Intercultural etiquette is the etiquette of intercultural relations. The culture is reflected in everything people do, and the etiquette (manners and conventional requirements as to social conduct in general or particular social situations) is one of the most visible and noticeable differences between cultures.

A genuine application of intercultural etiquette requires knowledge, sensitivity and respect for cultural differences in manners and customs on both sides, although it is usually assumed that the “visitor” will attempt to respect and to some at least extent comply with the etiquette of the “host” culture. And thus, a business person visiting a country and wishing to set up an operation there would be expected to have awareness of the local manners and behave accordingly; and the same would apply – perhaps even more so – to somebody visiting a local at their home, or a visitor on a purpose-designed cultural exchange. Similarly, if visiting somebody from a different culture at home even in one’s own country, one should assume that within that space the etiquette from that culture would apply (though being unaware of the rules is more excusable in this situation and as long as people are willing to inform the visitors, they shouldn’t get offended if they get things wrong).

However, in the modern globalized world, the precise application of intercultural etiquette is even more complicated that that. Many multinational companies have their own cultures, and despite operating in many markets and employing people of various national, ethnic and religious backgrounds, they promote fairly unified values and manners, often based on western European/American business cultures.

And even those terms shouldn’t be taken to imply a single, congruent and unified etiquette, as there are more than skin-deep differences between various European nations and whole books have been written about cultural differences between the UK and the US, a large proportion of which actually concerns etiquette.

Certain rules of etiquette are very prescriptive, and can be learned almost by rote (though a graceful application usually requires many years of practice), like the famous Japanese business card etiquette or the hand-shake exchange of everybody with everybody so common in many European cultures. Table manners are usually very prescribed and what is considered rude in one culture (for example holding hands under the table during the meal is unacceptable both in the UK and Poland) might be acceptable or in fact required in another. In some cultures, it’s polite to leave food on the plate, in others you should eat everything. Even the way the cutlery is held varies: even moderately well-mannered Europeans are horrified by the American habit of cutting the food with the knife and fork and the transferring the fork to the right hand and proceeding to eat without the knife.

Other aspects of the cultural etiquette are more subtle. Rules about gift giving and appropriateness of particular gifts are fraught with difficulties, as in addition to what is prescribed and proscribed, there are many additional, subtle, and not always explicitly specified meanings related to the social standing of the gift giver and gift recipient as well as the value and character of the gift.

Punctuality and other time-keeping issues mark vast cultural gulfs. In Germany, you should arrive on time and leave fairly early, but in the UK (especially England) you should arrive 10-20 minutes after the specified time.

Forms of address and appropriate topics of conversation also vary, as do attitudes to jokes, what is considered offensive and what is acceptable. People coming from cultures in which specific polite forms of address exist for adult strangers (be it a third person singular, a second person plural or some other form) might feel very uncomfortable being immediately addressed by their first names as it’s common in the US and increasingly in the UK nowadays. Even being aware of this aspect of etiquette might not be enough to combat a distinct feeling of not being treated respectfully.

The way requests and orders are expressed and questions asked give plenty of room for misunderstanding, even if the same language is used. British bosses usually formulate their orders as polite requests, and many foreign employees might not realize that something that includes “Could you please…?” is in fact an order rather than a question.

Altogether,there is plenty of opportunity for misunderstandings and poor communication in the international relations, be it personal, business, education or diplomacy related. Intercultural etiquette training is growing in importance as an element vital to a success in the globalized world.

Sources and further reading:

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles-etiquette.html

http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/cultural_etiquette.htm