Business customs in global marketing

Mr. Cesar Augusto Díaz Moya

Willingness to adapt……a crucial attitude

Dealing with foreign individuals, firms, and authorities:•Tolerance Flexibility•Humility Fairness•Tempos Adjustment Curiosity /interest•Knowledge of the country Liking for others•Respect commanding Oneself integration

Degree of adaptation

• Brazilians touch while speaking

• Addressing germans as «Herr, Frau, Fraulien»

• Chinesse can´t «loose face»

So what to do???? Differences have to be assessed.

«adhered or ignored»

IMPERATIVES, ADIAPHORA AND EXCLUSIVES

• Guan-xi stablisment before doing business.

• Not to lose face in most asian countries (raise voice, correct others, lose patience)

Imperative to avoid somewhere - imperative to do in somewherelse (Eye contact in Japan, L.A.)

Cultural Imperatives

May wish to participate in but not required. (Food and Beverages, greetings)

Symbolic attempts to demostrate cultural awereness

Drinking or not drinking???? Imperative or adiaphora

Cheers in Czech republic and China, Arabeans coffee sip.

Cultural Adiaphoras

«I´ll curse my brother, but if you curse him , you´ll have fight»

Christians attempting to act like Muslims

Marketers need to be perceptive to identify the situation.Cultural awared allowances give chances but…..

“fewer missteps better the business relation”

Cultural exclusives

Methods of doing businessStructures, Management attitudes and Behaviors differ!!!

•Contact level •Comunication emphasis •Tempo •Formality •Government Involvement•Ethics

• Countries are divided into:• Low PDI (Denmark –Israel) and High PDI (Mexico Malaysia)• Depending on the context these aspects vary: (Top level • management decisions, descentralization, committee group • decisions) Ej. France, Venezuela, USA, Japan

2. Management objectives and aspirations:

Understanding individual’s objectives and aspirations results in understanding his management style.

2. Management objectives and aspirations:

Personal Goals: Wages, Profits, Good life, Security, Acceptance, Status, Advancement.

Security and Mobility: Security concept varies Wages-Trainning-Mobility/Lifetimepositions/RetirementPlans (Brittish Vs French Managers)

Personal Life: for Greeks job is an obstacle, for americans job is the key, for japanese job is the most important.

Social Acceptance: for asians it is refelected in DMP, Japanese workers name their company rather than their position.

Power: Some leader are not only profit oriented they also prefer becoming social and political leaders.

3. Communication Emphasis

«Even a good interpreter doesn´t solve the language problems»• Ambiguity of languages Eg. Japanese perfect comunication only 85%

of time.• Translation & interpretation get complicated because of slangs (The

man: the law) (grub, slop, garbage, gas: food)• Low context countries (explicit verbally expressed messages)• High context countries (non verbal aspects)• Eg. «I Agree» means 15% agreement, it might be, not a chance!

Contexts are directly related with IDV and PDI

4. Formality and Tempo

“At a cocktail party or a dinner, Americans are still on duty”“Arabs don´t like neither to be rushed nor deadlines”Flying Visits or «I´ve got a day here» approach may be rude

P-Time v/s M-Time •Time is money or Time is to be savored not spend•P Time: One thing at the moment - Small Units – Promptness•M Time: More flexible on defining late or early. Many things at once, looser schedules, deeper involvement with people.

5. Negotiation EmphasisNegotiation approach and attitude

6. Gender BiasSending or not women to do business????International assignments are more common nowadaysIn most countries women are treated first as foreigners

7. Business EthicsEthical standards are not well defined or always clearValue judgements vary from country to countrySobornation, Extortion and Lubrication Practices

There are agreement s against corruption!!!! OAS, TI (Transparency International) created the corruption perception Index (CPI). FCPA (Foreigns Corrupt Practices Act).

Challenges of ethics!!!!!!

• Not breaking the law• Harming the environment• Denying someone´s rights• Taking unfair advantage • Bodily harm or damage.

But………..Marketer has to respond to to sundry situations such as:Lack of laws, local practices condone certain situations, company willing to do

«what is necessary» is favored.

Being socially responsible and ethically correct is not a simple task!!!!!!!!!

And…. where do difficulties arise?????5 Areas of operations:1.Employment practices and policies2.Consumer protection3.Environmental protection4.Political payments and involvement in political affairs5.Basic human rights and fundamental freedoms

So…. What is right or wrong????????Principles: Utilitarian ethics: Does the action optimize the «common good» of all constituencies?Rights of the parties: Does the action respect the rights of the individuals involved?Justice or fairness: Does the action respect the cannons of justice or fairness to all parties involved