Culture & international business
-For this course, culture can be defined as the surrounding influences upon identity that can be a variable or wild card in doing business. Culture forms values and a point of view that may or may not be predictable.
-Culture can be language and/or country specific but it may also be regional, religious or determined by way of life or livelihood as with agricultural communities
-Culture is like the wild card in international business because you can never be completely in the other country’s place. You can simply respect and learn.
-Respecting a culture includes respecting your own and that of others. One way to respect the culture is to celebrate something valuable about it. For example, a poorer culture may have a long craft or agriculture tradition that could be celebrated. But in working environments, the best way to respect culture is to respect humanity – we are all human. When you make a cultural faux pas you can at least admit your error and try to learn from the situation.
The Cultural Variable
business styles, business relationships, punctuality, negotiating, gift giving, greetings, gestures, colors, numbers, titles and other aspects
You can research a culture you will do business with but there are always unknown factors
Ex: France
Research of Business landscape: Dominated by conservative businesses like finance and insurance, such as Total, BNP, Societe General
Research of Lifestyle: A culture of some traditions, open to the new, interested in dining with friends and family, values relaxation and vacation
Ex. Cultural Variable: More subtle factors like values of humor and romance
Milke in Germany was marketed as a mountain chocolate but then after it was advertised in France it did not sell and was changed to be promoted as more playful
Ex. Cultural Variable: Memories and history
May 1968 was a student rebellion in France. Many of today’s French CEOs would have been alive and may have participated in this event that would not be known by the younger American generation
Inter-cultural, part of all international business
-Intercultural simply means activity that mixes 2 or more cultures and is part of business, marriages, foods, and more. Business may have employees that are inter-cultural within one company in one nation.
-Cross-cultural is when you compare two or more countries. Cross-cultural analysis is very important to international businesses because they want to compare their markets and profits
-An inter-cultural business can do a cross-cultural analysis of its different markets
Culture shock, part of all international business
-Either you or your employees will travel for international business. Culture shock is especially important if you are re-located for your business.
-Culture shock is simply anxiety and feelings associated with a different culture. You can have mild culture shock regionally, from north to south in the US. You can have culture shock from urban to suburban.
Honeymoon Phase – Everything is wonderful and new. For example, in moving to a new country, an individual might love the new foods, the pace of the life, the people's habits, the buildings and so on.
Negotiation Phase - After weeks, differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety. One may long for food the way it is prepared in one's native country, dislike habits.
Adjustment Phase – After 6 – 12 months, one grows accustomed to the new culture and develops routines. Basic living becomes more "normal".
Reverse Culture Shock (a.k.a. Re-entry Shock)
Culture and outsourcing
-Outsourcing is a contract for hired service, making it a third party (not a buyer or seller) that is usually of a different culture than the main business
-Outsourcing is normally used to lower costs
-Outsourcing has previously been emphasized by US companies in South America, Asia. Now companies like BMW and Toyota outsource to the US like Alabama and New Jersey factories. In some cases, outsourcing is considered a form of cultural imperialism since the company and product are imposed on other places.
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Images of May 1968 www.life.com and statistics www.wikipedia.org
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