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Avoiding cultural gaffes

As globalization reaches more companies, there's a growing need to know foreign customs, courtesies.

By Christina Rexrode
Published October 28, 2007

Her target clientele: business people who work with international partners, employers that need to understand their workers and companies that want to reach new markets.

Mayo, 45, moved here from Houston three years ago and realized the Tampa Bay area was behind the multicultural curve. She says that Yo Soy ("I am" in Spanish) wouldn't have worked in Houston. "They already have a handle on cultural diversity," she explained.

Here are excerpts from her talk with the St. Petersburg Times last month, when she was preparing to conduct a workshop for PricewaterhouseCoopers:

Give me an example of how failing to understand cultural differences can hurt a company.

There was an airline that won a phenomenal award in the United States, and they decided to publicize it on their napkins. The napkins said, 'This is not just a napkin, this is an award,' and they put this on their flights to the U.S. and the U.K. Well, unfortunately, in the U.K. 'napkin' means 'sanitary napkin.' It might as well have just been a Kotex with a trophy on it.

There are cultural differences even among native-born Americans, right?

You encounter the same challenges if you are a Southern company dealing with a Northern company, a West Coast company dealing with an East Coast company. If a company's moving from New Jersey or New York to Brandon, there's a big cultural clash there. You can imagine how that affects morale. Like the lack of mass transit here - that's a cultural difference."

What would I need to know if I were conducting business with a country based in, say, Latin America?

The simple concept of time is important. One of the things about the American mind-set is instant gratification; when we go into that sales call, we want to know that you want the business right then and there. But the Latin American person, no matter how wonderful that widget you're selling is, they're not going to buy from you today. They put more value on that relationship than the need or the time."

What's something else you learned during your travels for Continental?

In Japan, I remember my very first business card exchange. It was very ceremonial. You have to acknowledge the card you have received, look at the logo, create conversation about it, and then do it in reverse. It took 45 minutes (for all of us to exchange cards) before we could conduct any business.

You don't have to be outside of the U.S. to experience this. In Huntsville, Ala., there is a huge Japanese community that's doing business.

Ivette Mayo

Age: 45

Personal: Born in Puerto Rico and learned English when her family moved to the United States when she was 8. She's married to an African-American from Long Island. Two daughters.

Education: San Diego State University, communications degree.

Professional background: Worked 15 years for Continental Airlines, where she traveled globally as an international sales trainer.

Yo Soy I Am: "Yo soy" is Spanish for "I am." Opened business in April 2006 from her Riverview home. Charges hourly consulting rate of $150, and $1,200 for a full-day workshop.

Activities: Board member, Tampa Bay Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Hispanic Professional Women's Association of Tampa Bay. In February, she will serve on the board of the Brandon chamber. President of the bay area's 2008 International Business Summit.

[Last modified October 25, 2007, 14:06:06]