com:
http://www.danishnet.com/info.php/business/meeting-etiquette-38.html
Denmark's Business Etiquette and Protocol. (2008). Retrieved April 2012, from International
Business: http://internationalbusiness.wikia.com/wiki/Denmark's_Business_Etiquette_and_Protocol
