The Golden Rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” may have applied in biblical times when the “others” lived in your village and shared your values and attitudes. Someone halfway around the world might not, on the other hand, want you to do unto him as you would have him do unto you, such as give you four golf balls for the price of three.
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Attitudes or idiosyncrasies
The Japanese word for “four” sounds like the word for “death,” and four is considered an unlucky number in that country. And it would be bad manners to give a present with white wrapping paper because white is the color of death and mourning in China and Japan. Chinese regard cats, including black ones, as symbols of good fortune.
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Comments
International Culture? A Gammon.
Yes Mr. Levison, there's no such a thing as an international culture: as global business-making carries out into internationalization, it seems that we stick more and more to local "uses and costumes", than cultures. Take the EU, for example: in the northern part of Italy, in the late 50's, we were all very proud to become or be "europeans", but in the South they were not. And Italy is naturally not a large Country. I live in a town of little less than 2,000 inhabitants, there were four parties at the recent elections, one of which obviously won, some four hundred voters: how would you think the remnant voters will react to the winners' actions? I audited Companies and Organizations throughout Italy: I found different attitudes and approaches not only from North to South or from East to West but even in areas far fifty miles one from the other. Soccer is a significant example of these differences and of the rivalries it arises. As a conclusion, I would remind what I was taught by a former boss of mine: take it easy and don't be too strict. Thank you.
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