Location: Southern Europe, bordering Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km

Capital: Rome

Population: 58,057,477 (July 2004 est.)

Language: Italian is the official language of Italy, and 93% of population are native Italian speakers.

Lifestyle & Aspirations
La Dolce Vita, or living life to the fullest, is essential to Italians, who value good food, good wine, the arts, fine designer labels and sports that can be embraced with passion, like football.

Favourite leisure pursuits include:
? Eating out: Either visiting friends and relatives or in restaurants, ranging from pizzerias to the finest in Italian regional cuisine.
? Shopping/fashion: Italians are famous for their sense of style. Many of the big fashion labels like Armani and Prada have their headquarters in Italy. Milan Fashion Week is rated top in the world alongside Paris, New York and London.
? Football: Both as a participation and spectator sport, and an important part of many lives.
? Travel: Like the French, Italians travel a lot domestically rather than going abroad, with people visiting the coast, mountains and islands and many owning or renting a second home. Overseas holidays are also important, but more in terms of long haul travel.
? Winter sports: The Italian Alps and Dolomites have some of the world?s most prestigious ski resorts and many city-dwellers head for the hills with the first snowfall.
? Art and architecture: An inherent part of Italian life, thanks to great Italian artists like Leonardo da Vinci.
? Opera: Milan?s opera house, La Scala, is one of the finest in the world and the Verona opera festival is legendary.

The Essentials (10 Key Tips)
1. Personal relationships are important in Italy and must be built before doing business.
2. Image is important, so dress smartly and fashionably.
3. Understand the concept of bella figura inherent in Italian culture - 'cutting a fine figure' This also applies to your confidence and style, not just appearance.
4. Italy has a disproportionately high number of small businesses, many with an old-fashioned, autocratic leadership style.
5. Be aware of la cordata - the chain of command - in any company with which you do business.
6. Be prepared to use a third party to make introductions, as Italians prefer to work with people they know.
7. Expect meetings to be spontaneous and 'circular' in communication style.
8. Aesthetics are important, so presentations should look good and products should be attractively packaged.
9. Heated debates and arguments are very common during negotiations. Do not be put off your own main points - keep focused during this free-flow of opinions.
10. When decisions are made, individual judgment of a situation is more important than company policy.

Working with the Italians
It is important to establish strong personal relationships with your Italian counterparts as they will expect business to have a social element and are comfortable dealing with people they like. Personal contact is important to maintain the relationship. Italians are also cautious about risk-taking; they prefer to work with someone they know, or who has been personally recommended, and may avoid taking a risk on a new project at the start-up stage, preferring to get involved later on.
Italian communication style is explicit, animated and often loud. Meetings will be chaotic and sometimes spontaneous. Decision-making may be slow and confusing, and involve many people. The only way to cope with this is to be patient. Italians also sometimes find it difficult to say 'no', skirting round the issue instead. Management style is autocratic and anybody wanting to work with Italians must understand the 'cordata', or the workings of the chain of command within a company.

Making a Good Impression
Understand and embrace the concept of bella figura and you will make a good impression in Italy. This means, as well as looking good, you will come across as a sympathetic character, at the same time as being someone who can make decisions, speak eloquently and is interesting to be with socially. Turn up for appointments on time, even though your Italian colleagues may be late, and apologise profusely if you are late yourself.
Italians can relate to people who are passionate about their product, who understand the importance of design and style in a product, and who can present a good argument to back up their case during negotiations.

Business Etiquette
A business relationship is something that demands a certain amount of nurturing. Personal contact is something by which the Italians put great store, so take up invitations to join them for a coffee or glass of wine, and they won?t regard it as intrusive if you take a polite interest in their families, holidays and such like.
If you hear the term bella figura, it is not so much about physical appearance as your own charm or style; it means ?cutting a fine figure? in the metaphorical sense. As well as charm, style and appearance, bella figura encompasses a sympathetic attitude, in keeping with preserving harmony. Italians will try to preserve their bella figura, which means a little tact and diplomacy goes a long way. A prime example of this is in never blaming anyone for being late or not responding to a telephone message. Rather, you should adopt a sympathetic tone and say something like: ?The same thing has happened to me.?

Business cards
Business cards are used frequently and it is advisable to have your details translated into Italian and printed on the other side of your card.
If you need to impress your status upon your Italian associates, make sure you include degree qualifications and full job title. Senior Italian business people, however, tend to have less information on their business cards.

Communication style
The communication style of Italians is generally explicit, very animated and often quite loud. They usually speak passionately, using hand gestures to assist and illustrate what they are saying, and interrupting one another is common. Italians are often guided by their feelings and in business situations this is important to remember, as establishing solid relationships based on trust is vital for successful business negotiations.
Conversations may appear intense and sometimes heated. Bravado among colleagues of the same status will often give way to a more formal atmosphere when working with senior managers.
Constructive criticism is usually well received if it is presented with a view of improving things. But Italians are generally a very proud, patriotic people and it is not advisable to criticise Italian culture or society.
Italians may also find it hard to say ?no? directly, despite the explicit style of communication. It is easier for them to send somebody away with an excuse than to say an outright ?no?.

Attitudes towards the use of email are paradoxical. On the one hand email is fast, spontaneous, and when used from a palmtop or Blackberry will be seen as ?chic?. On the other if a relationship is not sufficiently developed from a personal perspective, emails will often go unanswered, despite several attempts to make contact. Email works best in established relationships, where short, sharp messages are exchanged quickly and frequently. Detailed or lengthy messages may not be read fully read or acted on. Emails of this nature should be followed up with a telephone call; personal contact is important to Italians.

Body language
Physical contact is common between people, the extent of which often signifies the relationship between the two parties. It is also used to indicate the strength of feeling about an issue. The touching of an arm is as much a show of emotional engagement with an issue as raising one?s voice might be in conversation. Don?t back away if an Italian grabs your arm or stands too close.
A warm handshake is sufficient between business colleagues, although this may be extended to a hug or an embrace on both cheeks between members of the opposite gender, as the relationship develops.
Direct eye contact displays interest in the other person, so ensure that it is maintained throughout a conversation, otherwise it could be interpreted as a sign of boredom. Likewise, it can be a good indicator as to whether you have a captive audience.
Perhaps the most important body language is expressed by what you actually wear. Italian business attire is always exceptionally smart and formal. Both men and women dress to impress. Failure to do so on your part may be noted.
Beware of what actions you are making with your hands and fingers, as certain gestures are offensive, for example, pressing your thumb against your teeth, or your nose. It is best to avoid raised or sharp gestures with your hands or fingers.
Placing the hand on the stomach signifies dislike. Gum chewing and slouching are frowned upon. In queues or crowds, you may experience pushing and it is not uncommon to witness someone walk straight to the front of a line to be served by somebody they know.

Gift giving
Gifts like liquors, delicacies, or crafts from the visitor's country are appropriate. Gifts should be subtle, but of a high quality or from prestigious brand names, and not Italian brands. Avoid giving gifts that are branded with your company logo, or that obviously promote your company.
Avoid brooches, handkerchiefs and gifts wrapped in black or gold paper, as these are associated with mourning and funerals. In a traditional sense, purple is considered a symbol of bad luck and sharp objects, such as knives, can represent the severing of a relationship.
Business gifts are sometimes given at managerial level, but as a guideline wait until you are given a gift before presenting one and respect you own company's policy, as well. Present the gift to the most senior person you have dealt with.
Gifts are expected for social events, especially to express your thanks for being invited to a person?s home. Presents are usually opened at the time they are given.
If you are invited to someone's home, gift-wrapped chocolates, pastries, flowers or wine are all acceptable choices. If you decide to bring wine, make sure it is a quality vintage and bring more than one bottle so that there is some left for your hosts to enjoy later. A good quality dessert wine is another option.

Business Meeting Culture
Initial meetings in Italy are often informal opportunities for evaluating colleagues and establishing relationships, not making business decisions. A meeting is often a stage for exhibiting eloquence, personality and status and is consequently a free-for-all of opinions and ideas. The weight of the idea resides not in the idea itself but in the importance and influence of the speaker.
Discussion may be circular and go off at tangents. A meeting is seen as a forum in which to express open disagreement and constructive conflict and may appear heated, although this is not usually the case.
Expect to have several meetings, and to socialise with your Italian counterparts, before any job is done.

Before the meeting
Make sure you observe the cordata (hierarchy) when planning a meeting, and invite the right people. Plan the meeting carefully and produce an agenda. There will almost certainly be deviation from this as people explore their own issues and ideas, but at least you will have a basic structure to stick to. As the visitor, you should always be on time.

During a meeting
As with many other countries, it is important to make a good impression, as some Italians will place weight on their judgement of a person, as well as making an assessment of the proposition. It is important to gain respect. Be congenial, warm and enjoy the discourse, which may appear to address a wider variety of issues than featured on an agenda.

Following a meeting
Cement the new relationship with a social event, such as a meal at a restaurant. Make sure that the relationship is continued and that arrangements are made for future talks. This means follow-up in writing. It?s also a good idea to circulate minutes of the key points discussed, and an action list, however informally this is done.

Motivating Others
In Italian multinational companies, performance management systems comprise the latest HR thinking. However, while rigorous performance measures, competencies and development centres all feature increasingly, they do not always feel ?natural? in a work environment characterised by close personal relationships.
Performance management systems are sometimes perceived as being too clinical or utilitarian to be worthwhile, given that who you know is as important as what you know in getting projects delivered on time and to the expected standards.
At a personal level, complimenting and rewarding employees publicly is not common. Italian managers are increasingly motivated by financial reward, although identity and affinity with the company are crucially important, as is status within an organisation. Upward mobility within an Italian firm is as much influenced by the relationship between boss and subordinate as it is by performance. In other words, good performance is not always enough to gain promotion.
Knowing the right people and having good personal chemistry with one?s current and future boss are important. Job security is important, reinforced by the difficulty in firing people in Italian companies.

Effective Presentations
Audience expectations
Audiences will expect to discuss the content of the presentation as it goes on and may start talking while you are still presenting - and to one another, not just to you, the presenter. These situations can run out of hand if not carefully controlled and especially if the discussion is conducted in Italian. In such cases, be patient and tolerant in directing discussion to specific topics of importance.

Presentation essentials
Value is placed on aesthetics; therefore any presentation material should be well produced and attractively designed. Impress by using the latest technology where possible.
During the presentation, be sure to keep your movements fluid and don?t speak with your arms clamped to your sides. Italians are highly demonstrative and will relate to a speaker who uses gestures and injects passion into their speech.
Try when possible to have all your supporting material translated into Italian.

Managing Relationships
In Italy, relationships really do matter. Traditionally people were not judged on performance alone. The ability to cultivate relationships in the workplace and with external partners has always been as important as actual results.
Nowadays, motivation techniques and performance management measure are becoming more widely used across Italian businesses but these more 'impersonal measures' (to Italian eyes) will take time to become embedded in the local organizational cultures.