Background to Business in Greece

Certain historical, deeply-rooted cultural characteristics have come to the fore to cause major problems not only for the Greeks but also the rest of the world.

Greece’s foray into the European Union and the access to easy credit afforded on the back of that, pushed Greece to the edge of bankruptcy in 2010 and the final outcome of Greece’s woes could still take many years to unfold

These problems are the result of a culture within the country which has offered business visitors a number of challenging paradoxes for many years.

The greatest of these paradoxes would be why a country whose people are renowned for an entrepreneurial approach, should have seemingly failed to have kept pace with the economic advances enjoyed by many of their near European neighbours. The reasons behind this lack of obvious economic success are manifold but many observers would link it directly to certain underlying cultural norms which Greece and Greeks exhibit.

Another seeming paradox is that although Greeks are fiercely patriotic, this love of country does not equate with a love of the Greek state or its institutions. The government has been perceived as interventionist and overprotective, while the public sector is viewed as bloated, inefficient and often corrupt.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Greece only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.