Home topics small-business-resources growth-import-export Growth | Import | Export Growth | Import | Export Building cultural understanding and export relationships Joost T August 5, 2008 Building export relationships goes beyond just making sales. Joost Thissen, director of the Cultural Resources Centre , offers tips on developing cross-cultural relationships for successful export sales . Over the past years I have heard people discussing the importance of cultural differences quoting the expression: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’. What bothers me about this belief is that it implies that we have not evolved one bit since the Roman empire with regard to dealing with cultural differences . It’s as if we still eat lying down, have gladiators sending in lions to amuse the people and have Spartacus around to serve us! Am I too hard on the Romans? Well, let’s try to put things into context by looking at Japan. In most Western books that detail simplistic “Do’s and Don’ts” when dealing with the Japanese, foreigners are actually taught about the in’s and out’s of the Japanese formal bowing ritual within the business context. I challenge you check this “Do and Don’t” with your Japanese contacts, as I am sure that they will confirm that most foreigners don’t actually know, when and how to use the formal bow appropriately. How could they? It is a ritualised greeting tradition that takes years to master correctly – i.e. without offending anyone. In a training session for a Japanese organisation the Japanese management