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Business meeting styles in Croatia
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Business meeting styles
1
Croatia
2
Table of contents
Country introduction ...................................................................................................... 3
Meeting styles ................................................................................................................. 5
Patterns of information sharing ..................................................................................... 7
Display of emotions ........................................................................................................ 9
The role of authority .................................................................................................... 11
Reasoning styles ............................................................................................................ 13
Local meeting terminology .......................................................................................... 14
Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 16
Colophon ....................................................................................................................... 17
Business meeting styles
3
Country introduction
The Republic of Croatia (Croatia) is a country that is located in Central Europe in a
region also known as the Balkan region. It is adjacent to the Adriatic Sea and is
surrounded by several countries. These countries (Hungary in the north east, Serbia
in the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Montenegro in the south east and
Slovenia to the North West) have had a lot of influences on Croatia in ways of
history, politics and culture.
The Republic of Croatia
Capital: Zagreb
Population: 4.5 million
Surface: 56.594 km²
Language: Croatian (Hrvatska)
National currency: Kuna
The majority of the population of Croatia is between the age of 15 and 64 years old.
Almost 90% of the people in Croatia is Roman Catholic. Other religions in Croatia
are Orthodoxy (4.4%) and Islam (1.3%). Several ethnicities live in Croatia. Most of
them are Croats, 89.6% and 4.5% are Serb. The other 5.9% include Bosniak,
Hungarian, Slovene, Czech and Roma people (TMA world, 2010).
History
Croatia’s history is very rich. The countries history dates back to the medieval era,
when the region we now know as Croatia was divided in to several dukedoms. Later
on, a kingdom was formed. It was called the Kingdom of Croatia. Croatia was in a lot
of wars ever since. After the Croatian-Ottoman Wars, the country became part of the
Austrian-Hungary Empire. Croatia had a lot of incidents and wars with their
neighbours. However, in 1929 Croatia became part of Yugoslavia. After WWII,
Croatia got more independent, starting with gaining greater respect for the Croatian
language. In 1992, the United Nations gave Croatia diplomatic recognition. In 1995
the Croatian War of Independence ended and Croatia became an independent
country shortly after that (www.hr/croatia/history).
Tourism
Thanks to its location, Croatia enjoys a continental climate as well as a
Mediterranean climate. A lot of the economy in Croatia is based on tourism. Thanks
to the beautiful coastline of Croatia with its hundreds of tiny islands that look like
Croatia
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small paradises on earth, the tourism in Croatia is flourishing. The country’s
economy is based on a market economy that had a great boost after the last wars
in the mid 90's. For the future of Croatia, this means that the rising popularity as a
holiday destination will give a great boost for the economy. As a result, the
younger generation in Croatia is more likely to travel and have international
contacts. Hopefully, this can be the beginning of flourishing period for the Croatian
social life and economy (Lewis, 2006).
Business meeting styles
5
Meeting styles
When it comes to meetings, the Croats have their own habits, styles and ways to
communicate with each other. Not knowing these styles of communication during a
meeting can make it a lot harder when you want to do business in Croatia. Croats
are eager to do business with foreign people. A reason for this eagerness could be
that they would love to join the European Union. However, the meeting styles
within Europe are very different and so is the Croatian style.
Before the meeting
The Croats find it important that you are well prepared for the meeting. You will
impress the Croats by being polite and well dressed. Be sure to be on time since the
Croats appreciate punctuality. When you plan a meeting in Croatia, be sure to do is
on time. The Croatian people like to be prepared and it is appreciated if the
meeting is planned several weeks before it actually takes place. Also, confirm your
appointment by phone a couple of days before the meeting. The Croats tend to
turn up late on their appointment but will always call you about delays. Be sure to
be on time and when you are late due to circumstances, always keep in touch with
the one you have an appointment with. The Croats are not very used to send and
receive emails. That's why you always need to be sure to call the one you have an
appointment with, because he won't always read the email you sent him. (TMA
World, 2010)
During the meeting
When you enter a meeting, be prepared that you should start off with some small
talk. You will be offered a coffee before the meeting starts. The Croats have a lot of
respect for people with titles. Be sure to greet everyone in the room and start with
the women in the room. Then greet the men and remember to use titles when
greeting the men and women. Soon enough, they will invite you to call them by
their first names. Until that point, be polite and use titles.
It will take several meetings before it is appreciated to negotiate during a meeting.
This is because the Croats will expect a relationship between two people who do
business together. Therefore, it is considered impolite to hurry down to business.
Building a relationship is also why the Croats don't really use agenda's. While it is
acceptable to bring one, the Croats will not always follow the agenda. One of the
reasons for this is that the Croats don't like to control a meeting very much. This is
Croatia
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why meetings mostly end up in a conversation where everybody appears to talk at
the same time. (TMA World, 2010)
After the meeting
When meetings end, the deal is sealed with a shot of Rakia. Rakia is a typical
Croatian alcoholic beverage. Rejecting this will raise eyebrows and people will get
suspicious. Also, it is very common for meetings to end in a diner. Most likely, you
will get invited by your host. Feel free to accept this invitation. (TMA World, 2010)
We can conclude that it is important to prepare yourself before going into a
meeting in Croatia. Be sure your appointment or meeting is confirmed before you
go to the meeting. It will take several meetings before the negotiations start. The
Croats don’t like to hurry down to business. When the meetings are done and the
deal is closed, you will have dinner with the business partners and will have a
pleasure of tasting a typical Croatian drink, Rakia.
Business meeting styles
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Patterns of information sharing
The way people share their information can tell you a lot about the person you are
working with. It can give you an image of how these people value information. It
can also tell you about the collaboration between colleagues or the emotional
commitment to the information. Looking at the patterns of information sharing in
organisations, we see how these patterns affect not only the organisational culture
but also the economy of Croatia and its position in the economical world.
On a business level
Inside a business organisation, there can be several ways to share information. This
depends on the organisational culture. The business organisations in Croatia can be
divided in a group of traditional organisations and modern organisations (TMA
World, 2010). In the traditional organisations, the information will always go from
the top of the organisation to the bottom. This top-down information flow is based
on a need to know basis. This means that workers at the bottom of the organisation
will only get information if it is really important to them. The traditional
organisations also have a bureaucratic style of communication, which means that
information cannot be shared as easy as it would be in another style of
organisation. However, there are modern organisations as well. These have a flatter
hierarchy than the traditional ones. Also, the way of communicating within a
modern organisation is far more informal. Information is more likely to be shared
with all types of employees. Thanks to open communication within the company,
the employees will have easy access to their superiors and their information.
The bigger picture
On a national scale, information sharing can have big influences on Croatia (M.
Brown, T. Japelli, M. Pagano, 2007). It can affect the county's economic position
within Europe. For instance, sharing information among Croatian banks can affect
their performances and, indirect, the credit market performance. Although the
information on finance, costs of finance and firm debt is, the development in
sharing information in Croatia is low. This means that there is a low level of
institutional reform and little macroeconomic stability. When organisations share
information instead of only competing with each other they can become stronger
and will eventually help Croatia to become a stronger and more important country
in Europe.
Croatia
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These observations imply that the patterns of information sharing in Croatia
depend on the different types of organisations. Due to bureaucratisation and a
steep hierarchy in traditional organisations, information is not being shared a lot.
Information is easier to get in the modern organisations because of the informal
way of communicating and a flatter organisation structure. The Croats are getting
more used to sharing information but the Croatian companies are far from
transparent. By being more transparent, the country's economy can grow. This is
how the Croatians share their information and how it can affect the organisations
and the country's position in the economical world.
Business meeting styles
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Display of emotions
Emotions have different meanings in different cultures. In some cultures it is not
acceptable to show emotions in a business environment. In others it is very normal
and even appreciated to show your emotions during a meeting. This differs from
country to country and depends on the county's culture. Like any other country,
Croatia also has its own culture and rules for showing emotions. To understand the
Croatian behaviour during a meeting, we must know about the way the Croats
display their emotions. To fully understand, we need to know about the emotional
behaviour in general as well as during a meeting.
Emotions in general
To start with, the Croatian people are very patriotic (Lewis, 2006). They are very
proud of their country and their cultural history. Croatia is influenced by their
Balkan neighbours, they are very close to the Austrian culture. Therefore, they
consider themselves European. It is common in Croatia to show affection in public. It
is normal to see people kissing and hugging each other. This is mostly done by
young people, while the elderly will disapprove this behaviour and will pretend not
to see it. As well as showing affection, publicly how anger and disapproval is normal
in Croatia. Showing deep emotions like suffering is unlikely to be seen. In Croatia,
people will look down upon people who show these emotions (TMA World, 2010).
Emotions during meetings
Because of pride and traditional roles for men and women, it is a sign of weakness
to appear too emotional during a meeting. Also, giving to much information about
your private life can be a sign of weakness as well. Croats are a bit reserved when
you first get to know them. They appreciate small talk and the Croats tend to use
humour in their meetings. The humour that is used is very sarcastic and cynical and
therefore can be misunderstood by people who are not used to this kind of
humour. When the Croats get to know each other, they become more relaxed. They
start to use expressive body language and stand close to each other when in
conversation. They accept it when the other person is a bit more reserved, but when
someone tries to widen the gap between two people that will be seen as impolite.
Concluding these facts, we can state that the Croats won’t show a lot of emotions
during a meeting because this will make them look weak. They will make jokes and
use intensive body language. They like showing their appreciation to each other in
Croatia
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public. In general, the Croats like showing emotions as long as it's not a very intense
emotion like heavy suffering.
Business meeting styles
11
The role of authority
Knowing the role of authority within a business organisation can be very useful
when doing business in Croatia. Not only will it help you to understand the Croatian
society, it will increase your chances on doing business in Croatia. Knowing the role
of authority, you can adjust your approach and develop a better business
relationship with your client. Before looking at the role of authority during a
meeting, it is best to get an overview of the role that authority generally has in
Croatia. Afterwards, we look at the role in business organisations. Eventually, a view
on authority in business meetings will be given.
Authority in Croatian society
To understand the role of authority in Croatian society, we look at the hierarchical
differences in the society. Looking at this society, several layers can be described
(TMA World, 2010). At the top of the pyramid, the urban people with good jobs can
be found. Many of those people are Christian or Jewish. Just underneath this group,
there are the urban people with less important, but decent jobs. Although many of
these urban people moved to the city from out a rural area, they look down upon
those people. Needless to say, the rural people are considered to be below the
urban types. At the bottom of the pyramid, the ethnic Albanians can be found. But
there is another group of people in Croatia. This group is the Romany, or gypsies
and does not take part in the Croatian society. The Croatians are very aware of
these different classes. The group that is in the lower regions of the pyramid will
look up to a person from a higher layer.
Authority in business
After looking at the role of authority in the Croatian society, we can look at the role
it plays within a business organisation. Croatian companies are divided into two
types of business organisations. We separate new businesses from traditional ones.
After the war in the 1990's a lot of companies came to Croatia to do business. This
helped Croatia a lot, as it made it easier to rebuild the economy. The businesses
from outside of Croatia were very different from the Croatian ones. The differences
already occur by starting a company. The Croatian people don't like to take risks
and therefore, it is no surprise that the new businesses are more western than the
traditional. Although most of these companies are in tourism, an industry known
for its informal structure, the differences with traditional Croatian companies are
prominent. The traditional business organisations have a vertical hierarchy, which
Croatia
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means that the difference between boss and employee is big. The workers deeply
respect their superiors but have little interaction with them. This is due to the
communication within a traditional company, which is top-down only. Although
Croatia is a traditional country, the amount of new business organisations is
increasing (Lewis, 2009). Therefore there will be more businesses using a horizontal
hierarchy instead of a vertical one.
Authority in meetings
Now that we have an overview on the role of authority in general as well as in
business organisations, we can take a look at how Croatian people will deal with
authority during a meeting. After seeing how Croats respect authority in their
society as well as in their business organisations, it may be no surprise that during a
meeting, there is great respect for the chairman. However, the chairman is unlikely
to use a very strict agenda. The Croats see an agenda more as a guide throughout a
meeting (Croatia: Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette). Also, the Croats don't
like to be rushed into doing business. First there will be some small talk. When
talking business, the Croats like their information to be clear, as they don't like to
take risks. Since authority is much respected, it is not likely that an employee is the
one making jokes during a meeting. Also during a meeting, the role of authority is
respected.
Looking at the previous facts, it is only logical that Croatia scores 73 in the power
distance dimension, element of the Cultural Dimensions of Geert Hofstede (Croatia).
This means that the Croatians accept hierarchical order. Geert Hofstede is known for
his Cultural Dimension theory. He divided six dimensions. These contain the power
distance, individual versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty
avoidance, long term versus short term orientation and indulgence versus restraint.
Now that we know how Croatian people deal with authority in their society,
business organisations and meeting, it is easier to understand the score of 73 in
power distance dimension.
Business meeting styles
13
Reasoning styles
A cultural background has all kinds of influences on a person’s behaviour. The way
one acts or thinks is all related to what kind of culture the person has. The previous
chapters explained about the way the Croatian culture influences the way people
act. The main subject of these chapters was how the meeting styles where affected
by the Croatian culture. This chapter is about how the Croatian culture influences
the way the Croats reason and eventually make decisions. A lot of aspects of the
Croatian culture form a reasoning style that is unique for Croatia and although
influenced by, very different from the other European countries. These aspects
contain the effectiveness of Croats, as well as the rationality and directness in
communicating with each other.
Aspects of reasoning style
As explained in the chapter about emotional display, the Croats are known to be
emotional. It is accepted to show these emotions in public. This use of emotions will
lead to taking decisions that are influenced by emotion. Croats are not known for
their rationality. The communication style of the Croats is also an important part of
reasoning. This is because the Croats are very direct. People with a direct attitude
towards others are used to process information in a direct way. This will lead to a
more direct way of thinking as well and this way the reasoning style of the Croats.
Another aspect that contributes to the reasoning style is the organisational
structures. The structure a person is familiar with will affect the reasoning of that
person. People who work in traditional organisations are more used to hierarchy
and will be reacting in a different way in the same situation than people who work
in modern organisations.
As a conclusion, it is to say that those different parts of a country's culture, have a
big influence on the reasoning style of Croatian people.
Croatia
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Local meeting terminology
It is appreciated to know some Croatian words en sentences when doing business in
Croatia. Not only will it come in handy when meeting with a Croatian business
partner, it is also a sign of respect to talk a bit of Hrvatski since the Croats are very
proud of their country.
Useful Croatian word (TMA World, 2010):
English Hrvatski
Hello Zdravo
Goodbye Dovidjenja
Yes Da
No Ne
Please Molim
Thank you Hvala
Many thanks Puno hvala
Excuse me Oprostite
Sorry Pardon
I don’t understand Je ne razumijem
What‘s your name? Kako ti je ime?
How much is it? Koliko kosjta?
Where is...? Gdje je...?
Bank Banka
My hotel Moj hotel
Market Trsjnica
Post office Poshta
Beach Plasja
Church Crkva
Useful Croatian business words (TMA World, 2010)
Sometimes there are several ways to say something in Hrvatski when the English
have only one expression for it.
English Hrvaski
Enterprise Poduzeće, ustanova
Corporation Poduzeće, ustanova
Financial corporation Financijska ustanova/poduzeće
Business meeting styles
15
Holding poduzeće,
krovno poduzeće
(u grupi poduzeća),
Holding corporation matica, matično poduzeće
Zamjenjiva stopa
(vrsta promjenjive stope
Obnovljivih kredita koja se može
Zamijeniti drugom po
Renegotiable rate Obnavljanju/zanavljanju kredita)
Poduzeće u privatnom
Privately owned enterprise Vlasništvu, privatno poduzeće
Consumer price index Indeks potrošačkih cijena
Instalment credit Kredit na rate
Managing Director Generalni direktor:
Offshore company Offshore poduzeće,
"izvanteritorijalno" poduzeće
Harmonizirani indeks potrošačkih
cijena
Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) Polica otplate kredita,
Capital redemption policy Οsiguranje otplate kredita
Croatia
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Bibliography
Websites
Croatia (n.d.) Retrieved March 14, 2012 from Geert Hofstede:
http://geert-hofstede.com/croatia.html
Martin Brown, Tullio Japelli, Marco Pagano. Information sharing and credit:
Firm-level evidence from transition countries. (2007). Retrieved March 13, 2012
from Science Direct:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042957308000193
Croatia: Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17,
2012, from Kwintessential Ltd:
www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/croatia.html
History and Homeland War. (n.d.) Retrieved March 17, 2012. From
www.hr/croatia/history
Books
Lewis, Richard D.. (2006). When cultures collide:leading across cultures, third
edition.(Books24x7 version) Nicholas Brealey Publishing
TMA World. (2010). Flightpack Croatia. Retrieved March 15, 2012, from
Surfgroepen CCBS:
www.surfgroepen.nl/sites/CCBS_2012_spring/Country%20readers/Sweden.pdf
Business meeting styles
17
Colophon
NUR: 812
First edition: 2012
Authors: Jules Huijskens. Joël van Bodegraven
Series editor: Sander Schroevers
Editorial team: Darjalha Bourgui, Roxan van Graas, Liana Thijssen
Inner design: Lay-out team minor CCBS, Jaguar Print,
Cover design: Farhana Faroque
Cover graphic: Hanna Zabielska
Copyright © the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, 2012
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