Analysis of Successful Businesses - Essay Example

Businesses cannot operate anymore by simply imposing their own culture in the workplace as well as on the customers. One important element of culture is language. Language is not merely words, objects, or symbols. In fact, language embodies the value systems of a group of people. There is an established communication process in a certain culture that must be observed. For example, the case of Chevy Nova was a real blunder because the company failed to understand the context of the word in Latin America. Another glaring example of wrongly communicating a product to the public was Pepsi-Cola’s campaign that offended the Chinese people. People have a deep reverence for their ancestors and did not want any form of disrespect for their ancestors coming back from the grave. Usually, western cultures like that of the United States use euphemisms or symbols in their language. This creates miscommunication that puts the company’s products in a bad light. If Jerry’s company would like to succeed in their overseas venture, then they should consult locals who are experts in marketing and media relations so their messages would sound appropriate to the public.

Bartel’s study has established the fact that the highest learning comes from interaction among global teams. Each culture has its own strengths that can be harnessed so people can work productively. The case of the guy who worked with Russians shows that some cultures respect hard work. It is indeed hard to acquire the trust and confidence of another culture because they have different values systems. The first step then could be working hard and showing that you mean business. On the other hand, the company should be firm yet considerate of its external environment. Shariff was right when he stated that simple things such as table manners can turn away clients resulting in lost income. It is very important for officers or managers assigned on an overseas assignment to study the culture of the country before making any policies or programs. A slight error can be costly as in the case of Wal-Mart’s pull out in Germany costing the company 2 billion dollars.

A good example of a company that succeeded is Mitsubishi because it imposes an international policy in the company that promotes to workers the value of cultural tolerance and respect for other human rights. Jerry can begin creating a committee that can formulate similar policies to start things right. Perhaps, seeking specialists in this area is a good idea as well as studying Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions for every country that they would expand.  Hofstede’s study is valuable to people like Jerry to understand how and why certain groups of people act. For example, the Japanese highly value teamwork and frowns upon personal pride. Sales teams can be reworked in a way that would promote teamwork in Japan rather than give the best salesperson lavish praises. Jerry and the committee can look for international companies that have models of cultural tolerance in the workplace.

Jerry should not be afraid of expanding although he has heard of many negative reports of big businesses like Wal-Mart and \Starbucks failing in another country. Instead, he can use these cases to prevent his company from following the same footstep. In the case of Starbucks in Australia, the company failed because, at the very start of planning, the company analyzed only the business using a quantitative approach. It definitely created feasibility and produced tons of data about investment and possible profit but failed to see one important thing: how the market would react to the product. Starbuck’s got very excited and opened many outlets all at the same time. This just shows that a business must be observant first of the external environment before starting anything big. For business managers, a PESTLE analysis should have covered the culture and politics of a host country. If the business plan is all about profits and data, then the business would really go down. This also happened in the case of Saudi Arabia where Procter and Gamble spend millions of money training people just because locals do not want to perform menial jobs.

In conclusion, Jerry should carefully study the host country’s culture by getting advice from experts, not from a financial standpoint. He needs people who can provide him with a good understanding of how people behave in that particular culture. He needs a good PR agency (a local one) as well as a sharp marketing team that would communicate the right messages to the general public. If he begins with a positive outlook and open mind towards cultural tolerance, then he may be able to get the best team for his business.