The Importance of Culture in Global Business

Before recounting the importance of culture in business, I would suggest the following:

Culture is acquired in different ways through our personal experiences, upbringing in the family, school, college, social clubs, work and social interaction in general. Likewise, the culture is deeply shaped by the conscious and unconscious beliefs that are housed in the mind and often cannot be observed directly, but through its manifestations.

The cultural issue is taking a great importance for the successful conduct of international business, which is why culture is so powerful that it influences how people perceive, visualize and act in the world and therefore how they do business.

Today, many Latin American countries are negotiating free trade agreements with Asian countries like Japan which is a global power, we should know some things about the Japanese, for example before discussing a business is important to create a relationship between the parties, indicating a long-term possibility of maintaining a business relationship, and that negotiators experience reflected in the age and the amount of years you have been part of the company reflects confidence.

A new trend that is happening in the world of business is that culture and the world are interconnected and that is why businesses are becoming global, however, when these different cultures come into contact, they converge in some respects but in others the different idiosyncrasies tend to amplify. This means that the topic of culture is taking a great importance for the successful conduct of international business and even many universities are including in their programs and intercultural management chairs global impact as does the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil.

I'll give my own example to explain how culture influences in our environment: As a "fish in water" is used to make a similarity with the culture and people, this means that the fish just realize that in the water when it is removed from its vital element, but when it does not perceive its existence. In the same way a person interacts in its everyday context does not see "their culture" or the elements that make it different from other cultures, but when one is forced to leave their "environment" can perceive the characteristics of their own culture and compare with the new culture in which it is now.

The relevance of culture in international negotiations beyond the visible aspects such as food, clothing and health and also includes the way of thinking and different views sometimes face the same reality. As for some people the cuy can be a pet, other people could be considered a pest and a delicacy for others, just as the issues discussed in international negotiations can often be appointed in the same way but people be thinking of different meanings. Ecuadorians must be prepared in handling cultural aspects for success in international negotiations.