Asweallknow,differentcountrieshavedefferentculture.“Cultureisthecollectiveprogrammingofthemindwhichdistinguishesthemembersofonecategoryofpeoplefromanother.”

　　Itisinevitablethattheculturaldifferencehasimpactonbusiness.Forexample,whenacompanyishavingmeeting,theword“table”theymentioninAmericanEnglishmeanstoputsomethingontheagenda,butinBritishEnglishitmeanstopusomethingofftheagenda.Thisexampleindicatedhowthecultureaffectsthebusiness.

　　TherearefourculturaldimensionsthatweredefinedinHofstede’sresearch:powerdistance,uncertaintyavoidance,individualismandmasculinity.

　　Themostsignificantinfluenceinculturaldifferenceisthepowerdistance.“Itwouldconditiontheextenttowhichemployeesacceptthattheirbosshasmorepowerthathaveandtheextenttowhichtheyacceptthattheirboss’sopinionsanddecisionsarerightbecauseheorsheistheboss.”Amongmostorientalcorporatecultures,thereishierachismreasons,greatcentralization,sometimescalled‘power-orientedculture’,duetothehistoricalreasons.Thatisahighpowerdistanceculturethatmangersmakethedecisionandsuperiousappealtobeentitledmoreprivileges.Theirdecisionalwaysclosesupervisionpositivelyevaluatedbysubordinates.Inthissituation,itisnotberegardedifsubordinateshaveadisagreementwiththeirmanagers.

　　DietCulturedifferencebetweenChinaandAmerica.（中美饮食文化的差异）这篇可以参考：

　　ThemaindifferencebetweenChineseandAmericaeatinghabitsisthatunlike,whereeveryonehastheirownplateoffood,inChinathedishesareplacedonthetableandeverybodyshares.IfyouarebeingtreatedbyaChinesehost,bepreparedforatonoffood.Chineseareveryproudoftheircultureoffoodandwilldotheirbesttogiveyouatasteofmanydifferenttypesofcuisine.Amongfriends,theywilljustorderenoughforthepeoplethere.Iftheyaretakingsomebodyoutfordinnerandtherelationshipispolitetosemi-polite,thentheywillusuallyorderonemoredishthanthenumberofguests(e.g.fourpeople,fivedishes).Ifitisabusinessdinneroraveryformaloccasion,thereislikelytobeahugeamountoffoodthatwillbeimpossibletofinish.

　　Atypicalmealstartswithsomecolddishes,likeboiledpeanutsandsmashedcucumberwithgarlic.Thesearefollowedbythemaincourses,hotmeatandvegetabledishes.Finallysoupisbroughtout,whichisfollowedbythestarchy"staple"food,whichisusuallyriceornoodlesorsometimesdumplings.ManyChineseeatrice(ornoodlesorwhatever)last,butifyouliketohaveyourricetogetherwithotherdishes,youshouldsaysoearlyon.

　　Expressinggratitude

　　Thinkofthesituationsbelow.Yourmotherisbusyinthekitchen.Shesuddenlyasksyoutofetchabowlforher.Youdoso.What’llyourmother’sresponsebe?Probablyshe’lljustcontinuedoingthecooking.Afterawhile,thedinnerisready.Yourmotherhandsyouyourbowlofrice.What’syourresponse?Probablyjustbegintoeat.

　　That’swhatIwanttosay.InChinesefamilies,werarelysay“Thankyou”tootherfamilymembersforreceivinghelporservice.Neitherwillwesaysobetweengoodfriends.It’ssuchanunpopularresponsethatifyousayit,thecounterpartwillthinkyouaretreatinghimasastranger,otherwiseyouarelackingofintimacy.

　　ButintheWest,"thankyou"isoneofthemostfrequentlyusedsentences

　　其实这是三篇你可以任选一篇例：从“DietCulturedifferencebetweenChinaandAmerica.（中美饮食文化的差异）这篇可以参考：）~”到“Expressinggratitude”之前（不包括Expressinggratitude）