Big Business and Culture

It is difficult for some big businesses to see how important it is to keep culture in mind when in other countries, but if they are to succeed in other countries, it has to be an integral part of planning when looking into taking their businesses abroad. The article "Culture at Wal-Mart" (Schaefer, R., 2009. pg. 68), tells its readers how the retail giant Wal-Mart failed in other countries due to the lack of understanding or respect even for the cultural beliefs or etiquettes of countries like Germany and South Korea. In other cases, such as the fall of the McDonald's franchises in Iceland, did not succeed because of the economic strain that the country is in.

In the article "McDonald's pulls out of Iceland" it states "Besides the economy, McDonald's blamed the "unique operational complexity" of doing business in an isolated nation with a population of just 300,000." (BBC News, 2009) Like Wal-Mart, McDonald's failed in another country due to the fact that not enough research was done before going into that country. If McDonald's had done more research, and made it clear to its shareholders and board of trustees, the decision to make a bold move like taking its business into a country with not enough resources to back its own economy, would not have been made. It is that same inability to look ahead and foresee the possible stumbling blocks that made a giant like Wal-Mart pull out of Germany and South Korea. Why would a western minded business want to impose its values and practices on other countries? It was a mistake to believe that using the same style of management and etiquettes would be accepted in other countries, simply because the business was western!

It would be highly unlikely for someone to assume that another person would accept their way of living when visiting them. A person who thinks that they can go into another's home and ask them to abide by their rules because that is the way they used to live where they came from is an ignorant and pretentious individual! That was the mistake that Wal-Mart made when in these two countries. The article "Culture at Wal-Mart" (pg. 68) mentions that one of the things people in Germany did not like about the corporate giant was the fact that they had a policy which impeded employees to have romantic relations among themselves; this was a normal and acceptable act or conduct in workplaces in local companies. Why was this western business imposing their values or business related beliefs upon them? As much sense as it made to Wal-Mart, it was an unacceptable policy for the locals there, and they would not stand for it.

In South Korea, Wal-Mart's warehouse-style stores did not go well with the people there; shoppers there were accustomed to more