Cross cultural differences in business processes

When an organization operates in several countries or globally, they inevitably come into contact with people from another cultural cluster (Janita, & Boonstra, 2022). Basically, three groups can be distinguished, for which cultural clusters and the cultural dimensions manifested in them are very important. Firstly, organizations deal with employees of the same organization or group of companies who work in different countries (Kim & Markman, 2006), secondly – deal with business partners, which means employees of other companies located in other countries, and thirdly – interact with customers or consumers who are in other countries (Shavitt & Barnes, 2019).

If the organization has chosen export as the main way of doing international business, then the main focus to solve multicultural challenges is on customers in other countries (Kogut & Singh, 1998). A fully standardized product can be exported in few industries. Computers, the pharmaceutical industry, and software may be standardized, but for those who work in food and clothing industries, the cultural differences and cultural dimensions of the export markets begin to have a significant impact. The same applies to franchising and licensing business models. A cheeseburger can vary greatly if it is sold in the US, European or Asian markets due to different flavors. In the US it is common to consume more added sugar than in Europe, and in Asia the food is much spicier with more spices, so completely standardizing a product to serve a global market may not be possible. Tastes, the perception of beauty, does not belong to cultural dimensions, but rather reflect local traditions and customs, but it is very important to consider this (Zhou & Zhou, 2022). A famous soft drink advertisement shows three pictures, a thirsty man lying in the desert on the left, a man drinking a soft drink in the middle, and a man running on the right. Such an advertisement was supposed to imply the idea that a person weakened by thirst, after drinking a drink, will be able to regain strength and run. However, this ad was shown in Arab countries, where the writing is not left to right, but right to left. The potential customers of that country read this ad the other way around – the running man gets drunk and falls to the ground to lie down. This comical situation illustrates how important it is to know the specifics of the country to which an organization intends to sell and advertise the goods.

The products that intended to sell in international markets must met the specific requirements of that particular country (Sharma, 2011). For example, an office furniture manufacturer who intends to sell his furniture in a country with a very large power distance and a highly valued hierarchy, it should pay attention to the design and materials of the executive furniture, so that the executive’s and ordinary office worker’s furniture set will be significantly different. These differences may be negligible or even non-existent if the intention is to sell it in an egalitarian country where equality between colleagues is highly valued and any display of hierarchy is avoided. It is impossible to describe all situations and all industries, but this example well illustrates how in each industry it is worth considering the product concept and design additionally, considering and analyzing each export market country’s affiliation to a cultural cluster and the manifestation of the prevailing cultural dimensions there.

The cultural dimensions described by Hofstede, Hall, Trompenaars, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck play a significantly greater role in other forms of international business – alliances, foreign investments, i.e. when people have to communicate, be it within the organization or with employees of other companies (Steers, et al. 2023). Cultural dimensions have the greatest influence on such internal business processes as employee selection, the motivation and compensation systems, the content of employee work instructions, the formation of organizational structures, the use of work control mechanisms, the assignation and specification of tasks, the delegation of authorities. Among the external business processes that are majorly influenced by cultural dimensions are the submission of commercial proposals, negotiations, daily communication and exchange of information, business meetings (Ulijn et al., 2000).

At the planning stage of the business’s international development, it is crucial to find out the cultural dimensions and preferences of the country in which the business is to be established (Shenkar et al., 2020). Cultural dimensions are as important as economic, legal and political criteria. Chapter 10 explains in detail the company’s internal business processes, for which cultural clusters and cultural dimensions are important. The external organizational environment – the relationship with business partners, negotiations, structures of inter-organizational cooperation, traditions of relations between companies of the same group, is thoroughly examined in Chapter 11.

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