StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

International Business Practices - cultural differences - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Being aware of cultural differences is vital for the sales managers. Each country has its own peculiarities regarding the way business is conducted and potential sales negotiated. South Africa, United Kingdom and Australia have completely different business practices and to ensure the successful cooperation sales manager should pay close attention to them…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.6% of users find it useful
International Business Practices - cultural differences
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "International Business Practices - cultural differences"

Being aware of cultural differences is vital for the sales managers. Each country has its own peculiarities regarding the way business is conducted and potential sales negotiated. South Africa, United Kingdom and Australia have completely different business practices and to ensure the successful cooperation sales manager should pay close attention to them. In Australia for example, business people are very enthusiastic in conversations and debates and prefer to discuss issues during face-to-face meeting rather than on the phone (Australia Business Etiquette, 2003).

The sales manager should be ready to discuss such distant to business topics as religion and politics. The best method is to wait until Australian partner brings these subjects and not to be afraid to express the opinion even if it completely different. Similar to Australians, South African partners might discuss social issues as well, including race policies. The concept of political correctness is very important - it is acceptable to talk about race without imposing the personal views. Interestingly, South African business partners tend to talk about anything except for business.

For example, the common interest in sports can solidify the personal side of the business relations (South Africa Business Etiquette, 2003). If the sales manager expresses the desire to see a cricket match or any other national sport, the further business communication will much improve and be beneficial for both sides. Knowledge of this business ethics can help the PM company to do business more effectively in South Africa. The culture in Britain is very unlike to Australia and South Africa.

British partner will never discuss social issues or common sports interests with the stranger. British are more reserved and value personal distance in business relations (United Kingdom Business Etiquette, 2003). Therefore, if the sales manager is pressing the opinion too much and asks the questions that are not directly related to business, the potential partnership with British representative will become impossible. Taking Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions for the basis, it is worth to note that U.K. business relations can be described with the following principles: power distance index and individualism.

The sales manager has to develop the plan on how to interest the potential partner. Of course, similar plans have to be developed for all target markets, but the most thorough should be created for U.K. - British will not give the second opportunity to approach them if the first trial has failed and they did not become interested in the product. Australians are best described with the long-term orientation dimensions. From the first minutes of conversation it is necessary to ensure the potential partners that the primary goal is long-term trustworthy relations, otherwise, the approach will fail.

South African style of business is based on masculinity and uncertainty avoidance index. The social differences between men and women are almost eliminated, however, the American sales manager should expect male partner from South Africa. The South African society reinforces the traditional masculine work role model for control and power and would prefer to cooperate with the male representative in business matters. As it was already mentioned, the race issue is of extreme importance to South African people and they will not tolerate the uncertainty on this issue - the American sales manager should be ready to face the question regarding his opinion on racial disparities.

In conclusion, the cultures of South Africa, Australia and United Kingdom are very different, but some of the global principles are applicable in every country. For example, the sales manager at his first contact to the different country representative should be open in expressing the opinion and answering the questions honestly. British business relations are highly official and only business-related topics should be raised. Unlike British, South Africans and Australians shift the personal interests and attitudes into business matters.

Thus, the managerial style of the international sales manager should be very flexible to meet the expectations of the business representatives of each country. British partners will appreciate focus on business issues and official relations. South Africans expect open face-to-face conversation with the discussion of non-related to business topics. Australians do not tolerate boastful behavior and prefer making judgments on their own. Following of these simple rules will help to develop long-term relations beneficial for all sides involved.

ReferencesAustralia Business Etiquette. (2003). Conversation: General Guidelines. Retrieved June 8, 2006, from http://www.executiveplanet.com/business-culture-in/132339472150.htmlSouth Africa Business Etiquette. (2002). Conversation: welcome topics of conversation. Retrieved June 8, 2006, from http://www.executiveplanet.com/business-culture-in/132447984443.htmlUnited Kingdom Business Etiquette. (2004). Conversation: General Guidelines. Retrieved June 8, 2006, from http://www.executiveplanet.

com/business-culture-in/141363772937.html

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“International Business Practices - cultural differences Essay”, n.d.)
International Business Practices - cultural differences Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1526391-international-business-practices-cultural-differences
(International Business Practices - Cultural Differences Essay)
International Business Practices - Cultural Differences Essay. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1526391-international-business-practices-cultural-differences.
“International Business Practices - Cultural Differences Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1526391-international-business-practices-cultural-differences.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF International Business Practices - cultural differences

Relationship between Organizational Culture, Leadership Behaviour and Job Satisfaction

cultural differences and People Management Table of Contents Approaches to Research 3 A Glimpse of Chinese Culture 6 Relationship between Culture and Leadership 7 Management Development and Cultural Difference 10 The lecturer's brief introduction, upon the module concerning cultural differences and people management, strongly motivated me to follow and indulge into my present and future career prospects gaining a deep understanding regarding my cultural background....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

CULTURAL VARIATION ACROSS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

Business and Cultural Differences between the UK and China

Business and cultural differences between UK and China Table of Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 cultural differences between United Kingdom and China 3 2.... Uncertainty Avoidance 6 3 Issues which might arise as a consequence of cultural differences for the managers of Marketing and Human Resources department 7 4 Recommendations on how to successfully deal with any potential issues 10 5 Reference: 11 6 Bibliography: 11 1 Introduction Culture may be defined as the behaviours and beliefs of the people which are passed from one generation to the next generation....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Cross Culture Management: An Impact of Academic Literature on National Culture

hellip; The differences of natural culture are vital; along with it impacts on the expansion of company, industry as well as economy.... There are differences between national culture and organisational culture.... Appendix 1 shows different dissimilarities in the relative significance of cultural diversity and subsequently, equally dissimilar difference in the most suitable methods for handling people around the world (Adler & Gundersen, 2008)....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Growth and Development of International Trade

This is influenced by the MNCs approach to managing cross-cultural differences that arises in the international context (Tabrizi, Ali & Safar, 2012).... However, the expansion into the international business environment has presented a major challenge to multinational in developing more flexible and effective human resources practices that suit cross-cultural settings (Claus, 2008).... hellip; Different countries and regions have differing cultural and traditional practices that affect significantly how they conduct business and relate with people....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Influence Of Cultural Differences On HRM Practices

The paper "Influence Of cultural differences On HRM Practices" explores the impacts of cultural differences on HRM practices of organizations and the rationale behind such effects.... hellip; The research aimed at examining the effects of differences among managers' and workforce's assumptions about the socio-cultural environment of the organizations on HRM practices.... The findings of the research indicated that differences among cultures of different countries are well-reflected in their policies and procedure....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Managing Challenges of Cross Cultural Differences in International Business

The paper comprises and thus will discuss the following main sections: Overview of National Culture & Cross cultural differences; Overview of the Countries in Context; Analysis of Cross Cultural Similarities & Differences; Main Differences in Management Styles; Recomendations.... Overview of National Culture & Cross cultural differences ... While there are various models and theories, which attempts to explain cross cultural differences, some well established explanations of national culture can be found in Fons Trompenaar & Charles Hampden-Turner's model of Seven Dimensions of Culture; Geert Hofstede's Indices of Work Related Values and The theory of Silent Languages of Culture proposed by Hall....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

Cross Cultural Awareness for Business

Based on this overview, this essay will delve into the emic approach in understanding and managing people in the workplace that have cultural differences by referring to the works of two writers.... The paper "Cross-cultural Awareness for Business" discusses that Chinese locals believe in a form of hierarchy in which their most senior individual has authority, meaning that they can only listen to the one that they consider superior and also they only allow this person to speak on their behalf....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us