Cultural Diversity and International Business

Ethnocentrism is defined by our tendency to judge other groups or cultures based upon our own standards establishing

Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one’s own group. It’s a universal habit that ethnocentric individuals tend to compare and judge other cultural practices to be inferior. Ethnocentrism encourages the solidarity in groups; it creates the feeling of belonging and drives the individuals to build pride in the group. However, ethnocentrism hinders the understanding of the cooperation with other groups. With the sense of superiority, there is little incentive to interact with the inferior groups. While making generalization about the culture and customs of others, ethnocentric individuals aren’t being aware that they tend to make false assumptions regarding the cultural differences. Furthermore, extreme ethnocentrism is likely to

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.

When it comes to culture it depends on the state or country that you live in. As we age we teach our children these values and

Those that go into the business world quickly recognize that each work environment they find themselves in can be total different from another. This can especially be said even of environments within the United States, from region to region. There is definitely a disparity of workplace environments from country to country. Not only can culture drive a varied atmosphere, but the diversity of the personnel making up that environment can equally create a challenge that a leader must be prepared to manage. Recognizing that special care needs to be placed on communication and perception skills is crucial in our present professional domain. Managers of today need to employee tools from the psychological and sociological field to be successful. Having a deep understanding in the differences in culture and diversity in the workplace is critical, especially when debating about accepting a position overseas or assigning an employee to an embedded position abroad. With a broad knowledge of cultural differences and diversity, success as a manager and the stability of a positive work environment can be achieved and maintained without unnecessary effort and focus.

Social structure is an institutional framework created by patterns of social relationships and interactions among people. These patterns often influence and impact the ways people shape their attitudes and perceptions. Social classes are measured by the wealth,

This week we learned so many different terms related to culture. We talked about Enculturation, Acculturation & Ethnocentrism and so many others. What I find most interesting and true to many people is Ethnocentrism. It believes that our own culture is correct and that all others are wrong (Chaney & Martin, 2014). For instance, I find vegemite in crackers for breakfast is weird or bread as Australian table food is unacceptable for an Asian like me who loves rice for lunch and dinner is an example of ethnocentrism. Thinking that we are more superior than the other culture creates wrong assumptions about others behaviors.

People who are ethnocentric are judging other on the basis of their own culture, especially for language, behavior, customs, and religion.

Social structure is a reference to infinite social facts: on social/economic/political context in which action occurs that an individual does not have much control of and cannot end it (Orru, Haferkamp and Smelser, 1994). The reason being is that a person is either born into these social situations and they will carry on until the person dies or because through an achieved status a person becomes part of it. Religion, culture, class, gender, ethnicity, social status, race, family are all structural scopes of a person’s life which is inevitable and are examples of social facts.

The social structure of a society refers to the dispersal of opportunities for attaining success goals through socially adequate means. In the United States, these opportunities are not evenly distributed.

Using appropriate theories critically analyse the role of culture in International Business. Support your answer by quoting relevant examples from the case study.

International business contains all business transactions private and governmental, sales, investments, logistics, and transportation that happen between two or more regions, nations and countries beyond their political limits. Generally, private companies undertake such transactions for profit governments undertake them for profit and for political reasons. It refers to all those business activities which involve cross border transactions of goods, services, resources between two or more nations. Transaction of economic resources includes capital, skills, and people. for international production of physical goods and services such as finance, banking, insurance, and construction.

The world ethno comes from Greek and refers to a people, nation, or cultural grouping, while centric comes from Latin and refers, of course to the centre. The term ethnocentrism then refers to the tendency for each society to place its own culture patterns at the centre of things. Ethnocentrism is the practice of comparing other cultural practices with those of one's own and automatically finding those other cultural practices to be inferior. It is the habit of each group taking for granted the superiority of its culture. It makes our culture into a yardstick with which to measure all other cultures as good or bad, high or low, right or queer in proportion as they resemble ours.

According to the works of Chaney & Martin (2011) and Harris & Moran (2000), they agree that international management skills are in need for the increasing scope of international trades and investments. A large number of multinational companies have expanded their businesses through both developed and developing countries. Some of the business invest directly and others are partnership arrangements and strategic alliances with domestic operations. Their studies show that independent entrepreneurs and small businesses have started investing and competing in the world marketplace. Thus, to acquire corporations’ objectives, there is exceedingly a necessity for the development of strategic framework for cross-cultural management and communication in the current competitive global market. Chaney & Martin (2011) also noted that, cultural awareness and cultural differences are strongly important to the multinational corporations’ success. A good understanding of the culture where business is implemented can make international managers productive and effective.

“It’s a small world,” is an expression that has been used for a long time to describe how connected the people of the world can be in spite of the vast geographical distance that might exist. This sense of connection is due, in part, to the actions that exist in the business sector and the globalization of business and industry. As organizations strive to remain competitive, many recognize the necessity of global outreach in order to sustain a strong presence throughout the world. There are many opportunities and challenges facing businesses with an eye toward global outreach.