QUESTION

1.Discuss the role of market culture and language in developing and maintaining cross cultural business   relationships

2.An analysis of culture and how it influences business. (25%)

3.An analysis of foreign language competence and how it is useful in business. (25%)

4.In the context of the task outlined above, how would you use culture and language in developing business relationships with the Costa Rican company? (40%)

                                                             SAMPLE SOLUTION

Introduction

This paper/report discusses the role of market language and culture in establishing and sustaining cross cultural business associations, with the aim of ensuring that the company establishes a robust business relationship with the novel, Costa Rican Company (i.e. supplier). The paper accomplishes this goal in three parts. The first part analyses culture and its influences on business. The second part analyses foreign language competence and its significance in business. The paper concludes in the third part where it disuses how language and culture could be employed in establishing business associations with the Costa Rican supplier.

Analysis of Culture and How it Influences Business

In the current world, which is associated with a high level of globalisation, culture has managed to stand among the core factors that determine the success of businesses in the international market (Kilng et al., 2014). According to Leisinger (2015), culture refers to the set of rules, beliefs, values, and institutions that a particular group of individuals uphold.  Cultural factors have a significant effect on the business flow. Every society possesses its cultural elements. These cultural elements are manifested through values and attitudes, religion, material elements, customs and manners, education, aesthetics, and social institutions. Zhang et al., (2014) assert that for an international organisation, adaption to these cultural elements is dependent on its level within the market participation (e.g., licensing relative to direct investment, and service or product).

An organisation cannot solely depend on its present mechanism of conducting business when it chooses to move its operations to the international level. In a focus on the international negotiations between companies, Sarapovas et al., (2013) assert that fruitful negotiations do not only call for technical proficiency (i.e. communication strategy/technique), but should comprehend the context/setting in which such negotiations are being performed with the aim of securing profitable contracts. The expansion of business into foreign territories can occur via international growth or acquisitions and merger. Such a development can result into a cultural mismatch when it comes to internal growth and the choice/decision to establish a basis within the foreign nation from scratch, as it takes a long period to learn the cultural aspects of another country and adopt to the traits of such a nation.  Kling et al., (2014) inform that an acquisition or merger of an already developed organisation is a more advantageous mechanism of international growth since the parent organisation can progressively learn the beliefs and norms of the target firm via the acquired unit, which is being managed in relation to the local cultural preferences.

White et al. (2011) focused on the study of the effect of culture in international firms within the context of expansion into novel regions with different existing cultures. The researchers concluded that is significant for any such company with the intent of moving into new regions to comprehend the cultural differences and map such differences to bridge or fill the gap between the units of business performing in multiple cultures. Gilbert & Heinecke (2014) established that a multinational firm that operates in different cultures often possesses a smaller cultural gap relative to a firm that is only operating in few different cultures. The abridged gap was attributed to the learning factor that arises due to the operation in different cultures.