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Different Countries, Different Business Customs 3
"When in Amsterdam, Do as the Dutch Do"One crucial point emerged from the two previous articles looking at the business etiquette of various European countries. It is vital to build up a good, trusting business relationship for a successful outcome of any of your business dealings abroad - wherever they may be. This is also true of Cypriot business people. In Cyprus, according to I. K. Shekeris, the Commercial Counsellor, and Soteris Georgallis, the Press Counsellor at the Cyprus High Commission in London,1 personal relationships are the foundation of any successful business association. Hence Cypriots prefer personal meetings to doing business by telephone, letters or emails, which are regarded as too impersonal. Contracts are crucial in Cyprus, and Cypriots will keep to every single detail of it. Nevertheless, it can be said that in general there are no special local characteristics of business etiquette in Cyprus, and Cyprus company law is based on UK law and is therefore very similar.
The Republic of Cyprus is divided into the Turkish Cypriot-administered area and into the Greek area controlled by the Cyprus Government. Even though the official languages are therefore Greek (Greek Cypriots make about 81% of the population) and Turkish (about 11%), English is widely spoken. English is also widely understood in the Netherlands. Of all the different countries David Ashworth has lived or worked in, the International Trade Adviser for UK Trade and Investment finds the Netherlands to be the closest or at least pretty similar to England.
The Calvinistic tradition shines even through their business protocol; e.g. it is absolutely forbidden to work on Sundays. Modesty is admired, whereas the Dutch abhor and despise exaggeration or ostentation. Bettina Fabich, a specialist for German-Dutch commerce and culture, emphasised the following points to follow when doing business with the Dutch.2 The Dutch are quite informal and cheerful. Like the Scandinavians, they don't think in hierarchies. Mutual respect is of high importance, whatever the rank or position. The Dutch are very consensus driven; anyone who might be affected by a decision to be made is consulted, which can end up in a time-consuming process. But in a meeting everyone is entitled to their opinion, and for the Dutch the following motto applies: consensus rather than conflict.
Bettina observes that the Dutch do not strive towards perfectionism as for example the Germans do. They say "goed is goed genoeg", meaning "good is good enough"; whereas a German would rather say "only the best is good enough". The Dutch are quite easy going, and so they like to use humour during business meetings and presentations. The Dutch sense of humour is subtle rather than slapstick, and in David Ashworth's view it is very similar to ours. It is a Dutch feature to be very direct, straightforward and honest. The Dutch prefer bluntness to evasiveness, and consequently give straight "yes" and "no" answers and will expect you to do likewise.
To summarise David's first-hand experiences: the Dutch have a very laid back attitude, their ethos is not to get too stressed, they are very open to new ideas and new ways of doing things, they have the English sense of humour, and all in all the Netherlands is a very easy place to do business and feel comfortable!
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