Global Business Management: Current Trends and Practices

Every country differs in culture which has been there for centuries. The international market is growing rapidly, with more and more multinational organisations entering new markets each day. In this assignment I will evaluate how the difference in cultures affects the performance of international businesses.

The organization is global and participates in most national markets so if it is not currently stateless, it is well on its way to being stateless. Ghemawat (2011) “reckons” that a large majority of the top executives at GE are Americans which may simply be a side effect of the corporation having been founded in the U.S. and headquartered in the U.S.

It is crucial for today's business personnel to understand the impact of cross cultural differences on business, trade and internal company organization. The success or failure of a company, venture, merger or acquisition is essentially in the hands of people. If these people are not cross culturally aware then misunderstandings, offence and a breakdown in communication can occur.

There are many cultural and ethical differences between countries and it is important for mutual trust and respect that no organization try to strong-arm another into their way of thinking or take a position that their culture is more valuable than the other. According to Pitta, Fung, and Isberg (1999), it is vital for success to have a basic understanding of the culture and the expectations within cultures as they affect all business transactions. Failing to understand and consider the cultural differences will likely result in failure.

Making business abroad can be risky, but it can also be profitable for a company as well; thus the necessity to study in deep the country where the company will bring the business to. International companies are faced with many cultural challenges, when doing business across and inside of different borders. Identifying the significant cultural issues involved when evaluating the attractiveness of a particular location as a place for doing business can be crucial for a business. Aspects to consider when studying culture in a new place

     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

The globalisation of the supply chains is observed to contribute in the evolution of new types of power relationships between the different players involved in the supply chain activity. The internationalisation of the supply chains has contributed in the trading of merchandises across international borders thereby requiring the governance functions to be

In international business the topics of diversity and culture is one the most important strategy that needs be address. Making the decision to outsource for profit gain will not necessarily happen if preparation of cultural change is not in place first. What is values and a norms in a company’s country may be offensive to other social groups of people. For example, in Germany lack of attention to diversity and culture had a serious impacts on Walmart’s position. It build frustrations to both the employees and customers that played a major role in the downfall of Walmart in Germany.

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

2. When a company grows in size and makes the decision to expand internationally, it is vital for its image among current and future customers to complete projects effectively and on time. Furthermore, it is also likely that such an expansion would entail the representation of more than one culture among the workforce. Indeed, while many employees will be relocated from the home country, a further proportion will be hired from the host country. To facilitate the relations and

A value chain is a chain of activities that a firm operating in a specific industry performs in order to deliver a valuable product or service for the market. The concept comes from business management and was first described and popularized by Michael Porter (Porter, 2013)

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

INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: CULTURE, STRATEGY, AND BEHAVIOR, EIGHTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2009, 2006, and 2003. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited

Strategies through achieving a competitive advantage resulted in the existence of the terms `Globalisation` and supply chain management (SCM). Because in today`s emerging and industrialized environment companies seek to achieve competitive advantages and are no longer competing with their own expertise but with the talent in their entire global supply chain. [1]

The most challenging decision that a company may face in internationalization is the degree of standardization or adaptation in its operations. The question of standardization or adaptation affects all avenues of a business’ operations, such as R&D, finance, production, organizational structure, procurement, and the marketing mix. Whether a company chooses to standardize or adapt its operations depends on its attitudes toward different cultures. These attitudes are defined by three orientations toward foreign culture: ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric.