Operating a Global Business the Right Way Dissertation or Thesis Complete

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Citizen of the World

There are generally two types of people when it comes to daily life, culture and so forth. There are those that like to be in their own cultural space. They wish for that space to be free from interference and from influences from other cultural forces. On the other hand, there are those that actively prefer to interact with and seek out alternate and different viewpoints, societies and cultures. The expansion of global technology, communication technology in particular, has made the world much smaller and this has had major impacts on how different peoples talk, how often they can talk and how businesses are run. The business world itself has been greatly impacted because international and global business arrangements are much more common and entrenched. Due to the different and sometimes clashing cultures involved, this has led to the need for more cultural sensitivity, more cultural awareness and the redefinition of what is ethical and what is not when it comes to the interactions of all these cultures. While insisting on remaining within one's own cultural realm in terms of practices and habits might still work in many situation, it will create problems both ethical and cultural in many others.

Analysis

The parameters for the assignment touches on the idea of how to speak and what to say to a Chief Executive Officer that wants or needs to learn more about the topic. There is the idea of what is necessary to prepare to work with and do business with people in other countries, developing ones in particular. There is all the important list of "facts of life" that must be taken seriously when engaging in such behavior. Lastly, the other major point is how and what degree multi-national corporations must abide by the local laws and frameworks when in a host country or working with a host country culture. Best practices for all of these will be explained and a rationale for each idea and recommendation given will be presented as well.

Culture Clash

There are many combinations of countries where cultural differences are not a problem. Many times, any problems that do exist are minor and do not impact the overall paradigm of doing business all that much. A good example would be work between the United States and Canada or between Spain and Germany. While marked differences may exist here and there, these pairs of countries are in the same regions, have very similar cultures and typically have the same goals and priorities in mind. However, this is far from being the case all of the time. Whether it be historical strife, massive cultural differences or something else along those lines, there are some pairings that are difficult to impossible to pull off. Indeed, one example would be the fact that Israel does not get along well with many other countries in the Middle East due to religious, historical and other very protracted reasons. Similarly, India and Pakistan are direct neighbors but their cultural differences and history together make their relationship very tepid or outright hostile a lot of the time. Obviously, most country-to-country relationships are somewhere in between those extremes and time does often heal historical wounds. Indeed, the United States had its inception as a result of breaking away from the British Empire of the 1700's. However, Great Britain and the United States get along quite nowadays and there is a good amount of trade and commerce that exists between those nations (House, 2015).

Reason for Buying Foreign Goods

As noted above, the business relationship and "citizen of the world" paradigm does not lead to problem relationships like the Israel/Middle East or India/Pakistan style of relationship all that much. However, a common reason why businesses have become international in scope is to save money. This leads multinational corporations to do business with countries that are in lesser stages of development and economic prowess. Indeed, Wal-Mart and other retailers get a lot of their goods from factories in China and other parts of Asia because the cost of those goods is consistently and measurably lower than if the same goods were bought in the homeland or in other Western/developed countries. In other words, the buying of good in bulk from Asia is done for competitive and cost reasons. Manufacturing is much the same way. While some may think that making goods domestically is much cheaper than having them made abroad and then shipped in via ships or train, that is quite often not the case. There are many factories in Southeast Asia, Mexico and parts of Africa that make a lot of the clothes, electronics and other items that are sold in countries like the United States.

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Again, cost is the major reason. The usual reason for this is that the wage and hour laws of the home retail/consumer market are much higher and much more expensive than if they are done in countries where the minimum or prevailing wage is much lower (Hongxin & Levary, 2002).

Ethical Quandaries

There are other considerations that can spring out of nowhere, however, and cause problems. A perfect example would be the recent spat between the Iranian government and Air France, one of the major airline companies in France. Apparently, the Iranians demanded or required that female flight attendants entering Iran as part of doing their job for Air France to wear headscarves even though most women in France and that work for Air France are not Muslim. Rather than concede the religious and cultural differences, Iran demanded that Air France adhere to their cultural, societal and religious standards and they cared not if Air France or anyone else had a problem with it. Air France's response was to allow flight attendants to opt out of working on flights to Iran if they would not like to be subjected to the requirement (RFI, 2016). Iran technically has the right to regulate what foreign companies do on their soil. However, Iran's stance on the matter is deemed to be too hard-line or too intolerant as it imposes a cultural or societal standard that not everyone around the world adheres to. Indeed, there are roughly seven billion people on the planet Earth but only about one billion of them are Muslim (Grim & Hsu, 2011). Iran's stance on the matter is an example of what is noted in the introduction, that being that not everyone is open to cultural transmission and deviance from traditional societal or cultural norms. With the growing globalization of the world, these firm requirements are even forced and foisted on foreigners that are just engaging in commerce in the area or are working for a company or someone that is (Pashmforoosh & Babaii, 2015)).

Cultural Sensitivity

While Iran is far from the only country that engages in this behavior, it is far from being conducive to doing good international business. Further, the requirements and norms that are involved in such situations are usually not this stark. For example, some cultures see eye contact as a sign of respect and honesty. Other cultures, for example, see it as confronting and disrespectful. Another example is the setting of meeting times. Some cultures set meetings for a general time but the actual start of the meeting is not firm by any means. For example, if the meeting is to be at 10 am, it is not a big deal if people do not fully form and meet at the table until 10:15 AM. In other cultures, a meeting time of 10 am being sent out means the meeting is to start at 10 am and anyone coming in after that without a good reason is not seen as being respectful or professional (Oswald, 2008).

The point is that working with other cultures is not just an issue of times zones. Instead, there are other considerations that must be taken into account. There must often be a good amount of compromise so that everyone is operating off of the same slate of business norms even if the norms are different than what is expected by all of the participants. The most important thing is for the parties involves to be culturally aware and sensitive so that they know not to be offended or otherwise react negatively when things are done or conducted in a way that is different than what is expected. Further, the country that is investing the dollars into the host country generally has the purview and "right" to have their way if they really want it. However, the multinational company should not force the issue if they do not have to and it would be unethical to do so without a valid reason. For example, if an American company is operating in India and there is an Indian holiday that Americans do not celebrate, the American company should by no means insist that things are "business as usual" for the Indian employees and that operations will continue with no interruption in India. It would….....

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