Introduction

The two countries I am researching with regard to business and culture are Czechia and Poland.
These are of interest to me because I studied in Czechia for 4 months and spent a lot of time in
Poland. Czech and Polish culture is specifically interesting due to the differences in
communication and the amount on skepticism in their daily lives.

Czechia
Relationships
Building relationships in Czechia is much harder than in other countries. Czech people, since
being free of the Soviet Union only since 1989, are much more skeptical than western
countries. They tend to be slow to trust and if you do not have good references it will be hard
for one to get a foot in the door. Also, there is a larger break in business and personal life,
whereas one should not expect any type of contact outside of business hours.
Etiquette
Czech greetings with new people are more formal. It is unwise to refer to someone by there
first name until given permission, as it is considered belittling. Certain greetings are considered
taboo as well with new people the standard greeting “dobre den” (meaning hello) is acceptable
while greetings like “ahoj” (English equivalent of hey) is considered rude and is only reserved
for friends of the person. Smiling is also considered only reserved for family and close friends.

Poland
Negotiation
Polish people are much less time sensitive than Americans. They choose to focus much more on
building a relationship rather than getting straight into business negotiations. Polish people also
prefer to not take large risks in business. A relationship must be strongly formed in order to
make Polish businesses want to take a risk.
Communication Styles
Polish people differ strongly from their Czech neighbors. While the Czech people look down on
smiling, Polish people respond strongly to positive body language. One should avoid speaking
with hands in their pockets as Poles would see this as disrespectful. Polish people prefer to
speak very directly and are not known to avoid speaking about what they think.

Summary
I find it interesting that Polish and Czech business cultures vary so much despite how close they
are. Even though they both experienced the Soviet occupation, but it seems that it had a much
stronger effect on the Czech business world. The fact that smiling is so looked down upon in
Czech business while it is looked at as necessary in Polish business is fascinating.
Citation
World Trade Press. "Czech Republic: The Business Experience." Global Road Warrior, 26 January
2021, https://www.globalroadwarrior.com/czech-republic/business-experience.html.
World Trade Press. "Poland: Decision Making." Global Road Warrior, 26 January 2021,
https://www.globalroadwarrior.com/poland/decision-making.html.
World Trade Press. "Poland: Negotiating." Global Road Warrior, 26 January 2021,
https://www.globalroadwarrior.com/poland/negotiating.html.