Etiquette
Inbusiness situations we often have to meet new people, and first impressions areimportant to help relationships with new contacts get off to a good start. However,the behavior that is considered polite may vary depending on culture. Mannersare important in everyday work situations. What passes as good manners can alsovary from country to country. The best advice for people when planning abusiness visit is to do a research into the social customs of the contry thatthey are visiting. Modern technology means that there are now a number of areaswhere the rules of behavior are evolving all the time, such as the etiquette ofusing mobile phones, business letters versus emails etc. Good manners are oftensimply a way of showing respect. So a good guideline in these contemporarysituations is to act in the same way that you want other to act. Culture atwork. Some cultures prefer precise information. For example, if somebody istalking about data, they use exact figures. It doesn't matter if theinformation is positive or negative. The information always needs to be clearand exact. Other cultures sometimes use approximate figures. For example, somebodymight say 'sales figures increased by almost 25% when the exact figure is21%.This is used to make negative data sound more positive.
Data!
Thereare different ways to collect and manage data. Increased use of the internet inrecent years means that more data about individuals can be collected and storedthan ever before. Some of this information is used to analyse people's buyinghabits.
Someargue that the collection of so much data about individuals can help withefficiency and improve customer service. For example, when buying goods online,a company can retain delivery details, which means that when you buy from thatcompany again you are not required to complete your delivery address, etc. choicesthat customer make mean that a company can collate information and informcustomers when other similar items of interest are available.
However,others are uneasy that compainies and organisations are able to collect andretain so much information about individuals. They question what use theinformation will be put to. Some civil liberties groups argue that we live in atime of unprecedented electronic surveillance when every transaction andmovement can be monitored.
Company'sActivities
Thereare different areas that a company is involved in. companies can be dividedinto sectors-those that:
-producegoods (manufacturers)
-provideservices (service providers)
-sellgoods to the public (retailers)
-areinvolved in TV, film and publishing (media).
Somecompanies concentrate on one main activity, while other are involved in morethan one sector. For example, General Electric is a multinational company whichis involved in a number of different areas such as manufacturing technologicalproducts, offering financial services and media.
Itis possible to classify business activity into three sections:
-Primary
-Secondary
-tertiary
Primarybusiness activity discribes axtractive areas such as agriculture, mining, fishingetc. this type of activity generally focuses on extracting and utilizingresources provided by nature.
Secondarybusiness activity includes manufacturing and construction industries(those thatmake, build or assemble products, e.g. car production).
Tertiaryactivity includes businesses that provide services (e.g. banking, publictransport, web design).Services can be divided into direct services that areoffered directly to the general public and commercial services, which deal withother businesses. However, many businesses(e.g. banking)offer services whichare used by the public as well as by other commercial companies