Give international gifts without giving offense

In business, we give gifts to strengthen relationships and to thank those who keep us in business. However, without intercultural understanding and due diligence, the wrong gift can unintentionally offend international clients, partners and employees.

A gift as simple as $4 can be dangerous to an international company if it is culturally misunderstood. Philip Graham, an international executive who graduated from Thunderbird's School of Global Management, recounted the time he saw such an intended gesture of goodwill go awry and seriously damage the morale of 100 employees in Singapore.

For the Chinese New Year in 2000, a pan-Asian systems integrator wished to give each employee a hong bao (a traditional red packet usually containing a gift of money for a special occasion) with approximately two or three U.S. dollars. The employees would have normally considered this a very thoughtful gift, but something went terribly wrong.

"The conversion came to four Singapore dollars," said Graham on Thunderbird's World Cafe. "What the headquarters failed to realize was that four is a very unlucky number in Chinese culture. This is because the word for four and the word for death are identical except for the tone that is used."

Morale and productivity plummeted as staff felt western management somehow wished them ill will. After learning eight is a lucky number in Chinese and knowing that four plus four equals eight, management attempted to resolve the situation by sending a second packet of four Singapore dollars.

"The local Singaporean staff didn't see it quite this way," said Graham. "They thought the management now wished them double the bad luck and to 'die twice.' "

In other cultures, a gift can go wrong for many reasons we in the United States might not normally anticipate. In addition to number, the color, cost, manner of giving, or other local connotations associated with a gift can endanger and even destroy business relationships.

For example, some Asian and Latin American cultures would view the gift of a letter opener or other cutting tool as symbolic of severing relationships and ties. As illustrated in the hong bao blunder, numbers can also be symbolically important, and monetary gifts should be given in odd numbers of notes in Singapore, but in even numbers in Taiwan.

Before deciding on any gift, consider whether to give a gift at all. In some European countries, gifts are discouraged to avoid the appearance of bribery. In certain Middle Eastern countries, cross-gender giving from businessmen to businesswomen may also be seen as inappropriate.