In a pleasant session on a sunny Southern California afternoon, I sat with
my group of International Marketing students contemplating on the things one
should be wary of before accessing another culture. Yes, it may be
predominantly the international marketing department of a globally operating
giant that will use this information, but any person who plans to travel to
another part of the world, whether for leisurely or work-related reasons,
should know about these issues as well. In fact you should be informed about
the basics of cultural differences, even if you have no intentions at all to
lift yourself out of your familiar environment in order to start exploring
the great unknown. Remember: no matter how much of a hermit you are: the
world is presenting itself to you from the most direct places: your computer
(the Internet), the grocery store, or your workplace. Our society today is
much too diverse to be able to get away with an aloof attitude toward others
Ę customs and beliefs.
Among the many cultural attention points my students and I discussed in our
recent meeting, such as caution in using colors, giving gifts, keeping
conversation distances, knowing time customs, using language, making
gestures, obeying dress codes, understanding attitudes and habits, and
applying translation into another language and back-translation from that
other language into yours to make sure something really expresses what it is
meant to, we came up with three points that are absolutely critical to
follow when dealing with people from different cultures:
1. Do your homework before you get your feet wet.
Among the multiplicity of sources available on-line and through governmental
institutions are those that will tell you all you need to know about
important statistics from any country in the world. Why would that be
important? To know whether your product has a chance at all in that
environment, of course! The very first step before even considering how you
will introduce your product is to find out where you want to introduce it:
some areas may just not be ready for what you have to sell, or they may need
special preparation in order to become receptive toward your item. It can
also be that their customs or cultural structure will require you to adjust
certain elements of your product. In that case you will have to calculate,
of course, whether that will be worth the effort.
Doing your homework can happen in many ways: not only through information
gathering from your safe home- or office location, but it may very well be
required to visit the targeted market several times before making the
decision on go or no-go. You definitely want to become acquainted with the
customs, with political, social, or environmental barriers to entry, and
with existing requirements to get a foot between the doors. And you will
have to determine whether the ethical climate in this location is acceptable
to the one you are accustomed to.
2. One size fits all is not a useful concept in international dealings.
Although there is some overlapping between this and the above point, there
are also some specifics to mention here: It is amazing how many large,
established business organizations still blunder when they enter a different
market. It seems that all the lectures of preparatory courses are forgotten
once life really starts happening. And the tricky part is, that the companyĘ
s product may be so successful in the home country ū and maybe also in some
other countries ū that the organization does not even question the issue of
readiness of the newly targeted market anymore. And thatĘs when the fire
hits the pan. ItĘs good to remember that a product may be accepted in twenty
different countries in its original setting, but that country number
twenty-one has that one single religious, language, political,
environmental, or historical issue, that makes your product a sensitive
issue for them.
3. DonĘt assume others see things as you do.
Another point that seems to have much overlapping with the previous one, and
yet, there is something important to add here as well: ItĘs all about
perception. This is a point that is of immense importance, not only when you
want to enter a new market far away from yours, but even in your daily
communication with other people of your very own culture! People, cultures,
and countries, all judge matters based on their own set of cultural,
historical, and experiential baggage. DonĘt fall into the trap of assuming
that what you think is great should also be considered an asset by others.
You can be dead wrong!
The cultural aspect is one that you never really get through with. ItĘs
interesting, challenging, and very educational. The above set of points has
hopefully reemphasized something you may have been aware of before. But
since things tend to slide into the backseat if we donĘt polish them
regularly, this refresher may be just what you needed to start a new
successful venture. Good luck.
Joan Marques, Burbank, September 11, 2003
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About the Author:
Joan Marques, holds an MBA, is a doctoral candidate in Organizational
Leadership, and a university instructor in Business and Management in
Burbank, California. You may visit her web site at www.joanmarques.com
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