Cultural Differences In International Business

International marketing or business is uniquely different from the local market because the product price, place and promotion is vastly different from what is been offered to local customers (Johansson, 2000) With the emergence of the information technology, cross border marketing has never been a distant dream. However, it has never been easier even for giant multinational companies to face challenges that come in international business. The biggest challenge comes from the culture which varies from country to country.

French (Dupont, 1982); Mexicans (Fisher, 1980); Brazilians (Graham, 1983, 1985a); Middle Eastern Arabs (Muna, 1973; Wright, 1983); Chinese (Graham and Lin, 1987; Pye, 1982; Shenkar and Ronen, 1987; Tung 1984) and Japanese (Graham, 1984; Tung, 1984; Van Zandt, 1970)). Despite the rather rich literature pertaining to intra-cultural negotiation behaviours, there is little attention paid to inter-cultural or cross-cultural negotiation behaviour (Adler and Graham, 1989; Mintu and Calantone, 1991). International sales negotiations that occur across national boundaries are crosscultural (Adler, 1986), and a negotiation is cross-cultural “when the parties involved belong to different cultures and therefore do not share the same ways of thinking, feeling and behaving” (Casse, 1981, p. 152). Such cultural differences prevalent in cross-cultural negotiations can affect the process and its outcome (Hamner, 1980; Tse et al., 1988). Studies attempting a comparison of the various negotiation behaviours in different countries (Adler, 1986; Adler et al., 1987; Burt, 1989; Cambell et al., 1988; Copeland and Griggs, 1985; Foster, 1992; Graham et al., 1988; Harnett and Cummings, 1980; Hellweg et al., 1991; Herbig and Kramer, 1992; Weiss and Stripp, 1985) have mainly adopted an intra-cultural perspective and demonstrated that negotiation behaviours differ between cultures. Furthermore, a study by Druckman et

This paper shows cultural differences between Iranians, Chinese and Indians in business negotiations based on interviews with three businessmen: an American citizen who set up a general trading company in China, an Iranian Canadian citizen who has a trading company in Iran, and an Indian America who set up a business in India. The interview questions focused on cultural elements based on Hofstede’s research: power distance, low-high context, and general business behavior in these countries.

International business has been a part of society for centuries. With the introduction of modern technological advances, countries have moved from participating in business ventures primarily by land or boat and advanced to virtual environments and acquiring passports that enable flights all over the world. This impact has challenged businesses to improve their cultural relations as they venture into unknown markets that are on the opposite end of their cultural spectrum and perspective. The world is a vast melting pot of all walks of life. The business world is no different and requires even sharper skills, especially when entering environments that may be tense or chaotic. This paper examines the country of Italy and how its culture impacts business domestically and internationally. It discusses the various strengths and weaknesses of its economic environment and the potential gains or losses a foreign investor may consider when deciding whether or not enter the Italian market.

In this report I will be stating the differences of how Tesco function in South Korea compared to how they function in the United Kingdom. Tesco have to adapt to the local culture, traditions and tastes and have to recreate an environment in which shoppers will feel at home.

Outline why the culture of a country might influence the costs of doing business in that country.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 and the Velvet Revolution ended Czechoslovakia turbulent political history, and establishing democracy. The Czech Republic is embracing the western style models of political and economic reform. In addition the Czech Republic made an agreement and is now a member of the European Union. This will increase their potential for expanding markets and creating an ideal environment for foreign trade and business investment opportunities (kwintessential, 2008).

This paper serves a purpose of examining the Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and using such measurement to compare the cultural values of Canada and the United States. It will look deeper into the cultural dimensions, business practices and business etiquette. This paper will also provide information of both countries and where they stand on the dimensions and the reason why. Hofstede decided that when two people interact with each other within an organization, culture characterizes their behavior and attitude towards others. Psychology Hofstede had published his cultural dimension’s model at the end of the 1970s. In more than fifty countries Hofstede studied the people that worked for IBM. The dimensions collectively portray the impact of the culture in the society on the values of the members of the society. The description of the relationship between the values and the behavior based on the factor of analysis.

We have a great need to understand the cultural differences among nations. Cultural differences can affect the success or failure of an international company in a number of important ways. In studies of international business negotiations between Americans, on the one

An analysis of cultural impact on international business performance via foreign market entry mode: case of South Korean MNCs

One way for Kafka to do market research for his new business is to utilize information provided by Euro monitor International. Euro monitor offers many different reports on different business sectors and information such as “Who Eats Out Where.” This report has information on the number of businesses, demographic information, and growth and trend information. If Kafka utilizes well-researched information on the food industry prior to creating his business plan and pricing structure, it could provide a very solid foundation to build on. Kafka can also perform his own personal research, and he can also conduct some focus groups with local residents on possible attitudes and price information on a specialty pizza such has the Chicago-style pizza. Kakfa should also investigate the eating habits of the 3.8 million foreign tourists that visit the city each year.

The moment approaches when I, as the company's I-O Psychologist, will be working abroad in Japan. This will be an enlightening opportunity for many reasons. This opportunity also holds the potential to hinder the company's growth and production. Japanese culture is extremely different from that of western culture. The workplace environment and participation in a company or organization is fundamental to the Japanese experience and culture. Therefore, cultural sensitivity, awareness, and keen observation are necessary. I will facilitate the exchange of ideas and maintain awareness of potentially culturally treacherous situations while I represent the company in Japan. The experience should only profit the company and increase production. My objectives as I-O Psychologist are to support the company and create a harmonious, yet industrious environment.

Good organisational behaviour from a firm is to understand the core values of their host’s culture. Culture is shared knowledge, traditions and values of perception as a result of cognitive thinking and similar attitudes. In international management for long term investment, in order for the firms to conduct successful business globally, paying attention to the cultural aspects is key to being devoted to the residential conditions. Conjointly international managers will often apply culture as professional base of a corresponding communication with other firms or ethically in respect to society, long term this can form a quality correlation with the government who has the authority that regulates aspects of the law that can affect how domestic this company remains. Fonterra, is a New Zealand, dairy based company. With over one hundred successful manufactures globally, however Fonterra has in recent times had poor joint ventures, due to poor ethics of other parties. Specifically with a party based in China. (fonterra, 2014) A result of the poor unethical quality of the products made, lowered Fonterra’s credit rating. While Fonterra’s credit rating and reputation of ethics declining. In saying this, there is no evidence that this could lead to lost profits long term. However its business with China and reputation is not being consistently communicated correctly, as the quality of the dairy products are not meeting any

The Literature mainly focuses on globalization, Cultural differences and influences in India and culture influence on global companies. It will also discus further on adaption to local culture and weather global companies should adopt the localization and discussed some examples of global companies who has adapted themselves to localization with global strategy.

Figure 3 is a comparison of Japan and the UK using an up to date Hofstede’s model directly from his official website.