...Running head: EGT1 Task 4 Element A. Cross-Cultural Difference Intentions of expanding a company into an Asian country such as Thailand certain cultural difference should be considered. There are multiple areas of differences between Western and Eastern cultures that should be researched such as: language, communication, religion, political structures, social structures, aesthetics, material culture, attitudes, and beliefs. Most of these areas overlap and can impact cultural interactions. The primary spoken and written language in Thailand is Thai. Consideration of the language written and spoken would require a translator to ensure what is said or written is understood appropriately. Simple United States terminology could be translated incorrectly causing major misunderstanding causing conflict with expansion. In addition, Thailand natives are personable desiring established relationships other than “business” relationships as in the United States. Another aspect of language and communication is body language. Understanding the unspoken language and how it is received in Thailand can greatly impact relations and businesses. In Thailand a simple smile can have one or more meaning as well as the action of not smiling. The United States has a tendency to not socially interact with strangers much less smile back. Other unspoken gestures regarding parts of the body such as the head and feet have symbolic meaning in Thailand and no value in the United States...
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...Geographic dispersion & cultural diversity As economic borders come down, cultural barriers will most likely go up and present new challenges and opportunities for business. As global restructuring takes place within the company, Koch leads a geographically dispersed project team (i.e. Germans and Chinese members ) to standardize its personnel selection methods in the APAC region for staffing 25 new middle management positions. The HR executive encounters problems when leading across cultural differences in work behaviors that arise within his multinational team. He fails to respect and understand his team members’ cultural diversity (Chinese behaviors and values), or bond his team together, which is essential to form such a team. Also, conflicting goals confront the HR executive: design a personnel selection system that is valid across different countries, yet adapted for each country taking into consideration the cultural diversity consisted of: country’s unique economic, educational, and cultural contexts. And this process is undoubtedly costly. Jollibee’s international expansion. Tony Kitchner was hired to build the global Jollibee brand. Although Kitchner hoped to leverage Jollibee’s competitive advantage by entering new geographic markets, his rapid expansion strategy was unfocused and poorly executed. Lack of considerations on cultural diversity, “Planting the flag” only showed that Jollibee knew how to repeat its success. Kitchner’s decision to “plant the...
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...Disney Business Expansion 1.0 Introduction Disney has traditionally invested in Western Countries and some other countries around the world for many years with its business. Disney developed theme parks around the globe to capture the market, adapting them to local cultures. These include Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland. Disney aims to increase its investment and expand its brand. (Disney International 2012) Therefore, Disney recognizes that many people do not have the opportunity to travel to those countries to visit Disney Activities. So now Disney has decided to expand its business to non-western countries. Having investigated and chosen the following cities for Disney; Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Cape Town in Africa and Istanbul in Turkey. Diney wants to learn more about culture, market and the opportunity to grow its business into a global level. 2.0 Importance of culture for Business Culture is collection of much experience as a society, and its impact on our daily reaction and decision-making relative to the facts and circumstances that we usually do. Also culture has been defined as a value, beliefs, customs and religion. To the non-western culture, each and every one has its own culture of believes. So to get your message across successfully, first you have to consider the people views and climate of the country that you wish to ship your business because different cultures may require different behaviour patterns by a firm, strategies, Structures...
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... Sylwester Marek Kania Uniwersytet Gdański The Role of Cultural Differences in Forming a Business Strategy 1. Introduction International business covers all transactions undertaken between enterprises from two or more countries. In order to finalise a transaction companies have to form international operational structures distinct from those applied in their domestic market. Besides knowledge of international strategies managers need to comprehend the interdependence between the strategies and their financial results. Differences between an international and a domestic business concern commercial practices, the scope of managerial decisions, disparities in legal systems, as well as restraints put in place by governments, limitations connected w ith different currencies, not to mention cultural differences. Different business cultures in different countries lead to distinct commercial practices. Therefore, executives operating internationally encounter difficulties that people managing enterprises on a local scale do not have to face. Cultural differences are of fundamental importance for running an international business . The aim of this essay is to indicate the impact of cultural differences on the business strategy formulated for various countries and to show the significance of knowledge about the culture, behaviours, customs and traditions of the partner country in international business. This article is composed of three parts. The two first parts...
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...Running Head: Business Ethics Main Title: The Cultural Dimensions of Business Ethic Monroe College Contents Rationale 3 Introduction 3 Some Factors which may Influence Business Ethics 3 How Peoples Action can Affect Business Ethics 4 How Structure Affects Business ethics 4 How Culture, Norms and Laws Affect Business Ethics 5 Unethical Practices and How They May Affect a Business 5 Recommendations 7 Conclusion 8 Sources 10 Rationale The purpose of this paper is to discuss and address cultural aspects of business ethics. It will also examine how these cultural aspects may affect businesses and shape societies view on these organizations. Recommendations will also be made for example, on the aspect of setting companies policy while taking morals and ethical matters into consideration. Introduction Ethics is a huge area of interest, study and debate. According to Dictionary.com, Ethics is a body of moral principles or values governing or distinctive of a particular culture or group. Business ethics can be described as the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily interactions with society .The ethical standards of a business can be examined by looking into the firm’s human rights policy, its regulations of bribery and corruption, and its execution and compliance of its codes of ethics. The ethical standards of business can vary significantly depending on the country it is headquartered in. These standards apply not only...
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...I recommend that we prepare our delegates for the cultural norms of doing business in the Middle East and assign our representatives with this in mind. Summarily, this is because the prevalence of Islam in the region has resulted in different values assuming primacy and neglecting to educate our team on the cultural norms may result in an impression of ethnocentrism. Moreover, to avoid the appearance of paternalism I recommend that we also provide translators rather than rely on our customer’s English. At the meeting we discussed the successful bid for the contract and our flight to the initial meeting onsite. This raised a number of interesting questions regarding how we should conduct ourselves to minimise misunderstandings. If the negotiating team does not account for cultural differences in conducting business in the region the firm runs the risk of losing the contract to a competitor. Considerations must be given to the host’s religious sensibilities. Islam has implications for the systemic treatment of the business process, including what operational activities are permissible. The delegates must also be prepared for the following main differences to Australian culture as illustrated in the diagram below (Hofstede, 2012): context sensitivity in communication, autocratic leadership, the prevalence of collectivism and ‘face’, long term orientation compared to western cultures at circa 50 (Baron, 2008), and high levels of uncertainty avoidance, yet curiously a relatively elastic...
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... Cell Phone Negotiations In today’s society, cell phones have become and necessitate and also have become a billion dollar business. Distributors of cell phones look for maximum profit by buying from manufactures’ at the cheapest price. Not only does price matter in negotiations, but considerations for individual differences such as cultural differences must occur for the outcome of a negotiation to be successful. In today’s economy, it is not uncommon for companies to go overseas for cheaper manufactures’ cost to increase profits. However, American companies who wish to compete internally in manufacturing products face the high labor costs in the United States compared to foreign countries. In this paper, the author will discuss a negotiation between a Chinese and an American negotiation team over cell phone cost per unit and possible influences that go into the negotiations such as gender difference, personality, culture and perception, cognition, and emotion. Summary of Cell Phone Negotiation The negotiation involves two teams, the all-American negotiating team from the United States and the Chinese team. The all American team seeks a cell phone price of $6 dollars per unit and embodies the following Hofstede’s cultural dimensions: individualistic, low-power distance, low-term orientation and low-context. The other team is an all-female negotiating team from China that offers cell phones with a $9 per unit...
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...in International Business | Business Management in an International Context | | The increasing number of interactions between independent countries, companies and people has highlighted the importance of an understanding of global cultures, both national and organisational. Culture plays a large role in the way individuals behave and interact with one another and therefore plays an important role in business interactions across cultures. Many definitions of culture are offered, but one more relevant to culture in international business is : “Culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas.” (E.Schein 1985) The first way in which countries can be broadly categorized is into either a high context or a low context culture. High context cultures place more emphasis on the importance of group identity. They have a high sensory involvement and participate more readily in bodily contact. Low context cultures prioritise individualistic properties. They use body language less frequently and are monochronic thus placing a high importance on timing and scheduling. Most Northern European countries and other western societies are low context cultures. It has been suggested by the acclaimed social scientist, Norbert Elias (1978) that the development of society and the basis of its’ cultural contexts are closely associated with the prominent historical groups of the region leading to an establishment of national cultural values. Countries...
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...Be Attuned to Business Etiquette [pic] Prepared by: [pic] Jeshua Johnson Bri Johnson Case # March 21, 2002 Dr. Castro’s International Business Class Executive Summary: Many overlook the importance of knowing business etiquette, especially when dealing with business partners from foreign countries and/or other cultures. Oftentimes, business partners in foreign firms have different cultural practices and customs. Being aware of these various customs and practices is crucial to being successful in an international business environment. The importance of these customs to their cultures can vary into such extremes as describing proper manners in situations to outlining how to live a proper life according to the religious practices of the country. These customs can dictate basic protocol for certain situations, guidelines for proper nonverbal communication, ways to show gratitude correctly, and the words you choose to use. There are six considerations to keep in mind when dealing with business etiquette across cultural boundaries: 1. Be prepared, 2. Slow down, 3. Establish trust, 4. Understand the importance of language, 5. Respect the culture, and 6. Understand the components of culture. These components include aesthetics, attitudes and beliefs, religion, material culture, education, language, societal organization, legal characteristics, and political structures. Understanding these basic considerations and components can improve...
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...Mongolia) to be the focus of your essay. I chose Japan as the focus of my essay. In addition to being a lovely country with rich history, Japan is also a hub of business, producing great art, fantastic video games, cars, computers, and other electronics, a few examples among many business avenues that can be found in Japan. There is likely something in everyone's life that has roots in Japan in one way or another. B. Identify major cross-cultural issues that may impact Company A’s marketing approach in this situation. 1. Describe how the issues you identified may impact the approach Company A takes. Bringing two cultures together is a delicate objective. A challenge that is an automatic given is the challenge of communication, with language being the first challenge. It is the most major of cross-cultural issues that may impact Company A's marketing approach in this situation. If one is not fluent in the native language, then a translator is absolutely essential, and it is best to have a translator that is local to the region in which business is to be conducted. Even if one is very fluent in the native language, it's still a good idea to have a translator local to the region to assist with business proceedings. The reason for this is because of a second challenge Company A will encounter in its business endeavor – regional dialect, or lingo. It's not enough to simply know a given language, as different regions have different ways of speaking, just like in America...
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...Strategic Plan Internal dynamics along with cultural and structural leadership considerations The internal dynamics along with cultural and structural leadership considerations that should be used in implementing business strategy for Riordan is readiness of employees in terms of supporting the new strategic initiatives. Employees should not only be committed towards the implementation of the plan, but should possess extensive knowledge and training and new strategic initiatives. Hence, it is extremely important that Riordan should ensure extensive training for the employees to understand the importance, benefits and know-how to handle the new processes, initiatives and strategic action plan in the organization. It is also important that the existing processes, systems and infrastructure should support the new strategic initiatives in the organization. It is important for Riordan to invest in necessary upgrading of infrastructure and restructuring of processes and systems to support the new business strategies. From a cultural perspective, it is important that Riordan's leadership and management should foster a culture that empowers Riordan's employees to work in a supportive, flexible work environment with adequate decision making authority. The culture of Riordan should be such that employees feel motivated to contribute towards the growth and new initiatives of the organization and remain loyal and committed towards the organization. To develop the quality culture and...
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...Running head: BUSINESS IN JAPAN The Cultural Aspects of Doing Business in Japan Jane Doe Saint Leo University TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction……………………………………………………….………………………….4 Why do businesses globalize?.....……………………………………………………………4 Doing Business in Japan……………………………………………………………………..5 Understanding Japan’s business culture……………………………..………………………5 Setting up in Japan…………………………………………………………………………..6 Meeting and Greeting……………………………………………………………………….7 Religious Considerations……………………………………………………………………8 Customs and Courtesies……………………………………………………………………..8 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...9 References………………………………………………………………………………….10 Abstract Many business owners today have been making their way abroad in hopes to expand their production and keeping up with recent trends of globalization. The differed cultural aspects of a foreign country should be greatly considered when trying to build a strong professional relationship with business associates from the host country. Doing extensive research and understanding their different business cultures are the first step a company should take before taking a major leap in a foreign soil. Japan has recently been the country of choice for Western entrepreneurs to invest and expand their business ventures. The Japanese economy has become more diverse because of their size and structure of companies, producing a complex web of inter-locking relationships...
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...The Cultural Challenges of Doing Business Overseas Karinna Kruse MMPBL501 November 22, 2010 David Francom Steve Kafka is an American citizen from Chicago, Illinois, who is looking to expand his business overseas. Steve is a franchisor for Chicago Style Pizza and sees the opportunity of introducing the famous food in Czech Republic, a country his family came from. Because he is familiar with the language, customs and culture, Steve is confident that he will make his business successful in Czech Republic. Therefore, before starting his franchise overseas, Steve needs to conduct a cultural and economic study to determining the cost of business, the risks of investment, and the any trade barriers for his pizza business. “Culture is the acquired knowledge that people use to interpret experience and generate social behavior. This knowledge forms values, creates attitudes, and influences behavior” (Hodgetts, Luthans, & Doh, 2005, p. 93-94). United States and Czech Republic are two countries situated on two different continents, and with significant cultural differences between their cultures. Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, a former Easter communist country. Czech Republic gained its independence in 1989, after the Velvet Revolution, when the Eastern communist bloc ceded to exist The economic, political and cultural relationship between United States and Czech Republic are strong, furthermore, the United States encourages the economic transformation in Czech...
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...BBA340 Cross Cultural Management Department of Marketing and Management Faculty of Business and Economics Unit Guide E2 Evening; Offered in Session 2, North Ryde 2012 Table of Content Table of Content General Information 2 3 Convenor and teaching staff Credit Points Prerequisites Corequisites Co-badged status Unit Description 3 3 3 3 3 3 Learning Outcomes Graduate Capabilities 4 5 Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking Assessment Tasks 5 5 6 6 8 Case Study and Presentation Media Report Analysis Final Examination 8 9 10 Unit Schedule Delivery and Resources 12 14 Classes Prizes Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials Teachnology Used and Required Learning and Teaching Activities Policies and Procedures 14 14 14 15 15 17 Academic Honesty Grades Grading Appeals and Final Examination Script Viewing Special Consideration Policy Student Support Student Enquiry Service Equity Support IT Help Research and Practice 17 17 17 17 18 18 18 18 19 Page 2 of 19 General Information Convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor: Meena Chavan Email: meena.chavan@mq.edu.au Other Staff: Choon-Hwa Lim Email: choon-hwa.lim@mq.edu.au Credit Points 3 Prerequisites 42cp Corequisites N/A Co-badged status ...
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...The knowledge of cultural intelligence in employees is very important for decision-making, implementing organisational strategies and for smooth functioning of daily business processes. According to Triandis (2006), the definition of intelligence is culturally orientated. Earley and Mosakaoski (2004) defined cultural intelligence as, “ an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would”. There are various definitions of cultural intelligence with moreover the same meaning touching different aspects of business processes. Cultural intelligence in general is the course of motivated actions in an adaptive environment. It refers to making adjustments with people of different cultures to carry out business operations around the world. Cultural intelligence is of great significance in today’s employees as it is the basic necessity in deals around the globe. Many enterprises especially the family-owned ones still believe in the traditional form of business, whereby they hire employees whom they can easily trust and rely on. But in such cases it becomes difficult for the company to exploit the foreign markets as these employees may not have the necessary knowledge of cultural differences. Hence Cultural intelligence is of great importance in today’s world. For example, Lloyds TSB believes in hiring culturally intelligent people to enhance its customer relationships across the globe. Culturally intelligent...
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