Business Cultures of UK and Indonesia - Essay Example

Business Cultures of UK and Indonesia Introduction As they leave college, Graduates are required to acquire more than just the ordinary skills that were expected of them in the past, while business skills are unambiguously important, knowledge and skills to function in a multicultural society also vital. Cultural awareness has become a ubiquitous element of business education more so in the context of globalization where numerous businesses have international branches and sections. Running an internationally structured business requires that one adapts to a variety of cultural realities that could be radically different from those that they are used to, in some cases the same service and goods may be interpreted in very different ways on the transcultural arena and one needs must acquaint themselves with the expected perceptions so that they can predict behaviour and react accordingly. An example of the challenge of international business which will further illustrated in this paper is meeting of European or American firms with Asian firms or clients. In many ways the culture in these communities if based on highly varied social cultural perceptions founded on hundred and in some cases thousands of years of cultural practices. Therefore, facts and realities may be the same in different settings but their reading and interpretations should not be likewise assumed and the involved parties should first establish the cultural standpoints of the other party before making a conclusion. In this assignment the objective is for us to find out how a business relationship can be mended and maintained across geopolitical and cultural divides even in a background of business challenges. One of the main lessons we learnt as we carried out research on international business was that cultural considerations can make or break a business deal, relationship or even partnership. While westerners more so European and Americans tend to be pragmatic and their business is “business centred”, this is not a universal opinion and in other parts of the world culture may be seen as coming before the deal. One of the examples we came across to drive this point home was in an analogy in which a British businessman was invited to a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart whom his firm had been wooing for some months. He hoped to strike a lucrative deal and the negotiations were almost completed to everyone’s satisfaction, he thought it best to show up with a presents on the first day and after window shopping for a while he purchased an ancient hunting dagger with an ornate silver and ivory dagger. On the meeting he presented it to his hosts, however on the next scheduled meeting, the host who seemed exited to receive the carefully wrapped present was absent and sent a junior in his place. The businessman was actually unable to make an appointment with his initial host and the deal failed to go through. It was not until much later that the gentleman learnt that in Indonesian culture, gifts with cutting edges such as knives were symbolic of terminating relationships and since they rarely communicate directly, his host assumed by presenting him with a knife he was signalling that he wanted the deal terminated. In view of such reality, albeit represents in a hypothetical scenario we found it important to consider the culture of both the British and Indonesian culture before undertaking to advise the British firm on what steps should be taken in ensuring they handle the challenge without cultural faux pas and hopefully sustain the relationship. In this instance more emphasize was given to the Asian culture in view of the fact that the British tend to be outwardly polite and respect other people’s culture (Spencer-Oatey and Xing, 2003); so much so that they are in most cases likely to overlook cultural errors and take no offence. While the Indonesians also respect other people’s culture, they are more vigilant when it comes to their own and easily take umbrage when they detect someone undermining theirs even out of ignorance. A key considerations when dealing with Indonesian businessmen, more so in a situation when complains arise; such as the one in this case is by ensuring to protect “face” (Salacuse, 1999). Face is very important to the Indonesian an attribute likely borrowed from the Chinese; in business discussions or negotiations, one must be careful to avoid embarrassing the other party especially in public since this would cause them to lose face. For example in these situation, Indonesian clients feel that the goods provided do not work as per expectations and naturally expect some sort of redress. What if the British firm discovers that the items were working just fine and it is the Indonesian who has either been using them in the wrong way or they had breached the terms of the contract and were therefore not liable to compensation. In a British context, this could easily be discussed with one party openly challenging the other and pointing out that they are actually the one responsible. Even if this is done in an open board meeting, if the supplier was right and the customers are actually at fault, both sides will pragmatically consider the evidence and the supplier may decide to assist the clients for free or request payment. Either way when one is wrong, they will likely apologies (In a British setting both sides would probably apologize) or the business relations would likely continue as before. However in the exact same circumstances, such an approach used on Indonesian clients would likely be disastrous; accusing someone of having misused a product or proving the wrong publicly even in a business matter will be taken as a serious affront to face (Spencer-Oatey, 2007); in fact could easily result in breakdown of relations between the two sides. The Indonesian business culture is very protective of face and even when one wishes to tell someone they are wrong or disagree they will do it in a roundabout way as politely as possible so as to avoid offending them (Sheer and Chen, 2003). In fact one should not contradict someone in a confrontational way more so in front of their juniors since this may cause them to lose face which in many cases is more valuable than the success of a deal. The Indonesian language actually has several ways in which one can say “no” with various degrees of politeness based on the context and even ways of saying “yes” when they actually mean to disagree politely. While the British are also known for their politeness and tendency to avoid causing offence, they are considerably more abrasive than the Indonesians especially in view of the fact that they tend to rely on written contracts. A contract is often final in business and since they are almost always overseen by solicitors, breaching the terms of one will often result in legal complication if the matter cannot be solved otherwise. However in the Indonesian context, a contract is not as strongly binding and even after it has been agreed on there is often room to renegotiate some of the issues depending on circumstances (Jandt, 2013). Therefore, in a situation such as the one discussed herein, the Indonesian customer may want to have the contract renegotiated so that they can be entitled to some compensation of the British supplier may repair the items at a discounted price. While the first reaction would be to reject such an offer, it would be unwise in the face of Indonesian understanding of business relations as “friendships” (Lin, 2013); the British firm should be willing to negotiate something. This way, the relationship can be sustained since the customers will have strengthened their loyalty to the “friend” making it unlikely that they would buy from anyone else in the future. However, the British firm needs not spend a lot of money in addressing the matter, as long as they can politely without making the other side loose face explain that their obligation to them is limited (should such be the case) they can make fresh negotiations during which they state the terms they wish to offer. Reflections and Conclusion At the end of the day while such negotiations may not be in line with the strict business culture, bending the rules may go a long way to sustain a firm business relationship which may have a price in the short run but which the long term benefits would substantially outweigh. In conclusion, I am convinced that the best way for business relations to be sustained is for both parties to respect each other’s culture and always try their best to make allowances for each other’s differences in the interest of the relationship. In the long run, loyalty will be formed and this transcends social cultural divides not to mention being good for business. In the case of the company involved, our research has concluded that they should spend as much time as possible figuring out Indonesian cultural norms in regard to business negotiation and practice. However they should not be guided by the hard lines set up in the often iron clad contracts and agreements, if their counterparts feel they should be assisted, the UK managers should try to work it out in such a way that both parties benefit. References Jandt, F. E. (2013). An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a Global Community. 7th Edition. California: Sage Publications. Lin, R. J. 2013. Moderating effects of total quality environmental management on environmental performance. African Journal of Business Management, 5(20), 8088-8099. Salacuse, J. W. 1999. Intercultural negotiation in international business.Group Decision and Negotiation, 8(3), 217-236. Sheer, V. C., & Chen, L. 2003. Successful Sino-Western business negotiation: participants accounts of national and professional cultures. Journal of Business Communication, 40(1), 50-85. Spencer-Oatey, H. 2007. Theories of identity and the analysis of face. Journal of pragmatics, 39(4), 639-656. Spencer-Oatey, H., & Xing, J. 2003. Managing rapport in intercultural business interactions: A comparison of two Chinese-British welcome meetings. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 24(1), 33-46. Read More