Introduction We will discuss the importance of understanding various cultures as they relate to our global business environment. I took two cultural quizzes from Kwintessential.co.uk. They were the cross cultural quiz 1 and the quiz on Iran. We will discuss my results, my strengths and weak areas, a plan for improvement to increase my cultural knowledge, and finally we will discuss why it is so important for leaders and managers to increase our cultural awareness.
I was a little surprised that I did not do better on the cross cultural quiz. I scored four out of seven on this quiz. I missed the Saudi workers question, the Argentina business meeting question, and the Thai associate question. On the Iran quiz I scored three out of five. I really knew nothing about Iran so I wanted to see how I would do. I am not surprised by my score on this quiz. I missed the question about greeting the woman and the negotiation question.
Strengths
I believe my strength is understanding how important personal relations are when it comes to doing business with people from other cultures. I was deployed to Kyrgyzstan for five months and I had the honor to interact with multiple Kyrgyz individuals. They are a hospitable, genuine and humble people. I was able to form important and fruitful relationships because I sought to develop a knowledge of their culture and place a higher value on personal relationships over business dealings. My experience was, as they began to trust me as a
This paper will focus on the many elements and dimensions of France and the affect it has on the business that takes place locally and internationally. There will be constant comparisons and contrasts between France and the United States of America taking place throughout this entire research article. I will focus on how the elements and dimensions of the culture separately are adapted by the locals and integrated into everyday life and business. I will also give insight on how to conduct business in France for other countries, mainly the United States, by talking about the countries imports and exports and
Canada is Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world with population over 30 million. Canada’s two largest and most important industries are logging and oil. The eight dimensions of business culture in Canada and the differences with US. Things to consider for US business retailers who wants to expand to Canada. How the free trade agreement between US and Canada started and settled into NAFTA. The investor wanted to invest in Canada can get benefit from NAFTA provisions. Canada has bilateral trade agreements between, European Union and Asia. SWOT analysis of doing business in Canada
In a global environment, the strategies that managers pursue have a significant effect on a business performance as compared to the competitors. Hill and Jones define strategy as a set of actions that a company’s managers put in place in order to increase performance of the company (2013). When the strategies lead to a superior performance of a company relative to its competitors, then the company is said to be at a competitive advantage. This is a case study of Federal Express, in the small package express delivery industry. It
The continuous growth in global business interactions and partnerships constitute the necessity for business partners to understand the cultural differences in society. This growth has led to increased competition and customer expectations which drives the need for innovation from a variety of human resources (Saray, Patache, Ceran (2017). The importance of understanding the international business culture and how to properly communicate is extremely crucial to form a strong relationship. The driving force behind human behavior is culture (Moran, Abramson, and Moran, 2014, pp.11). Behaviors, attitudes, productivity, and morals are all driven by culture (Moran, Abramson, and Moran, 2014, pp.11). The ability to recognize the cultural differences, emphasize employees’ roles, drive empowerment and make the necessary accommodations is a key measure to achieving strategic goals (Saray, Patace, Ceran (2017).
Cultures are varying among different parts of the globe. People with different cultures have different characteristics and viewpoints on the subjects due to diverse understanding and method of learning. During the past few decades, the international trade grows in a very rapid rate due to the advantages that it provides; “increased sales, operational efficiencies, exposure to new technologies and broader consumer choices” (Heslin). Therefore, when considering the culture aspect to current business world, it is crucial for business to understand the culture aspect because of the tremendous growth of international business as well as utilize the international market to its maximum
Globalization and technological advancement have dictated the need for managers to deal with multiple ethnic groups with different culture in their day to day interactions. According to Kulkarni (2012), cultures play critical roles in individuals, including values, beliefs, humor, worries, fears, hopes, opinions, attachments, and anxieties.
Culture is a dynamic aspect of one’s life and our profession. It is multidimensional and complex. Please reflect upon the following questions and write your reflective thoughts.
Cultural intelligence is a very interesting subject and one that speaks to the ever-growing demand for appealing to the global audience in an era where globalization is peaking. In an ambitious and growing company, a leader's responsibilities will not only grow, but also command versatility to cope with accommodating a diverse cultural scheme in order to compete effectively and appeal on a larger scale.
Cultural intelligence assessment will enable the individual to have certain information about himself. It is posited that cultural difference has a greater impact on business effectiveness than we think. That our cultural backgrounds really influence the way we think and act and the way we interpret each others contributions. Our success or failure in communication will depend on the extent at which we understand the different cultural background of the employees and create a fruitful collaboration in situations where cultural differences play a role. To achieve this, we need to act in an appropriate way in multicultural situations coupled with the ability to have an open mind which admits new information and this is curious about
How effectively do Canadian businesses and government engage together to promote a shared vision and agenda in the global business environment? Do Canadians strike an effective balance between private sector pursuit of global business and public sector support and enablement?
A major challenge for today's global leaders and organisations is culture. Because of globalisation, there are a growing number of international organisations with increased awareness of cross-cultural situations. Tavanti (2005: 7) further states that in the ever-changing work environment and global society, the development of cross-culturally competent leaders will be an essential challenge for effective leadership practises.
The above characteristics suggest that I work in a truly global and culturally diverse business environment; therefore; cultural wisdom and cognition gained through this course can definitely improve the effectiveness of our global interactions.
“In an attempt to improve its global image, McDonald’s culture outside United States has been closely linked to the possibility of it bringing changes in dietary trends. Statistics shows that the governments and the health care advocates are feared to voice their concern over the increasing number of health problems that are associated with fast foods. Childhood obesity and the possibility of such issues will likely double in the next decade” (Johansen, 2012). The rapid changes in dietary trends and the rise of health complications have made people call on fast food companies to regulate their food production. In fact, McDonald has responded to the issue by introducing healthier food options, using poised lifestyle messages on their marketing campaigns and raising funds to assist children with life-threatening complications. This paper will examine diet or nutrition as an aspect of culture and how it affects the interactions between McDonald’s and customers outside the U.S.
Since culture is a fundamental problem-solving in a particular environment. Therefore, having a sense of culture and its related skill is essential for effective management of emerging global corporations for further beneficial world trade and exchange (Robert, et al., 2014).
Managing a global business with offices in several countries requires excellent cross cultural management skills. The technological development of laptops, mobile phones and internet accessibility has made it near impossible to only interact with people from one culture; in fact it allows many to do business in various areas of the globe, interact and communicate with managers and employees in international offices, and develop a relationship with others through several behavioural etiquette recommendations. The topic of culture has been widely discussed in a variety of instances, and the idea of developing a ‘cultural identity’ for either an individual or a business can be a scary thought, however if accurate research into other cultures and behaviours is completed, organisations and employees should be able to develop empathy and self-confidence. The term ‘culture’ has been defined time and time again and has been vastly overused; however a solid definition has been created by Geert Hofstede, “Culture is the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others”. (Pieper, 1990) Working in teams of international origin can be rather difficult. The concept of a ‘team’ is usually defined as a number of people working together to achieve a common purpose and be jointly responsible for the work they do, including those working both inside and outside the organisation. (Browaeys et al 2011) Developing