bangladesh - cross-cultural etiquette
TRANSCRIPT
Bangladesh: Cross-Cultural Etiquette & Understanding
In Preparation for the Dr. Muhammad Yunus delegation April 5-6, 2016 at Becker College
Delegation
• Dr. Muhammad Yunus
• Mrs. Lamiya Morshed, Executive Director
• Mr. Imamus Sultan, Managing Director of Grameen Kalyan
• Dr. Frank Crossan, Executive Director, Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing
Bangladeshi Facts
• Population: over 165 million; 8th most populous country in world
• Capital: Dhaka (over 15 million)• Language: Bengali; English• Religion: Muslim=89%; Hindu=9%• Poverty: About 1/3 of the population (~40%)
lives in poverty/extreme poverty• Current Challenges…
Greetings
Salaam aleykum Handshakes
Communication
Facial expression; Nonverbal cues Thumbs up sign Open gifts in private; give and receive
gifts with both hands Always give and receive with your
right hand Address people directly Expect most senior male to make
decisions
Views of Time (Forewarning!)
• Casually viewed: show up at meetings or events late
• Not linear: schedules are followed loosely• Often small talk before the meeting begins
About Dr. Muhammad
Yunus
• Born: 1940 in Chittagong• Third of nine surviving children• Active Boy Scout• BA and MA in economics at Dhaka
University• Fulbright to study economics at Vanderbilt
University and received Ph.D. in 1969
• Married a fellow student and had a daughter
• Served as assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University (1969-1972)
• Activism for his home country• Returned to Bangladesh in 1972 and
headed economics department at Chittagong University
• Developed idea of microcredit; established Grameen Bank in 1983
• Grameen serves >8 million poor people; 98% women
• Grameen America: 11 cities, over 64,000 women served, almost 180,000 loans dispersed, over 67,000 jobs created
• Married Dr. Afrozi Yunus in 1980 and had a second daughter, Deena
Bangladeshi Trivia
Most popular sport? National fruit? National tree? National flower? National bird? National animal?
CRICKET
JACK FRUIT MANGO TREE
SHAPLA
MAGPIE ROBIN
ROYAL BENGAL TIGER