Switzerland

Switzerland

Swiss Confederation

French long form: Confederation Suisse

German long form: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft

Italian long form: Confédérazione Svizzera

Cultural Note

Switzerland has three official languages: French, Italian, and German, plus a fourth “protected” language called Romansch. In addition to one or more of these languages, businesspeople generally speak English as well.

●3 What’s Your Cultural IQ?

1.The flag of Switzerland is always easy to recognize, even among a host of flags. Why?

a.It is the same as the flag of the Red Cross.

b.By law, it must be larger than any other European flag.

c.It is square.

d.It is circular.

ANSWER: c. Most flags are rectangular, but the Swiss flag is square. The Red Cross flag is a red cross on white, the reverse of the Swiss white cross on red.

2.Neutral Switzerland managed to avoid both World Wars. True or False? Switzerland has been peaceful for over 500 years.

ANSWER: False. Like most of Europe, Switzerland suffered from warfare. The last foreign incursion was from Napoleon in 1798. When Napoleon pulled his troops out in 1802, it prompted a short civil war.

3.Which of the following people were not born in Switzerland?

a.Louis Chevrolet, founder of the U.S. Chevrolet Motor Company

b.Albert Einstein, physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize for physics

c.Alberto Giacometti, world-renowned sculptor

d.Karl Jung, pioneering psychoanalyst

ANSWER: b. Although Einstein was educated at the University of Zurich and taught at the University of Berne, he was born in Germany.

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●3 Tips on Doing Business in Switzerland

●Switzerland remains one of the world’s most expensive nations (in terms of consumer goods). Cartels wield great influence over prices, and consumers pay the price. The Economist’s “Big Mac Index” often lists Switzerland as having the most expensive burger in the world. The upshot of this price fixing means that the Swiss do not allow competition to drive down prices.

●An influential contact is vital to success in Switzerland. All Swiss males serve in the military, where they also form friendships and networks. Businesses tend to be run by old-boy networks of men who were friends in the Swiss Army.

●Age and seniority are important in Switzerland. Young executives, sent alone to major appointments, may not be taken seriously. Expect to defer to the elderly. Also, if your company has a long lineage, the year it was established should appear on your business card and/or letterhead.

Switzerland

Cultural Note

The Swiss tend to judge a person by appearances. No matter how competent you are, if you are underdressed or ill groomed, the Swiss will not trust you.

The Swiss put great importance upon footwear. Wear good dress shoes and keep them shined.

●3 Country Background

History

Archaeological evidence shows that Switzerland has been occupied for thousands of years. The Romans pacified and colonized an area they called Helvetia that more or less corresponds to modern Switzerland. In a.d. 260, the Alemanni invaded, destroying the local economy. The Romans kept nominal control of the region until they withdrew around a.d. 400.

In 1291, three Swiss cantons signed the Perpetual Covenant to defend against foreign domination. This Swiss Confederation achieved independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1648.

During the Reformation, Switzerland did not escape religious violence. For example, Protestant reformer Huldreich Zwingli was slain in 1531. Switzerland eventually established Catholic cantons and Protestant cantons, and both religions coexist in Switzerland today.

Switzerland’s borders were fixed in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, which also guaranteed Switzerland’s neutrality. Several Catholic cantons tried to secede from the Swiss Confederation in 1847, but a new Swiss Constitution in 1848 gave each canton enough control over its local affairs that the nation held together.

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The International Red Cross was founded in Geneva in 1863.

Switzerland remained neutral in the First World War. Following the war, the League of Nations was established in Geneva in 1920. This league was powerless to prevent the outbreak of another world war.

With the rise of Nazi Germany, Switzerland accepted a substantial number of refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Switzerland managed to remain neutral during the Second World War. At the time, their continued independence was attributed to the Swiss Army. Only later was it revealed how much Switzerland had to accommodate Nazi Germany to remain free.

During the postwar period, Switzerland joined the European Free Trade Association. In 1963, Switzerland joined the Council of Europe. They continued to resist joining international organizations that might violate their policy of neutrality—including the European Union.

During the late 1990s, revelations about Swiss compliance with Nazi Germany became public. Swiss banks refunded large sums of money to the heirs of depositors who were killed by the Nazis.

Cultural Note

Swiss women waited until 1971 for the right to vote in national elections—far longer than most other Europeans. Even then, Switzerland had to amend its constitution in 1981 to guarantee equal rights for women because some cantons still declined to grant them the right to vote. Then in 1991, the Federal Supreme Court had to force one recalcitrant canton to allow women onto the cantonal electoral roll.

Type of Government

The Swiss Confederation is a federal state of twenty-eight sovereign cantons. The president is head of both the state and the government. There are two legislative houses: the Council of States and the National Council.

Switzerland has a policy of permanent neutrality.

Switzerland did not enter into either world war; indeed, it has not been involved in a war since Napoleon invaded in 1798. Yet national defense is taken seriously, and all men must serve in the military.

For current government data, check with the Embassy of Switzerland at www.swissemb

.org.

Language

Linguistically, Switzerland is complex. There are three official languages: French, German, and Italian. Around Lake Geneva (in the southwest), French is spoken. Italian is spoken by about 10 percent of the population of the country, concentrated in the Ticino region. German is spoken in many parts of Switzerland. A fourth language, Romansch, is a Romance

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language spoken by only 1 percent of the population. The Swiss take the preservation of traditional languages and cultures quite seriously.

In the cities, or in work environments, finding someone who speaks English does not pose a problem.

Most Swiss are multilingual, and the majority of businesspeople include English as one of their languages.

Ethnologue.com has identified a total of twelve languages spoken in Switzerland.

Switzerland

Cultural Note

Switzerland is a small, highly developed, multilingual market located at the crossroads of Europe. Its population of approximately 7½ million people (2004 estimates) is diversified, well educated, and affluent. It has a strong and stable economy, low inflation, relatively low unemployment, and a highly qualified work force—all factors that contribute to making the Swiss Confederation a desirable market environment. Per capita income is the highest in Europe and spending power for foreign goods and services is commensurately high.

The Swiss View

Switzerland’s four cultures—German, French, Italian, and Romansch—encompass a variety of religious traditions. Roman Catholics, at 46 percent, constitute the majority, with various Protestant denominations making up 40 percent. Others include Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, and Mormons.

Switzerland was at the center of the Protestant Reformation. Reformer Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) lived in Zurich; Jean Calvin (1509–1564) was French but was exiled to Geneva. Years of warfare between Protestants and Catholics devastated Switzerland. As a result, the Swiss today consider religion to be a private concern. Religion is rarely discussed in public. The doomsday cult known as the Order of the Solar Temple came to international prominence when fifty-three members were found dead in October of 1994, the victims of murder and mass suicide. The Swiss were aghast at these events, which served to drive religion even further out of public discourse. Nevertheless, the Swiss consider themselves privately devoted to religious principals.

The Swiss believe that they have developed a fair and beneficent society and exert strong social pressures on their citizens to conform to Swiss patterns of behavior.

Divided by language and religion, the Swiss find unity in their devotion to their families, their work, and their country. The Swiss are patriotic and deeply involved in their country’s politics. Their political system, which involves strong local government, allows each citizen’s vote to have great effect on their everyday lives. Referendums are frequent.

Even the Swiss Constitution can be challenged by a system called the People’s Initiatives. The Swiss are intensely concerned about the environment. They recycle most consumer

products, and are second only to Germany in environmental restrictions.

Switzerland

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The Swiss have, to date, refused to join either the United Nations or the European Union. (However, Switzerland is a member of many UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization.)

Long a banking center, Switzerland’s reputation was tarnished by its acceptance of assets from the Nazis in World War II, as well as its refusal to return funds to the heirs of persons executed by the Nazis. Under threat of a U.S. boycott initiated by the World Jewish Congress, Swiss banks agreed in 1998 to disburse $1.25 trillion in funds, most of it to the heirs of Jewish victims of Nazi atrocities.

As a prosperous, neutral nation, Switzerland remains a magnet for refugees. Thousands of would-be-refugees are turned back at the borders, but many manage to enter the country, legally or otherwise. During the Kosovo crisis of 1998 to 1999, Switzerland sheltered some 40,000 refugees.

*Know Before You Go

■

Violent crime is very rare in Switzerland.

The Swiss tend to divide foreigners into “those who bring” and “those who take.” The former are visitors from wealthy countries, who have money to bring (and will leave some of it in Switzerland). The latter are refugees, who must take from the Swiss welfare system. While Switzerland has the highest rate per capita of political refugees in Europe, there is resentment against “those who take.”

Because the Swiss are so law-abiding, the police in Switzerland are able to keep a low profile. However, they can be heavy-handed with foreigners. Be sure you can produce your passport at all times. If you and a traffic officer do not share a common language, you may have to accompany the officer to a police station.

The Swiss are very law-abiding, so graft and corruption are uncommon. However, some things that are illegal in other countries are legal under Swiss law. For example, price fixing may occur in Switzerland but is illegal in many other nations, like the United States.

●3 Cultural Orientation

Cognitive Styles: How the Swiss Organize and Process Information

Swiss culture has historically been very ethnocentric and circumspect toward outside influence; however, the younger generation is becoming more open. The German and French segments of Switzerland process information conceptually and analytically; the rest tend to think associatively. The former will use universal rules to solve problems, while the latter tend to become personally involved in each situation.

Negotiation Strategies: What the Swiss Accept as Evidence

The German and French segments rely on objective facts to determine the truth, while those of Italian heritage generally use subjective feelings. In both cases, faith in the ideologies of nationalism and utopian ideals may influence the truth.

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Value Systems: The Basis for Behavior

The culture of Switzerland is made up of four subcultures with differing value systems: German, French, Italian, and 1 percent of the indigenous population who speak Romansch. The following three sections identify the Value Systems in these predominant cultures—their methods of dividing right from wrong, good from evil, and so forth.

Locus of Decision-Making

The individual is the decision-maker. Although he or she may defer to the interest of the family, the company, or the state, he or she is still responsible. Decision-making is a slow and involved process in which a relationship must be developed between the negotiators. Ethnocentric values may shape the decision. In families there is joint decision-making between parents and older children.

Sources of Anxiety Reduction

The four languages and two religions are all very important to the Swiss, but they have come to terms with all cleavages and do not find them to be sufficient cause for civil unrest. They may acquire this ability to live together in the Swiss military, where all of the groups are brought together in a well-integrated force. The nuclear family is the basic social unit, and there is a very high feeling of ethnocentrism—a belief that languages and religions mix and work together as Swiss.

Issues of Equality/Inequality

Although there is a history of disagreement among the groups, the central government has been able to negotiate acceptable conditions for all. Equal rights for men are guaranteed by law, and those who feel discriminated against use the law to work out their problems. A Swiss motto is “Unity, yes; uniformity, no.” The Swiss are competitive, responsible, tolerant, materialistic, proud, and private. There are still some classic role differences between the sexes, and discrimination against women still exists in some cantons.

Switzerland

●3 Business Practices

Punctuality, Appointments, and Local Time

●The Swiss reputation for promptness is deserved. Always be punctual. This applies to both business and social events.

●The Swiss, like most Europeans, write the day first, then the month, then the year (e.g., December 3, 2010, is written 3.12.10 or 3/12/10).

●Introductions are necessary to conduct business in Switzerland. Cold-calling a potential customer will rarely be productive. Switzerland is a small country and everybody knows everybody else in each industry. If no one is willing to recommend you, the assumption is that you are not worth knowing.

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Switzerland	●	Most people take their vacations in July and August. It is not advisable to try to schedule
		important appointments during that time.
	●	Each canton celebrates its own holidays. The Swiss National Day is the first of August.
	●	Switzerland is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T. +1), or six hours ahead
		of U.S. Eastern Standard Time (E.S.T. +6).

Negotiating

●Business is a serious and sober undertaking. Humor has little purpose in negotiations.

●Expect deliberations to proceed slowly. High-pressure tactics inevitably fail; there is no way to speed up decisions.

●Generally, the Swiss take a very long time to establish personal relationships. Be patient. A good relationship will help immensely down the road.

●German Swiss tend to get right down to business. The French and Italians will expect some small talk first.

●The Swiss are usually willing to negotiate anything except price. Once a price has established, the Swiss tend to stick to it—even if it costs them the deal.

●If you use an interpreter, speak slowly and clearly. Avoid idioms. Frequently confirm that what you have said has been understood.

●Ideally, you should translate one side of your business card into the language of your Swiss client. If you aren’t sure what language to pick, choose German. However, many businesspeople speak English, so you can have English on your card as a default.

●If your firm is an old one, put the year it was established on your Web site, letterhead, and business cards. The Swiss respect longevity in business.

●Good topics of conversation are sports, positive aspects of Switzerland, travel, and food.

●The Swiss attribute their independence to their military preparedness, which includes universal military conscription. Opinions on this subject are passionately held. Bringing up the topic can result in an argument.

●It is not appropriate to talk about dieting, especially while eating. Avoid personal questions and talk about work.

●Keep your wrists on the table at meals. Never put your hands in your lap.

●The elderly are respected in Switzerland. On public transportation, younger people may relinquish their seat to the elderly.

●When entering a Swiss shop, say “Hello” to the clerk.

●It is not unusual for passersby to admonish strangers for “improper behavior” in the street. This is more common in German areas.

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Cultural Note

The Swiss sense of humor tends toward understated wit. This form of humor requires both quickness and intelligence, and many Swiss excel at it. Typically, one Swiss makes a witty remark, and another responds in kind. These exchanges are more likely to elicit smiles than laughter—the Swiss rarely engage in loud guffaws.

If you are able to engage in this form of reparteé, feel free to do so. If you can’t, you have the excuse that you are a foreigner, unaccustomed to such humor. However, don’t ask a Swiss to explain his or her joke, unless there is a mistranslation involved. Explaining a witticism is tedious and sure to render the joke unfunny.

Business Entertaining

●Business lunches and dinners are popular, but business breakfasts are somewhat uncommon.

●Business lunches are often quite informal, sometimes taking place in the company cafeteria.

●Business dinners are the time to impress your client with a meal at a fine restaurant. The Swiss eat dinner as early as 6:30 p.m. You will have a hard time finding a good Swiss restaurant open after 11 p.m.

●The Swiss rarely invite business associates into their homes.

●If you are invited into a Swiss home, expect the evening to end early. Most Swiss are an early-to-bed, early-to-rise sort. Do not phone anyone after 9 p.m.

●Toasting is a formal process. After your host has proposed a toast, look directly at him or her and respond verbally (“To your health” covers most occasions, but try to say it in the local language), then clink glasses with everyone within reach—preferably the whole table; then you may drink.

Switzerland

Cultural Note

The Swiss frown upon ostentation and obvious displays of wealth. It is acceptable to spend a large amount on possessions—as long as the items do not look flashy or showy. Many Swiss buy pricey items that, to the uninitiated, look as if they might be modestly priced.

●3 Protocol

Greetings

●The standard greeting is the handshake. Even children are encouraged to shake hands.

●Always rise to be introduced to someone. Wait to be introduced by a third person.

●In the German areas of Switzerland, women sometimes embrace, but men do not.

●In the French and Italian areas, both men and women may embrace. The French also kiss each other twice on the cheek.

Titles/Forms of Address

●	The order of names is: first name followed by surname.

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Switzerland	●	Only children immediately address each other by their first names. Always address Swiss
		adults by their title or “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” or “Miss,” plus their surname.

Gestures

●The German-speaking Swiss rarely display strong emotions in public. In fact, most Swiss never reveal what they are thinking—at least not initially.

●By and large, gestures are kept to a minimum. Avoid frequent or wild gesticulations.

●French-speaking and Italian-speaking Swiss tend to be more willing to be emotional in public.

●It is impolite to talk with your hands in your pockets.

●Gum chewing in public is inappropriate.

●Do not sit with one ankle resting on the other knee.

●Backslapping is not appreciated.

Gifts

●Gift giving is not normally part of business in Switzerland.

●If you are invited to a Swiss home, always bring a gift. Wine, flowers, or chocolates (boutique-quality Swiss chocolate, never Belgian!) are good gifts. A foodstuff from your home country would also be appreciated.

●A gift with a significant connection to your home region will be remembered (for example, local folk art, liquor produced in your region, or a book about your home city).

●Keep company logos small.

●If you give flowers, remember that red roses are reserved for lovers.

●Interpreters or guides appreciate personalized gifts rather than a tip.

Dress

●Conservative dress is expected of foreign businesspeople. Be sure to wear well-shined dress shoes.

●Swiss bankers are well-known for their formal attire. However, in some industries, the Swiss dress more casually.

●The Swiss appreciate discretion regarding wealth. Do not wear ostentatious jewelry— except for expensive Swiss watches.

Cultural Note

The Swiss attribute much of their success to their work ethic. They work hard (and play hard). Punctuality is required and planning is done in advance. Everything is kept clean (this also applies to the country as a whole). Perhaps the only negative is that the Swiss are not usually good at improvising.