Introduction
A Multinational Enterprise is considered to be a marketing company that has manufacturing capacity in different countries all over the world. They usually invest in different countries or sell their products and services there the reason behind this is the local regulation and also there can be various benefits like cost minimization and facilitate marketing in that region. In the current business world different multinational enterprises are investing in different countries.
Culture is very important measure of a society’s efficiency and effectiveness and its consideration is an important element in any business. Nowadays multinational enterprises operate on the world market using their own cultural differences and the style of working. Truly saying, the cultural issues of each of multinational company depends on the market where it operates or the products or services that it sells. Some services and products create issues that deal directly with a specific countries culture, like serving pork ribs in India or selling bible’s in Iran. A common cultural issue that every company has to face is dealing with the foreign countries government, laws, and regulations.
Cultural Differences
One of the most memorable cultural miscalculations in recent memory happened during the first few minutes of President Richard M. Nixon’s visit to Brazil. After landing in Brazil, for whatever reason, Dick decided to express his pleasure with the “A-Okay” hand sign. One can only assume that the leader of the free-world did not intend to “flip-off” or give “the bird” to a friendly nation, but that’s exactly what his gesture meant in Brazil. Perhaps the Brazilian people understood its other meaning in the United States, realizing that Nixon didn’t know better, but it certainly left a negative impression, and it was a BIG deal. (Wade, 2004) Cultural differences need to be considered in international business just the same as politics.
Cross-Cultural Communications
One of the key changes this has triggered is the need to communicate effectively with different people in different languages and from different cultures. It is now recognized that linguistic and cultural knowledge are two of the most vital areas of knowledge that organizations must come to acquire if they are to integrate, progress and succeed in the marketplace. Cross-cultural communication is a must. (Wade, 2004)
Business Cultural Miscalculations
Domino’s Pizza was unable to succeed in the Italy. According to a company spokesperson, their sauce was too bold and their toppings too heavy for Italian pallets. Furthermore, in Iceland, Dominoes was forced to make changes to their “cookie-cutter” business model by extending store hours. This was necessary to survive because Icelanders prefer to stay up late, and consequently, expect restaurants to be open late. (Gibson, 2006) Subway fast-food chain is another company that learned valuable lessons about cultural awareness. Their Director of International Operations was once quoted as saying “while we want (our partners) to be really aggressive and believe in the brand, we don’t want them to reinvent it.” (Gibson, 2006)
Conclusion
During analysing all positive and negative features of cultural differences as well as …