CULTURE & TRADE

1. CULTURE & TRADE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TOPIC

2. CULTURE & TRADE What are the Issues? Getting the Culture --- what to do?

3. CHANGE, OPPORTUNTYAND THREATS CHANGES IN THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT GIVE RISE TO BOTH NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS ONE COMPETES SUCCESSFULLY IN A GLOBAL MARKETPLACE AS IT BOTH EXISTS CURRENTLY AND ALSO AS IT EVOLVES CULTURE AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS INFLUENCE BUSINESS DECISIONS

4. COMMUNICATIONS ARE KEY IN BRINGING NEWS AND CULTURAL ENVIRONMENTS TO VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD MTV HAD A BIG ROLE AROUND THE WORLD, FOR EXAMPLE MTV BROUGHT THE WORLD GERMAN HARD ROCK, AND MEXICAN HIP HOP MTV BRINGS BREAKING NEWS AROUND THE GLOBE

5. MTV REACHED OVER A BILLION PEOPLE IN 18 OR MORE LANGUAGES IN 164 NATIONS MTV IS A GLOBAL BRAND SIMILAR TO COKE WALMART AND McDonald's BUT MTV IS CRITICIZED AS BEING A CULTURAL IMPERIALIST ORGANIZATION– DESTROYING REGIONAL VALUES AND CULTURES BUT THE NEWS AND TEEN-TV SAVVY STYLE IS WIDESPREAD

6. BUT EVEN MTV HAS CATERED TO LOCAL CULTURES MTV PLAYS CHINESE OPERA ARIAS BRINGS ROCKGOL (SOCCOR & BRAZILIAN MUSIC BLEND) TO SAO PAULO U.S. TV SHOWS BROUGHT INTO VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE WORLD ARE NOW GIVING WAY TO REGIONAL TV FAVORITES

7. CHINESE POP STAR JOLIN TSAI CAME INTO MAINLAND CHINA VIA MTV A MULTIRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS SHOW IS THE FAVORITE IN SOUTH AFRICA --- GENERATIONS A FRENCH POLICE SERIES IS THE KEY SOAP IN FRANCE CALLED JULIE LESCAUT CNN OFFERS 22 VERSIONS OF ITS PROGRAMMING WORLD WIDE

8. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION HAS TO MOVE WITH THE WAVE OF REGIONALISM UNIVISION – THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE TV NETWORK AND TELENOVELAS ARE HEAVY IN THE U.S. THESE NETWORKS COME FROM MEXICO’S TELEVISA BBC, EVEN ARTE AND FRANCO-GERMAN CULTURE NOW COMES TO THE U.S.

9. CULTURE DEALING INTERNATIONALLY INVOLVES ONE WITH CULTURE AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES CULTURE IS THE BLENDING OF LEARNING AND EXPERIENCE CULTURE IS AN ANCHORING POINT, AN IDENTITY AND EXHIBITS CODES OF CONDUCT THESE CONDUCT RULES AND IDENTITIES MEET UP WITH TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

10. COMMON WAYS OF THINKING AND BEHAVING DEVELOP AS THE CODES ARE PAST FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION CULTURE ENTERS RELIGION, GOVERNMENT CONDUCT AND SCHOOLS SUBCULTURES DEVELOP WITHIN REGIONS OF NATIONS THESE PRESENT DIFFERENT MARKETS FOR TRADE AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE

11. A BROADER DEFINITION OF CULTURE AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM OF LEARNED BEHAVIOR PATTERNS THAT ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE MEMBERS OF ANY GIVEN SOCIETY ACCULTURATION --- THE PROCESS OF ADJUSTING AND ADAPTING TO A SPECIFIC CULTURE OTHER THAN ONE’S OWN TRADE INVOLVES DEALING WITH CULTURE

12. DEALING WITH CULTURE--- WHAT TO KNOW? • HIGH CONTEXT CULTURE • CULTURE IN WHICH BEHAVIORAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL NUANCES ARE AN IMPORTANT MEANS OF CONVEYING INFORMATION • LOW CONTEXT CULTURE • CULTURE IN WHICH MOST INFORMATION IS CONVEYED EXPLICITLY RATHER THAN THROUGH BEHAVIORAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL NUANCES

13. CONTEXT ORIENTATION • HIGH CONTEXT • JAPANESE • CHINESE • ARAB • GREEK • SPANISH • ITALIAN • ENGLISH • FRENCH • UNITED STATES • NORTHERN EUROPE • GERMAN • SWISS • LOW CONTEXT • --- FROM E. T. HALL AND M.R. HALL UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL DIFFERENCES, INTERCULTURAL PRESS WHAT DO YOU THINK?? IS THIS THE CASE? ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THESE CULTURAL CONTEXTS?

14. FOR HIGH CONTEXT CULTURES, THE CONTEXT OF A COMMUNICATION IS AT LEAST AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT IS ACTUALLY SAID IN THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS IN LOW CONTEXT CULTURES, MOST OF THE COMMUNICATION IS CONTAINED EXPLICITLY IN THE WORDS THAT ARE COMMUNICATED

15. THE JAPANESE BUSINESSMAN PRESENTS A BUSINESS CARD WITH BOTH HANDS • ETIQUETTE THEN REQUIRES THAT FOREIGNERS STUDY THE CARD WHEN IT IS HANDED TO THEM • MAKING NOTES ON THE CARD IS CONSIDERED TO BE OFFENSIVE

16. BRANDS OR PRODUCTS SOMETIMES SERVE AS CHANGE AGENTS IN CERTAIN CULTURES THE BRAND BECOMES GLOBAL --- THEN CHANGES TIME HONORED CULTURAL DISTINCTIONS McDONALD’S HAS ALTERED SOME AGE-OLD EATING HABITS OF YOUNGER GENERATIONS AT THE SAME TIME THAT CULTURAL DISTINCTION PERVADES OTHER GENERATIONS

17. THE EXPANSION OF MULTIPLEX CINEMAS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE CHANGED MOVIE GOER HABITS GLOBALLY TOWARD U.S. FILMS TELECOMMUNICATION VIA CELL PHONES IS PUSHING INTO ALL KINDS OF CULTURES

18. THE ELEMENTS OF CULTURE • LANGUAGE --- THE MIRROR OF CULTURE • OFTEN MASTERY OF THE LANGUAGE IS A REQUIREMENT FOR RELATIONSHIPS AND HENCE TRADE TO EXIST • IN HONG KONG THE GOVERNMENT IS PROMOTING CANTONESE RATHER THAN ENGLISH AS THE LANGUAGE OF COMMERCE -- BUT SHANGHAI IS BECOMING THE FINANCE AND PORT CITY • Translation of advertising from one culture to another involves a good deal more than just finding the right words --- messages in advertising are fundamentally linked to culture

19. Some language examples The KFC case: for Kentucky fried chicken, KFC advertises the chicken as “finger licking good” --- some translations would have this as “ KFC is “ so good it makes you want to eat your fingers” --- needs to be a little more accurate back translation here MasterCard’s “Priceless” campaign --- adaptation for the Hispanic family oriented culture --- a grandmother and her granddaughter go shopping for a meal in a pictorial – in the “intangible moments that transcend price-tags” theme --- the grandmother selects onions and the announcer in Spanish lists the price, “Cebollas, 4 dolares”

20. --- then follows by, “El tiempoquetoma en cocinarse: no tieneprecio (the time it takes to simmer: priceless) --- then ends with a translation of MasterCard’s theme, “there are some things that money can’t buy; for everything else there is MasterCard. Accepted everywhere, even at small shops” --- Someone with Spanish needs to state this last theme --- did we get the first part right??

21. Then there is the Electrolux add of a few years ago (Electrolux is a carpet vacuum machine) --- “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux” --- well, where is that going to take you in certain crowds?? -- a couple of different meanings here? • How about nonverbal language? • 4 keys here --- time, space, body language, and friendship patterns ---- targeting high contextual culture vs low contextual culture

22. Time may be flexible in some cultures --- 1:00 p.m. appointment shows up at 1:45 p.m. in Mexico --- being indignant toward such behavior would get you nowhere in Arab, Latin American, or some Asian cultures • After a deal is made by a U.S. manager in France, the manager may give a “finger-and thumb”, “OK” sign --- which in southern France would signify that the deal is worthless!

23. infrastructure There is social infrastructure -- housing, health, etc. There is economic infrastructure – energy, transportation etc. There is financial infrastructure --- banking, capital markets Sometimes one has to be a partner in the provision of these infrastructures before you can make a deal

24. Education Education levels sometimes determine the creation of new products or the resistance to new products Education sometimes determines the success in recruiting local sales forces In Japan, a talented prospect may be taking a risk to go with a non-Japanese firm --- shunned by the culture --- when the job ends, the prospect cannot find a job with a Japanese firm

25. Social institutions Social institutions affect the ways people relate to one another The family unit of parents and children in western culture may extend to grandparents and other relatives in other cultures Social stratification matters --- in northern Europe, most people are in the middle class --- other cultures concentrate buying power in more restricted classes

26. Religious structure Christianity claims some 2 billion people in a rather diverse spread of nations around the world --- holidays and purchases are tied to religious beliefs Islam – Islam structure is seen from West Africa and across the sea to the Philippines, then around the globe to Tanzania, central Asia, western China, India and other areas --- over 1.2 billion

27. Hinduism has more than 860 million followers in India, Nepal, Malaysia, Guyana and other nations --- family is an important element in Hinduism Buddhism has influence throughout Asia with a guess of around 360 million followers or more Confucianism follows with around 150 million followers

28. There are cultural differences The “I” consciousness relative to the “we” consciousness The “power distance” influence, that is the level of equality in society The “uncertainty avoidance” preference, or the need for formal rules and regulations The “masculinity” attitude toward achievement, roles of women and men

29. Japan would be high on uncertainty avoidance and also in the power distance group ---- receptive to risk-reducing programs and return privileges, warranties, etc. • Some individualism is preferred in the U.S. – so promotion should emphasize “empowerment” • The U.S., Netherlands, and U.K. would be high on individualism and in the masculinity group • Cultural shock – everyone experiences it --- you just have to get over it and follow the cultural structure to some degree to make the deal