Importance of Culture in International Business

Importance of Culture in International Business

Introduction

Today, global business world has transformed into a multicultural community. International business may be interfering by various cultural differences. In order to mitigate and avoid the cultural and business misunderstandings, the need for the cultural sensitivity and awareness has become even more important. It has been observed that the organizations failed in understanding the diversity perspective and the cultural difference in the international business usually failed or came across catastrophic or sometimes comical business consequences.

Discussion

The essay discusses the various perspectives related to cultural differences in the international business, its importance and the consequences that an international business can come across in case of cultural misunderstandings.

Culture

Culture can be defined as the characteristics of people in a specific group that are defined in reference to their religion, language, ethnicity, social practices, learning behaviors, customs, traditions, rites and rituals, festivals and cuisines( Baack, Baack, 2002) or it is the way or the lens with which different people perceive different situation. It is also defined as an integrated system of the learned and cultured behavior patterns which are the attributes of the people belong to a community, society, geographically bounded area, country or a nation which are not specifically the product of the biological legacy and inheritance (Hoebel, 1966).

Importance & Impact of Culture on International Business

The study of the cultural differences and of culture itself is a very important constituent of international business both in terms of understanding and developing a new or an existing business at a new geographical location. The reason is very clear, culture of a country, nations or region may affect the operations and business activities at a particular place. Many researchers acknowledge the contribution of the cultural factor as a psychic remoteness and the uncertainty level present in the ...