Management styles differ around the world. Some cultures emphasize the importance of information and competition while others focus more on relationships and transaction cost reductions. However, there are no simple answers and the only safe generalization is that businesspersons working in another country must be sensitive to the business environment and must be willing to adapt when necessary. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to know when such adaptation is necessary; in some instances adaptation is optional whereas in others it is actually undesirable. Understanding the culture you are entering is the only sound basis for planning.
Business behavior is derived in large part from the basic cultural environment in which the business operates and, as such, is subject to the extreme diversity encountered among various cultures and subcultures. Environmental considerations significantly affect the attitudes, behavior, and outlook of foreign businesspeople. Motivational patterns of such businesspeople depend in part on their personal backgrounds, their business positions, their sources of authority, and their own personalities.
Varying motivational patterns inevitably affect methods of doing business in different countries. Marketers in some countries thrive on competition, while in others they do everything possible to eliminate it. The authoritarian, centralized decision-making orientation in some nations contrasts sharply with democratic decentralization in others. International variation characterizes contact level, ethical orientation, negotiation outlook, and nearly every part of doing business. The foreign marketer can take no phase of business behavior for granted.
The new breed of international businessperson emerging in recent years has a heightened sensitivity to cultural variations. However, sensitivity is not enough; the international trader must be constantly alert and prepared to adapt when necessary. One must always realize that no matter how long you are in a country, the outsider is not a local; in many countries that person may always be treated as an outsider. Finally, one must avoid the critical mistake of assuming that knowledge of one culture will provide acceptability in another.
