Spain: Let's Make a Deal! - Part 1
From ExecutivePlanet.com
What you should know before negotiating
Visitors to Spain should realise that there are two quite distinct business cultures in Spain. On the one hand there are the bigger and newer, or reformed, industries that have received significant amounts of foreign investment and embraced modern, international management techniques. On the other, there are the traditional SMEs and family businesses that account for the majority of Spain's GDP. The leading banks, which still constitute the business elite, are situated somewhere in the middle.
The former are indistinguishable from any other multinational enterprise in their emphasis on decentralised organisation, target-driven team-work, functional specialisation and a focus on quality of output. They exist, however, alongside a preponderance of enterprises in which the team is an unscientific collective operating within a social hierarchy headed by a benign autocrat. Although many aspects of the Spanish character and Spanish business culture transcend such a crude divide, what follows is primarily a guide to the latter category that continues to defy the drift towards European and global homogeneity.
Business cards should ideally be printed in English on one side and in Spanish on the other; you should present your card with the Spanish side facing the recipient.
Equally it is advisable to take plenty of literature about your company to distribute and it helps to bring samples of your products and/or demonstrations of your service.
Personal contacts and relationships are essential for all business success in Spain.
You should select your Spanish representatives with tremendous care because, once you have made your choices, it can be extremely difficult to switch allegiance to other people.
Hierarchy and position play an important role in Spanish culture. For example, it would be frowned upon if you spent a great deal of time and attention on someone of lesser rank than you. It is in your best interests, therefore, to focus chiefly on those who would be considered your 'equals' and obviously to cultivate those you identify as key players in the decision-making process.
In this hierarchical business culture, only the boss [popularly known as el jefe] has the authority to make decisions. Generally, subordinates are required to respect authority, follow orders, and to deal with any problems in such a way that they do not come to the attention of their superiors. For the most part Spaniards work well in teams and the boss sees himself as a team player but theirs remains a 'closed-door' approach to management.
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