My+Trip+to+Italy

As an Italian American, I am pre-disposed to think Italy is a beautiful country. I have vacationed in Italy twice. My first visit was with my family for two months during the summer when I was eleven. My most recent trip was four years ago with my husband, son, and parents to attend a vow renewal for my aunt and uncle’s 25th wedding anniversary. The recent trip was exciting since our family had a chance to take a vacation to Italy, attend a wedding, and utilize my father as a tour guide and translator. It was also our last family trip as a trio, since I was five months pregnant. We stayed for ten days and traveled from picturesque Umbria to historic Rome. Italian culture is vastly different from that of America. I believe a major difference in the cultures of America and Italy are the dedication to family and the separation and appreciation of work and social time. Americans live very busy and rushed lives and do not often take the necessary time to disconnect from work and technology and enjoy their loved ones. Italians have a saying, “la vita e bella” translated as “life is beautiful”. Their ability to enjoy life is proof of this saying. Using my knowledge of Italian and American culture I would assume there are differences in the business world, particularly relating to women. While women are embraced as beautiful creatures in Italy, there is a mentality among many Italian men of hierarchy and where women belong – the kitchen. According to worldbusinessculture.com, females have leadership opportunities in Italy (although primarily in family owned organizations) and female business people from overseas are treated with respect and courtesy (worldbusinessculture.com). One key factor that I feel would represent an advantage for me would be learning the language prior to conducting business. While I believe many of the business people in Italy speak English, speaking the language of the country I was conducting business in would demonstrate my respect and intelligence for the people and country.

Works Cited "Women in Business in Italy; Italian Women in Business : World Business Culture." //International// // Business Culture: Cultural Differences in Business - World Business Culture Home Page //. Web. 10 2010. .

Here are some suggested readings before traveling to Italy. At least they are the required readings I have before my study tour to Italy, in January. [|//Passport Italy: Your Pocket Guide to Italian Business, Customs & Etiquette (Passport to the World)//]// by //[|//Claudia Gioseffi//]// (1997) // [|//The European Union Explained: Institutions, Actors, Global Impact//]// by //[|//Andreas Staab//]// (2008) // //“HRM in Italy: The evolution of a profession” by Christian Scholz & Hans Bohm (2008), excerpted from Human Resource Management in Europe. // //“Strategic human resource management – Italian style” by Arnaldo Camuffo & Giovanni Costa (1993) in MIT’s Sloan Management Review. //  //The “Passport Italy: Your Pocket Guide to Business, Customs & Etiquette” is filled with valuable information. It is also a quick read; about 100 pages. It details the business culture of Italy and describes the dress. It does also explain how different the culture really is. //