NORWAY JARED NAQUIN

CAPITAL CITY OF NORWAY: OSLO The Flag Of Norway

Official Language: The official language is Norwegian which is a north Germanic language closely related to Swedish and Danish. Official Religion: The official religion of Norway is Evangelical Lutheran at 76.1% of the population

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS The most popular tourist attraction in all of norway is the Fløibanen, which is a funicular in Bergen Norwaywith over 1.3 million visitors per year and travels up the beautiful mountain of Fløyen.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS CONT. The Viking ship museum (Norwegian: Vikingskipshuset på Bygdøy) is located at Bygdoy in Oslo, Norway which displays horse carts, ships, tent components, and other wooden goods.

NATIONAL DISH OF NORWAY The national dish of Norway is Fårikål which is simply boiled lamb and cabbage, but is currently up for replacement as of 2014

AMERICAN STEREOTYPES OF NORWEGIANS The first stereotype is that all Norwegians are modest and unsophisticated fish eaters. And that they re all alcoholics that drink mead.

NORWEGIAN SUPERSTITIONS. One superstition is that crows (Kraka) are a sign of bad luck, and would lead to a bad harvest of fish. Another superstition is that whistling towards the sun will cause it to rain.

HAND GESTURES IN NORWAY In Norway, Norwegians keep hand gestures to a minimum because it can be seen as disrespectful but one common expression is when they wave their index finger in the are as a sign of warning or anger.

BUSINESS ETIQUETTE AND BODY LANGUAGE In Norway, one does not need to know someone for a long time in order to conduct business with them, contracts are held and people are trusted. Business is relatively informal and relies upon following contracts. Norwegians respect very confident and poised business people, and women are treated equally in the business world receiving equal pay and management positions.

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING Within Norway, relationships do not have to be formed in order conduct business and as long as everyone holds up their end of the bargain, then a relationship can build. Like minded individuals usually end up building relationships and being overly friendly at the start of a relationship can be seen as a form of weakness.

COMMUNICATION STYLES IN DECISION MAKING When communicating with each other in the business world, no emotion or gestures are used. Americans would see this as being “Stiff” or under confident, however in Norway this is seen as eing more dedicated and focused on ones work and is heavily respected.

POWER STRUCTURES IN DECISION MAKING When decisions are being made, they are consensus driven and often take a long amount of time due to the fact that they are consensus driven.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN US AND NORWAY WITH BODY LANGUAGE Difference: In Norway no hand gestures are used when presenting. Americans use tons of hand gestures when presenting Similarities: Both countries respect confident speakers, as well as standing poised when presenting

COMPARISON OF COMMUNICATIONS STYLES Differences: It is seen as being weak if one is overly friendly when conducting business while Americans try to be friendly in an effort to make each other more comfortable Similarities: Direct eye contact is maintained, a Firm handshake shows power and respect, and introducing business partners is seen as respectful

A COMPARISON OF POWER STRUCTURES Differences: It is very egalitarian in Norway and all decisions rely heavily on consensus and everyone's opinion while in America, the lead of the group is always the ultimate decider. Women have more power and are seen as equivalent to men, while in America women are under paid and do not get higher positions anywhere near as often as men do Similarities: there are different sections and sub sections of the companies, meaning there are higher ups that make the decisions for the whole of the company. The companies mostly look at the bigger pictures.

INTERNET PENETRATION In Norway, 87.5% of the population uses the internet. The omst popular social media sites in Norway are Facebook and Twitter

INDIVIDUALISM Definition: Reinforces people's reliance on self and encourages a greater concern for ones own interests. This applies Directly to Norway because they believe in choosing ones path and following it however one would like too.

COLLECTIVISM Definition: Reinforces a greater reliance on the group, and a greater concern for the welfare of all concerned. While Norway believes in individualism and reaching ones goals, it is also a heavily egalitaristic society and believes on concentric decisions in the business atmosphere and weighin in on everyone’s opinions.

STRONG UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE Definition: risk and uncertainty are avoided if at all possible. This applies to Norway in that on the business world, they do not like making incorrect decisions that will not benefit the company as a whole and will then ask others for their opinions before making a decision.

WEAK UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE Definition: Societies do not feel threatened by disagreance and tend to avoid absolute truths. In the norwegian culture, doing something with someone does not require you to know anyone, due to the fact that they are a very trust worthy culture.

COMPARISON OF INDIVIDUALISM Similarities: both believe in setting out to accomplish ones goals. Both have supports in place to help someone reach ones goals Differences: The US believes more in individualism then Norway and nearly all decisions in life in the US are ultimate up to the owner of the dream.

COLLECTIVISM COMPARISON Similarities: Both counties are democratic and do therefore believe in doing things as a group with multiple opinions. Differences: Norway believes much more heavily in collectivism and all business deals are done as a group, when in the united states they are all ultimately up the the majority share holders or CEOs

STRONG UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE COMPARISON Similarities: There is a fear of failure in both countries, causing them to be more cautious Differences: The Population of the U.S. sees the uncertainty associated with many things and simply view it as a challenge to over come.

WEAK UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE COMPARISON Similarities: Both countries see absolute truths as not taking risks or attempting to grow. Differences: Within the U.S., extensive background checks are done before a commitment is made with anyone, while in Norway, contracts can be made with anyone even without knowing them.

CURRENT EVENTS One major current event is an attempt to change the national dish of Norway. The prime minister also just Pledged $70 million dollars to a fund to cure Ebola.

RESOURCES Norway - Norwegian Culture and Etiquette. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, The Global Road Warrior. Norway: Country Snapshot. Retrieved October 18, 2014, from &nid=65&next_nid=66 The Norway Post. Norway pledges NOK 70 million to new Ebola fund. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from news/30224