| Overview
& cultural perspective |
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Norway shares borders with
Sweden, Finland and also Russia with whom it disputes
her maritime limits in the Barents Sea. Official
language is Norwegian (Bokmal & Nynorsk),
with a minority speaking in Sami and Finnish.
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| The economy is a combination
of free market activity and government intervention
with oil and gas accounting for one-third of its
exports. With the ranking of 27 in terms of GDP,
Norway holds the third place in GDP per capita.
Despite the country's decision not to join EU, Norway
is strongly committed to an open multilateral trading
system. |
| Around 88% of the population
belong to the Protestant State Church and 6% of
the population are members of other religious communities,
to Norwegians, religion is a private matter. |
| From the cultural perspective,
Norwegians are pragmatic people who are proud of
their country and its achievements. Although very
friendly, they are not known to show their emotions
and considered to be quite introverted. |
| They also appreciate humour,
have gentle attitudes and are passionate about outdoors;
usually a good topic to open up a conversation!
|
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| Context & cultural awareness |
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During business discussions,
Norwegians look for facts and data. Management
organization is not hierarchical and disagreements
on issues among colleagues are normal; however,
managers' roles in decision making are quite noticeable.
|
| Women's positions in the society
are of high status and have a strong presence in
the world of Politics as well as business. Gro Harlem
Brundtland, was Norway's first woman prime minister
and the former director-general of the World Health
Organization. |
| In business managing time and
punctuality are important factors in maintaining
a good relationship with Norwegians; allowance is
made for bad weather conditions, particularly in
winter. Norwegians are uncomfortable in mixing business
discussions and their social life, so plan not to
do this. |
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| Effective cross-cultural communication |
| Norwegians style of communication
is direct and straightforward and building up a
steady business relation usually takes time. However,
in doing so, establishing personal relationships
are not a prerequisite. |
| Honesty and sincerity are very
much appreciated by Norwegians and it is useful
to know that over-friendliness in the initial stages
of business meetings could be interpreted as deceitful. |
| The use of body language is
minimal and emotion doesn't have much of a role
in business discussions. |
| Greetings are informal, with
a firm handshake, and a smile - not to forget direct
eye contact. Shake hands with all the individuals
in the room starting from women and then moving
on to the men from the oldest to youngest. |
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