The Impact of Cultural Factors on International Marketing - Dissertation Example

?Running Head: The Impact of Cultural Factors on International Marketing The Impact of Cultural Factors on International Marketing [The [The Name of the Institution] The Impact of Cultural Factors on International Marketing Introduction When doing business in global markets, it is indispensable to be acquainted with this fact that cultures are going to vary from country to country. Besides this, it is vital to know how each one distinguishes from the others, so mistakes do not take place and most importantly, no one is offended by what one does or says. Since culture is diverse around the globe, it is crucial in international marketing trends. If an example is reviewed, it would transpire that meals are taken/ served at very unusual times of the day in Greece and are absolutely dissimilar from that of U.S. First, the Greeks do not consider breakfast. In lieu of light breakfast, heavy lunch is taken everywhere from two o'clock to four o'clock in the afternoon. In the same way, dinner is taken from ten o'clock to midnight. Another glaring example of cultural effect on international marketing is the reality that throughout Greece, all the business centres remain closed from two o'clock to five o'clock in the afternoon. During these hours, people take their lunch and take a short nap. Noticeably, these are poles apart if compared to standards and values of other countries and it intensifies when tourists criticize their culture and the way they live their lives. Indulging in international business, many companies opt to have a joint venture which is like an international partnership with some foreign company. This is very successful because there are many benefits such as escaping of tariffs, improved communication with foreign government, pooling of resources, and abridged financial investment. The prime gain is that reality that it is a long term tactic and it shows promise to the foreign market. (Doole & Lowe, 1999, 76) A dominant principle of achievement in an International Market is the Management of Political Risk. The use of multifarious technology in daily operations not only lets the employees discover something new and highly developed, but if the company gets seized by the government, they won't know how to use or fix the machinery. In addition, it is imperative for a company to be socially responsible by having visible projects to the public. These are all good causes and lets the public know that they are doing everything they can not only to sell their products and make them successful, but also make the world a better place to live in. It is also important to use local materials to run the company because your presence will then enrich the people's lives in that economy. Trompenaars’ and Hofstede’s Approach about Cultural Effects It is of enormous significance for an international organization to recognize cultural variations and make excellent use of them in the global perspective. National culture may be considered as the beliefs, values, perceptual orientations, and ethical values and norms emblematic to the members of a specific society (Trompenaars, 1997, 33). On the other hand, according to Hofstede's work, "based high in every country except USA, Americans working in countries such as Italy, Greece or Brazil are very entrepreneurial and risk taking but their capabilities are limited because these countries are risk averse" (Gooderham, 2006, web source). However, this problem is alleviated when work groups are formed between Americans and other nationalities due to risky shift phenomenon. Other nationalities working in America will face problems when their employers expect them to be effective rather than efficient. Hofstede Theory of Culture Hofstede defined culture as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another." (Krishnamurthy & Dejan 2003, 96) Culture is a progressing set of predetermined shared values, ideas, thoughts, approaches, attitudes, and a logical process that affords cognitive maps for people within a specific societal group to recognize, reflect reason, perform, react, and intermingle. This definition implies that culture is dynamic. In order to understand better this definition, it is relevant to give an example of two American companies where two of us did an internship. Cultural differences can affect the success or failure of international firms in a number of important ways. Because of different preferences and tastes, consumers and customers in foreign countries may not use the identical products and/or services demanded by domestic consumers and customers. Managing and fascinating people with immensely different cultural norms, values and attitudes necessitate variations in management techniques, practices and systems. There is a difference in human conducts that is partially determined by their mental programming. The aptitude to digress from their mental programming is what makes a human dissimilar from a computer. Hofstede (1991, 131) also elaborated personality as a split characteristic of humans which evolves human beings mutual differences. Personality, according to him, is a matchless set of mental programs that an individual does not share with any other individual. This feature is subjective by many factors. Hofstede’s Model Of Five Dimensions Of Culture There are five dimensions of culture as mentioned by Hofstede. It is also significant to appraise what they denote in the actual society with Hofstede’s definition for each and then endeavour to relate the similarities and differences with the GLOBE theory. A concise definition for all the five dimensions of culture is given below. Individuals are more inclined towards achieving private goals and like to consider themselves rather than anything else. Personal interests are more vital than group interests for a majority of individuals (Hofstede, 1984, 421). Also there is a lofty need for individual achievements and humans worth individual rights. Collectivism, according to Hofstede (2001, 25) is a “society that stands for people right from birth and is integrated into a strong, cohesive in-group which protect the people in exchange of unquestioned loyalty”. This was fairly a bold statement and many of us would rather not agree. Or in other words, would like not to agree. Collectivism is where people inclined to distinguish between the in-groups and out-groups. The collectivists, in this way, are the members who think themselves as either of the same trash, family, nation or culture (Hofstede, 1980, 171). Collectivism is more of a disparity as to individualism. While the former is a group of people who are liable to march into social life in return of safety and security, the later is one where each human is mixed up in doing things for himself. The elemental proposal of Hofstede’s cultural orientation is that how an individual deals with the power distribution. Individuals who have lower power need to accept this fact more because individuals with superior authority not only admit the reality that there is power aloofness but also love it. Ambiguity prevention is “the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by certain or unknown situations. It is the extent to which s society feels unsafe and what measures it takes to avoid these circumstances (Hofstede, 1980, 171). To shun the hazy and discarded scenarios, the society sets out certain principles to avoid certain types of behaviours. Masculinity stands for a society in which men’s role are overtly unveiled. Men are considered to be strong, dissertative, and resolute on material victory. On the flipside, feminine is a society in which the roles of men and women overlap (Hofstede, 2001, 297). Indifferent cultures of the world, people have certain concepts about genders. For example, masculine individuals are expected to be determined, striving for their goals, and focused on material success. On the other hand, feminine individuals are more people oriented, wanting to work in a team and determine achievements in terms of team work rather than individual appraisals (Hofstede, 1984, 422). Finally, long term orientation stands for a society in which virtues towards future rewards are fostered. Short term orientation in contrast is a society that views virtues in the present and near future. Hofstede and Bond (1984, 429) traced out the Confucian dynamism by having a survey of Chinese students. In this survey, people are valued on the degree to which people highlight cultural values in the long term as divergent to the short term orientation. The Confucian dimension established to be a high scoring cultural aspect. This model of cultural characteristics presented by Hofstede identifies five dimensions of culture that assist to explain why people from a variety of cultures perform the way they do. Through the comparison of Chinese and Australian culture using the cross-cultural dimensions: power distance (PDI), uncertainty avoidance (UAI), masculinity (MAS), individualism (IDV), and long-term orientation (LTO); a discerning vision into the differences and similarities of the cultures can be acquired. By discovering these differences and similarities from an IHR outlook, strategies aimed at gaining organisational targets can be better achieved. (Hofstede, 2005, 21) The first and foremost national culture dimension to be identified is the capacity of power distance. In countries with high power distance like China, individuals are more likely to admit differences in authority or inequality. Management is inclined to be dictatorial, with their subordinates remaining loyal and submissive to them at all times. (Keegan, 2003, 209) On the contrary, in Australia with a moderately low PDI of 36 (ITIM International, 2003, web source), individuals put more stress and value on independence. Harrison (1995, 14) suggests that “societies with low PDI are characterized by the norm value that inequalities between people should be minimized, and, to the extent that hierarchies exist in such societies and their organizations, they exist only for administrative convenience”. Schuler, Dowling, & De Cieri’s (1993, 440) framework of SIHRM suggests that factors endogenous to the firm such as organization structure, are important influences on IHR strategy and practice. The issue is whether multinational corporations (MNCs) should shift its national or global HRM system to a specific subsidiary or permit the subsidiary to promote or uphold prevailing employment practices rooted in indigenous practices. According to Taylor, Beechler, and Napier (1996, p.970) the graver the differences: the less liable the transfer of home-country practices. Hence, the gigantic contrast between Australia and China’s PDI rankings confirms to be problematic for international businesses, making organizational plan tremendously complex for the IHRM function (Briscoe & Schuler, 2004, 190). Hofstede’s second cultural value considers uncertainty avoidance. Australia and China are quite near in score with Australia at 51 while China at 30 (ITIM International 2003, web source). The small differentiation in uncertainty avoidance implies that within Chinese culture, there is a more tranquil and high forbearing attitude towards the unfamiliar as compared with Australia where there is less tolerance towards uncertainty and vagueness. This may impact on HR functions such as career planning and development. In Australia, on the other side, career planning and progress is usually relatively structured and directed, as employees wish to have a clear career course while in Chinese culture, they feel more comfortable with a less structured perspective to career planning and development and suppose their career will grow in time (Lewis, 2003, 45). In Hofstede’s third cultural value i.e. the measures of masculinity; Australia and China were found just similar in score. Australia scored 61 compared with China’s score of 66 (ITIM International 2003, web source). China has constantly been recognized as a nation with a high rank of collectivism. In Hofstede’s fourth cultural dimension, the country graded at 20 in the IDV ranking compared to an average of 24 (ITIM International, 2003, web source). This may be accredited, in part, to the high level of prominence on a collectivist society by the Communist rule (Cundiff, et. al 55). In Australia, it is general for employees to have numerous employers in their working career and even several switches over in sector or industry. Recruitment and assessment in Australia normally includes interviewing, psychometric tests and other relevant measures of appraisal. Contrary to this, Chinese employment model has conventionally been life employment (Lewis, 2003, 47). According to Hofstede’s last cultural value, acting out against the conventional job for life idea by substituting current staff with more competent candidates, IHR experts should guarantee training and development programs, are in place to attain a befitting level between employees and the organization. Applying Hofstede’s dimensions to IHRM has significantly abridged the number of problems connected with decisive management and HR practices in various countries. Providing the world with a deep insight into his research, MNCs are able to establish which countries will have a vast difference or resemblance in their scores in the relevant dimensions. (Lasserre, 2003, 127)Therefore, assessing which countries will be compatible or incompatible with the host country. Critical Evaluation of Hofstede’s Model Of Five Dimensions Of Culture Despite its pervasive authority, Hofstede's work has been broadly criticized. One basis is that he used the employees of a single large multinational company to characterise the cultures of various nationalities hence the exactness of the research may be questioned. Furthermore, Gerhart & Fang’s (2005, 983) re-analysis of Hofstede’s research and data reveal that people differ more even within a nation than they do across a nation, and that cultural differences are outsized between organizations than they are between countries. Secondly, Hofstede’s research data and relevant information was gathered through surveys and questionnaires which has certain levels of boundaries in regards to the questions probed. In some cultures, the viewpoint of the question asked is as imperative as its content. This is particularly factual in nations with a high level of collectivism such as China; individuals may have the propensities to respond questions as if they were addressed to the group they belong to as disparate to how they believe (Lewis, 2003, 54). Furthermore, the culture of a country may vary over time, due to internal and/or external influences as societies intermingle more recurrently and more promptly (Briscoe & Schuler, 2004, 192). A straightforward example would be a country’s leadership approach may transform from autocratic to democratic or vice versa. Hence, national cultures are constantly changing, prompting Hofstede’s research to be outdated to some extent in some cases. Hofstede's five cross-cultural dimensions offer an insight into the national culture of both the countries i.e. Australia and China. National culture is vital to consider when performing IHR activities as the efficacy of a human resource management practice hinges on the level to which it fits with the beliefs and values of people in the host country. Implementing Hofstede’s dimensions to IHRM has significantly reduced the number of problems associated with determining management and HR practices in various countries. Countries with a huge contrast in their scores in the respective dimensions confirm to be incompatible hence cultural strategies will be required to be imposed. (Adler, & Ghadar, 1990, 92) According to Schneider & Barsoux (2003, 52), these may be to ignore national culture, minimising the national culture, or utilising relevant national culture. However, Hofstede’s dimensions have been critiqued as being too widespread; small sample sized, outdated, and over simplifying intricate tasks, therefore, the framework discussed should only be used as a coarse guide to comprehending national culture. Other features such as legal and political systems, education, religion, ethics, language, and inspiration must be measured to acquire a deeper insight into national culture. When carrying out business within the Chinese culture compensation and benefits should be based on a collective theory where there are less individual incentives rather a focus on the performance of the group or work units. (Easterby, et. al 1995, 48) While Hofstede’s cross-cultural dimensions have been critiqued as being to some degree too generalised, small sample sizes, out dated, over simplifying complex tasks. Therefore, the framework discussed should only be used as a rough guide to understanding national culture. As suggested by (Drummond, et. al 2003, 211) other factors such as political and legal systems, religion, education, language, ethics, and motivation among many others must be considered to obtain a current insight into national culture. The GLOBE research on Cultural Differences in International Marketing The GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness) research is regarded as to be the biggest researches on cultural disparities. As many as 171 specialists laboured on the project with over 61 various cultures (Robert et al- 1999, 19). The culture variables were characteristically contrasted with the various cultures and an apparatus was developed in negotiation with members of the related cultures. By having focus groups this apparatus was analyzed with profound help from previous significant literatures. The theory had six extents of culture as conflicting to the five described by Hofstede. All dimensions of GLOBE theory are more or less linked with the isomorphic dimensions of communal and organizational culture. The dimensions stay constant with the inspiration that cultural differences massively affect an individual’s way of thinking. While GLOBE is not just a theory and a research program, it differs as well as identical with the Hofstede theories in many aspects. The progression and the dimensions elaborated are all in harmony and one can recount it to the dimensions in the Hofstede’s theory. For example, the Self Leadership trait can be compared with the individuality of Hofstede. While comparing this, one must not overlook though that the Hofstede theory views five dimensions of culture and the GLOBE views the dimensions of leadership quality. The GLOBE is a quick sprouting research carried out by more than 171 countries. With the participation of so many countries in the project; the program has surely met some of the vital requirements of leadership. For example the program has acknowledged 21 leadership traits and 35 other definite leader attributes that are measured contributors in some culture and obstructions in others. (Liu, 2004, 511) Both theories have illustrated culture to have assured number of dimensions. Understanding these dimensions is at the slightest level one part in understanding the whole effect of culture on organization as well as leadership. All the given five dimensions in the Hofstede theories can be correlated to the GLOBE theory. In short the GLOBE is an unmitigated adaptation of the Hofstede theory. Both theories tackle the fundamental question of how society influences the organizational shape and effectiveness. GLOBE recognises six dimensions of leadership with culturally sanctioned implicit theories Hofstede theory identifies five major dimensions that influence decision making and thus leadership. Hofstede on Segmenting and Targeting Markets Market segmentation is explained as the distribution of markets into small and more controllable units. Market segmentation is requisite in contemporary organizations to have a command over an enormous area. (Hofstede, 1983, 88) Businesses necessitate market segmentation for a variety of reasons. Customer requirements never remain similar. Therefore, there is a clear-cut need for segmenting markets based on customer needs so as to analyze the customer better which ultimately helps in selling the products better. Customers have something known as disposable income. It is the art of getting the utmost out of this disposable income to the business which eventually boosts the profits for that business. Market segmentation supports sales, but it definitely has some cultural impact also. Therefore, customers are motivated to trade-up with a specific product. Customers are common human beings. Therefore, their needs vary as per the life growth and cycle. On the other hand, businesses require conveying the accurate and suitable message to the customers. If the message is too broad there is a certain possibility that the customer might be lost and the cost of marketing towards the customer is too high and is finally whacked. Any business needs to have a reasonable hold in the market in order to maximise or optimise its profits. Through segmentation, companies and firms can cautiously examine the markets and provide a more target oriented market for customers to generate loyalty. Some also declare that segmentation is a mode for the lesser brands to compete with the big brands. The example is a distinction in culture expressed in the Middle Eastern countries and the Western countries particularly the United States. In United States, once the intention is to work hard and shake hands when the agreement is through. It is a gesture of the start of working together. In the Middle East contrarily, when the formal shake hands is done, it is an indication that solemn negotiations are just starting. Hofstede Theory is a theory applied more often for understanding cultural differences. Therefore, using this theory is advantageous in many ways to comprehend and segment markets. The theory suggests the offered five dimensions of culture. For any country, these five dimensions hold factual. Therefore, using this theory, one can segment markets by first analyzing the five dimensions and then figure out the commonalities and differences between the dimensions in the various regions of the world. For illustration, the American attitude is more of an individualistic while the Asian one is more of a collectivist. Therefore, strategies can be formulated based on these factors. One approach might be to make the customers believe they are free in the states by using a specific product. (Thomas, 2002, 99) The same product, in the light of cultural orientation, might have to be marketed using a distinctive strategy which does not highlight the independent emotion. Instead of it, this approach can trace ways to promote it in some other qualities that society is used to. The people need not be trained to converse with the customers in a ceremonial way or in a way the customers would commend. But the main dilemma the company faces is the cost. Therefore, it is outsourced to some other country where cheap labour is obtainable. In case of outsourcing from India, a formal and full-fledged training needs to be prearranged to the employees in the office in India as how to talk with American customers. Care must be taken that the employees are fully trained to speak in the accent of the customers. Not only the accent, in this case, employees are also expected to analyse the problem and not leave any stone unturned. This can be done by using some dimensions of culture as evaluated by Hofstede. For instance, the power distance dimension must be observed, acknowledged and adhered to religiously. Customer, in this context, is king mantra should be maintained and extra care must be taken not to speak to the customer in any way which the customer may consider abhorrent. Marketing Strategy of Multinational Companies and Effects of Culture From international marketing perspective, many definitions of 'marketing strategy' have been originated and developed, but a typical definition was made by Quinn (cited in John, et. al, 1997, 221) who affirms marketing strategy as: “... the pattern or plan that integrates an organisation's major goals, policies and action sequences into a cohesive whole. A well-formulated marketing strategy helps to marshal and allocate an organisation's resources into a unique and viable posture based on its relative internal competencies and shortcomings, anticipated changes in the environment and contingent moves by intelligent opponents.” (Quinn 1980: p3) According to John, Letto-Gillies, Cox and Grimwade (1997, 221), although there were several definitions about marketing strategy, most of them accentuate the same direction in which the organization is progressing, where the organization is going, where the organization is or where it should be. In fact, problems mentioned by them are the biggest nuisance and trouble maker for most global enterprises, thus marketing strategies facilitate companies to discover out how and where to expand. As Hill (2005, 89) sees the marketing strategy in international business, these days, progression of the global economy and liberalisation of investment atmosphere result in many international markets becoming tremendously competitive, in order to obtain more profit in such an international setting, a company should have a very obvious marketing strategy which cares a lot about its place. In all models of marketing strategies, international marketing strategy is a very large part and it affects other part of strategies to an international company in a certain degree. As Manu (1992, 340) has pointed out, more and more organizations get the whole world as their market with the rushing process of globalization in the past decades, the position and successful marketing strategies in various geographic market-places become a superior need for them to analyse caused by the expansion in the globalization of business and markets. All these specify that marketing strategies do have imperative influence on international enterprise's performance; therefore, an efficient marketing strategy cannot be neglected when companies plan to inflate their business. (Jeannet & Hennessey 2001, 118) All organizations are subject to mounting levels of change. In fact, every change exists in the market has the innovative feature which concerned with the atmosphere where international organizations adapt their marketing strategies, Cater (2002, 166) points out those factors namely political factors, technological factors, economic factors, legal factors, social or cultural factors, and competitive factors. It is very essential for international companies to fully comprehend these variety of factors and categorise the most important kinds of factors which may have impact the company and its consumers' affiliation when they carrying out foreign marketing strategies. Conclusion To conclude, based on where you are, who you are and to whom you are negotiating with, in the business world, organisational behaviour has to merge some or all of Hofstede's values in contemporary society. These values are frequently found in all cultures and cross cultures as not to upset one’s beliefs and/or ways of livelihood. As a business oriented society, and also as a non static society, it is unavoidable to study, study and come to understand that every individual is different and what is good for one may not be for another and what is taken for granted may not be endured in another culture business-wise or in person. Consequent upon, the recent changes in the business surroundings and the continually increasing reliance of the nations on each other regarding their products and services, and the rapid upgrading of communication and transportation systems, internationalization has become a pragmatic and essential issue that has to be viewed by contemporary business people. As global trade becomes more liberalized, firms are confronting tougher foreign rivalry in the domestic market also. They must develop the capabilities to wrestle with competitors on their own home ground, or exploit business prospects in foreign markets. In order to allow the management of the firm to make such perilous and costly decisions, a widespread and detailed study of the global market potential fundamentally has to be carried out. The world's economies can be graded as market allocation systems, command demand system, and mixed systems. A key tendency in recent years has been the change towards market economies in many countries that has been federally controlled. For many products the single most important indicator of market potential is income. The other environment that can affect the global environment is cultural and social environment. Different cultural environments can also wield important influence on the industrial marketing around the globe. Global marketers must identify the influence of culture on all facets of life including work behaviours and consumption of products. Consumer products are more insightful to the difference in culture than are industrial products. Hunger is the basic need in every culture; since everyone needs to eat, but what the person wishes to eat can be powerfully influenced by the culture. Thirst also transpires how needs differ from wants. All persons are in need of liquid when they are thirsty. There are countless cross cultural intricacies which happen while going global. For example, the business dealing between two parties of different cultures have to encounter some or the other hitch. Parties from different countries having different cultures may have some difficulty while settling on the contract terms on account of variances and clashes in the laws governing their respective activities. However, global marketing activity also significantly influences the culture of the society. The internet and the global television have altered how and what people discover about the products. Electronics industry has modified the entertainment patterns; garments manufacturers have amended styles and so on. Politics, in international marketing, is also an indispensable part of culture. The political environment also differs from country to country and the risk assessment is decisive. Political risk is the risk of change in government itself or the government policies that would harmfully influence the organization's capacity to perform successfully and profitability- that can put off a company from investing overseas. (Heijes, 2007, 97) When the level of political risk is of lower degree, a country is more probably to attract investments. As a result, it becomes essential to be aware of a particular government's policies and actions as regards to taxes, intensity of equity control and expropriation. Consequently, it becomes inevitable and crucial for a marketer to minutely examine and study all the aspects of cultures of the countries targeted in international marketing. Various risks implicated such as economic risk and political risk have to be methodically studied in order to shun them. Psychographic segmentation, yet another sideline perspective, involves categorising people according to their values, attitudes, and lifestyles. Psychographic segmentation targets to extend more precise profile of the target market than the mere Demographic segmentation. The information can be gathered through set Likert Scale Questionnaires which demand respondent to express the degree to which they agree or disagree with the succession of statements. Behavioural segmentation reveals the rationale why people purchase a product or service. Behaviour segmentation spotlights on whether people buy and use a specific product, as well as how frequently and how much they use those products. Culture also affects to some or large extent in distribution issues which include order processing, inventory management, warehousing, and means of transportation. Channel decisions are hard to supervise globally because of variation in channel configurations from country to country. Managers around the globe bring their own national and cultural values to their jobs. For instance; the Japanese see their work as the axis of their lives. They are faithful to their companies they work for and think professionally to stay with one company throughout their working lives. Once a company is determined to flourish its business globally, they, on the primarily base, will decide as how it wishes to enter. In addition to it, some entry strategies necessitate a sizeable amount of preliminary investment and consequences cannot be realised until much later. As a result, companies are very vigilant in finding exact amount of commitment shared with the imminent results and sort of market they want to enter. There are some choices from which, they can opt to enter into the international markets. But, whatever these may be, culture definitely exercises its impact and effect on international marketing strategy. References Adler, N. & Ghadar, F. (1990). Strategic Human Resource Management: a global perspective. Human Resource Management: An International Comparison, Berlin, W De Gruyter. 92 Briscoe, D. & Schuler, R. 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