Punctuality

There is often an understanding that a small amount of lateness is acceptable; commonly ten or fifteen minutes in Western cultures. In some cultures, such as Japanese society, or in the military there basically is no allowance.

Some cultures have an unspoken understanding that actual deadlines are different from stated deadlines; for example, it may be understood in a particular culture that people will turn up an hour later than advertised. In this case, since everyone understands that a 9am meeting will actually start around 10am, no-one is inconvenienced when everyone turns up at 10am.

In cultures which value punctuality, being late is tantamount to showing disrespect for another's time and may be considered insulting. In such cases, punctuality may be enforced by social penalties, for example by excluding low-status latecomers from meetings entirely.

See also

• Time management
• Time discipline
• Deadline
• Value of time
• Etiquette

External links

• BBC News article about Punctuality
• Kaushik Basu, Jörgen W. Weibull MIT Department of Economics Working Paper No. 02-26: Punctuality: A Cultural Trait as Equilibrium. MIT Department of Economics. .
• M. Brahimi, D. J. Worthington Queueing Models for Out-Patient Appointment Systems -- A Case Study. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 42, No. 9 (Sep., 1991), pp. 733-746. .
• Andrew Chamberlain The economics of punctuality. The Idea Shop. .
• Marcelo Pisarro, Nerds All Star, Revista Ñ, Diario Clarín, 9 de junio de 2008. "No perdamos la puntualidad" (spanish)
• Haddon Field Punctuality in Japan. Sound of Waves. .