• How does an understanding of local culture give managers an advantage in working in business competition? Which operational, managerial, or organizational processes are most affected by cultural differences? How might cultural differences affect the cost of doing business?

It is imperative for any organization that is operating outside of its home country to understand the local culture of the country where it is operating. The true is that business involves people( Daniels& al, 2010) and in order to operate and to compete effectively in today’s competitive global market; it is important for an international firm doing business in another country to avoid cultural collision by understanding how that nation’s culture and business practice differ from its own.
Understanding a local culture gives managers competitive advantage because culture affects business practice (). Thus, understanding the local culture gives them the knowledge such as how to communicate effectively with their direct reports, which management style to adopt and how to distribute work responsibility. It helps them avoid the major problem of culture collision.
Due to differences in value, culture and religion; operational, managerial and organization processes are affected by culture differences. Several Muslims countries around the world use religion as a guide on how businesses are operated. For example, in a Muslim country such as Saudi Arabia, Friday is not a working day because it is a day of prayer and businesses have to close five times a day to allow their males’ employees to go to mosque. Also, women and men do not interact at work and women are prohibited to perform certain jobs such as being engineers. As a male manager, it can be challenging to manage a female employee because of the law of that country. Power distance varies from country to country, thus ,