Business
Business Profile
Traditionally, Houston’s prosperity has been linked to oil – in 1981, the statistics proved this, with 81% of the economy dependent on petroleum. Today, however, only 52% of the economy depends on oil and the city has diversified into areas such as aerospace, computers (hardware and software) and biomedical technology. Service industries account for around 40% of jobs. Texas Medical Center is the largest medical centre in the world and the largest employer in Houston with around 50,000 employees working in its 42 member institutions. Houston is also home to NASA and the Johnson Space Center, which trains all astronauts and co-ordinates much of the development of the space shuttle and international space station. NASA employs around 20,000 people. Houston is also the home of Continental Airlines and Dynegy, the energy company, which are both Fortune 500 companies (an elite group of America’s largest companies). Compaq, another Houston success story, has grown into a Fortune Global 100 and is now the second largest computer company in the world.
The main business areas are Downtown, the Galleria area and the Greenway Plaza area. The Port of Houston is the second largest major port in the USA for total tonnage and handles more foreign tonnage than any other US port.
In 2000, Houston saw its unemployment figure plunge to 3.1%, the lowest ever recorded. But the figure has significantly increased to 5.5% in 2002, following the national slow down in growth experienced by the USA, and is now in line with the national figure. Lay-offs were high in Houston because of the effects of September 11th on Continental Airlines, as well as the Enron meltdown and the merger of Compaq with HP in May. However, there was some growth in the Houston economy. The US Dollar lost about 3% of its value against many of the world currencies and this has benefited Houston’s key industries, such as chemicals, because it has made US exports cheaper abroad.
Business Etiquette
American businesspeople tend to be more informal than their European counterparts and are likely to use first names on initial contact. Business attire for both men and women is usually a suit, especially in the large corporations. Some of the smaller companies have adopted a more relaxed approach to dress and allow employees to wear smart-casual clothes, although definitely not jeans. The use of business cards is commonplace. Appointments for meetings should be made in advance and punctuality is expected. It is quite common for meetings to be held over lunch but these tend to be alcohol free and strictly business. Business dinners usually take place in restaurants rather than at homes and exchanging of gifts is not usual practice. After-work drinking is commonplace as many bars have happy hours until 1900. Business hours are officially Monday-Friday 0900-1730, although these are often much longer.
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Business