DOs and DON’Ts IN DEALING WITH BULGARIAN BUSINESS PEOPLE
Cross Culture Management in Working with Bulgarians
By Christina Kasparyan
Cross Culture Business Guide
Table of Contents
History 1
The Thracian Civilization 2
Government and Administrative Division 2
Main Industries 3
Traditional and National Holidays and Other Celebrations 4
Traditional Culture, Cuisine and Lifestyle 6
Contracting 10
Timing a Business Trip 11
The Role of the Head Office or Management 11
Job Evaluation 11
Representation in Negotiations 13
Status 13
Translators 14
Decision-making 14
Motivation of the Personnel 14
Organizational Structure 15
Emotional Display in Business 16
Humour, Understatement and Irony 16
Verbal Communication 17
Tone of Voice 18
The Spoken Word 18
Non-verbal Communication 18
Personality Levels 20
The Criticism of Ideas 21
The Boss and the Privacy of Employees 21
Negotiating 21
Age and Experience 23
Gender and Status 24
Education and Status 24
Social and Family Connections and Status 25
The Role of Titles 25
Perception of Past, Present and Future 26
Contracting and Negotiating 27
Punctuality, Deadlines and Schedules 28
Sequences and Synchronization 28
Control over Nature 30
Preservation and Protection of Nature 31
National Features 32
Corporate Relationships 34
Chapter 1
Basic Facts About Bulgaria
Bulgaria is the country of Thracians, roses and yoghurt
B
For your information:
Territory: 110,912 sq.km
Population: 7,97 million
Time zone: GMT + 2
Parliamentary Republic
Religion: 85% Orthodox Christians, 10% Muslims, 5% other
Visas: no visa requirement for 30-day stay for USA, EU, EFTA and CEFTA countries
Currency: Bulgarian Lev (BGN)=1.95583 EUR
ulgaria is situated in the South-Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The country's population is 7.97 million and has a territory of 110,912 sq.km, bordering Greece and Turkey to the South, Republic of Macedonia and FR Yugoslavia to the West. The River Danube separates it from Romania to the North. Its natural eastern border is the Black Sea. Bulgaria ranks fifteenth in size among the European countries. Its climate is Continental-Mediterranean.
Bulgaria is situated in the center of a region, which is undergoing dynamic transition. Within 500 km of its capital Sofia (1.2 million people) a population of over 60 million is concentrated throughout 10 countries, most of which have only recently embarked on their way to a market economy. This is a large market with one of the most rapidly increasing market demands in Europe. All these regions are only several hours' drive from any point in Bulgaria. A network of international motorways crosses the country, making vital connections to Western Europe, Russia, Minor Asia, to the Adriatic, the Aegean and the Black Sea. Both sea and river transport (the Black Sea and the Danube River) offer good communications and transportation to and from the region.
History
The history of Bulgaria goes back more than 3,000 years. A succession of various civilizations, Thracian, Roman, and Byzantine, the Bulgarian state has existed for 13 centuries now on the Balkan Peninsula, which has long been a meeting place and a melting-pot of tribes and nations. The Bulgarian state was founded in 681 AD, when Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians were brought together under the sceptre of the khan. The conversion of the Bulgarians to Christianity in 865 AD joined Bulgaria to the Christian civilization. The invention of the Cyrillic script in the latter half of the ninth century, during an age when previously only Latin and Greek had been used to write, gave a powerful impetus to the country's cultural development. The War of Liberation (the Russian-Turkish War) regained Bulgaria's freedom in 1878. In 1879 the Constituent Assembly adopted the first constitution of Bulgaria, which was one of the most democratic constitutions of the day. The first decades of the 20th century were years of economic effort and prosperity. Bulgarian goods and Bulgarian currency, the 'Golden Lev', acquired a high value on the European markets. Trade relations with Austria, Germany, France and Great Britain strengthened. The peaceful end of Todor Zhivkov's regime in 1989 falls into the pattern of changes in Eastern Europe. Bulgaria took the road of a new democratic development, towards a free market economy.
The Thracian Civilization
The boundaries of the Thracian ethnos comprise not only the territory of present-day Bulgaria but also the land of present-day Romania, Eastern Serbia, Northern Greece and Northwestern Turkey. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) the Thracians were the most numerous people in Europe and came second in the world after the Indians (obviously the world Herodotus knew).
Regrettably, during their 2000-year-long history the Thracians have not created an alphabet of their own. The reconstruction of the past of this people - builder of one of the pillars of the ancient European civilization, has been based on the scanty information available in the literary tradition of Hellenians and Romans and, naturally, on the results obtained from the particularly large-scale archaeological excavations carried out over the past three or four decades.
Government and Administrative Division
Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic and conforms to the Constitution of the Republic passed by the Grand National Assembly in July 1991. The Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria is the supreme law of the country and no other law may contravene it. All international treaties, which are ratified pursuant to the constitutional procedure, are considered part of the domestic legislation. The National Assembly is a one-chamber parliament. It consists of 240 Members of Parliament who are directly elected every four years. The National Assembly is a permanent acting body, directed by a board of Chairmen including a Chairman of the National Assembly. The head of the state is the President, who embodies the unity of the nation and represents the Republic of Bulgaria in its international relations. The Council of Ministers is the executive state body and directs the domestic and foreign policy of the country. The government manages the implementation of the state budget, organizes the management of state property and approves or rescinds certain categories of international treaties pointed out in the Constitution.
The territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is divided into 278 municipalities and 28 regions. Municipalities are legal entities and have the right of ownership and independent municipal budgets. The municipal council is the local government authority, which determines the policies for development of the municipality. The regions are administrative-territorial units, which implement the regional policy of the central government. A regional governor and regional administration at the cost of the state budget carry out the regions’ management. Regional governors are appointed by the Council of Ministers.
Main Industries
Bulgaria enjoys excellent natural conditions for developing the agriculture and forestry sector. Cultivated agricultural land occupies about 4.9 million hectares or 44% of the total territory of the country. The favorable climates for crop production and the availability of agricultural land and long traditions have resulted in a well-developed plant growing and animal-breeding. Among the main crops produced are tomatoes, pepper, tobacco, grapes, wheat, maize, beans, potato, sunflower, peaches, apricots, apples, melons, nuts, etc. There are traditions in the sheep, pig and cattle breeding, poultry farming, and bee keeping. It is worth mentioning that Bulgaria traditionally has had a leading position in exports of grapes, oriental tobacco, tomatoes, apricots and other agricultural products to the large markets of East and West Europe. Bulgaria is famous for its food industry, especially the wines and the dairy products – cheese Feta type and yogurts obtained from the Lactobacillus Bulgaricus.
Bulgaria has a 330-year tradition for growing up the Rosa Damascena and producing different products from it. The Bulgarian rose oil is recognized worldwide as the best of quality in the world and has always the highest price. Before the changes to market economy Bulgaria obtained 60% of the world production of rose oil, but during the transition period this percentage dropped to 30% and the market has been occupied by the cheaper and less quality products of Turkey and India. Recently Bulgaria again starts to regain its position of a world leader in this specific sector. It is due to the fact that the price of the rose oil originating from Bulgaria rose quickly with the diminishing quantity resulting from the restructuring and the privatization procedures. In the last years leading French perfumeries have bought all quantities destined for export.
Bulgarian companies produce from the precious rose not only oil but products such as rose marmalade, rose balsam, natural distilled rose water and products based on these as well as on other essential oils obtained from different herbs such as mint and lavender.
Other sectors of Bulgarian economy that are very well developed are textiles and apparel, machine building and electrical engineering, and especially the IT sector. Until 1990 within the frames of COMECOM Bulgaria was the only country in Eastern Europe that specialized in high technologies. Bulgaria was called the “Silicon valley of Eastern Europe” because of its strategic specialization in high-tech and ICT products. The IT companies in Bulgaria cover almost the whole spectrum of IT development activities and services. The major areas, regardless the fact that some companies work in more than one area, are as follows:
• software – computer system software, networking software and web-design, CAD/CAM/CAE software, telecommunications and wireless development software, application software, firmware;
• hardware – computer and systems assembling, digital and analogue PCB design, PCB manufacture, analogue mixed engineering;
• microelectronics – design ASIC’s, front-end and back-end microelectronic activities;
• automation – systems for industrial automation.
98% of the local companies are private. Most of them are very flexible and innovative with up to 100-120 employees.
Some facts about the Bulgarian IT sector:
• Current annual growth of about 35% of the Bulgarian IT sector (research of IDG Group);
• Third place in Europe and eighth place worldwide according to the absolute number of certified IT professionals (3rd place worldwide as regards the percentage of certificates from the number of population! – Brainbench statistics);
• High quality personnel with knowledge both in hardware and software;
• The Technology Achievement Index (TAI) ranks Bulgaria 28th in the world and this country is considered being among the potential leaders in the field of ICT;
• Customers of Bulgarian companies include Canadian government agencies such as the Department of Transport, Department of Environment and others, as well as global blue-chip companies such as BWM, Boeing, Ford, Lockheed Martin, Nortel, Hasbro, Siemens, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Xerox, Telesis Technologies;
• Excellent labour quality/labour cost ratio – average monthly salary in the sector of 400 euro;
• Bulgaria is 2nd worldwide on SAT tests;
• 2nd worldwide in international IQ tests (MENSA International);
• 5th worldwide in sciences and 11th worldwide in mathematics (World Bank and The Economist ranking);
• High rate of growth of the mobile subscribers;
• Zero VAT rate on export of software;
• Government priority sector.
Traditional and National Holidays and Other Celebrations
The Bulgarians respect their national and traditional holidays. Usually these are celebrated within the family or with friends. All national holidays are non-working days. All administrative, banking and other offices are closed. Some shops may be open; restaurants and cafeteria are usually open. Bulgarians celebrate the following national holidays:
• 1st January – New Year Day;
• 3rd March – Liberation Day;
• April or May – Easter holiday – Easter in Bulgaria is usually one week after the Catholic one. It’s date is changing according to the moon position every year;
• 1st May – Labour Day;
• 6th May – Saint George Day and the Official Holiday of the Bulgarian Army;
• 24th May – The Day of the Slavonic Alphabet and Culture;
• 6th September – The Union Day;
• 22nd September – The Independence Day;
• 1st November – The day of the public cultural leaders (not exact translation!!! – this is the day of the people who contributed to Bulgaria Renaissance and to the country cultural, political and educational revival at different stages of the country history);
• 24th December – Budni Vecher – the day before Christmas
• 25th December – Christmas Eve;
• 31st December and 1st January – New Year’s Eve (on the 2nd of January people usually already start working and offices open (if nothing else is agreed or settled by each separate office), providing it is not Saturday or Sunday).
Most of the traditional holidays in Bulgaria are connected with the old Orthodox Christian tradition and some remainders of the pagan times. A lot of the traditional holidays are connected with the celebrating of the name days – the people named after a certain saint or other are usually sparkled with water by their relatives and friends, similarly to the Christian baptizing procedure. Some of the traditional holidays that the Bulgarians respect are:
• 1st January – Survakari – tradition of young men to go from house to house, singing special songs;
• 6th January – Yordanovden – big orthodox Christian celebration – the crucifix is thrown into a river and young men enter and compete to get it out; all people named after Yordan celebrate;
• 14th February – Trifon Zarezan – the vineyards are cut ceremonially; all people named after Trifon celebrate;
• 1st March – the Baba Marta day – people are wearing martenitsa (a hand-made work from white and red cotton threads); people having in their name March, Mart celebrate;
• 8th March – Women’s Day;
• Tsvetnica – the Sunday one week before Easter – all persons named after a plant or a flower celebrate; young women sing songs and make predictions for their future;
• Todorovden – 5 weeks before Easter – people jump over a fire, men compete in equestrian competitions, called kushii;
• Nestinari – a very old Bulgarian tradition which can be only seen now in Strandja Mountain in South-East Bulgaria. In its essence it is a bare-foot dance on embers (heated coal) formed in a circle. The dance itself and all rituals performed together with it are called nestinarstvo, and the bare-foot dancers – nestinari. The dance is performed on the St. Konstantin and Elena Day – 21st May. All people named after these saints celebrate.
Of course Bulgarians celebrate a lot of other holidays. The interesting thing are the birthday parties – the person having a birthday anniversary usually buys sweets and drinks for his relatives, friends and colleagues. It is acceptable when you go to the birthday party to buy a present for the person. Expensive presents are not commonly accepted, even if the person making them is very rich and obviously can afford them. It is acceptable to go to the birthday party only with flowers. It is absolutely unacceptable to go to the birthday party uninvited by the celebrating person.
It is commonly acceptable to buy sweets for your colleagues when you get your first salary, graduate degree, promotion in the work, etc. Most of the people going on business trips abroad usually buy sweets or a bottle of drink for their colleagues left in the office in their home country.
Bulgarians are known for their hospitability and friendliness. If they invite you to their home to lunch or dinner, you can expect a comparatively 2-hour or more long rich meal with the family with music and drinking of alcohol (especially during dinner). To bring presents to the hosts is not commonly acceptable, but it will neither make a negative impression. It is left to the guest to decide how to proceed in the situation. If the foreigner decides to invite the Bulgarian partners to a restaurant for lunch and dinner, it is acceptable for him to pay the bill. Otherwise the Bulgarians being hosts to their foreign guests cover such expenses, if something else is not agreed. If the foreigner decides to choose and take his partners to a very expensive restaurant, he should be aware that they might feel offended that they cannot offer the same luxury to their guest.
Traditional Culture, Cuisine and Lifestyle
Handicraft
The Bulgarians are very proud with their traditional handicraft products, especially from the still functioning handicraft schools in the cities of Troyan and Triavna . Troyan is well-known for the masters of ceramics traditional products, while Triavna is the center of woodcarving and icon drawing. Other traditional handicraft products are animal bells, carpets, copper pots, etc. There is a tradition of big folklore gatherings with performing of dance, singing, cuisine and handicraft arts which happen once a year in Koprivshtitsa and the village of Rozhen in the Rodopi Mountain.
The Bulgarians are world famous with their choir art. The choir art is developed and the singers perform traditional songs from the Bulgarian folklore or other classical works. One of the most famous choirs worldwide performing traditional folklore songs is “The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices”.
Sports
Bulgarians are big football fans. Matches are usually watched at home with a company of friends, a lot of beer or other alcohol. They are accustomed to make a lot of comments about the game, and, as the saying goes, everybody in Bulgaria is a football expert except the coach and the players… When the national team plays they become very nationalistic.
Other sports that are very well-known in Bulgaria and that are national pride during big competitions are wrestling, weight-lifting, boxing, artistic gymnastics, gymnastics, high jumps in athletics, acrobatics, figure skating – dancing, short track, kick-boxing, etc.
Otherwise, Bulgarians are not very keen sports doers. Jogging is not very popular, but there are some people that do it occasionally. More and more people do fitness or aerobics, or simply walking. Some of them practice Latino or folklore dancing.
Lifestyle
Bulgarians in big cities live in big blocks of apartments, a remainder of the Communist times. In smaller cities and especially in villages houses are very common. They usually own the apartment, renting is more common for young people and students, or for young families. The family links are very strong – 2 or more generations can live in one house or apartment. This is also a result from the economic situation in the country. Most of the people are strongly linked to the countryside and to the land. It is a habit to do gardening activities – to have a house in the countryside with a small vegetable garden, where they produce vegetables for the family or for sale. Bulgarians are good wine-producers. It is habitual that a family owns a small vineyard and produces wine for the family. Domestic wine is usually not for sale. Bulgarians in the countryside also breed animals – hens and chicken, pigs, sheep, 1-2 cows and goats. All the production is for family consumption, but most of the farms with a bigger number of cows and sheep sell the milk to cheese and yogurt producing companies.
Links between relatives are usually very strong – the relatives can come and visit without having a preliminary appointment, just passing by, and can stay for lunch or dinner. The neighbourhood links are also strong, but of course, it depends on the relationships between the neighbours. The neighbourhood gatherings are very common – neighbours gather in one of the apartments or houses to chat, usually drinking beer or other alcohol, depending on the part of the day, discussing politics, watching football matches or other sports, eating shopska salad and especially playing cards – bridge or belot. Bulgarians, especially women, are fond of gossiping and exchanging “market” information – “you can buy what where at the cheapest price”.
There are some language variations as one passes from region to region. People living near Sofia or in the North-Western part of Bulgaria speak with a shopski accent, characterized by the very hard pronunciation and mixing of the stress of the words. There are as well some words that are typical characteristic of the accent. People living in North-Eastern, South-Eastern and South Central Bulgaria do not mix word stress, but they speak with a very soft pronunciation, for which they are often mocked by the capital citizens. People living in South-Western Bulgaria speak dialect close to Macedonian among themselves, mostly in villages.
Cuisine
The Bulgarian cuisine has been influenced by the invasions of Greeks, the 5-century long invasion of the Turks, the Slavonic and Proto-Bulgarian tradition. So nowadays it is a very interesting mixture of styles and tastes, which make it typical and unique. Bulgarians use a lot of spices in preparing their meals – red pepper, black pepper, basil, savory, parsley (especially fresh), oregano, etc. The Bulgarians, similarly to all other Balkan countries are very good at preparing barbeque meat – steaks from all kinds of meat, meat balls and kebapche – a stick-shaped minced meat.
Regarding the cuisine tradition there are formed regions in which typical traditional meals can be found. The most interesting gourmet tradition in Bulgaria can be found in the regions of Rhodopi mountain and the South-Eastern Bulgaria, as well as at the Central part of the Balkan mountain. The most typical Bulgarian dishes are the following:
Shopska Salad – a salad that is eaten all over Bulgaria – a mixture of fresh tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, fresh green peppers, onions and Bulgarian white cheese;
Tarator – a cold summer soup, prepared from chopped fresh cucumbers, Bulgarian yogurt, chopped walnuts, fennel and vegetable oil;
Gyvetch (hotch-potch)– a warm meal from all kinds of vegetables + some kind of meat. There is a similar dish called gyvetche which is prepared in a ceramic pot with tomatoes, white cheese, vegetables and egg;
Beans soup – Bulgarians eat a lot of different soups, but the most common and traditional one is the beans soup. In some regions they prepare it in ceramic pots and in a specific way;
Nettle soup – specific soup common for the spring period when the nettle shows up. You cannot find that soup in restaurants – it is prepared in families and is eaten with yogurt and white cheese;
Sour cabbage – each Bulgarian family prepares sour cabbage for the winter period. The well-prepared sour cabbage is rich of vitamins and minerals so necessary for the winter period. It is eaten as a salad with red pepper, vegetable oil and olives or prepared in oven as a meal;
Sarmi – a mixture of rice, chopped meat and spices, formed in sour cabbage leaves or vine leaves in the form of bullets. The variety made with vine leaves is eaten with yogurt;
Drob-sarma – a mixture of rice, spices and lamb liver, cooked in the oven;
Shkembe chorba – a special soup prepared from the stomach of the animal. It is eaten with a lot of garlic, vinegar and hot pepper and is the best way to recover after a hangover;
Stuffed peppers – Bulgarians prepare several varieties of stuffed peppers. The most common one is the stuffed peppers with rice and meat, cooked in the oven. Another traditional variety which is eaten on 24th December dinner is the stuffed peppers with beans, cooked in the oven. It is also common to stuff peppers with white cheese;
Cheverme – lamb roasted on embers in the field. Typical mountain meal;
Kavarma – a dish in a ceramic pot with meat and vegetables prepared in a specific way.
Bulgarians typical drinks are beer, wine and rakia (strong drink distilled from grapes, blue plums, apricots). The typical wines prepared from old Bulgarian varieties of grapes, grown only in Bulgaria, are Mavrud, Gamza, Keracuda, Dimiat.
NOTE: NEVER DO OR SAY THE FOLLOWING:
1. “The roads here are much better than those in Africa.”
2. “Your language is like the Macedonian.”
3. “You use the Russian alphabet.”
4. “Your alphabet is Greek.”
5. “Won’t we get shot in the street as we walk just like that?”
6. Never urinate or fart in villages or in front of the others.
7. Never spit on streets.
8. Never show superiority because of your country origin even if you feel like that.
9. Never insult the country symbols and nationality even if Bulgarians do so.
Chapter
2
Relationships and Rules
Bulgarian Society Does Not Like to Stick to the Rules
I
n this chapter we will define how the Bulgarians judge other people’s behaviour. This will show whether in Bulgaria there is strong and vital obligation to adhere to standards which are universally agreed by the Bulgarian society or rather we encounter particular obligations to people they know.
When doing business with Bulgarians one has to be aware that regarding rules Bulgarian society is a quite versatile society. For example, some of them respect the universal uniform way of crossing the street when the green light is on and wait while the red light is on, but another part may not, and this part is regarded no worse than the one obeying the rule. However, most of the Bulgarians’ judgments focus on the exceptional nature of the present circumstances. They help people not because they are “citizens”, but because they are friends, relatives, etc. having unique importance to the person. Therefore, the person in need should be protected no matter what the rules say (of course within law limits). Another part of the people, however, is very possible to think the opposite and disregard the particularistic judgment as being corrupted, always trying to help close friends. This 50-50 orientation might be a result from the Communist rule, where the universal rules applied only to average citizens and did not apply to the Communist party members.
Contracting
Contracting is a vital part of the business, since it serves to record an agreement on principle and codifies what the respective parties have promised to do. It also implies consent to the agreement and provides recourse if the parties do not keep to their side of the deal. If there is a contract with strict requirements and penalty clauses, Bulgarians will look very seriously into it. Otherwise, the mutual trust and personal relationships in business can be established after a long and fruitful cooperation.
Sometimes, Bulgarians accept oral agreement, but not as a common practice. Some managers can be naïve in thinking that the oral agreement is enough to make the other party fulfill its engagement, which often causes problems when doing business with other countries.
Timing a Business Trip
As regarding the suitable time for making a visit to the enterprise, Bulgarians can be very flexible and follow the wish and preferences of the other party. They will appreciate if they are not rushed and pushed to hurry. In such situations of urging it is likely for them to get suspicious. On the other hand, they can react with flexibility to urgent matters, but it again depends who urges them and whether they trust this company or person.
The Role of the Head Office or Management
Delegation of responsibility is something that Bulgarian managers still have to learn. All decisions are taken by the head office or the senior management. Bulgarian society is strongly centralized and there are now attempts for decentralization. That is why, some resistance to centralized edicts can always be felt. The stratification is highly developed, but still it depends on the management system. Most of the time it is more autocratic than democratic with strict division between boss and employees. Exceptions can be met. The employer usually does not strive to provide satisfaction to the employees regarding security, money, social standing, goodwill and socio-emotional support. Where these things are provided the employees, obviously and understandably, show a lot of commitment and professionalism and rarely quit in search for another job.
Job Evaluation
The human resource area is something that still needs a lot of improvement in Bulgaria. Officially and by law managers recruit their staff according to a set of rules – all jobs described, all candidates should have their qualifications compared with these descriptions and all job occupants should have their performance evaluated against what their contracts specified they would do. However, the reality often is that managers decide by themselves who exactly they will recruit, often knowing the person themselves and doing the selection procedure only pro-forma, since Bulgarian law requires a competition among candidates for a certain position. Job announcements in papers often do not meet requirements about non-discrimination regarding gender and age.
NOTE: TIPS FOR DOING BUSINESS
1. Be prepared for demands of modification of legal contracts.
2. Be prepared for the view that there are several perspectives on reality relative to each participant.
3. Do not take personal, “get to know you” attitudes as waste of time in talking nonsense.
4. Do not be surprised and uninterested if the Bulgarian shows you pictures of his family and starts telling you about it, even if he does not know you well.
5. A trustworthy person is considered the one who honours their word or contract, paying attention to the long-term relationship.
6. Build informal networks and at the same time pay attention to consistency.
7. Seek fairness by treating all similar cases in one and the same way, but pay attention to the specifics and details of each separate case as well.
Chapter
3
The Group and the Individual
Bulgarians Are Strongly Individualistic
T
he conflict between the wants of the individual and the interest of the group is the subject of this chapter. We will discover whether the Bulgarians discover what each other wants and then try to negotiate the differences, or they place ahead of this the shared concept of the public and collective good.
The Bulgarian society is characterized with the prime orientation to the self rather than with the prime orientation to common goals and objectives. This individualistic orientation is probably resulting from the failure of the Communist regime, to which collectivism is always attributed. However, there are discrepancies as regarding this orientation, since in cases of difficulties Bulgarians always want the state to take care of them collectively, afraid to take an individual responsibility and initiative.
Representation in Negotiations
When you negotiate with Bulgarians you should be aware that the negotiations are usually held with the general executive manager on the highest level of management. It is possible to have plural representation, but this is not a common case. The manager might be accompanied by a negotiating group listening and giving advice, but this is a rare case. If this happens the manager can be advised but at the end he takes the final decision even if he doesn’t have the consent of the group. In the face of unexpected demands, it is possible for the Bulgarians to ask for additional thinking time, postponing the negotiating process. If pushed, the most likely answer will be “No” or beating round the bush.
Status
There is no matter whether you will visit the enterprise unaccompanied or with a big delegation. Bulgarians will not think your status is lower if you do not have somebody to take notes for you or help you carry bags. The importance of the person is judged by his responsibility to take decisions alone. If you arrive with a delegation make sure they know who is who. Being hosts, however, they will treat everybody with respect no matter of their status. But when it comes to negotiations, they will speak to the person having the highest status.
Translators
In Bulgarian business environment the translators may have different roles depending on the extend to which they are familiar with the work of the company. If they are working within the company, it is likely for them not only to translate but to help the management in making presentations, interpreting information, asking questions by themselves, explaining, etc. However, as a whole, the translators are regarded as neutral persons and usually it is unacceptable for them to make comments and advise management.
Decision-making
As regards the decision-making process to a foreigner it may look a little bit strange. From one side, the general manager negotiates deals by himself and can take the decision on the spot. But on the other hand, it is possible for him to take time to think it over carefully, even if he doesn’t need to consult anyone at home. From this point of view, consensus for a decision is usually not needed. However, when dealing with Bulgarians you have to be aware of the kind of company you are negotiating with. If the company is owned by one person and managed by another, it is very likely that the owners would be consulted for important very involving decisions. In the cases of mergers, joint ventures, investments negotiations the Managing Board will be consulted if there is such.
You can expect decisions to be taken either autocratically by the supreme manager or in some cases by the democratic way of voting, which, however, is not very common and is applied only to companies with complicated organizational structure.
Motivation of the Personnel
It is well known that there are two sources of motivation. People work for extrinsic money awards and for the positive regard and support of their colleagues. In the Bulgarian society the second source of motivation is not strong at all. High performers do not prefer to share the fruits of their efforts with colleagues. They would rather take extra money for themselves as individuals. They will not oppose if the management autocratically decides to share the benefits equally to all the personnel but they will have negative feelings in themselves and it is possible that next time they will not be as high performers as before, rightly thinking “Why should I work more if the others working less than me get as much as I get?”.
The money stimulus is very important in the Bulgarian society but you have to be aware that if you want to award somebody for the work done you should be very discreet not informing the others about that because it may arise negative feelings and envy in the colleagues towards the person awarded. Together with the material motivation the appraisal of the management for the work done is very important. If there is a teamwork for solving a problem make sure that all members of the team are mentioned in the appraisal. If you prefer to make personal appraisal, make sure that you do it personally not in front of the other colleagues as this may offend them and make them feel inferior and not being good workers. A foreigner can make appraisal for staff work to the manager of the Bulgarian company.
Organizational Structure
In Bulgaria organizations are essentially instruments. They have been deliberately assembled and contrived in order to serve individual owners, employees and customers. Members of organizations enter into relationships because it is in their individual interests to do so. Their ties are abstract, legal ones, regulated by contract or law. The organization is a means to what its actors want to achieve for themselves. In so far as they co-operate, it is because they have particular interests at stake. Each performs a differentiated and specialized function and receives an extrinsic reward for doing so.
Bare in mind, though, that authority originates not only in an individual’s skill at performing tasks but also in connections and acquaintances, which is a mean practice from the communist past.
There are also exceptions according to which the organization is regarded as a living organism full of social context and meaning. All members share the organizational life as in a family and everybody strives to give the organization value and purpose to continue. But these in Bulgaria are rare cases showing profound corporate culture and corporate public relations put into practice.
NOTE: TIPS FOR DOING BUSINESS
1. People ideally achieve alone and assume personal responsibility.
2. You will here more frequent use of “I” form instead of “We” form.
3. One person rather than a group makes decisions.
4. Vacations are taken alone.
5. The toughest negotiations were probably made within the organization while preparing for the meeting.
6. People take care of themselves primarily and not for the whole group.
7. Try to adjust the individual needs to organizational needs if you manage Bulgarians.
8. Introduce methods of individual incentives like pay-for-performance, individual assessment.
9. Give people the freedom to take initiatives working in teams.
Chapter
4
Feelings and Relationships
Bulgarians Are Usually Showing Emotion
I
n relationships between people reason and emotion both play important role. In this chapter we will find whether Bulgarians are showing their emotions, or neutral in their approach basing it on reason, facts, common sense and arguments.
The Bulgarian society is characterized as being sometimes “affectively neutral”, i.e. Bulgarians at times do not telegraph their feelings but keep them carefully controlled and subdued. In most of the cases, however, they show themselves as being pretty much emotional – showing their feelings by smiling, grimacing, laughing, scowling and gesturing, trying to find immediate outlets for them. The amount of emotion they are showing depends very strongly to the kind of relationship they have with the person. They react affectively when they are communicating with close people, and on the contrary, they may seem cold to strangers.
Emotional Display in Business
Bulgarians might think dismiss of anger, delight or intensity in workplace as unprofessional, but it is not a rare case when they are emotionally expressive themselves. The question whether emotion should be separated in business relations often has dual meaning when dealing with Bulgarians. It seems that each separate case is treated with a different degree of emotional input. Sometimes they exhibit emotion but separate it from their decision-making process afterwards. There are not rare cases as well, where they cannot separate the emotion from the decision-making process and together with that they make it strongly visible. One will encounter as well cases in which they do not show emotion and separate it from the business, but there are also cases when they do not show emotion but make emotional decisions afterwards. That is why we can say that Bulgarians are selectively affective.
Humour, Understatement and Irony
Bulgarian society is a very free one in terms of the permissible use of humour. For example, it is acceptable to start a workshop or training with a joke or an anecdote illustrating the main points to be covered. Still, one has to be aware of the fact that it strongly depends on the kind of joke you are launching in order to break the ice. Jokes about cultural, ethnical or other differences may be accepted as funny on the spot, but having long-term negative impact.
Bulgarians use a lot of humour and all kinds of humour freely and manage to adjust themselves to the humour of the situation. They are using a lot of understatements when they are not content with something or dislike something. Again, it is a strongly selective feature, as they can show and express directly their dislike and negative opinion about something. Bulgarian sense of humour may seem to foreigners too direct and too insulting at times, since often Bulgarians make jokes “on the back” of other people. However, they are good in self-ironysing themselves as well.
Verbal Communication
Bulgarian culture is a predominantly verbal culture. Bulgarians are very talkative people and like to get involved into conversations. They feel uneasy and nervous if the conversation suddenly comes to an end. However, one can observe 2 different styles of discussion:
1. When A starts to talk, B listens. When A stops, B starts – in this style the presumption that it is not polite to interrupt is valid.
A
B
2. B interrupts frequently A and vice versa – this style shows slightly higher integration. The people involved into the discussion do it to show how interested they are in what the others are saying.
A
B
You can encounter both ways of verbal communication in Bulgaria. Interrupting sometimes is accepted and it shows careful attention and interest. In other situations it is regarded as impertinent. As a whole one should be careful, especially when you decide to open a discussion after a seminar or training. In the beginning nobody will be willing to take the floor, but once this initial uneasiness is overcome Bulgarians start talking a lot, sometimes several people at once involved in different conversations and the moderators should be very skillful in order to control one discussion instead of several smaller ones among “neighbours” sitting next to each other.
There are certain expressions which are quite characteristic for the Bulgarian society and can easily embarrass a foreigner and cause a lot of misunderstanding. These are :
[Da, da] (meaning “Yes, yes” – this expression is know in Bulgarian as the “double positive denial” – the person saying it does not mean to agree, on the contrary – this expression is revealing a strong disapproval, disbelief and disagreement and means “Absolutely NO”);
[Mi… sigurno] (meaning “Well… sure” – a foreigner might think this is an expression of belief or agreement. On the contrary – it means that nothing is sure, showing profound doubt);
[Shte vidim…] (meaning “We will see…” – this expression gives the impression of an uncertainty. In fact in Bulgaria this can be regarded as a promise, but beware – a promise which is not sure when will be fulfilled);
[Da be] (meaning “Well, yes” – shows great disbelief or disapproval);
Tone of Voice
In Bulgarian speech the tone of voice shows a lot of ups and downs. It is normal for Bulgarians to use average “volume” while speaking. If they start discussing energetically one may think they are quarrelling. It is acceptable during a presentation to raise slightly the tone of voice on important issues, but shouting is unacceptable and if you raise your voice drastically it will not make a good impression. Using high volume is considered to be unserious as if the person does not have other means to attract attention or gain respect. Very silent speaking is not acceptable as well – it may seem that the person is unwilling to communicate and is either afraid of doing so or is hiding something. Many Bulgarians are good at “beating round the bush”, i.e. to tell empty phrases with a big pathos in the tone of voice. When speaking in public, though, one can find their speech emotionless and monotonous.
The Spoken Word
The misunderstanding because of language differences is very common to communication. Most of the young Bulgarians speak foreign languages. English is very common and is taught in all schools and universities. Other languages that are common are German, Spanish and French. One has to bear in mind that the older generations do not speak Western Europe languages since they have lived during the Communist regime and in their childhood the only foreign language they have learned has been Russian.
Bulgarians understand other Slavonic languages if spoken slowly such as Serbian, Macedonian, Russian.
Non-verbal Communication
Since more than 75% of the communication is non-verbal, it rightly occupies important place as well in Bulgarian society.
Bulgarians are accustomed to gesturing while communicating something. It is very common as well to see their emotions and feeling clearly expressed by the mimics of their faces. You have to be aware of something very simple and important as far as gesturing is concerned – Bulgarians use different movement of the head to express “Yes” and “No”. In western cultures “No” is expressed by moving the head from right to left and “Yes” – by moving it up and down. In Bulgaria it is exactly the opposite. One has to pay attention and consider this since otherwise obviously there will be a lot of embarrassment. It is important to say that while speaking foreign language Bulgarians use the movement of the head of the foreign culture.
As far as eye contact is concerned, it is not polite and completely unacceptable to have it longer than a second between strangers. However, if strangers start talking it is almost obligatory to keep eye contact. In such situations it is a sign of openness, good will and respect to your counterpart.
Touching and kissing is allowed only between close friends or relatives. People that get introduced to each other for the first time shake their hands, no matter men or women. When people meet they shake their hands as well, even if they are close friends. Greeting kissing is not common. Kissing between men, even if they are friends, is embarrassing – people accept them as homosexual. It is not the case with women. Men and women kiss each other on the cheek in public if they are husband and wife, brother and sister or really very close friends. Moreover, this is done in special occasions like birthdays or other celebrations. However, kissing is acceptable if the foreign culture habit is such. But again, in such situations men do not kiss each other’s cheek.
You have as well to show respect regarding space and privacy. Bulgarians talking to each other usually stand at about one upright hand distance between each other. If you try to get closer, they will step back. If you prefer longer distance they will unconsciously try to get closer, but it is not a 100% case. In most situations they are flexible as far as space is concerned. Do not try to involve yourself in the private matters and personal life of your Bulgarian business partners. They may show you pictures of their family and tell you stories, but if you try to get deeper involved, it may be regarded abusive.
NOTE: TIPS FOR DOING BUSINESS
1. The entire negotiation is typically focused on the object or proposition being discussed, but you as a person are also influential.
2. When Bulgarians express good will, respond warmly.
3. The shown enthusiasm, readiness to agree or disagreement does not mean they have made final decision.
4. Avoid detached, ambiguous and cool demeanour. This will be interpreted as negative evaluation, as disdain, dislike and social distance. Avoid too warm and emotional behaviour as well. Be as natural as possible.
Chapter
5
Levels of Involvement
In Bulgaria Private Space and Private Life are Sacred
C
losely related to whether we show emotions in dealing with other people is the degree to which we engage others in specific areas of life, or in multiple areas of our lives at the same time. In this chapter we will find out how Bulgarians classify in letting others in their private space.
Bulgarian society is partly specific-oriented society. The manager segregates out the task relationship she or he has with a subordinate and insulates this from other dealings. Each area in which they encounter each other is considered apart from the other, a specific case. Bulgarians have a saying that illustrates this orientation: “Friends are friends, but the cheese costs money”. However, there are cases in which if a person is let into one private area of somebody’s life, he is likely to get to know not only that specific area but some other levels as well.
Personality Levels
In Bulgaria the person can have a standing and reputation at work, if he is a member of a sports club or a music club or any other leisure group of interest, in the public space if he decides to do some community work, etc. Colleagues who meet entering into one of these personality levels are not necessarily close or lifetime friends and do not necessarily share their personal lives and problems to each other. This of course can happen between one or two people in such an environment but it strongly depends on the personalities and characters and how well they manage to get on. It is possible to know each other for “limited” purposes only, but it is also possible to get involved much stronger and deeper and to admit someone to your private space. It is not common, though, that a person admitted to one layer of life to have automatic access to all other areas.
The titles and job attributes in Bulgaria remain at the workplace, i.e. you cannot go to the shop and expect somebody to regard you as the Professor X, but simply as Mr. or Ms. X. You can hear somebody using the titles in greetings in the street only if they are colleagues, but however even this case is rare. The titles are used in everyday life only if the person is surrounded by a “halo” of absolute respect due to his outstanding deeds in the community and job. Even in such cases the person might insist that everybody treats him as usual.
Moreover, in Bulgaria it is not common to attribute the titles of the husband to his wife. The wife is regarded as a separate person with separate achievements and interests from the husband. It is not the case if you are dealing with the wives of celebrities and politicians.
In Bulgaria everything in home or in house is private space with no exceptions. It is absolutely unacceptable to help yourself out from the refrigerator even if the person has invited you, for example to have a beer. It is unacceptable to look into the things of the person, open doors or drawers and cupboards with the exception of separate specific cases when the host has asked for your help. But you have to bear in mind that if a Bulgarian asked you for your help, he is considering your relationship close enough in order to allow him to do so. If, for example, a person is busy and tells you “I need the keys from my bag, will you look for them into it?” it is more appropriate even if you are close friends to get the bag of the person and hand it to him to get the keys out of it himself.
The Criticism of Ideas
It is very important to understand that Bulgarians in most cases associate the ideas they propose during seminars, business meetings or work with the personality that makes the suggestion. If you dislike a certain idea or just have remarks, you have to express them in a soft way avoiding strong criticism. For Western Europeans it is evident that criticism is constructive and “there is nothing personal” but for Bulgarians it is not the case. Just very recently Bulgarians start accepting remarks and objections to their suggestions as something separate from the personality making them. Most of the people in the capital and big cities can accept the criticism of the idea itself apart from the person, but as you go to smaller cities you can encounter strong negative reactions. Your criticism can be regarded as an insult, i.e. not in the constructive way you meant it. Still, Bulgarians appreciate frank comments and recommendations.
The Boss and the Privacy of Employees
In Bulgaria employees keep their privacy matters outside work. They can be friends among themselves sharing personal information and problems but it is not the case with their manager or boss. It is a very rare case to encounter employees sharing their personal lives with the boss. Neither the boss shares his personal problems with his subordinates. In more democratic management styles used by some of the companies the team is like one big family but you have to be aware that these cases represent rather low number. The boss can quickly lose face and become object to rumours.
Negotiating
Bulgarians are very versatile regarding the negotiation and the level of personal involvement. They dislike somebody else to ask them personal questions before they decide to share some of the information by themselves. If you want to know where they completed their studies, who their friends are, etc. they will answer you beating about the bush and will think that it is none of your business. However, if you ask what they think on political, cultural or society issues you will be surprised by the readiness with which they start talking. Still, beware that business people are much more stiff, serious and careful than ordinary people. If you ask these questions in a village the Bulgarians will tell you everything and will drink with you and make jokes but if you go in a big city in the office of a regional manager, for example, he will not start telling you everything right away. It will take time to dwell on these topics and usually it will be done after completing the negotiations or even later when they already worked with you for some time.
When you start negotiating Bulgarians are more likely to go straight to the point and discuss right away the most pending issues. When nothing else is left to be said they will not stand up from the negotiating table right away but will sit, drink coffee or tea with you and start joking or telling you about the country and ask you how do you feel being in Bulgaria. They will recommend you what to visit and what to try from the Bulgarian cuisine and even invite you to dinner.
You have to be aware that it can happen that Bulgarians mix business with pleasure. The negotiations can be accompanied with long heavy nights in local pubs in folklore style with a lot of eating and drinking. Negotiations are not simply getting to agreement but also making the foreigner enjoy his stay as much as possible.
When finished give overview with tasks who does what till when otherwise a lot of interpretations will occur.
NOTE: TIPS FOR DOING BUSINESS
1. Do not ask personal questions just to make a simple conversation – they are regarded as close involvement.
2. Be direct, straight to the point.
3. Do not express strong criticism as if you shoot with a gun at the person proposing the idea. Make your recommendations in a soft but purposeful way.
4. Do not try to get involved in the personal lives of your subordinates if they do not show indications or do not ask for your help.
5. Do not show interest on personal objects of people such as looking into bags, wallets, getting beer from the refrigerator by yourself or looking in photo albums without permission.
6. Do not show impatience to close the meeting after reaching agreement.
Chapter
6
Status and Role of Titles
Status in Bulgaria is Rather Ascribed Than Achieved
I
n this chapter we deal with how status is given to people in Bulgaria. Does the status of the person derive from the background or is achieved in accordance with capabilities and business performance? Does it depend on gender, age, social connections, education and profession? Is the status of the family or the parents vital for the separate individual status? What is the role of titles? These are the questions to which this chapter will give an answer.
In Bulgarian society status is rarely achieved. This is always been the case. Bulgarians have a saying “I do not have an uncle bishop” which means “I do not have friends in high places” or “I do not know the right people” to illustrate how people in most cases get status. This vicious practice is not only a remainder of the Communist times. It can be frequently found in situations such as job applications for a certain position, public services (especially if you need a document), etc. The corruption in Bulgaria is just a “modernization” of the concept of “having an uncle bishop”. However, if you start acting according to this principle you will have big problem since Bulgarians show disdain and negative reactions to people getting status in this way and you will not be able to clear the dirt from your name no matter what you do.
Age and Experience
In Bulgaria elderly people are respected. The major presumption is that elderly people know much more and are more skilled than the younger ones. However, employers in Bulgaria prefer to hire young personnel and to train it within the company rather than employing experienced people aged 40+.
It is very unlikely to see a person younger than 40 on a top position in the company. Even if this person has proved to be very effective and professional, people would think that being a manager requires much more skills and life experience than a young person could possess. Young managers in private companies are often taking over the business from their fathers by right not passing through all the stages of the company’s operations. However, in joint stock companies young managers are preferred and appointed according to their effectiveness and performance results.
The performance of “youngsters” nowadays is valued more and more no matter that many people still look at the age of the manager and not at the skills and effectiveness of his decisions.
Gender and Status
Bulgarian society has been for quite a long time a patriarchic society. Men played the most important role taking the main responsibility for making the living for the family while women were left home caring for the children and the house. The Communist times changed the picture especially in the larger cities. Women were declared to be equal to men and were encouraged to get male occupations in the field of construction, metalworking, engineering, etc. The totalitarian regime gave awards to women with male professions and considered this as being “best practice” examples.
However, research shows that women even nowadays are not equal to men in terms of salary and status. The proportion of male to female managers speaks it all – primarily men occupy most of the top positions within companies while women play a secondary role. There are still a lot of professions that are considered typically female such as teacher, nurse, secretary, waitress, stewardess, TV reporter.
In modern companies however women are respected in case they show a lot of professionalism. They have to constantly prove themselves as any other person but it is not easy for them to get the respect. Still, the cases in which a company recruits personnel and prefers to hire men even if they are not as educated and experienced as the female candidates, are not rare. This tendency can be explained by the fact that women are presumed to bare children and go into motherhood, which would bring the company some additional costs.
The constitutional rights of women in Bulgaria are observed – they have the right to vote, to education, to work and they can have property. But still men are considered to be the “heads of the family” which transfers to some extend into business relations.
Education and Status
In Bulgaria education has always meant higher status in society but not necessarily high status within companies. Old Bulgarians have a saying “Study hard to become a boss” meaning that you have to study and get education if you want to be estimated, respected, important and recognized within the society. The Communist rule and the transition period put an end to these beliefs. The saying has changed into “Study hard in order not to work hard”. This was due to the fact that in Communist times the focus has been on the background of the person and especially on his connections with party members. There were people coming from families of people occupying top positions before the establishment of the regime – they were not allowed to study in universities neither to occupy top positions. Thus, the vicious practice of “It is not important who you are and what you can do; it’s important who you know and where you come from” has been made a state policy. The transition period after the collapse of the totalitarian regime made things even worse – the high rate of unemployment brought many university graduates on the streets. They started working whatever job they could find leading to absurd such as top engineers, philologists and even scientists to work as cleaners in banks, waitresses or barmen. Children finishing school entered into universities in order to “escape” from the unemployment for some years. Still, students nowadays start working while they study which has not been the case some 5-10 years ago.
On a later period of the transition years the university degree has been only a picture on the wall, a sheet of paper just telling you have some kind of education. Nowadays things are changing fast to their natural position. Companies ask for well-educated people specialized in many fields and professional. As companies grow they started spending resources on training of the personnel including not only the managerial staff but also the workers.
People having degrees in economics, finance, law, engineering are among the most respected and sought experts in Bulgaria. The best-paid professionals are people having a degree in computer sciences and ITC.
Social and Family Connections and Status
In Bulgaria social and family connections play a very important role in achieving status. As we already mentioned it is of a great significance to know the right person. We cannot say that things in Bulgaria happen only according to this principle, but still you can encounter a lot of job competitions solved in this way – recruiting not the most professional and perspective person but somebody recommended by somebody else. This does not necessarily mean that positions got in this way are occupied by people that cannot do anything right. There are many cases that show the opposite but still it is a negative and unfair tendency.
It also helps to know the right person when you are dealing with public administration and authorities. It can save you a lot of time in knocking on several doors in order to get one piece of paper. Bear in mind that the society becomes more and more sensitive to such cases and they can turn into a big public scandal putting a black spot on the name of your company for the years ahead.
The Role of Titles
When you present yourself via a business card make sure you have mentioned on it the position which you occupy, for example no only “chief” but “chief of marketing department”, executive director, technical assistant, etc.
Mentioning your educational degree is of no significance at all. If your business card is telling only that you are master of sciences or have PHD this will not have any effect on the counterpart, it will just tell them that you are highly educated and their thought will be “Good and …so what”. Bulgarians want to know exactly whom they are dealing with and what is the rank of the person.
In Bulgaria academic and scientific titles are acquired after years of experience under very specific rules. When you hear somebody being called for example Professor (followed by the name of the person) you have to know that this does not have the same meaning as in Western countries. It is not s
