Part 3: Formality

According to Oxford Dictionary, “formality” is a thing that people must do as part

of an official process, but which has little meaning and will not affect what
happened.” Formality contains tradition, ceremony and social rules which are more
important in some cultures than in others.
1. Similarities
In both videos, almost staffs wear smart clothes such as veston with white
chemises or skirts. Moreover, people concentrated in the meeting; they
listened to their managers carefully and didn’t do any personal things.

2. Differences
Generally, Asian people appreciate the formality more than Western people. In
Indian presentation video, the staffs stood up to greet their chief when he came in.
Greeting is an important and necessary procedure in Asian culture because it show
the employees’s respectation to their leader or the people in higher position. After
that, the leader introduced partner and staff to each other and they shaked hands.
These actions are the methods to built relationship and closeness with partners so
that they can continue co-operating in the future. The leader did not set time and
the presentation was vague. Besides, during the presentation, almost staffs listened
to their chief and did not have any questions. They just reported and discussed in a
neutral voice; they did not negotiate, conflict or critic their colleagues. Staff were
focused on writing and did not have much eye-contact with their coworker when
he/she were talking.
On the other hands, American bussiness was not concern too much in formality. In
American presentation video, the chief came in and said:”Ok, goodmorning
everyone.” and then directly announced the reasons, purposes and contents of the
presentation. The chief also set time for the presentation in 11h15 because their
partner’s representative would come to sign the contract in 11h30. It showed that
American people esteemed time and worked effectively. The presentation was
divided into 4 items clearly and the chief asked his staffs discussed some
outstanding issues to save time. He also called his staffs by his or her first name
such as Paul or Maya. Besides, the agenda and reports were prepared carefully to
each staffs before the presentation had started so they could read and think about
the issues.. Through out the presentation, the staff could mention what they
disagree ( Matt with IT costs problem) with his chief and conflict with their
colleagues actively.
Comparing two presentation methods from two different cultures, it is clearly that
Asian people pay more attention in formality than Western people. They dignify
their rituals in business, look up to their leader but they are passive. the delegation
will have a chairperson to whom everyone will defer.Very often, only the
chairperson will speak or delegate only one subordinate to be the spokesperson.
The other members will remain silent and most certainly will not disagree with the
chairperson. In contrast, American people are more self-motivated and critical.
They are willing to show their points of view or ask if they do not understand or
disagree.

While the differences in business etiquette between American and East Asian
cultures are quite considerable, they are not challenging. The most important
concept is to approach a culture without any preconceived opinions. If you can
keep an open mind and deal with every situation calmly, usually everything will
work out smoothly.

Part 4: Communication style

Communication style is a way in which they interact and exchange information
with others (https://online.alvernia.edu/communication-styles/)
1. Similarities
In both videos, two leaders allowed their staffs to talk about their opinions
but Indians leader interrupted his staffs. They used
2. Differences
In the Indian presentation, the leader used many idioms such as: “on the
verge of saturation”, “offer up” to emphasise the problems … In contrast,
American chief asked his staffs directly, let them show their comments and
thanked them for distributing opinions. He used straight words and clear
demand to his staffs.