Topic 1: Giving Local Culture Its Due?
Understanding local culture provides a huge advantage for managers working in business competition, as it allows them the ability to not only know and understand the culture in which they are working, but allows them to make sure that in spite of the various cultural values that persist across socioeconomic and educational backgrounds (UCLA, 2012), the businessman or woman is able to understand the different social nuances and key aspects involved in doing business in a particular culture. Taking Saudi Arabia for example, a businessperson would always address the male as opposed to addressing the female, or both parties as a whole, given the cultural dynamics that are in place (Daniels, Radebaugh & Sullivan, 2013). Of the different processes that are most affected by cultural differences, the operational practices themselves are most affected, as they must concern themselves with who they are speaking with, how they are speaking with them, what topics may be discussed, what topics are taboo, and even what hand to offer when shaking, if shaking hands is a part of the culture itself. Cultural differences affect the very cost of doing business itself; not in terms of literal dollar cost, but in terms of whether or not business may even be done. In Indonesia, certain Middle Eastern countries, and when dealing with a heavily Muslim population, the left hand is considered to be unclean (eDiplomat, 2013), and as such, offering that hand may be seen as an insult, causing the possibility of doing business to become a negative probability. Any industry that does business in an overseas market is particularly subject to cultural differences, although there are some that are more susceptible than others, including tech support, given the massive outsourcing present in that field, the manner of speaking, and the different forms in which insults may be taken. A female working in technical support who has to deal with many international customers may take offense to being referred to constantly as “dear,” “honey,” or even “sugar” although these terms are not being used in either a negative nor a condescending manner.
Topic 2: Balancing Profitability and Corporate Social Responsibility in International Business
Dell and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Corporation are two MNCs in different industries. Dell is in the computer industry, while the Dr. Pepper Snapple Corporation is in the beverage industry. Looking at the Dr. Pepper Snapple Corporation’s corporate sustainability report (CSR), they have included a message from the CEO, an overview, information on environmental sustainability, health and wellness, philanthropy, their workspace, ethical sourcing, economic impact, miscellaneous additional information and the GRI index (Dr. Pepper Snapple, 2012). Dell’s corporate sustainability report (CSR) has included a letter from their CEO, information on their heritage and business, to whom they report and how they report to those individuals, information on their numbers, the environmental impact, information on their supply chain, people and communities affected by their corporation, and governance information (Dell, 2012). Dell and Dr. Pepper Snapple have the majority of the same types of information contained within their CSRs; however, Dell’s goes into a bit more information on the technical side of things. This is most likely due to the difference in industries and components required in order to produce their particular products. Dr. Pepper Snapple has information going into different philanthropic aspects that their company partakes in (Dr. Pepper Snapple, 2012), and while this does not necessarily mean that Dell is not participating in these types of activities, they have chosen not to include the information in their report to the general public; if they were participating, however, this would be a good place to put a positive spin on this company, providing the illusion that they were being further socially responsible than they are. Through the inclusion of this information in their CSR, Dr. Pepper Snapple is providing the perception that they are more socially responsible than Dell, as they are doing more for their community, based on the simple exclusion of that information from Dell’s CSR.
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"Comparative Frameworks: Cultural, Ethical Environments".
- Daniels, J., Radebaugh, L., & Sullivan, D. (2013). International business environments and operations . (14th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Retrieved from http://digitalvellum.next.ecollege.com
- Dell. (2012). Dell csr. Retrieved from http://i.dell.com/
- Dr. Pepper Snapple. (2012). Dr. pepper snapple csr. Retrieved from http://www.dpsgsustainability.com/
- eDiplomat. (2013, April 3). Cultural etiquette. Retrieved from http://www.ediplomat.com/
- UCLA. (2012). Uncovering the role of culture in learning, development and education. Retrieved from http://greenfieldlab.psych.ucla.edu/
