John Rogers, an American businessman likes to tell a story of visiting his company’s Chinese suppliers. “The previous year my company had proudly sent all its colleagues around the world some beautiful desk clocks. But when I arrived in Shanghai, I found my Chinese colleagues were upset with the gift. The reason is that the phrase “give a clock” in Chinese sounds like the phrase for “make a funeral arrangement” (meaning death). It was a symbol of the end of our relationship.”

    This tale shows 1.how important it is today to understcorrect gift-giving behavior around the world. 2.“Gifts are an important part of developing strong relationships with clients”, says Rogers. Business often depends on individual relationships built on trust a gift symbolizes this. But giving the wrong gift can make relations worse.

    So what is an appropriate thoughtful gift? Rogers says that 3. anything from your home country that is difficult to get elsewhere would be good.

    When to give the gift also depends on your culture. 4. Westerners usually give gifts when they meet each other but in Eastern cultures it is more usual to give gifts when you leave. There may also be special holiday times when gift-giving is expected.

    Gift-giving customs vary from country to country so it is difficult to be correct in every situation. But 5. if you learn the general rules do a bit of research on the customs of the places you will visit you will not go too far wrong. As John Rogers says, “I remember the country’s religious customs, I avoid giving things that are not appropriate or considered strange I choose the wrapping paper carefully. This shows people I have thought about the gift they always seem to appreciate the effort I have made.”(20分)