Language

French is the official language although many French businesspeople speak English. Showing that you’ve learned a few phrases of French will certainly impress your host.

Value System and Relationships

France scores high (for a European country) on the uncertainty index and scores the same as Brazil on the power distance index. The French are very socially status conscious, and formality is important although less with the younger generation. Dinners are often sit-down and start later in the evening. Politeness and manners are important.

Business Climate

The French are reluctant to take risks with the consequence that they may miss out on opportunities. They are very aware of dress, style and appearances, especially in the bigger cities. Power is authority, and bosses demand obedience from their employees. They will spend more time analyzing a problem/situation before acting than in the U.S. culture.

The Pew Global Attitudes Project is an interactive database that allows users to explore public opinion trends in 55 countries on topics ranging from attitudes towards the U.S. to peoples assessments of their own lives to views about globalization, democratization and extremism and other important issues.

The country ranks as no. 23 (of 180 countries) on Transparency International’s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index.