Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle.

This is
why any authentic creation is a gift to the future - Albert Camus

What is culture?
Culture is the way that we do things around here. Culture could relate to a country (national culture), a
different section of the community (sub-culture), or an organization (corporate culture). It is widely
accepted that you are not born with a culture, and that it is learned. So, culture includes all that we have
learned in relation to values and norms, customs and traditions, beliefs and religions, rituals and artifacts
(i.e. tangible symbols of a culture, such as the Sydney Opera House or the Great Wall of China).

According to English Anthropologist Edward B Taylor, culture is that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as
a member of society

Culture is a complex tool which every individual has to learn to survive in a society. It is the
means through which people interact with others in the society. We must remember that every
society has a different culture that forms the backbone of the society.
Every society has a different culture, where people share a specific language, traditions,
behaviors and beliefs. Culture gives them an identity which makes them unique and different
from people of other cultures. When people of different cultures migrate and settle in another
society that person represent their culture like Pakistani dress is shalwar kameez .
Culture is necessary to establish an order and discipline in the society. It is not only a means of
communication between people, but also creates a feeling of belonging and togetherness among
people in the society.

Culture influence the international business

Culture affects our behavior because it defines the framework of values that tells us what is good
and what is not. People may think that conflict within an international company is a result of the
conflict between cultures. Some time cultures create some misunderstanding and personalities
issues. It is difficult to identify how culture influences teamwork within a company. Sometime
there are some differences occur in an international company and a company that is not
international.

Most of the employees in an international company will be at a comparable level of personal

growth. They will have similar interpersonal and intercultural skills. And in a company that is
not international, there could be wider differences in these areas.

For example:

1. Taking risks: In many western cultures a person's capacity for taking the risk and they
don't like their behavior to be restricted by too many useful structures. In many cultures,
people's choices are much more restricted and they prefer to obey clear guidelines rather
act alone and take a risk.
  Example clash:
If you are trying to work with a client from a country with a culture that is
unhappy with risk, you might have to be prepared to spend a long time building
up trust and establishing a working framework before any business can be done. If
you don't understand the other side's need to feel fully confident, you might be
intolerant and feel they are shilly-shallying unnecessarily.

2. Self-expression and individuality. In the West they value personal freedom and freedom
of speech but many countries have a far more collective attitude. Freedom of speech is a
good thing but individuals must be careful about what they say, especially on touchy
topics such as religion or politics.

 Example clash:
Be careful with humor and satire. We often use jokes as ice-breakers and to help
make people relax but, jokes about religion, other nationalities or groups, or
politics can be unpleasant to people from socialist cultures.

3. Equality of the gender. In the West we expect men and women to have the same rights
and freedoms. Women are not disqualified from any jobs, or any activities and they do
not expect to behave in a way that shows deference to men. Similarly men do not expect
to make compromise to women. In many cultures gender equality is not the norm and
men and women are assigned different roles and are expected to behave in different
ways, with the male being forceful and the woman being obedient.

4. Time. Northern Europeans tend to equate punctuality with politeness. We see time as
valuable and we do not like to overrun schedules, miss deadlines or have our meetings
and telephone calls interrupted. In other parts of the world people are much more relaxed
about time and are routinely late, don't take deadlines.

 Example clash:
If a South American client invites you to a meeting but keeps you waiting for half
an hour, you may take that as a personal insult but the client probably did not
expect you to arrive on time and simply doesn't think time and punctuality are
important.

 People from Britain and Germany are keen on following the time-bound
schedules. The different 'time-cultures' might be the reason behind clashes,
between people from diverse cultures.

Doing business in Islamic culture

Islam permeates all level of society. It provides guides, values and rules for personal life,
communities’ relations and ways of doing business. Before starting any business in Islamic
culture must be know about their norms, values rules and regulations etc so that a lot of problems
will be solved. These points are followed
 Muslims are obliged to pray 5 times a day, meeting to be fitted around those times.

 Friday is the congregational prayers and it is obligatory for all males to attend.

 They don’t drink alcohol and eat pork

 Avoid to trying to do business during the month of Ramadan. Muslims fast from dawn till
dusk which involves avoiding from eating, drinking or smoking etc

 The traditional Islamic greeting is “Aslamu alaykum” (peace be with you) and non-
muslim not use it. But if receive it must be reply “wa alaykum salam”(and peace be with
you)

 Handshake are always used

 Always used right hand

 Don’t separate professional & personal life. Doing business revolves much more around
personal relationships, family ties, and trust honor.

 Doing favor is very common

 Values of someone’s words are greater than a written agreement.

 Local companies are families oriented/ owned

 Decision are made by the head of the family

 Initial meeting are all about relationship building.

 People do not like to say no or deliver negative news

 When in meeting, avoid pointing the soles of their shoes at their counter parties as it
could be seen as rude.

 Accept coffee/ tea when presented if not you will be considered rude.

 Dress conservatively, but very smartly. You will be judged partly on your appearance.

Women in business:

Role of women in business vary from one Islamic country to other but there are some values,
attitudes, norms towards women in business;

 A male avoid touching & prolonged eye contact with women

  In certain countries man don’t ask about any female colleague/ relatives as well

 Big % of women in Islamic culture are veiled

 Western women should not extend her hand to a male from the middle east ( Islamic
culture) unless he does first.

Different culture influence international business:

The categories of any culture are Language, Religion, Values and Attitudes, Education,
Technology and Material Culture, Law and Politics

Language

With language one should consider whether or not the national culture is mostly a high context
culture or a low context culture.

In a low context culture spoken language carries the emphasis of the communication i.e. what is
said is what is meant. Examples include Australia and the Netherlands.

In a high context culture verbal communications tend not to carry a direct message i.e. what is
said may not be what is meant. So with a high context culture hidden cultural meaning needs to
be considered, as does body language. Examples of a high context cultures include Japan and
some Arabic nations.

When any companies wants to establish its branch in any country it face some difficulties like
language includes verbal and non verbal as well.

For example:

If any organization wants to start their business in Pakistan it face some cultural problems like
the national language of Pakistan is Urdu. There are four provinces i.e. Punjab, Sindh,
Baluchistan, NWFP and difficult to understand each provincial culture, their verbal and non
verbal languages as well. So company hire those employees that are helpful for the company like
local people because those tells the easier way to communicate with common man.

Religion

The organization needs to make sure that their products and services are not hateful, unlawful or
distasteful to the local nation. This includes marketing promotion and branding.

For example:

 In Pakistan McDonalds used chicken in their all food items instead of pig because of
concept of “halal and haram” in islam. And islam says to avoid to eat pig because it
haram in islam.
  In China in 2007 (which was the year of the pig) all advertising which included pictures
of pigs was banned. This was to maintain harmony or agreement with the country's
Muslim population of around 2%. The ban included pictures of sausages that contained
pork, and even advertising that included an animated (cartoon) pig.

Values and Attitudes

Values and attitudes vary between nations, and even vary within nations. So if someone want to
establish its companies so it make sure that they have a good grab the locality before you enter
the country market. There may also be an issue when managing local employees. For example, in
Pakistan workers want to leave on their Islamic events and also in France workers wants
vacations for the whole of August, at the same time as in the United States employees may only
take a couple of week's vacation in an entire year.

 In 2004, China banned a Nike television commercial showing U.S. basketball star
LeBron James in a battle with animated cartoon kung fu masters and two dragons,
because it was argued that the ad insults Chinese national dignity.

Education

Education plays a crucial role in absorbing the modern technology in under-developed countries
and in developing the capacity for self-sustaining growth and development.
The level and nature of education in each country will vary. This may impact on business like
difficult to convey their messages through advertisement. For example, in countries with low
literacy levels, advertisers would avoid communications which depended upon written copy,
visual media such as billboards. But there literacy rate gradually increase, easier to convey their
message via using technology like media etc.

The labeling of products may also be an issue.

 In the People's Republic of China a nationwide system of public education is in place,

which includes primary schools, middle schools (lower and upper), and universities. Nine
years of education is compulsory for all Chinese students.
 In Finland school attendance is compulsory between the ages of 7 and 16, the first nine
years of education (primary and secondary school) are compulsory, and the learner go to
their local school. The education after primary school is divided to the vocational and
academic systems, according to the old German model.
 In Uganda schooling includes 7 years of primary education, 6 years of secondary
education (divided into 4 years of lower secondary and 2 years of upper secondary
school), and 3 to 5 years of post-secondary education.

An increase of educational opportunities at all levels has resulted a rise in economic growth by
creating more educated and skilled man-power or by providing employment opportunities at
large scale. That is why no one refuse that the necessary condition for economic growth is
educated, healthy and skilled man power. Pakistan has been remained unable to increase the
capacity of the people to face the challenge of rising growth and development because of a little
investment in education sector in the past. Lack of education and low growth of knowledge is a
great problem in the way of progress. People are unaware about the availability of natural
resources, production techniques, the necessary skill, the maintain market conditions and the
development of the institutions which are useful for economic efforts.

Law and Politics

The political ideology on which the society is based will impact upon your decision to market
there. For example, the United Kingdom has a largely market-driven, democratic society with
laws based upon precedent and legislation, whilst Iran has a political and legal system based
upon the teachings and principles Islam and a Sharia tradition.

Reference:

http://marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-international-marketing-culture.html

http://www.alhewar.com/AliMazrui.htm

http://www.essays.se/essay/7f4d0be512/

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/culture-impacts-on-an-international-business.html