Business is successful when its products are vital for society so that people can easily use the products maintaining the lifestyle. If a business does not take the cultural specificity into account, it will not be able to succeed because it will not incorporate into people’s lifestyles. Cultural accommodation is of particular interest not only for international business but also for a local one. The current paper describes some factors of culture which have significant effect on business success. It will consider the difference between collectivistic and individualistic cultures, as well as the cultural expectations about social structure. After that, communicative styles, strategic business preferences, which depend on cultural features, will be discussed.
Culture determines the main idea which the business introduces to the community. Particularly, communication within business partners and employees depends on how collectivistic culture is. If it is rather collectivistic, then the business needs to focus on the message of common good. In contrast, such an approach is not relevant to individualistic cultures. Instead, the business message should be about personal achievement and individuality.
Collectivism-individualism also affects the organizational structure of company and determines the necessity of hierarchical or equal relationships. Individual cultures are not likely to accept strict hierarchy as much as collectivistic cultures expect the particular social structure where everyone has their determined role within the company. This issue influences not only internal organizational management but also how it addresses customers, clients, and vendors because organizations are included as unit of society at more general level.
Moreover, culture sets the style of speech and business language. Some societies are known for their direct and exact speaking with no nuances, while others tend to communicate, implying a bottom line. These specific features are not only linguistic, but they are also extralinguistic and paralinguistic. In other words, not only words and sentences are important but also intonations, voice loudness, facial expressions, and gestures. Business must accommodate to the particular mode of each culture in order to productively conduct negotiations. Thus, the type of verbal communication in culture is another important factor for business success.
The business strategy depends on cultural beliefs about the optimal way to accomplish purposes. Therefore, the strategy should be aware if people are willing to take a risk, or they would stick to proven methods and practices. The former easily accept innovations, these cultures value progress as creating new products and new strategies, but they are more likely to fail because of an ineffective idea. One can assume that these ideas could be unsuccessful because they did not adapt to the culture, and people did not support it. Therefore, even working in the cultures which orientate to creativity, it is still essential to take into account the whole culture.
Furthermore, more conservative cultures prioritize stability and predictability, and that is why they would develop and apply technologies they have practiced for a long time. For international business, dealing with both types at once is challenging because it seems like it will have to develop contradictive strategies. However, this challenge implies the opportunity to introduce an innovation in the first type of cultures, prove it is successful. Then the second culture type will be more willing to accept it.
To conclude, the business has to be an authentic part of a culture it is involving in. It should be familiar with the expected speech style, social structure, and tolerance to uncertainty. A successful business does not ignore cultural issues, trying to convince customers to use their products. Instead, it recognizes the priority of cultural rules for its partners and clients. However, international companies have to integrate contradictive cultural principles into one management strategy. Further research is needed to investigate the optimal way to maintain a successful business in diverse cultural contexts.