Business Professional in Russia

Instructions for the Research Paper and PowerPoint

Professional Protocol and Business Practices in Other Countries

FAM 332 - Professional Presence – Fall 2014

Topic: The instructor will assign each student a country for the Research Paper and PowerPoint Project. The name of your country will be sent to you using your USM eagles’ email. Each student will research professional protocol and business practices that are conducted in the assigned country, the same country as for assignment 1. After researching this topic, you will submit a paper (with a reference list – APA style) and a PowerPoint that will cover major professional protocol and business practices in the country assigned.

American-based businesses become more global every day. With changes in national and international demographics, we are seeing many American businesses participate in the “global workforce.” It is important that businesses and employees have a good understanding and awareness of cultural diversity in the workplace. American businesses are learning the value of training workers to communicate effectively with international customers and clients. Employees must be willing to develop and improve interpersonal and professional skills in the national and international labor markets.

According to the Society of Human Resource Management, “If we as individuals and organizations are to thrive in a world of plural cultures, we must learn not only to respect differences but to enjoy them, not only familiarize ourselves with different cultural traditions, but to take advantage of the enrichment gained through our interactions with the members of those cultures. To do this we must recognize our own roots within our own culture, our own basis of understanding and the values that tend to influence us.”

Today’s globalization has led to a wide blending of cultural customs and practices which makes it difficult to have a set “list of rules” for conducting appropriate international business. However, it is vital that we have a basic understanding of acceptable protocol and practices in different international settings to successfully interact with customers, clients, or guests from other countries, either in America or abroad. Making mistakes relating to cultural customs and practices can result in lost jobs, lost sales, and poor working relationships. Maneuvering successfully in cross-cultural events can save you money, prevent embarrassing situations, and give you confidence and poise.

The instructor will give each student the name of a country “ RUSSIA” for this paper/PowerPoint assignment. For the assignment (paper, reference page, and PowerPoint), you will research the professional protocol and business practices that are conducted in your assigned country. The assignment must include professional dress and at least 9 additional major topics as listed below (you may not use all of these topics, but these are suggestions; however, you must discuss professional dress, giving you a total of at least 11 topics discussed in your paper and PPT):

• Major Interest Topics Major Interest Topics

Communication in the Workplace Professional Dress (required)

Gestures, Physical Space, Eye Contact Dining (Styles & Times of Eating)

Stance and Personal Space Drinking (alcoholic beverages)

Names, Titles, and Forms of Address (greetings) Entertaining

Business Cards Toasting

Business Meetings (Length of meetings) Gifts and Flowers

This paper/PowerPoint assignment will consist of two parts:

1. Research Paper (4 single-spaced pages) and a Reference Page (APA style)

Save as one Word document

2. PowerPoint

Save as a PowerPoint document

1. Research Paper. The paper, which is a summary of professional protocol and business practices that are conducted in your assigned country, should consist of four pages, all single spaced in the text and between paragraphs. You can indent each new paragraph. Using current publications (published within the last five years), each student will research the major topics as related to professional protocol and business practices in the assigned country “ RUSSIA ”. You will not need a title page for the summary paper. You will need a title page for the PowerPoint.

You can locate your research articles by using resources such as books and articles, hard copies, and/or websites. Use at least 9 articles (9 different sources/websites) to write the four page paper (summary) about professional protocol and business practices in your assigned country. Do not use any articles provided by the instructor. This paper is a summary of the major points of interest from all of your articles. Do not use any listings, bullets, or quotes. Citations are not needed within the summary. Your name and the name of your country should be placed at the beginning of the summary in the first sentence or as a header at the top of the first page of the paper. Do not use more than one sentence for your name and title. Your paper/writing should start on line 2, close to the one inch margin. Points will be deducted is the paper begins below the second line (one-inch from the top margin). Thus, you should have four full pages of written summary (all one-inch margins and the text material is single-spaced) covering at least 11 topics.

A summary means that you used some information from all 9 articles and have written the information in your own words. Do not plagiarize. Using information directly from other sources could result in a 0 for the project grade. Use your own words. Your summary pages should be in your words and submitted in paragraph form, one-inch margins, single-spaced, and with a size 12 font Times New Roman. No citations will be needed within the summary pages.

Credit will be given to your resources as listed in the APA reference page. Include, along with your four page summary, a reference page that lists the references or sources used in writing the four page summary (paper). The reference page(s) will not be counted as part of the four page summary. Save the paper and the reference page in one Word document. When writing your references, use APA format. Your list of references should include details about the 9 articles such as, author, title of the article, publication/source, date published, web site location, etc. Please refer to APA writing guidelines for writing your reference page. Several recommended guidelines and sources for using APA are listed below:

2. PowerPoint. Along with the paper and the list of references, each student will develop and submit a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the information collected for the paper (summary). The PowerPoint presentation should have a least 15 slides which provide information about the professional practices and business protocol in your assigned country. One of the 15 slides will be a title page. The instructors for FAM 332 have developed two PowerPoint documents to help you prepare your PowerPoint assignment. Visit the “Course Materials” folder to view the two PowerPoint files:

1. “Guidelines for Developing a PowerPoint”

2. “Example of a PowerPoint”