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That little gesture of trust made a deep and lasting impression on the Sumitomo people; 40 years later the Sumitomo 3M joint venture is one of the most successful in Japan and contributes more than 10% of 3M’s total profits. Americans aren’t always so sensitive to foreign tastes and habits. More recently, for instance, at Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HWP – news – people) a group of engineers in California began designing software with HP’s engineers in Grenoble, France. A rift nearly destroyed the project. HP engineers in San Jose sent long, detailed e-mail to their counterparts in Grenoble. The engineers in Grenoble viewed the lengthy e-mail as patronizing and replied with quick, concise e-mail. That made the U.S. engineers believe that the French were withholding information. The process spiraled out of control. People started blaming personalities. A cultural logjam rolled into place. HP turned to Charis Intercultural Training, a consulting firm based in Pleasanton, Calif., to help improve the relationship. “We went in as cultural sleuths,” says Charis President Marian Stetson-Rodriguez. Charis quizzed members of each team, asking about their preferred communication styles. After six months of cultural training, the relationship improved. Helping business people avoid intercultural faux pas has become a $100-million business for companies like Charis and San Francisco-based Meridian Resources. Intel, for instance, uses Charis to provide 55 training classes to instruct Intel employees on cultural nuances. Here are a few hints from the people at Charis and Meridian. By remembering these subtle points, your partnerships may avoid running into trouble:
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