Home topics small-business-resources growth-import-export Growth | Import | Export Women In Business Growth | Import | Export Culture clash: How exporters can manage gender expectations Adeline Teoh May 22, 2012 They say it’s a man’s world, but more and more women are participating in international business. How should exporters field their female talent when culture and gender expectations clash? First the host company gets you well and truly drunk at the banquet, then it arranges a prostitute for the night. If this sounds like the beginning of a business trip nightmare, you’ll be shocked to learn that it is a real example of the socialisation that can take place in tandem with an international business meeting. This might be uncomfortable for businessmen, but catastrophic for a woman when a key part of doing business—the social stage—completely excludes her. “Fortunately in many countries where there’s a lot of foreign investment, international travel, global multinational companies, that type of event has whittled away. Most are more extreme versions of what she might already experience in Australia: a man can drink too much and start singing risqué songs, women can’t get away with that,” acknowledges Dr Margaret Byrne of UGM Consulting . “There is a double standard, but it doesn’t do women any favours to be one of the boys.” Raucous behaviour is just one of the traps that women need to avoid when interacting with their counterparts overseas, but fortunately one of the easiest to dodge. Byrne says women can often opt