The culture of Burberry in Brazil - Essay Example

? The culture of Burberry in Brazil BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE The culture of Burberry in Brazil Background Burberry is an iconic Britishfashion brand with a long and rich history in the United Kingdom. The developer of gabardine, Burberry holds onto its traditionalism in style, blending modern fabrics for a revamped contemporary retail clothing model. The stoicism of the business’ corporate culture is built on foundational brand values which position the business as a quality-centric organisation devoted to service. Burberry will be performing new market entry in Brazil, a radically-different culture from that of the United Kingdom, which will prompt considerable internal changes in order to achieve in this new cultural environment. Burberry’s Brazilian objective Making the move to Brazil provides opportunities for Burberry to expand the richness and affluence of the British culture to a thriving and developing nation that is inspired by Western fashion products whilst also building a powerful brand internationally that is easily recognised and respected by target consumers. Burberry’s corporate culture Burberry competes with many High Street retailers, capable of performing this with a visually aesthetic retail facility business model. Burberry was established in 1856, a period of economic growth and opulence known as the Victorian Era in honour of Queen Victoria. Ornate and garish furnishings with multiple gold-gilded products were produced during the reign of this Queen in an effort to express the lavishness and splendour of the British Empire. This sense of ethnocentrism, belief in the superiority of one’s own culture (Omohundro 2008), makes up much of the foundation of the corporate culture at the organisation today. Traditional fashion sense with a progressive, modern flair continues to bring Burberry considerable brand loyalty by both national loyalist markets and young markets that value the rich heritage of British fashion. It is necessary to explain the foundations of Burberry’s history and its rich relationship with the British culture in order to fully understand the dimensions of corporate culture that drive business success. Burberry recognises that its brand reputation is one of its most important assets and the business’ history in servicing the British Empire cannot be separated from its current brand values. The company has established a brand vision by which all employees and managers are expected to adopt, which is to inspire, protect and explore in a creative and somewhat decentralised organisational model. Burberry follows the dimensions associated with transformational leadership, which involves building a shared vision, opening effective lines of communications between different power players and subordinates, and role modelling the most desired behaviours (Fairholm 2009). Burberry needs to stay focused and dedicated to its wealthy traditionalism in British fashion retail in order to build consistency in brand values, therefore executives, mid-level managers and lower-level service employees must work cooperatively to achieve mission and support a rich British brand. Britain is Burberry and the corporate culture must reflect these values to effectively service its target consumers that value this element of high fashion and national pride. Burberry has been able to support a consistent brand by building systems and practices in human resources that provide employees with the set of cohesive business values necessary to achieve market share against competition. Burberry also attempts to make relationship connections with the digital generation which is evident in the presence of interactive electronic mirrors in the sales environment that illustrate a historical depiction of Burberry’s past as an iconic British brand. Internally, in order to effectively service the more modernised customer, the organisation must break down age-old autocratic leadership and engage more effectively with a generation of service workers that carry the same values of the digital age. This is what makes the Burberry business model so unique: the open culture that supports positive inter-divisional communications when coupled with classical modernism related to the brand personality sets the tone for what drives corporate culture at the firm. Employees and managers that dress for success and legitimately believe in the integrity and richness of Burberry are what provide the human capital advantages at Burberry in the United Kingdom. Figure 1: The classical modernism of Burberry brand Source: Burberry (2013). Cut out back lace dress. [online] Available at: http://uk.burberry.com/store/womenswear/dresses/prorsum/prod-44805871-cut-out-back-lace-dress/ (accessed 18 March 2013). National and business culture in Brazil The Brazilian culture is quite different from British culture which could cause problems with developing a cohesive internal culture that shares the same brand values of Burberry. In the United Kingdom, which is highly individualistic, it is commonplace for managers and executives to work cooperatively throughout the business model. In fact, in the individualist culture, it is an expectation, therefore the corporate culture at Burberry fits interpersonal needs of employees and managers. The Brazilian culture is very collectivist, which involves personal characteristics that favour group membership and building personal identity that comes from group opinion and values (Hofstede 2012). Brazilian society is born into a social hierarchy that believes in the integrity of family members where loyalty to the familial group is demanded. Brazilian culture is also very tolerant of separation between authority figures in the organisation and lower-level employees. Known as power distance, this characteristic of the Brazilian culture tolerates and expects inequality between executives and service employees. Unequal distribution of authority is regularly part of the corporate culture at businesses that were founded in this country, where low-level employees are not given opportunities to express their own opinion and solutions to recurring business problems. Countries that score highly in power distance measurements believe this is a normal part of the social and corporate environments (Kelley 2009). In Brazil, businesspersons expect there to be some element of relationship development present before discussing business solutions and opportunities. There is expectation that there will be considerable early investment in building trust in this relationship before other businesspersons will agree to contracts or other business arrangements (Veras and Veras 1999). The collectivist nature of the social condition is also present in many Brazilian corporate cultures related to loyalty in exchange for respect and relationship protection. Problems likely to manifest The social and business collectivism that is present in Brazil could complicate establishing support for the same brand vision that drives market success in the United Kingdom. There is an advantage of managing employees that are going to value group membership and group opinion when attempting to build a team philosophy; something necessary to achieve excellence and quality in service in the United Kingdom. However, the level to which employees expect power distance could complicate building a cohesive organisational culture that shares the Burberry brand values. Employees that will be hired in the new foreign country to support Burberry are not accustomed to a decentralised environment and are not trained to work under conditions where even executives can be witnessed with an open line of communication throughout the business model. Burberry might have to devote considerable labour and financial investment into training and other human resources-related activities to break down barriers between authority figures that have been a large part of employees’ lives and corporate experiences. Burberry’s UK brand values are to inspire creativity and explore opportunities to advance the brand. Burberry, in Brazil, will not want to lose the ethnocentrism and classical modernism associated with a long history in the British Empire as this makes up the foundation of Burberry’s success. Brazilians maintain their own ethnocentrism related to their collectivist and close family histories and could be resistant to adopting the same British mentality of service delivery and national pride. One company, MasterCard, initially had problems gaining commitment from Brazilian consumers by utilising promotional materials that had worked in individualist countries. It was only when MasterCard began to focus on the group characteristics of Brazilian society by using promotions that told stories about lifestyle and family that the credit card company was able to gain market attention and interest (Galloni 2009). Burberry might have to redevelop its strategies that are strongly related to national historical presence in British society (which are regularly displayed on modern view screens in Burberry flagship stores in the UK) in order to gain consumer and employee commitment. This could jeopardise the strength of this iconic British-based brand if the business has to reposition the Brazilian division of the business to better cater to the social condition related to collectivism in this country. Burberry does not have experience in eliminating the British underpinning attitudes and social values that have brought the business such a powerful domestic brand personality. Making adjustments to the marketing function and the human resources division to better cater to the needs of a radically different culture could be strenuous financially and labour-related if there is recognised resistance to adopting the Burberry brand vision and mission. Grieves (2010) does indicate that creativity and decision are created from conflict and not consensus. Given this theory, Burberry might have opportunities to expand its cultural knowledge when attempting to engage Brazilian employees to become part of the Burberry brand set of values if there are adjustments necessary because of the social condition. However, if there is resistance, Grieves (2010) provides a theoretical position that it could ultimately lead to better creative solutions to business problems and open the door for shared decision-making if these conflicts occur. Management at Burberry in the new Brazilian environment must be constantly aware that Brazilians have no experience with the richness of British history and legacy in fashion retailing and come up with contingency strategies in HR in order to combat them. The objective is to extend the existing British iconic brand into a developing country to maintain the same ethnocentrism that is closely associated with this fashion company, not to lose touch with the opulence of British history that has driven so much market success domestically. Lewin’s Three Step change model illustrates that change must begin with an unfreezing stage, which involves changing existing attitudes about current work practices before any meaningful change can occur. Unfreezing long-standing social and cultural characteristics of the Brazilian culture might be necessary and involve a very large investment on behalf of Burberry management if there is to be cohesion related to brand vision. Burberry might have to test new human resources strategies that have a different psychological or social appeal to a completely different working culture. How to unfreeze well-established social and cultural habits in Brazil is something that Burberry does not have much experience with and this lack of knowledge could create problems with trying to implement any type of change that involves socialisation, group working, and rewards establishment aligned with collectivist rather than individualistic workplace values. The Cultural Web model shows that rituals, symbols, stories and power structures make up the paradigm of cultural development. In Britain, these factors are unique to each individual in their personal social environment, but are cohesive when attempting to inject a sense of national pride in British society and culture into the business model. Burberry might have to conduct considerable market research to identify how rituals, symbols and stories are relevant to the cultural needs of Brazilian workers upon market entry. Burberry leadership will not be able to effectively communicate business issues and solutions with workers unless there is some level of social interaction. To provide a foundation for effective communications, and to build a solid and supportive organisational culture, Burberry must understand what aspects of society and culture have built long-standing attitudes about the workplace and the worker’s role within it. It is likely that without finding out about rituals and social processes important to workers, any effort to gain commitment for sharing British-based brand vision will likely sound like noise to the service employees. Solutions to identified problems Kotter (1996) describes a model of implementing change. In this model, the author suggests creating, first, a sense of urgency which involves unfreezing activities to change old ways of conducting business. Burberry should be developing a preliminary training package for all new hires (both managerial and lower-level) that provides an in-depth pictorial of Burberry in Britain to familiarise the Brazilian employees with the foundational values of the Burberry brand. This strategy will not only help the employees understand the concept of the brand vision, but also build trust in the longevity of their career positions by informing Brazilian employees about how long Burberry has been a trusted brand. Job security is one of the most fundamental, universal needs of employees in order to gain their motivation and commitment (Weiten and Lloyd 2005). Calling group meetings regularly with managers and service employees could be another unfreezing tactic to help familiarise the new employee population about the benefits of being more involved in the organisational model and growing accustomed with a decentralised business hierarchy necessary to achieve Burberry brand expectations. This interactive solution as a beginning point for unfreezing certain undesirable business behaviours in the Brazilian employee population could also lay the foundation for better communications and sharing of stories that is necessary to build the foundation of a cohesive internal culture. Implementing new strategy solutions Recruitment and selection processes will need adjustment to implement the new training plan to familiarise Brazilian workers with the British-based brand values. Headquarters should devote financial capital to production of an informative training video that will be easily understood by the foreign culture. Using cultural and psychological concepts to be included in the training system (designed to unfreeze power distance acceptance and social collectivism) the training focus can bridge the gap between British and Brazilian culture. The Cultural Web model showed how rituals and shared stories serve as the foundation for organisational culture development. The investment in training should include some dimensions of Brazilian culture and how Burberry values the customs and cultural traditions of the foreign country. Gaining support and commitment begins, in this strategy, by setting the stage for cultural inclusion so that a relationship is developed between Burberry brand and the employees so that broader business issues will be discussed comfortably and with trust. To ensure that employees are committed to accepting and servicing the Burberry vision, departmental or executive-level managers can assign creative tasks for employees to help them better develop the Burberry brand which can then be discussed in a variety of recurring meeting formats. Reporting would occur, then, horizontally rather than vertically which would give the employees experience working in a team environment and actually be recognised for their individual accomplishments rather than maintaining high concern over collectivist opinion that is not relevant for the Burberry brand. This would involve creating a new type of human resources appraisal system, which would require managers to be more interactive in feedback production. Refreezing in this change would occur when employees are publicly rewarded for their own unique creative brand and service solutions by reinforcing desired behaviours. References Burberry (2013). Cut out back lace dress. [online] Available at: http://uk.burberry.com/store/womenswear/dresses/prorsum/prod-44805871-cut-out-back-lace-dress/ (accessed 18 March 2013). Fairholm, M. (2009). Leadership and organisational strategy, The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 14(1), pp.26-27. Galloni, B. (2009). State of Marketing: Brazil, Effie Awards. [online] Available at: http://www.effie.org/downloads/State_of_the_Industry_Brazil.pdf (accessed 17 March 2013). Grieves, J. (2010). Organisational Change: Themes and Issues. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hofstede, G. (2012). What about Brazil?, The Hofstede Centre. [online] Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/brazil.html (accessed 18 March 2013). Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and cases, 8th ed. Financial Times Prentice Hall. Kelley, J. (2009). Global consumer culture: consumers’ global brand attitudes in Brazil and Germany. [online] Available at: http://home.ku.edu.tr/~globalbrand/files/Kelley.pdf (accessed 17 March 2013). Kotter, J.P. (1996). Leading Change. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press. Omohundro, J.T. (2008). Thinking like an Anthropologist: A practical introduction to cultural anthropology. McGraw-Hill. Veras, E.Z. and Veras, D.B. (1999). Cultural differences between countries: The Brazilian and the Chinese way of doing business, Wuhan University of Technology. [online] Available at: http://www.pucsp.br/icim/ingles/downloads/papers_2010/part_9/32_Cultural%20Differences%20Between%20Countries%20The%20Brazilian%20and%20the.pdf (accessed 18 March 2013). Weiten, W. and Lloyd, M. (2005). Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century, 7th ed. Thompson Wadsworth. Appendix A: Personal Reflection on Working in an International Team Working in the team was a lesson in the importance of diversity and understanding the rituals and symbols that drive different cultures. The group being described consisted of six very different individuals that all maintained their own viewpoints about strategy, business direction, and the importance of socialisation within the group. Ming, for example, was very outspoken and tended to take a leadership position using somewhat autocratic strategies. This was because the culture where this group member was borne from was one where aggressive leadership styles are considered the most appropriate. Another group member, Marlene, was much more passive during discussions and did not seem to like the socialisation characteristics of the group. This group member hailed from a culture where business is discussed first over that of relationship development and preferred to stay focused on the topics rather than engage in small talk and other social situations. Working with an international team showed the opportunities for conflict to develop when differing cultures attempt to create a single vision or achieve a cohesive group goal. The team was better able to work together professionally and effectively when all members recognised that each member had different needs and expectations for the group work. The team provided the foundation of sharing stories in an effort to build a team philosophy, allowing each member to describe some dimensions of their personal, professional and academic lives. Through the differences of opinion and cultural attitudes, the team was able to find the specific beliefs and values that were universally shared among team members. This sharing strategy also built trust with non-judgmental team members that ultimately reduced conflict production. One situation arose where a group member was frustrated that the team was taking a wrong direction when trying to solve a business problem. Rather than discuss the matter openly with the group to get back on track, the individual attempted to form a small coalition with two other group members to gain their support. This particular team member, upon reflection, hailed from a collectivist culture where group opinion and group membership are important for building a sense of personal identity. It is not really surprising, therefore, that the coalition was the chosen strategy. This left some social division between the other group members until the team was able to discuss the matter as a group rather than having dual coalitions attempting to exert control over the processes and strategies developed by the group. There was effective mutual adjustment only when the team agreed unanimously to accept the diversity of attitudes and beliefs of other group members. This open discussion strategy helped the team to understand what the specific motivations and needs were of each individual member so that the entire group could try to fulfil them individually. Reciprocity was a very important dimension of the group that was necessary to build a strong, collaborative group. Through the group work, I learned that some people are resistant to change when it conflicts with their long-standing cultural values and social beliefs. When a team member or individual peer attempts to come up with strategies that can better relate to these values, even when they are completely different from one’s own, the end result is usually better cooperation and trust. I learned that an organisational leader or manager must assess the cultural characteristics of their team members if there is to be any shared vision established. I now strongly believe in the importance of qualitative research to find out about cultural values and beliefs before setting up a diverse cross-cultural team and hoping to build a shared vision. Read More