The Importance of Bonding in Business Protocols. A Comparison Between United States and Chile

Abstract

This study is concerned with the way in which national culture, depicted by the work-values of an organization’s members, influences the business protocols to the extent that they became appropriate and acceptable behaviors to business people from different cultures. Business protocols refer to the set of behaviors that are most salient in intercultural business interactions, specially in the first encounter between two cultures. Specifically this paper discusses the business protocols related to Bonding and Friendship. Different cultures place different values in the need for establishing and maintaining bonding with the clients for the success of the business relationship. Bonding relates to the boundaries that the culture establishes as appropriate when developing friendship with clients. The protocols of Bonding includes the following issues: gift exchange, establishing relationships, friendship, and loyalty.