Answer to Question 1
In business, time dictates expectations about planning, scheduling, profit streams, and what constitutes lateness in arriving for work and meetings. For instance, Japanese managers tend to prepare strategic plans for extended periods such as the decade. The planning horizon for Western companies is much shorter, typically several years. Some societies are relatively more oriented to the past, others to the present, and still others to the future.
Young countries like Australia, Canada, and the United States are relatively focused on the present. They can be characterized as having a monochronic orientation to time. People from monochronic cultures tend to focus on schedules, punctuality, and time as a resource.
Other cultures have a polychronic perspective on time. In polychronic societies, people are capable of attending to multiple tasks simultaneously. Long delays are sometimes needed before taking action. Punctuality is relatively unimportant.
Answer to Question 2
Linguistic proficiency is a great asset in international business because it facilitates cross-cultural understanding. Learning one or more of the frequently spoken languages can greatly enhance an international business career.
Business jargon that is unique to a culture can also impede communication. For example, many words and expressions that have crept into U.S. business executive jargon from sports or military terminology pose problems for non-U.S. business people. Here is some business jargon used in American English that may be puzzling for non-natives to understand: the bottom line, to beat around the bush, shooting from the hip, feather in your cap, and get down to brass tacks. Imagine the difficulty that professional interpreters may encounter in translating such phrases
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