Topic of the Week

Political Economy and Economic Development
Differences in Culture
Ethics in International Business

I need a 1 page discussion post for my Global dimension business class.
Below is a sample post. My post has to be original and different.
It’s imperative to realize that “ Cross-Cultural Literacy” is important when doing international business because there are differences in culture. It’s more complicated than one would think because what Americans value and how they do business may not be what another culture values in a foreign country. Even to something as simple as how Americans greet someone in a friendly gesture may not have the same meaning in another country. We must also understand the fact that “Ethnocentrism” is a reality that happens naturally just as how humans breath. I want to highlight that the book mentioned how Americans, French, Japanese, British, and further more are all guilty of it. However after I did some research I found some ways that people overcome this. First is to not make assumptions because all cultures have their own customs, beliefs, and values. Second is to learn about other cultures because when you keep and open mind you will learn to appreciate culture diversity. Third is to avoid judgements because someone else may act differently, but it doesn’t mean their intentions are bad, so just appreciate the differences. Lastly is be respectful and treat people how you would want to be treated. Cross-Cultural Literacy and avoiding Ethnocentrism are possible factors to a successful business. The case about why Wal-Mart failed in Germany is because executives ignored that retailing in the German market is different because of it’s culture. Germans don’t value what Wal-Mart values. One example is Wal-Mart used English as the default language in management and it didn’t work. Beyond this I also found some more interesting facts. It turns out Wal-Mart failed in South Korea because it failed to localize operations. They didn’t quite understand what Koreans wanted when they went shopping. Wal-Mart also failed in China because their inventory didn’t seem to cater to the needs of Chinese. For example the fresh food section didn’t live up to Chinese expectations. Wal-Mart failed in India because it thought it would offer good money services for the market. However, the Indian government have different regulations about money source, and it’s something that Wal-Mart cannot adopt. Wal-Mart had failed in Brazil because of labor troubles, inefficient operations, store locations, and prices that weren’t competitive. Something to think about when Wal-Mart is one of the top global retailers.