Cultural Challenges Of Doing Business Overseas
Cultural Challenges of Doing Business Overseas
Doing business in various parts of the world requires the understanding of cultural differences. Some of those differences revolve around the importance the society assigns to status, personal accomplishments, and control of decision-making. The Czech Republic presents a very attractive environment for investments, however, coming from a communist bloc; there are still economic, social and cultural barriers that one should be aware of. With a good understanding of the cultural differences and economic environment of the Czech Republic, Steve Kafka can turn the challenges into opportunities and successfully extend his business.
During 1945-1990, the Czech Republic had a communist regime, as part of the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia. Nowadays, the Czech Republic is a free market economy. One of the biggest challenges while doing business in the Czech Republic is the bureaucracy. The decision making process takes longer than for US counterparts as the business people in the Czech Republic would do. So, for Steve to be able to get every aspect of his business straight, he probably would need someone that has access to decision makers that can help expedite his business documentation and legalize his business on time with his anticipated opening day (, 2004). Also, people in Czech are more or less relaxed and handle their business very slowly. It will take a couple of meetings before a business decision could be made, unlike in US, everything is handled right on the first meeting and other preparations could have already been done. Americans can start business process with phone conversations, email and all other means of communications and to finalize with a meeting. Like John Stewart, Vice President, General Manager for Rationale’s Strategic Service Organization, IBM said, “The problems are certainly more acute in countries that stick with their own ways of working or have not yet been influenced...
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