Cross Cultural Business Conducting Cross-Cultural Business Three

Cross Cultural Business

Conducting Cross-Cultural Business

Three Cross-Cultural Differences:

Certainly, among the most critical differences that must be accounted for before one begins practicing business in Asia is that regarding the way that people interact. In many ways, Western and Eastern culture stem from very different perceptions of the self and, consequently, how individuals should be expected to conduct themselves in interaction with one another. Indeed, Anbari (2008) et al. highlight this issue, indicating that "two main cultural differences have been identified. Hofstede distinguishes between individualism and collectivism. Trompenaars breaks down this distinction into two dimensions: universalism vs. particularism and individualism vs. communitarianism." (p. 2)

As we most certainly know from experience, the United States is a culture, both professionally and socially, where individuality is stressed. By contrast, in a general sense and throughout its business culture, Asia tends more toward collectivism or communitarianism. This influences how individuals express themselves in business settings, often with more humility than we might in the United States.

This also contributes to a second major difference, which is the higher tendency toward team affiliation in Asian cultures than in American business settings. For instance, an article by Kolesnikov-Jessop (2012) indicates, "in Japan, typically they want team quotas, they want to be rewarded as a team, they want to be considered as a team and spoken to as a team, and if one guy takes the fall, the team takes the fall." (p. 1) The manager learning how to preside over personnel in this new setting must learn how to address the efforts of personnel as teams and to promote rewards and critique within this established framework of collaboration.

Another difference that emerges in our literature is recognition of the more hierarchical nature of organizations in Asia. Often, there is a more straightforward top-down chain of command Asian cultures. The American businessperson must learn how to navigate this hierarchy and to interact with others according to this order.

Product:

In terms of product development, one of the key distinctions between American and Asian business cultures is the demand for quick vs. long-term gains. American business culture is substantially driven by the concept of high-risk, high-reward and short-term gain. This differs from the product development strategy in many Asian business contexts, where innovation is drawn out gradually but with positive long-term results. According to the text by Anbari et al., "Long-term vs. short-term orientation refers to the extent to which a culture programs its members to accept delayed gratification of their material, social, and emotional needs. Hofstede's research shows country scores on a Long-term Orientation Index (LTO) for 23 countries. East Asian countries (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea) scored highest." (p. 4)

Price:

The determination of price is not necessarily culturally-loaded so much as it is determined by the cost of production and the market demand for a given product. Learning how to accommodate local price demands will be largely a function of coming to understand the dynamics of a new set of local and national economies.

Promotion:

Promotion is a dimension of marketing that is highly culturally dependent. One bit of counsel provided in the article by Kolesnikov-Jessop is that one must choose employees not according to that with which one is culturally comfortable but according to that which most benefits a company. In this case, employing a marketing firm directly steeped in the host culture is the appropriate approach.

Place:

Place is a critical issue to consider, especially for one who is an outsider to the host culture. This is because a great many geographical and cultural nuances may otherwise be overlooked. An American businessman speaking on his experiences managing in China helps to explain this issue in the article by Kolesnikove-Jessop. According to the interviewee, "there are cultural differences within China. In Shanghai, the culture is more much open and commercial; in Beijing, it is much more regimented. It's not one China; there are differences. Customers work differently and employees work differently." (Kolesnikov-Jessop, p. 1)