managing across cultural boundaries
Marketing across Cultural Boundaries
Introduction
Just about a couple of decades ago, International business was more known as Import and Export as very few companies were actually had presence in international market like Coca-Cola, Sony, and a few more. In recent years, the game is changing and more and more businesses are playing in international market. Though, we see companies moving in and out of international market on daily basis, but the underlying tasks are very difficult and challenging. There are several factors to consider before a company opens their operations in other countries and most of these considerations are cultural including languages spoken, nonverbal communications as well as values practiced in a particular culture.
Cultural Approach
There are two main dimensions of the cultural approach to the international marketing. A cross cultural approach means comparing national marketing systems and local commercial customs in different countries. Second approach, an intercultural approach is centered on the study of interactions between business people, buyers and sellers, as well as their organizations, which have different national/cultural backgrounds. When studying approach we must know what we are trying to accomplish from proposed association, as Brett (2012) mentioned in her book, Negotiating Globally, that any negotiation or agreement is about trying to reach to net value outcome that is better than the alternative of no agreement.
Cultural Factors
There are many factors in managing across cultural boundaries including languages, demographics, values, and nonverbal communications. Cultural differences have a significant impact on the way a business operates globally. There is, however, a growing trend for the ‘westernisation’ of global cultures, which is likely to continue to gather pace. Legendary international business guru, Kenichi Ohmae (2005) states that eventually the world ‘will be a nation-less state marked by the
Introduction
Just about a couple of decades ago, International business was more known as Import and Export as very few companies were actually had presence in international market like Coca-Cola, Sony, and a few more. In recent years, the game is changing and more and more businesses are playing in international market. Though, we see companies moving in and out of international market on daily basis, but the underlying tasks are very difficult and challenging. There are several factors to consider before a company opens their operations in other countries and most of these considerations are cultural including languages spoken, nonverbal communications as well as values practiced in a particular culture.
Cultural Approach
There are two main dimensions of the cultural approach to the international marketing. A cross cultural approach means comparing national marketing systems and local commercial customs in different countries. Second approach, an intercultural approach is centered on the study of interactions between business people, buyers and sellers, as well as their organizations, which have different national/cultural backgrounds. When studying approach we must know what we are trying to accomplish from proposed association, as Brett (2012) mentioned in her book, Negotiating Globally, that any negotiation or agreement is about trying to reach to net value outcome that is better than the alternative of no agreement.
Cultural Factors
There are many factors in managing across cultural boundaries including languages, demographics, values, and nonverbal communications. Cultural differences have a significant impact on the way a business operates globally. There is, however, a growing trend for the ‘westernisation’ of global cultures, which is likely to continue to gather pace. Legendary international business guru, Kenichi Ohmae (2005) states that eventually the world ‘will be a nation-less state marked by the
References: Brett J.M. (2007) “Negotiating Globally: How to Negotiate Deals, Resolve Disputes, and Make Decisions across cultural boundaries” Kenichi O., (2005) “The Borderless World, rev ed: Power and Strategy in the Interlinked Economy” Mooij M. D., and Hofstede G., (2011), “Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior: A Review of Research Findings” Ghauri P. and Cateora P. and Faulds D. J., (2011), “International Marketing"