Cultural Differences in Business

Cultural Differences in Business

Cultural Differences in Business

Introduction

The advances in information and technology have not only made the world a better and easier place to live, but have also minimized the distances and have turned the world in a global village. There is not much difference left between the next door neighbor and the people living thousands of miles away, as one can keep in touch with both and can see each of them at regular intervals, thanks to the development in technology. It is eminent to mention here that technology has affected general life and business dealings with equal amplitude, and major changes have occurred in the basic process of both the parts of life. On one hand, the life style and preferences of individuals have changed, and on the other, globalization has taken the businesses all over the world under its wake and now they have taken shape that never existed before.

Discussion

Globalization mainly implies that nothing is now confined to a particle place or area: all the goods, products, services as well as business are now going global and a large number of firms have adopted the international approach, thus reaching all the parts of the world with the same brand name. The process has been mainly facilitated by the advancements in IT. After the rapid advancements in IT, which occurred in the last century, competition between the organizations increased rapidly and in order to survive in such competing and tough environment, the organizations had to adopt an international approach and expand their business around the globe. As a result, several international brands emerged, ranging from clothing brands to foods and bans, all following the same trend. The trend of going international is both the cause and effect of globalization: the international brands are preferred because people now adopting the same lifestyle, no matter which part of the world they belong, and vice versa.

However, it is eminent to mention here despite offering a number benefits, globalization and IT advancements are causing a few difficulties and problems for the organizations, and they are unable to overcome certain barriers which are limiting the further growth of businesses (Moran, Harris and Moran , 2010, Pp: 496). The first and the foremost among these issues is the cultural difference, which exists between the various parts of the worlds and has to be especially considered before moving to that particular part of the world. The following paragraphs would highlight the major issues caused by the cultural differences and would also present ways in which they have been overcome by some of the most successful brands in the world:

Challenges faced by IT developed culturally diverse supply chains

It is a well known fact that the cultural values, norms and attitudes are different in different parts of the world; in fact these are the differences that make one nation different from the other. For instance, the culture and values in western part of the world differ great from the values in eastern part of ...