Business Etiquettes

Business Etiquettes

Historical Development of Business Etiquettes

The development of the concept of business etiquettes dates back to the eighteenth-century American society where, social relations were characterized by small communities and face-to-face interactions, but social relations changed as American society urbanized and a market revolution began to generate interregional, and eventually national, markets (Bernstein, 2005). A society consisting of fairly insular neighborly communities became a society of strangers lacking communally enforced standards of conduct. Social relationships became more impersonal and anonymous, and therefore increasingly uncertain and unpredictable (Bourdieu, 2007).

In an attempt to restore predictability to social relations, Victorians conceived a variety of rules of personal conduct and social interaction that, while applicable to both men and women, carried a particular urgency in male behavior, since men's lives were more firmly grounded in the new public world of market exchange. Genteel male deportment in this new amoral world required, above all, self-control, moral discipline, and sincerity (Burrell, 2007). These imperatives shaped Victorian male manners, etiquette, and fashion.

Effects of Etiquettes on Career Development

Organizations involved in international business exchange often train their employees in the customs, traditions, and social norms of other countries before employees interact with foreign clients. During these training programs, employees learn social norms and etiquette of their clients and may experience emotional labor as they perform appropriate display rules instead of their true emotions (Guillory, 2007). Taking international business exchange to another level, some organizations ask employees to experience total cultural immersion by assigning them to work as expatriates in a foreign country. Research has shown that employees who experience high levels of PA tended to adjust well in a new culture. In contrast, employees who experience more NA often reported difficulty adjusting to their new work environment and experienced increased thoughts of leaving the organization (Marceau, 2008).

As your career progresses, you develop skills which are respected and expected, professional etiquette. Professional etiquette builds leadership, quality, business, and careers. It refines skills needed for exceptional service. Whether you are an executive or just starting out, a seminar in Professional business etiquette, nationally and internationally will definitely be beneficial to you (Mutch, 2006).

Without proper business etiquette, you limit your potential, risk you image, jeopardize relationships that are fundamental to business success. Etiquette, formerly perceived as soft skills, business professionals have found that etiquette influences their success because it differentiates them in a competitive market. Honors commitments to quality and excellence (Marceau, 2008). Business etiquette enables them to be confident in a variety of people from many cultures. Etiquette also modifies distracting and unacceptable behavior and develops admired conduct.

Why should we be concerned about etiquette issues in the business arenas of the 90s? Basically because diversity, based on gender, cultural background, age, and degree of experience in today's business, creates a clash of standards and behavioral expectation. Not only is these differences internationally a concern, but also a concern among the relationships of Americans. Finally globalization has changed the way we do business, demanding new levels of expertise in dealing with people ...