Business Practices in Iceland and Canada: A Comparative Analysis

International business

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Introduction

Iceland and Canada are two completely different nations in terms of business practices which are followed in the countries. Yet they are interlinked in the business world.

Business card etiquette

Social as well as business etiquettes of Iceland are very much similar to the rest of western European countries. Business meetings that are held in Iceland are very much based on the informal attitudes of leaders as well as the team (Divekar & Itankar, 2020). Although the meetings try to avoid any type of stress related talks, there are still some points which are considered in the sessions. The meetings are very well prepared. Business cards are swapped at the time of introduction. Unlike Iceland, in Canada business cards that are exchanged are translated in French as well as English (Hamilton, 2019).

Cell phone etiquette

Icelanders have a tendency to avoid choosing voicemail option as an essential feature. This is a part of Iceland’s cell phone culture (Allred & Crowley, 2017). Canadians on the other hand has a strong use of voice mails in their daily lives.

Dress etiquettes

There are generally no specific dress codes but the Icelanders are always well dressed. The business meetings which take place in outside the workplace are also followed by informal dress codes (Kulik et al., 2019). This type of informality is not the case of Canada. People in Canada are dressed in a more conservative way and formally when they are going out.

Busines discussion

Icelanders are much different in terms of businesses. Business meetings in Iceland are very positive and they often turn out to be way more formal than other countries. Although there are certain disadvantages which are associated with the informal type of meetings as they sometimes tend to lose the effectiveness. Business discussions in Iceland start with one note and get competed without any conclusions. Although the Canadians believe in making their business discussions open and comfortable, they maintain a certain level of professionalism and formal approach at all the times.

Lunch dinner etiquettes

The exact dining routine of the Icelanders include – wrists resting on the tables with visible hands, fork is in left and knife is right hand. Wastage of food is not at all entertained. Canadians on the other hand keep their face a little downwards, eats with a fork b pressuring it using their index finger, their elbows are down and knife is in the right hand (Leung et al., 2018).

Gift giving

Icelanders seldom invite guests at their home. These guests are always expected to come with a small gift. The most often gift which is gifted is a bottle of wine. Small gifts are always appreciated in the country. This is not a big concern for people in Canada. Canadians exchange gifts on festivals or as a thank you but it is not a part of their value system.

Bribes

Bribery as well as corruption are considered as very serious issues in terms of Iceland. Transparency is one of the most values value of Iceland in terms of business. Iceland was ranked on 13^th least corrupt country of the world. Bribes are an offense in Canada as well. Any type of corrupt behaviour is not tolerated in the country. Canada is on the 12^th rank of the least corrupt countries.

Government introduction in business

Iceland is a country where there is a high level of government intervention involved with the business activities along with free trade. The economy is a subject to high volatility which is the reason of this intervention. Canada on the other hand has no free zones and the trade is done through the help of multinational forums (Long, 2018).

Barriers to success

Although Iceland has been able to gain a good position in terms of GDP, yet there is fiscal volatility present in the nation. Iceland is not an EU country and it has very high tariffs on most of the products related to agriculture. The restriction of importing of agricultural products is also one of the most relevant barriers to business success in Iceland. Canada on the other side has a lot of barriers to success in the business including lack of capital, compliant costs variables, lack of skills, etc.

Status of trade relations with Canada

Canada and Iceland have a bilateral system of trade which has grown due to implementing of CEFTA in the year 2009. The merchandise of bilateral trade between Iceland and Canada balanced out at a rate of more than $336 m. High amounted goods are exported from Canada to Iceland as per the data of 2018. Canada also imported goods of worth $137 m of merchandise as well from Iceland. Canadian trade relations with Iceland are a point of focus for business minds (Medby, 2017).

Export Development Canada helps Iceland in order to manage the competitive risks. The members of state of EU have now included Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway (Roth, 2018).

Current news /Policies

Iceland has been named as the safest country of 2020 in terms of the world. Due to being highly renowned the country is advancing in the field of economy, social stability, as well as innovation in technology. There have been very significant changes in the legislations in taxation system. Withholding tax on the dividends among domestic limited liability companies has been abolished.

Capital/Population/Politics

With a population of 3.57 lakh, Iceland is a north island country. The capital of Iceland is Reykjavik. Iceland has a multiparty system where three parties headed by Katrin Jakobsdottir are ruling. Iceland was the first ever country to have a political party which was headed entirely by women. The country is a representative democracy as well as a parliamentary republic. The parliament was established in the country in the year of 1845. The administrative divisions of the country are divided on the basis of regions, municipalities and constituencies. Iceland is an active member of the NATO, UN, OECD, EFA, and council of Europe. The country has no army (Hilmarsson, 2017). However it does have an Icelandic coast guard who manages the air defence as well.

Conclusion

Iceland and Canada both have a good status in terms of international business. This is the reason there has been a comparison drawn to understand the business pattern in both the countries.

References

Allred, R. J., & Crowley, J. P. (2017). The “mere presence” hypothesis: Investigating the nonverbal effects of cell-phone presence on conversation satisfaction. Communication Studies, 68(1), 22-36.

Divekar, N., & Itankar, N. (2020). The Role of Languages and Culture in Intercultural Business Communication. International Journal of Modern Agriculture, 9(3), 1359-1378.

Hamilton, S. N. (2019). Hands in Cont (r) act: The Resiliency of Business Handshakes in Pandemic Culture. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 34(2), 343-360.

Hilmarsson, H. Þ. (2017). Should iceland seek europen union and euro area membership?. Regional Formation and Development Studies, 21(1), 53-67.

Kulik, S. V., Baranova, T. A., Bylya, K. N., & Sosnina, M. N. (2019, July). The Islamic Community and Islamic problematics in domestic politics of Iceland (2000-2015) exemplified by the construction project of the Grand Mosque of Reykjavik. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 302, No. 1, p. 012072). IOP Publishing.

Leung, K., Fong, W., Lau, P. S., Wong, Y. L., Yan, B. P., Freedman, B., ... & Lee, V. W. (2018). Impact of dining out and food intake pattern on atrial fibrillation prevalence in Hong Kong Chinese elders. Value in Health, 21, S57.

Long, H. (2018). US, Canada and Mexico just reached a sweeping new NAFTA deal. Here’s what’s in it. Washington Post.

MEDBY, I. (2017). Peopling the state: Arctic state identity in Norway, Iceland, and Canada (Doctoral dissertation, Durham University).

Roth, T. (2018). Human Rights and the Canadian Extractive Sector in Latin America: Can Canada do more to prevent abuses and improve access to justice?.