The following article by Mark Powell is taken from the MacMillan Education on-line teaching resource site.

Metaphorically speaking

Business is business and the language of business is metaphor. Everyday lexical items such as "cash flow", "brainstorming session" and "advertising campaign" are all figurative, not factual, and taken from the domains of water, weather and war - domains without which such phrases as "stock market floatations", "windfall profits" and "takeover battles" would be unthinkable.

Critics of metaphor point out that many of these examples are culture-bound and not worth teaching in the age of global business. But according to cross-cultural management professor Martin Gannon, nations may each have their own underlying metaphor. So if we know the metaphor of the cultures with which we wish to do business, perhaps we could actually speak the same language.

In Germany the standard metaphor is the symphony - the precise orchestration of individual talent. The Germans really do "conduct business" and perhaps it's no coincidence that both musical instruments and Mercedes engines can be "fine-tuned".

In Japan the key metaphor in public life is based on the garden. So if we talk about "growth strategies" will "the ideas we plant come to fruition"?

In Britain it's the house. So if we "constructively" spoke of "plans", "projections" and "firm foundations", will we be "building a sound basis" for doing business?

In Brazil it's the samba. So to "keep in step" with our Brazilian "partners", we must "coordinate our efforts" and, "make all the right moves".

France's cultural metaphor is wine, but I've run out of column space. So until the next time, cheers.