Cultural differences are one of the key components companies must consider when expanding abroad. Culture is made up of attitudes, beliefs, and values that are shared by a certain group of people. These behavioral differences greatly affect how businesses operate as companies need to be aware of many aspects within a particular culture. For example, different social class systems can change what types of people the company should use in their marketing campaigns in order to reach their target market. There are several cultural factors that companies should consider when conducting business in a foreign society:
- Performance Orientation
- Gender Attitudes
- Age Attitudes
- Family Attitudes
- Occupation Perception
Companies need to be aware of cultural differences both in how they market their product and in hiring their employees. Cultural differences can affect employee performance due to differences in attitudes such as motivation, expectation, and assertiveness. Generally, people of dissimilar cultures are motivated differently. Some are motivated by material goods whereas others may be motivated by leisure time. This is an important factor in learning how to get the most out of a group of employees who are ethnically diverse. In urban Chinese cities many laborers that have migrated from rural areas are more motivated by gift cards to McDonalds than by overtime or pay raises, this is because these migrant workers must send their money to the families in the country-side.
By: Carl Phelps, Research Associate for GLOBAL ID, LLC.
