Customer Reviews

Mind Your Manners: Managing Business Cultures in a Global Europe

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

John Mole isn't one of those authors who pretend to have lived what he writes about. He truly has the insight and has understood the way each culture works in Europe. If you have a hard time understanding why an Italian will act the way he does in business, or wondering why being late 5 minutes at what you thought wasn't such an important meeting was so shocking to a German, this is the book to read. Even though Mole goes into depth about the reasons behind the way the different cultures think, the details aren't gruesome and keeps the reader entertained. It seriously made me understand in some cases why my fellow international colleagues react the way they do. And I've corrected my manners to flow on a more 'neutral' basis to accomodate them in business as well....and it works!

I bought this book hoping to gain insight into the minds and customs of my foreign business associates. I was sadly disappointed. As a European who has lived in Italy my entire life, I can say with 100% certainty that all of the information and advice in this book draws on age old stereotypes. For example, the lazy Southern Europeans, the cold Scandinavians, the pub hopping British and the industrial Germans.

This book will not help anyone improve relations with Europeans. It will only enforce false stereotypes and foster misunderstandings of other cultures.

A 1993 London FINANCIAL TIMES "Book of the Year", this book continues to be useful. John Mole's management seminars are familiar to us and his book sparks with his seminar wit. It is hard to fault his insightful analysis of cultural behaviour. As well, it is a valuable analysis of how to do business outside of one's culture. One need only to look at Mole's analysis of Germany and Russia to know that this fellow is on the ball, accurate and wonderfully precise with his words. I fully endorse this as a best buy book.

This is a very useful resource. It is a little dated, but it covers the more familiar European countries, as well as the Japanese and Americans in Europe. One of the reasons it is so useful is that it gives a socio-politico-economic snapshot of the country.