Cultural taboos are things that are forbidden, but they do occur accidentally in social as well as in business settings. And when they do, it can not only be outright embarrassing but also very costly!
When taboos happen in social settings, many people are far more forgiving. They try to pretend that the incident did not occur or just look the look way. In other circumstances they might laugh just to quell the situation. However, it can leave a negative impression.
Whenever taboos occur in businesses settings, the consequences can be very costly such as losing creditability or even worse business relationships. People are less likely to forgive, especially abroad, and it could take a very long time to rebuild trust and businesses relationships.
For instance, when entering home of a Japanese or an Indian person, do not wear your shoes. When dealing with Chinese – it is not appropriate to open a present in front of the person giving it. And the number 7 has different undertones. It is considered bad luck in Kenya, good luck in Czechoslovakia, and has magical connotations in Benin.
As the world becomes more global, it is crucial to avoid cultural taboos at home and abroad. It could save you not only awkward moments but also perhaps business relationships
. I don’t particularly think this is a unquie situation but it does and can happen at many Corps. It is where you have large enclaves of people from a certain nationality that you need to provide something entirely different in order to reach out to them. Like your corps, for a number of years we were an older generation corps but with these people coming in our young people’s work has increased. We too, have a large Secondary college (actually more than one within our area) but we are doing a breakfast club at the main one and reaching out to young people through this. Quite a number of them with some of the teachers came and helped with Red Shield collecting this year and a couple of weeks ago I was privileged to go and present them with an Encouragment Award that had been sponsored by Medibank. This gave me the opportunity before and after the Assembly to connect with both students and teachers. At this school there are a number of students from other cultures also. There are ways and means around the multicultural situation but I believe each corps has to work our what is best suited to their situation. It is an intersting subject.