Business culture and economic development in Costa Rica

Costa Rica

When most people think of Costa Rica, they will often associate it with a tropical resort on the beach or in the mountains. This is because the country has been focused on creating a strong image through promoting itself to tourists and large corporations. ("Costa Rica," 2012) The combination of these factors has improved the standard living and land ownership. To fully understand the business traditions and customs of the nation requires looking at a number of factors. To include: the differences in culture globally, the complexities of global finance / accounting, the economics of global business, how this relates to Matthew 28:19, the internal business / cultural perspectives, cross cultural management and the marketing differences among various cultures. Together, these elements will provide the greatest insights as to why Costa Rica has become so popular.

The Difference in Cultures Globally

Costa Rica is founded upon Spanish traditions and customs. This is because the country was colony of Spain until it declared independence in 1812. Throughout its history, the nation has been mainly peaceful with a traditional focus on agricultural-based products (i.e. bananas, pineapples, melons, coffee, sugar, rice and corn just to name a few). After dissolving the military in 1949, is when there was an emphasis on promoting tourism and industrialization. This helped to diversify the economy away from an agricultural base, to one that is focused on manufacturing and services. This improved the standard of living and it created a situation where most people enjoyed tremendous amounts of economic prosperity. ("Costa Rica," 2012)

During this process, is when Costa Rica began to address the differences culturally by: accepting and practicing the most common global customs. At the same time, they integrated select elements of their culture into business traditions. This created rituals that were bringing many philosophies into focus. Once this occurred, is when these ideas became a part the practices that were embraced by Costa Ricans on a regular basis. This is because, attracting a variety of businesses meant being open to new ideas. As a result, Costa Rica has become a combination of cultures to include: mestizo, Spanish, American, Caribbean, Chinese, African and Amerindian. These groups helped to create an atmosphere of understanding cultural difference and accepting them. ("Costa Rica," 2012)

The complexities of global finance and accounting

The complexities of global finance and accounting reveal that Costa Rica needs to embrace International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) principles. These are basic provisions that are being implemented around the world to create one universal standard for accounting. If Costa Rica can begin implementing these practices, they will be able to attract more businesses. This is because the use of these standards gives investors and foreign-based corporations added amounts of confidence. This will cause the total number of employers located in the country to increase (leading to lower levels of unemployment). ("Information for Observers," 2005)

The Economic of Global Business

The economics of global business are an emphasis on reducing the costs associated with producing the final product or services. Costa Rica is attractive to investors based on the stable political climate and highly educated workforce (with the average education level at 12 years). Over the course of time, this has helped to encourage high tech industries (such as IT) to relocate to the region. However, remittances from abroad are only 2% of the total amount of annual income. As a result, most of the labor force will have immigrants from Nicaragua working in many unskilled jobs. Moreover, Costa Rica is a signatory of U.S. Central American -- Dominican Free Trade Agreement. The combination of these factors is showing how the country has focused on becoming a part of the global community by accepting these ideas and practices. ("Costa Rica," 2012)

How Matthew 28:19 can be accomplished through Global Business (Christian view)

Matthew 28:19 says, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." ("Matthew 28:19," 2012) This means that everyone should introduce other countries and cultures to the ideas of Christianity. Costa Rica is accomplishing these objectives by showing how they were once a colony of Spain and Roman Catholic. Yet, despite these issues they have one of the highest standards of living in all Central America. At the same time, their focus on being very friendly to businesses shows how the country is stable. The combination of these factors are illustrating how Costa Rica is setting this example by: being open minded, forward thinking and embracing ideals that are other nations have not (i.e. The disbanding of the military). ("Costa Rica," 2012)

Does this provide a better understand of International Business?

The kind of perspective that is taken by Costa Rican officials is providing a better understanding of international business. The way that that this is taking place, is with their attitudes of openness and flexibility (which are embracing those ideas that support globalization). This makes the country very attractive to investors and foreign-based businesses. As a result, more firms relocating to the region in an effort to reduce costs and improve productivity. ("Costa Rica," 2012)

Does this provide a better understand an International Culture?

The approach that is taken by Costa Rica is providing a better understanding of international culture. This is because they are not focusing on self-centered views in working with: other organizations, countries and businesses. When this occurs, many affluent business owners and investors will feel comfortable in working with Cost Rican officials. Once they visit the country and find similar attitudes; is when they will think seriously about establishing operations in the region. From a cultural perspective, this makes the country a melting pot of various ideas and traditions. This is important in showing, how the attitude of openness is what helped to provide a better understanding of international culture (leading to more popularity among different nationalities and ethnic groups). ("Costa Rica," 2012)

How Marketing differs across Cultures?

The way that marketing will be different between cultures is to embrace specific attributes that are most important to society. In the case of Costa Rica, they were able to use these areas to show how they embrace many of the same kind of practices as other countries. This helped them to be seen in a favorable light, leading to increased amounts of: tourism, retirees and more firms relocating to the area. ("Costa Rica," 2012)

For example, one of the big ideas in Costa Rica is stability. This is something that is of tremendous pride to the people. This idea was used in many different cultures, to show how the country is not the same as others in the area. Instead, they do not want to see violence and instability. Their focus was on using the resources of the country, to improve the lives of citizens and create an environment that is peaceful. ("Costa Rica," 2012)

These ideas of tranquility and prosperity resonated, with many individuals inside a host of countries around the globe. Over the course of time, this helped to encourage more visitors to Costa Rica. This is when a number of businesses and individuals realized that they liked the nation's cultural traditions. This is showing how marketing involves taking favorable attributes, to create a common foundation of understanding. It is at this point that the cultural differences are slowly addressed (leading to a change in perceptions). ("Costa Rica," 2012)