NEWTON GRESHAM LIBRARY

ASSIGNMENT GUIDE

Dr. Kathy Hill GBA 471 - Spring 2005

Intercultural Business Communications

In order to successfully complete your assignment for this course, we encourage you to use a variety of resources. The resources you use might include books, journals, databases, and Websites. Your Library fees have enabled the Library to purchase and subscribe to a number of resources. This guide will provide you with a starting point and suggest resources. Some questions appear under more than one category because some countries will be included in one source while other countries will require more searching.

I.   The following questions are best answered using official government web sites for the country:

Q. How do I get to the country?

    1. Official maps of the country

    2. Are visas, work permits, residency permits, etc. required?
A. Official Government web sites for the country are found using these web sites of embassies and consulates for foreign governments in the United States:
  1. Google search for the "(country) embassy in United States"
    1. For example: Swiss embassy in United States; Swedish embassy in United States, etc.

  2. Web sites for foreign embassies in the United States:

    1. http://www.state.gov/misc/10125.htm

    2. http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/inside_usa.htm

    3. http://www.embassy.org

    4. http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Embassies_and_Consulates/ Foreign_Embassies_and_Consulates_in_the_United_States/

  3. Links from the embassy or consulate site to official maps of the country:
    1. Example: National Atlas of Sweden at http://www.sna.se/e_index2.html

II. The following questions are best answered using standard reference sources found in the library or through the library's web site:

Q. How do I get to the country? Maps of the country.
Q. How to adjust to the new culture?
Q. All the questions about hiring practices, pre-employment testing, job openings, job interviews,      recruitment, etc. in that culture?
Q. What are the cultural differences in oral and nonverbal communication?

A. Standard reference sources are published in print and electronic formats.
  1. In SamCat : [Click Catalog, then Search Library's Catalog]

    1. Search strategy 1: Subject search: They'll display in chronological order by the date of publication. However, you will get titles on this list that do not apply to this project.

    2. Search strategy 2: Series search: area handbook series. Then look down the list for your country. This series is put out by the US government. Over the years, it's been published by various government agencies. NGL has 147 titles in this series. The call number varies since it depends on the country. The latest titles are available electronically while the earlier titles are in print. Every title listed will be on point for this project, but not all countries are represented.

    3. Search strategy 3: Subject search: communication and culture. Results yield 133 titles. Various countries are represented and a number of titles that are international in scope.

    4. Search Strategy 4: Words and Phrase search: communication culture <country> Yields fewer titles but all the titles cover the country.

    5. Search Strategy 5: Words and phrase search: Atlas; Limit to Location: Reference Atlas Cases 2nd floor

  2. Selected Books

    1. Search strategy 6: Words and phrase search: global etiquette. Global Etiquette Guide to Asia / Dean Foster; and Global Etiquette Guide to Europe / Dean Foster. Other titles in the series are electronic books. Provides country-by-country protocols and customs, international business musts and faux pas, dining, hosting, and gift giving.

    2. Multicultural Manners: New Rules of Etiquette for a Changing Society / Norinne Dresser. New York : John Wiley & Sons, c1996. Call number: BJ1838 .D74 1996. Covers such things as smiling, eye contact, physical contact, modesty, dress for respect, business gifts, being on time, forms of address, corporate confusion, bargaining since different cultures have different rules of etiquette about these things.

    3. American Jobs Abroad / edited by Victoria Harlow & Edward W. Knappman. Detroit : Visible Ink, c1994. Country profiles for 110 countries with the pros and cons of working and living there. This shows you what needs to be considered and how to go about a comparison. This information can be updated using current data found in CIA World Fact Book available through the Academic Search Premier Database from the NGL web site. REF Career Center Call number: HF5549.5 .E45 A446 1994

    4. International Job Finder: Where the Jobs Are WorldWide / Daniel Lauber with Kraig Rice. River Forest , Ill. : Planning/Communications, c2002. Straight talk on finding jobs and avoiding the scams. Covers regions of the world: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia , Europe and Russia , Middle East, Latin America, North America ( Canada and Mexico , not the United States ). Includes a lot of online locations for job searches. REF Career Center Call number: HF5549.5 .E45 L38 2002.

    5. How to Get A Job in Europe / Cheryl Matherly and Robert Sanborn. River Forest , Ill. : Planning/Communications, c2003. Includes chapters titled: Do You Qualify to Work Abroad? ; The Nine-Step Job Search; The International Resume; The International Interview and Where the Jobs Are: A Country by Country Look. REF Career Center Call number: HF5549.5 .E45 M26 2003.

    6. Job Hunter's Sourcebook: Where to Find Employment Leads and Other Job Search Resources / Kristy Swartout, project editor. 6 th ed. Detroit : Thomson Gale, c2005. Chapter: International Job Opportunities. REF Career Center HF5382.75 .U6 J63 2005

    7. The Almanac of International Jobs and Careers: a Guide to Over 1001 Employers / Ronald L. Krannich, Caryl Rae Krannich. 2nd ed. Manassas Park, VA: Impact Publications, c1994. Organized by the type of employer: US Government; International Organizations; Associations, Societies, and Research Institutes; Businesses; Contracting and Consulting Firms; Private Voluntary Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Colleges and Universities; Teaching Abroad. REF Career Center Call number HF5549.5 .E45 K72 1994

    8. Directory of American Firms Operating in Foreign Countries . New York : Uniworld Business Publications, Inc., c1989. Includes an alphabetical distribution of American corporations by country. REF HD2755.5 .D57 2000

    9. International Jobs: Where They Are, How to Get Them / Eric Kocher, Nina Segal. 5 th ed. Reading , Mass. : Perseus Books, c1999. Organized by type of employer: Federal Government; United Nations and Related International Organizations; International Business and Banking; Nonprofit Organizations; International Communications; Teaching Abroad and at Home; International Law. REF Career Center Call number HF5382.7 .K62 1999

    10. Guide to Careers in World Affairs / by the editors of the Foreign Policy Association. 3 rd ed. Manassas Park , VA : Impact Publications, c1993. REF Career Center Call number HF5549.5 .E45 G79 1993

    11. Doing business in . or Price Waterhouse Information Guide. REF vertical file. K3826.4 .D64X A series of small books for each country represented.

  3. In Databases : The search strategies used in the catalog searches in this assignment guide will also yield results in the databases.

    1. Academic Search Premier . Includes the CIA World Fact Book which includes maps and specific information statistics for each country.

    2. Business and Company Resource Center
      1. Articles
        1. [country] etiquette

    3. Business and Management Practices
      1. Keyword: [country]
        Keyword: etiquette

    4. Business Source Premier
      1. [country] etiquette

    5. Wilson Business Full Text
      1. [country] etiquette

    6. Mergent Online
      1. Enter Mergent Online
        1. Country profile search

III. The following questions are best answered using US Department of State and other government sources:

Q. How do I get to the country? Maps of the country. See travel warnings and aviation safety data.
Q. How to adjust to the new culture?
Q. How would the Americans re-enter the U.S. after their term of employment ended?
A. These questions are best answered using the US State Department and related web sites.
  1. U.S. Department of State: Travel and Living Abroad (includes travel warnings, marriage, death, and birth abroad, services for Americans abroad)(links to health information provided by the Centers for Disease Control & World Health Organization, exchange rates, aviation safety data, airline on-time statistics)

  2. US Department of State: Business Center (includes country background notes, country commercial guide, investment climate statements)

  3. Federal Reserve Statistical Release Foreign Exchange Rates (Weekly) for various countries.

  4. US Department of State Home Page

    1. Click on Travel and Living Abroad in the blue boxes across the top of the screen: http://travel.state.gov

    2. Click on Links to United States Embassies and Consulates Worldwide: http://usembassy.state.gov

IV. Other useful web sites to answer specific questions.

Q. How to get to the country?
  1. How do I travel to the country?
A. Web sites run commercially and available to everyone.
  1. Priceline.com
  2. Yahoo travel

As you use these research tools to gather the information you need, remember that librarians and library staff are available to answer your questions during the hours the library is open. The telephone number at the Reference Desk is 936-294-1599. If you'd prefer to contact us by e-mail, click on Ask a Librarian on the Library's Homepage.

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