Discussion How to prepare for international meetings.

Below you will find some advice given by John Mole, who was educated at Oxford University and the international business school INSEAD. Read them carefully and say if you agree with him. What would your advice be?

Preparing for international meetings

“Germans, Dutch and Danes will be well prepared. They will expect briefing papers which they will study and amend and whose implications they will have meticulously researched. British, Italian, Spanish, Irish and Greek participants will have skimmed through the papers on the plane and some may still be leafing through them at the meeting.”

Sending a subordinate

“If a participant cannot attend, British, Dutch and Danish managers will send a subordinate who may be much more junior. Spanish, French and North American managers will either send an immediate and trusted deputy or no one at all. Unaccustomed to meetings between people of different status, they will ignore the deputies of others.”

Sticking to the agenda

“Participants from the USA, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands will expect to keep to the agenda. Participants from Portugal, Greece and Italy will feel free to introduce unscheduled topics at any time.”

Leaving a meeting

“Some participants, probably French or Italian, may feel less bound by the discipline of a meeting than others. They may leave to make phone calls or attend to paperwork if the discussion is not directly relevant to them. In the UK it is not acceptable to leave a meeting half-way through.”

Dress codes

“In most German offices, you keep your jacket on and buttoned up unless you are alone. Shirt sleeves are a sign of relaxation and not getting down to work. But in the Netherlands, taking off the jacket means getting down to work. In a Spanish meeting it is common to take off jackets and even loosen your tie.”

Contributing ideas

“At meetings in Germany, it is important to come very well prepared and not comment on things you are not qualified to speak about. In the Netherlands, everyone is expected to contribute, whatever their seniority.”

Dealing with conflict

“Commitment and tenacity, even to the point of obstinacy, are prized in the West. To change your mind, to abandon a position without a struggle, are signs of weakness. Sticking to your guns in an argument, not letting go, even in trivial matters, indicates strength of character. To a Japanese, it is the opposite.”

Glossary
to amend meticulously unaccustomed to tenacity obstinacy to abandon a struggle trivial	to change slightly very carefully not used to being very determined and not giving up easily stubbornness, refusing to change your mind or opinion to leave, to give up a fight . unimportant

Retailing and wholesaling Key Vocabulary

Agent middlemen ― wholesalers who do not own (take title to) the products they sell.

Auction companies ― agent middlemen who provide a place where buyers and sellers can come together and complete a transaction.

Automatic vending ― selling and delivering products through vending machines.

Cash-and-carry wholesalers ― like service wholesalers, except that the customer must pay cash.

Cash discounts ― reductions in the price to encourage buyers to pay their bills quickly.

Catalogue showroom retailers ― stores that sell several lines out of a catalogue and display showroom with backup inventories.

Central markets ― convenient places where buyers and sellers can meet face-to-face to exchange goods and services.

Chain store ― one of several stores owned and managed by the same firm.

Channel of distribution ― any series of firms or individuals who participate in the flow of goods and services from pro­ducer to final user or consumer.

Commission merchants ― agent middlemen who handle products shipped to them by sellers, complete the sale, and send the money (minus their commission) to each seller.

Community shopping centres ― planned shopping centres that offer some shopping stores as well as convenience stores.

Consumer products ― products meant for the final consumer

Convenience (food) stores ― a convenience-oriented variation of the conventional limited-line food stores.

Convenience products ― products a consumer needs but isn't willing to spend much time or effort shopping for.

Convenience store ― a convenient place to shop — either centrally located near other shopping or “in the neighbourhood”.

Cooperative chains ― retailer-sponsored groups, formed by independent retailers, to run their own buying organizations and conduct joint promotion efforts.

Corporate chain store ― one of several stores owned and managed by the same firm.

Department stores ― larger stores that are organized into many separate departments and offer many product lines.

Deep discounter ― a supermarket with very low prices.

Discount houses ― stores that sell “hard goods” (cameras, TVs, appliances) at substantial price cuts.

Discounts ― reductions from list price that are given by a seller to a buyer who either gives up some marketing function or provides the function himself.

Distribution centre ― a special kind of warehouse designed to speed the flow of goods and avoid unnecessary storing costs.

Door-to-door selling ― going directly to the consumer's home.

Drop-shippers ― wholesalers who take title to the products they sell — but do not actually handle, stock, or deliver them.

Drugstore ― shop in a town center which sells medicines: one can also have coffee and meals there.

General merchandise wholesalers ― service wholesalers who carry a wide variety of non-perishable items such as hardware, electrical suppliers, plumbing supplies, furniture, drugs, cosmetics and automobile equipment.

Inventory ― the amount of goods being stored.

Limited-line stores ― stores that specialize in certain lines of related products rather than a wide assortment ― sometimes called single-line stores.

Mail-order wholesalers ― sell out of catalogues that may be distributed widely to smaller industrial customers or retailers.

Mass-merchandisers ― large, self-service stores with many departments that emphasize “soft goods” (housewares, clothing, and fabrics) and selling on lower margins to get faster turnover.

Mass-merchandising concept ― the idea that retailers can get faster turnover and greater sales volume by charging lower prices that will appeal to larger markets.

Mass selling ― communicating with large numbers of potential customers at the same time.

Merchant wholesalers ― wholesalers who own (take title to) the products they sell.

Middleman ― someone who specializes in trade rather than production.

Negotiated price ― a price set based on bargaining between the buyer and the seller.

Personal selling ― direct communication between a seller and a potential customer usually in person but sometimes over the telephone.

Rack jobbers ― merchant wholesalers who specialize in non-food products that are sold through grocery stores and supermarkets ― and they often display them on their own wire racks.

Regional shopping centres ― large, planned shopping centres that emphasize shopping stores and shopping products.

Resident buyers ― independent buying agents who work in central markets for several retailer or wholesaler customers from outlying areas.

Retailing ― all of the activities involved in the sale of products to final consumers.

Service wholesalers ― merchant wholesalers who provide all the wholesaling functions.

Shopping stores ― stores that attract customers from greater distances because of the width and depth of their assortments.

Single-line stores ― stores that specialize in certain lines of related products rather than a wide assortment — sometimes called limited-line stores.

Specialty stores ― stores for which customers have developed a strong attraction.

Specialty wholesalers ― service wholesalers who carry a very narrow range of products and offer more information and service than other service wholesalers.

Supermarket ― a large store specializing in groceries — with self-service and wide assortments.

Superstore ― very large store that tries to carry, not only foods, but all goods and services the consumer purchases rou­tinely usually outside a town (also called hypermarket).

Telephone and direct-mail retailing ― allows consumers to shop at home — usually placing orders by mail or a toll-free long distance telephone call and charging the purchase to a credit card.

Voluntary chains ― wholesaler-sponsored groups that work with independent retailers.

Wholesalers ― firms whose main function is providing wholesaling activities.

Wholesaling ― the activities of those persons or establishments that sell to retailers and other merchants, and/or to industrial, institutional, and commercial users, but who do no sell in large amounts to final consumers.