ED IT O RIA L

Culture and international

business

U nlike what happens in th e domest ic b usin ess p ractices, there

is a gene ral consensus on th e role of cult ure to int rod uce and
sus tain prod ucts into foreig n markets. Achiev in g the organiza ti o nal
mai n goal to conq uer and to preserve markets beyond its own borders,
it is accep ted wit hout much de bate, that it is d irectl y in fl uenced
by the cul tu re and its d aily ma nifesta tions. It has been recog nized ,
almost wi thout d iscuss ion, th at cul ture has become one of the main
obsta cles to sta nda rdize decisions and processes in multin a ti o nal
enterprises, a barrie r that is somet imes impossible to overcome.

Several authors have demo nst rated these facts aft er int ense researc h
effort s in relatio n to th e behavior displayed by foreig n co unt ries'
markets towards global p rod ucts. Members of such ma rkets ---co n su
mers, buyers and client s- , influenced by th is collective programming of
the mind that distinguishes a group of people from another (H ofsted e, 19
91), as it has been shown in multipl e cases, are cond it ione d by t he rules
and prevailing socia l values wi t h in th eir socie t ies . The histo ric al
ancesto rs --et hnici ty- closely linked to tradition, belie fs, and values
set out in their com munities, have marked cons umpt ion decisions
and buyin g patt erns that each person has lea rned th roug hout thei r
ent ire exis tence.

It is clear, then, that this realit y obliges ent erpri ses int eres ted in
internat ional marke ts to conside r and stu d y careful ly and in- d ep
t h the foreign conm mer, in order to de fine th e best st rateg y and th e
most effic ie nt p rogram that res ponds to th eir needs and wishes in
a tim ely and accurate ma nner. To do so, it is requi red th at the ad
ministrative unit respo nsible for int erna tiona l busi ness subm its
its p rofessiona ls to a slow and carefu l acculturation process t o ensure
that thei r lea rning about ma rkets becomes a real i ty. T hus, they ca n
take advantage of benefits de rived from the confl uence of the three
cultures that converg e in the current cons umption phenomenon : mark et
served mem bers cultu re, p rofessiona l in int e rnat io nal business cultu re,
and marke t c ult ure.

In this way, strategic positio ning d ecisio ns and every ma rketing p rogram's
dec is io n sho uld mai nly be framed in the prevailin g cultural patt erns of
eac h foreig n mar ket it is int ende d to ad dress. It has been accept ed as an
irrefu table fact that the idea of standar dization is limited by the influence of
mlture, which requires payin g suffic ient att ent ion to avoid falling in to
ser ious errors from an i llusory sim ilari t y between int erna tional ma rkets
(Shoham , 1995) .

Under th is pers pective, the ide a that typically most of the markets have
significant cultural differences (Martenson, 198 7) has been wid ely pervasive
and consequently this k nowledge and it s approp riati on by each of the
cultur e's int erp re tations becomes an organizat ional im perative. T his adap
tation process differs depen d ing on the category of prad11ct, gi ven tha t
some of them req ui re higher level of ad justment than in others. For example,
non-d urable consu mer p roducts have been conside red more diffic ult than
d urable ones to be standar d ized given the persistence of local cul tu res.

Pricing is g read y infl uenced by the beliefs as to their true partn ership wi th
what in each cult ure is expected to be received in exc hange for the paid
amoun t. Percep tions of risk and effort in it s moneta ry and non monerary
d imensio ns, closely related to the expec tations, necessaril y i nflue nce any
int e rnational p rice program you want to develop.

Int erc ultu ral communication, as a backg round to the decisions concerning
the p romo tio nal mix, becomes a su bstant ial factor in ti me to take decisions
in this rega rd. Sales promot ions, p rod uct placem ent , public rela t io ns,
perso nal sell i ng , and above all, adve rt is ing are st rong ly determined by
th e culrural patterns of a given ma rker. T his is, i n pa rt , d ue to th eir very
esse nce, and th e fact that compa niescarry th em outmaking th em hig hly
visible and there fore sub jec t ed to the judg ment and public review.

Distribution decisions are also st rongly const rain ed by the trad ition of
th e markets to acquire certain kind s of p roducts in specific channels and
on certain occasions. The opening of large areas (French hypermarkets;
American super markets orig in and German discount stores) wit h inn o
vative customer servic e t echn iques have not always been well received
in developi ng count ries' marke ts , given that in ma ny cases th ey face
cultu ral patterns deeply rooted in th e folk customs. For exam ple, th e
dominance mo re than 450 000 t radit ional neig hborhood shops
embedded in th e lives of com munities and historically dedicated to the
Colombian re tail marke t has never been t h reate ned at by the p resence
oflarge mu ltin ational compa nies such as th e Durch Mak ro, or th e
French Carrefour. Th ey keep mai nrai ning a close relationship wit h thei
r custo mers not only because of physi cal p roximi ty, but trust , affection
and respect for th eir customers.

In addit ion, and as a result of t he need to establis h comme rcial ties

wit h people wit h differe nr origins, trad iti ons and customs, it is
essenrial ro know th e style, forms, moments, and most imp ortantl y,
beliefs and negotiati on st yles of other cultures. All this wit h the purpose of
establis hing a long- term relat ionship, proper of a marke t-orienred busi
ness approach, in order ro ob tain the hig hest profitability in overseas
marke ts. Many im e rnational efforts have been squandered eit her
because of the ignorance of o ther cultu res' values and trad it ions, wi th
whic h it is intended to negotiate, or whet her it is or because of the
assumpt ion of reprehensible att itu d es associated wit h ethnocent ric
positions of disdain for others or because of a supposed supr emacy of the
ow n cultural patterns.

Fi nally, and g iven that no real effort of im ernationalization may be

con ceived on short-term thinking , which only achieves immed iate
resul ts at the expense of the futu re consolida t ion of overseas markets, it
is not an illus ion to think tha t these businesses, then, require the creatio
n and support of subsid iaries and branches in the int ern ational arena.
This req uires multinational enterprises to explore the forms of organiza
tio n of each cultu re and th ei r p revail i ng values as a direct res ult of
being surrounde d by a particular national cultu re.

In summary, cultu re und ers rood as a reference framework of th e

strategic actions taken by int erna tional organiza t ions, it is strong ly
influe nced in at least six aspects directly related ro inrernational business
(Paramo, 2009 ):
1) Cons umers, custo mers, and clients' behavior and their consumption
choices(acquisit ion, use, ownership).
2) T he O rganization's strategic positioning
3) Marketing mix co be impleme nted in each count ry co respond to.
4) ln terculru ral Negotiations co establish agreements wit h domestic
stakeholders..
5) O rganizational forms that constrain the st rategic decision of
opening branch offices and international subsidiaries.
6) The process of accultu ration of the international marketing profe
ssional.

Dagoberro Paramo Morales

Editor