Ethno-cultural peculiarities of the countries-IPR objects of Ukraine

Turkey

Anyone, who has only superficial knowledge about modern Turkey (foreign tourism, a desire of to join the European institutions) and has very little knowledge of its history, may be surprised to hear that the foreigners have long been for the Turks the subject of the most hostile feelings, they have been regarded as “giaours”, infidels, those who do not accept Islam. At first strong Turkey influenced its European neighbors and threatened them with the enslavement (in 1683 the Turkish troops were under the walls of Vienna). Then, after the weakening of the Ottoman Empire, the balance was swayed in the favour of the Europeans, and it were they who began to press Turkey, proposing humiliating inequitable treaties, the so-called “capitulations”. The fact that the infidels turned from a victim into a threat which hung over the decrepit empire changed only the forms and reasons for expression the feelings, for they remained actually unchanged.

Large social distance, low individualism

Establishing the contacts with the Turkish side, it is useful to remember how important for the Turks are the relationships of clannishness, the fact of education in one and the same educational institution, etc. To develop their business the Turks widely use the once-tied acquaintances, letters of recommendation, etc. Here we do not mean to say that the other peoples do not know such model of relationship. D’Artagnan was carrying his father’s letter for the captain of the royal musketeers; the vice-president of the United States may receive the letter of request from his former classmates engaged in the business. But in the East these informal relationships are too firm, they are surrounded by a unique atmosphere and they can give an outsider, a foreigner a unique opportunity to establish contacts with those who would treat them in another case with the polite caution (at the best).

Strong fear of uncertainty is manifested in the strained reaction to the changes in the usual state of affairs.

A sedate manner of conducting business (yavash-yavash). In the past, when the Turks discussed their business, the ceremonies of smoking hookah or cigarettes, drinking coffee or tea infinitely alternated. Of course, nowadays the Turks conduct their business more dynamically but we should not plan activities for the Turkish side without having at least the minimum of time in reserve. A business conversation even now may be preceded by “sohbet”, that is a sort of chit-chat, drinking coffee or tea, sweets refreshments. The special importance given by the Turks to this a prelude is proven by the following saying: “Sweet to eat, sweet to talk”.

The importance of the informal relationships (of course, where that it is really appropriate, where you do not have to address to your interlocutor, to speak figuratively, through the social barriers). The address by the surname, except for some ceremonial occasions, is not still so popular with the Turks (the surnames were introduced only in the mid 1930’s and have not found any acceptance yet). The Turks use various nicknames and names addressed to the representatives of the whole social or professional groups: for example, “usta” (“master” as an address to the man occupied with the highly qualified physical labour), “chaush” (“sergeant”, “soldier” as an address to the members of the armed forces who have the rank of non-commissioned officer, or to those who have already served in the army).

Holidays

January 1 – New Year’s Day (the Turks are Europeanized to such extent that they celebrate without particular effort the holiday which is of Christian nature in its basis).

October 29 – Declaration of the Republic (in 1923, after the dethronement of the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire).

Religious holidays

Even having been much Europeanized, Turkey is still an Islamic country. Here we just denote a vital importance of the religious factor for the successful establishment of the contacts with the representatives of the Muslim world, when it comes to the contacts with the Arabs, we will consider in a more detailed way some subtleties closely connected to the Islamic holiday calendar.

Gifts. The Turks like giving and receiving presents. Any party conducted by the Turkish businessmen is completed by the presentation of the invited people with the small souvenirs. In the special esteem of the Turkish businessmen special “plackets” stand (from French plaqué – “plate”), that is the embedded in a velvet box-support bronze or brass plates with a logo of the company and an commemorative inscription.

Arab countries

The world is inhabited by the millions of Arabs who live on the vast territory stretched from the west coast of Africa to the lands washed by the Indian Ocean. Of course, many Arab nations are differentiated but they have common, so to say, basic, peculiarities for the classification of which we can use that one by Hofstede.

So, according to Hofstede, the Arabs are characterized by the large social distance (more than in Turkey), the low level of individualism, a noticeable fear of uncertainty and the male values dominance.

In their every-day life the Arabs often demonstrate the desire to avoid open conflicts. This fact gives rise to the appearance of the huge amount of the evasive phrases in Arabic speech etiquette which means that to say frankly “no” and “yes” is considered to be indecent. Your refusal, if it is really unavoidable, you shoul present in such a way so as to save face of your interlocutor.

“Consensusness” of the Arab culture can be explained by the same reasons as the “consensusness” of the Japanese culture: in both cases all the forces are devoted to make the hostile environment comfortable, to maintain the viability of the society, to provide its members with the personal security. In Japan there are the infertile mountainous islands where millions of people live in density; in the Arab countries there is desert where you will not survive alone or there are the complex irrigation systems, as in Egypt, the work of which also requires permanent joint efforts of many workers. (The most widely spread Egyptian proverb says: “Patience gives birth to the good”. Thus, the quality of human character, which helps to avoid glaring contradictions and unites people for labouring, is proclaimed to be a virtue.)

The traditions of hospitality and generosity. Patience and desire to avoid conflicts are closely connected in the Arab culture with hospitality. The Russian expert on Egypt A. Vasiliev estimates this peculiar feature in the following way: “Life in the team, the dependence of one upon the all have elaborated a set of rules for the communication between those people who are unlovable for the Egyptians as well as the other Arabs, who have hospitality and politeness in their blood . ... Hospitality is considered to be a duty and a constituent part of the social status. To pass for a niggard, not to do honour to his guest seem for an Egyptian to be a disgrace”. One of the many Arabic proverbs says: “The god presents you with a visitor”. No special arguments are required to understand how it is important to consider the punctiliousness of the Arabs as to the parties, guests and everything connected with it. There is whether a presentation, or a meeting of the Arab delegation and so on – all this should be conducted in accordance with the ideas of the Eastern hospitality.

Time management. Punctuality is not reckoned among the Arab virtues. Of course, one and the same Egyptian-fellah (farmer) is accustomed to obey implicitly the iron tempo of field work which has been hardly formed during the only one millennium of the Nile floods. But besides this purely peasant obedience to the tempo of nature, an Egyptian, like his counterparts in other Arab countries, has nothing that could remind us the discipline of the European or the American, whose tempo of life is predetermined not only by an hour hand, but also by a minute hand, sometimes even by a second hand. The Arab non-punctuality and tendency to drag out business by the constant shifting of the promises to settle all the affairs “tomorrow” is represented in the study of culture by special definition “bukra syndrome”.

Holidays:

the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria (Algeria) – November 1, Revolution Day (the outbreak of the anti-French national liberation struggle in 1954).

The Arab Republic of Egypt (Egypt) – July 23, Revolution Day (day of the dethronement of the king Farouk by the members of the organization “The Free Officers”, 1952).

Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Libya) – September 1, Revolution Day (Muammar Gaddafi’s accession to power in 1969).

The Kingdom of Morocco (Morocco) – Throne Day (the day of the accession to the throne of reigning monarch; since 30 July 1999 – Mohammed VI).

The United Arab Emirates – December 2, Day of the Federation Formation (1971).

The Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) – April 17, Evacuation Day (the withdrawal of the French colonial troops in 1946).

Besides the secular holidays, we should also remember about the most important events of the Muslim religious calendar among which the most important one is saum, that is a fasting observed by the Muslim Arabs during the ninth month of the lunar calendar (the month of Ramadan). The higher is the level of religiousness in the country, the more likely is that all the business activities during Ramadan will be on the verge of fading.

The most important landmarks of the Muslim calendar are as follows:

Eid-al-fitr (the end of month of fasting, the first meal after fast) is celebrated on the first day of Shawwal, the lunar month that follows the Ramadan.

Zhu-al-hijjah is the twelfth and the final month of the lunar calendar; it is the month of pilgrimage (hajj) to the sacred places of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Eid-al-adha (a four-day feast of sacrifice) is a holiday which crowns the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Gifts. When you present your partners or clients with the gifts in the Arab countries you should always remember about the prohibition imposed by the prophet Mohammed to drink alcoholic beverages. Moreover, those who come from the Western countries, where the questions of religious belief have long been receded into the background and where the finenesses of religious observances are not actually taken into account in business relations, can easily offend the Muslim Arab and insult the religious feelings of Muslim audience.

Conclusion

In conclusion to our manual we would like to emphasize only a few points.

We wanted to show that in the contemporary world the activity, which we denoted as “the international public relations”, is an integral part of the strategy of any state which is conscious of its interests, any private company which conducts its business in the foreign market, any social organism that sets the tasks of the international importance.

On the one hand, international PR have already played, play and will play an important positive role in making countries, peoples and even single individuals closer to each other, in helping to overcome political and cultural barriers and in the search for common ground and common interests. On the other hand, the IPR technologies are often reborn and under the influence of the evil will they can become an instrument of unfair, malicious, and even criminal manipulation with the consciousness of many people, sometimes the whole nations.

We also wanted to show that – for good or for evil the IPR technologies are used – they demand from people who try to apply them some special skills and deep many-sided knowledge. The purpose of our manual was rather modest – only to give an overview of the international public relations and serve as a starting point for those readers who will have to do with the sphere of the IPR. We hope that the acquaintance with this manual will serve as a driving force of the professional growth of future IPR specialists. We also hope that the knowledge derived by them from this manual and the other sources and their professional success will contribute for sure to the improvement of international relations and the greater understanding between people of different cultures and countries.

[1] Western countries.

[2] Non-Muslim Eastern countries.

[3] Countries of the Black Continent.

[4] Muslim countries.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 716