Cross-Cultural Differences in Barclays Bank in China - Dissertation Example

Barclay’s core UK success was built on low-value selling strategy. BBC News (1999) reported the following about UK China trade ties and collaborations," UK businesses have won contracts worth $3.5 bn in China. The UK is the sixth largest investor in China, with $13bn of direct investment. Thus a long learning curve has preceded the formal entry of Barclays in the Chinese market in 2004. Hannon (2005) says that most discussions about the impact of globalization on Asian countries essentially center around one country viz. China. Despite the fact that China had a difficult ideological history and its entrenched structures to stave off it comfortably overtook other Asian countries in recording economic growth in the past decade and a half.

In fact, most of the transition countries, including communist giants such as Russia, look forward to emulating the transition model adopted by China. Given the behemothic geographic and demographic size of this country and its breakneck pace of economic development, tremendous manufacturing capabilities and insatiable appetite for foreign direct investment (FDI);China would assume, on the assured basis, the role of economic leader not only of Asian region but also of the entire globe sooner than later.

First of all, a country’ size would affect the attractiveness for international business expansion. Since small markets may not justify setting up a distribution and marketing system to supply goods and services. (Jobber, 1998, p. 648)China was already a healthy Econo, mic power with an annual average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 9.8 percent in real terms between 1978 and 1994. The Chinese government had also set up ambitious targets of economic growth for the country in its five-year plans.

For instance China's ninth five year plan (1995-2000) had set a target for quadrupling its GDP in 2000 over the level recorded in 1980 and the plan further envisaged doubling the year 2000 GDP in the year 2010, with operational target of average annual GDP growth rate of 8% between the years 1995-2000 and  of 7 % between the years 2000-2010. If China was able to succeed in restraining the growth rate of its population than its per capita GDP(in 1996 base prices) was slated in that plan to move up to US $600- US $700 by  year 2000 and to US $ 1100- US $1600 by the year 2010 and  further to US $2100- US $3500 by the year 2020.