Assess how national culture impacts on the international business environment, giving examples - Essay Example

Trans-national companies like Sony, General Motors, carry a distinct identity of the culture they first operated in despite now having worldwide operations. Quite simply speaking the culture is studied as synonym of culture. We often come across terms like the Japanese culture, the British culture, the Australian culture, or Russian culture. The countries, like Canada, US, UK, and India with many different racial, religious, or regional cultures are called multi-cultural countries. Yet many countries located in a specific geographical area can be bound by the thread of a common culture.

For example, the Caribbean countries like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua can be referred to as having a common culture. It is very important to describe the word ‘culture’ as it is construed in the context of business management. Some of the definitions offer interesting insights into the importance; the ‘national culture’ has for business leaders, professionals, management gurus and academics. Culture is variously defined (cited by Fougere, 2007) as ‘that complex whole, which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society (Tylor); the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes the members of one human group of another (Hofstede); a system of values and norms that are shared among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a design for living (Hill).

Thus culture is defined as summation of beliefs and capabilities (Tylor), a collective programming of mind (Hofstede) and a plan for life (Hill) (Cited by Fougere, 2007). The cultural norms thus embodied in the collective consciousness of a people are adopted in daily life in a matter of fact way. These come to be reflected in the work ethos of the business entities. Howsoever, different definitions culture are, there is unanimity of opinion in