Doing Business Abroad Essay

Companies around the world are expanding in order to meet a larger market. However, this is no easy task even for people who have been doing business for decades for there is always this thing called cultural diversity. This thing is put into consideration not only of companies and managers that establish businesses in other countries but also of those who engage into joint ventures and alliances. Setting a company globally requires not only good managers but thorough study as well. A market research would be very helpful especially to determine the needs and wants of the people in the locality. A bunch of factors affect the preference of people like religion, beliefs and environment. Should the product be modified to fit the desires of the people? For instance, burgers with beef patty are modified in order to be accepted and sold in Hindu-dominated countries. There are also cross-cultural trainings for managers that would be sent abroad. These are usually conducted by business schools with the aim of providing global managers who have the ability to cope with different challenges that they may encounter, especially those that are brought about by diversity in culture. However, as much as these trainings would help, they are not yet enough to suffice for the thorough understanding and settlement of cultural differences that might yield success to a business that spread its wings. Problems still remain due to this cultural diversity. Even with the repute of English in conducting business globally, language remains a problem. Language, as defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is words with their pronunciation and the methods of combining them to be used and understood by a community. Words are not enough. Pronunciation and accent are essential, and at this part is where problem usually occurs. As Edward Burman cited in his article entitled Managing Cultural Diversity in a Global World, linguistic confidence can be perceived as quasi-colonial arrogance and this may eventually lead to conflicts. Similarly, jokes and stories which are essential in building harmonious relationship among workers are affected, not just because of the way they were delivered but more importantly by the context that they were formulated. Some humorous acts might be insulting to others, which again might lead to discord. Another problem that may arise due to cultural diversity is the way the human resource personnel determines the appropriate candidate for a job. Whether be it an expatriate or a native of the location of the headquarter, the measure to the achievements of an applicant varies from the school where he acquired his degree and skill to the society where he belong. These qualities may not be well-reflected in his application forms or the result of his examination or interview. Although it may be known to the resource manager that different cultures respond differently to various situations, the challenge is still to determine the best person whose culture and skill perfectly fits the job. Also, developing the trust with people from other culture opens another difficulty especially if a company will merge or ally with a local company of other country. Research can be done to be able to identify possible reasons to trust but it remains a thorny job for the managers in the negotiation table. Everything will matter, from the physical appearance to the gestures. Aside from these problems cited by Edward Burman, the way to designate a manager to a place is something to be thoroughly thought of. According to an interview with Robert J. Freeman, Americans are a bit resistant to exotic destinations. The question then is how these Americans would be assigned to a location beyond his desire. Or since there are expatriates of more than sixty nationalities, which should be chosen and what type of compromise would the company give to convince the manager. Nevertheless, these problems can be addressed if global managers have several skills as discussed by Josephine Song in her article Transcending Borders. The first is technical skills. Aside from the field that he is expected to master in order to efficiently perform his task, he must also be able to utilize the means that globalization brings for the betterment of doing things. He must be able to maximize opportunities and resources that might be useful for the accomplishment of his job. Likewise, he must also have good communication skills which comprise not only of knowledge of words but their proper pronunciation and usage as well, most especially English which is the basic medium for conducting business globally. Communication is not only via speaking, but also via reading, writing or listening. More importantly, global managers must take caution in their words and actions so that misunderstandings would be avoided. They must also be innovative and resourceful to improve their businesses according to the locality. With increase in expatriates all over the globe, I think it would be unfair to say that they or the locals could better cope with the changes. They might have an advantage with regards to having dealt with different cultures already that they might not find it anymore difficult to relate with another set of people. Their presence in the top management could also bring global perspective. But, their knowledge of the culture of the country where the company is located might be very limited as compared to the locals. Yes, they may be able to learn and adapt but still, the culture instilled in them would always be a part of them and their decisions and reservations. I think, it would be better to have a mix of expatriate and local managers in a global business for as Burman concluded, management remains culture-bound, be it local or expatriate.