Business Culture Is an Amalgamation of Norms, Values, Believes and Traits

Business culture is the determination of how a coworkers within a company, communicate with each other or with any other clients or any business companies, it is also a model or style that takes place within a company. Business culture is an amalgamation of norms, values, believes and traits that people within an organization showcases. Business culture of an organization reflects the parameters within which a firm operates and distinguishes itself from all other companies or organization. It is a cumulative behavior of a people within an organization and how they interact with others that reflects their culture of business.

This essay will analyze the potential scopes of cross-cultural miscommunication using Hofstede’s model and discuss about how the CEO could conduct herself to leave a favorable impression while meeting the manager from different cultural background and will also thoroughly discuss about Thai business etiquettes and mannerism.

This essay will discuss different business that is required to carry out business operation smoothly and the uncertain situation that may arise and it will also give suggestion to prevent cross-cultural miscommunication from happening.

(Eunson, B 2015) First and foremost, it is good to have a better understanding of the market that the CEO is getting into. Communication in business is vital as it is a foundation on the basis of which various business decision are made. Communication is not necessarily need to be in a verbal form, as it includes body language, expressions, gesture etc. so the CEO should consider how the other party is perceiving her message.

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In Thai culture people tend to be more courteous, they speak politely and very respectfully. They don’t criticize people openly and they don’t show their emotions publically so it will be considered inappropriate for a CEO to disagree openly if the situation arises. So to be effective the message must mean the same thing to both the parties i.e.; sender and the receiver. It can easily be considered as an ignorance by those who are unaware of Thai culture. [Cooper, R., 2019] Greet Hofstede developed a theory to reach across different business culture Hofstede started a survey within the IBM organization in 56 countries in 1970 to understand the cultural dimension of other different countries and after survey he was able to identify four cultural dimension and adding one later to make it five for 76 countries. Each of those countries has scale from 1 to 100 for each dimension. Country with the higher score rise up as the more dimension in culture. The culture developed by Hofstede is set out on structural model using versus construction.

Low power distance versus high power distance (PDI) PDI stands for the Power Distance Index, according to the Hofstede Cultural Dimension, PDI refers to the measure of inequality that exists and is accepted by people with or without power. Higher PDI indicates higher power distance which can be said that there is great inequality in the culture, whereas low score represents a low power distance and equality can be recognized and is mainly traced back to European countries. Strong Hierarchical relationship, shows little respect and authority can be traced back in most Asian countries. Individualism versus collectivism (IDV) According to Hofstede’s cultural dimension IDV refers to the strength of the mutual ties between individuals within a certain community. A high score represents lack of interpersonal ‘loose’ connection and just a small amount of sharing responsibility. People’s time, value and their need for freedom are highly valued. Respecting privacy and rewards for hard works are characteristics of high score. In a society having strong group cohesion, huge amount of loyalty and respect for a member within a certain community will have a low score.

The people’s priority is on developing skills to become a master or perfectionist on something. One of the most important characteristics is working for permanent rewards. Masculinity versus feminity (MAS) Hofstede’s cultural dimension referred MAS as how much a society complies with its values and traditional male and female roles. Important things for men are performance and success whereas, for female’s modesty, sensitivity and the quality of life are more important. Men with high score are tough, strong and assertive and females with high scores are submissive, kind and subservient. A low MAS scoring countries role is not transparently distinguished. Some women also work in male dominated profession where they are respected and admired, there is cooperation and men are allowed to be sensitive and kind. Low uncertainty avoidance versus high uncertainly avoidance (UAI) As per Hofstede’s cultural dimension UAI refers to the degree of anxiety that society members feel when they face uncertain and unknown situation. Nation with high score avoid these trouble with certain rules and regulation. They look for evidence to which they link expectation with a certain degree of security. Low scoring nation seem to enjoy new events and people and their people have informal attitude and they are open to changes and risks. 5. Short term orientation versus long term orientation Hofstede’s cultural dimension describes this dimension as society rules based on tradition and centuries-old traditions. It is applied to both short and long term orientation. For high scoring nations family is the basis of society, education and training have higher values and elder people have more authority than the younger ones and women it can be seen practicing in Asian countries. High scoring countries are promoting on higher creativity and individualism.

People are they treat reach other equally and are helpful in executing plans and ideas. As it is mentioned in Hofstede model all the dimensions plays an important role in determining culture of an organization. So in Thai culture seniors are given more priority since the manager is senior then the CEO it is advice able that she approach him with the same level of respect and as appearance of a person is also a way of communication to a certain level it will be proper for her to wear for her formal attire. In Thai culture it is common to exchange gifts as a token of appreciation in that case it will be more suitable if the CEO gets them something as a gift related to her home country. (Root, S., 2016) Business etiquettes of a Thai people are different from people in Australia, People of Thailand prefer developing personal relationship before proceeding any business meetings therefore it not unusual for them to invite their partners for drinks and social gatherings. In terms of decision making it takes time to reach any decision as decision are only made after several meeting with their senior authority unlike in Australia where every individual are responsible and are equally participated while deciding, so patience is one of the most important factor she should consider because it is deemed rude in Thai culture to directly get into negotiation. Talking about etiquettes it will be wise if she can manage to be punctual as there might be traffic problems so it is suggested to consider different routes to travel, such as by boat to avoid uncertain delays.

Language barrier might occur between the two parties so a translator or interpreter should be considered to avoid such kind of troublesome situation. It might be a better idea if she can learn some of their basic languages such as greeting and simple other words which might leave a positive impression. In case of dissatisfaction it is better to give ask for time duration for deciding rather than not giving a phase as they highly regard their reputation and it is obviously not a best thing to do, rejecting right away or disagreeing might let them feel insulted. Asking them to decide them on the spot or pressuring them to decide beyond their will might not be a good idea. In Thai culture business card is a representation of their prestige or status they hold within the country or all around the global, keeping them on back pocket or bending it might be a disrespectful thing. Small detail such as receiving anything with left hand or pointing figures or siting in unmannered position or pointing something with legs, talking about religion, country culture goes against their business culture.

Considering all the above things such as keeping in mind about small details, their way of dealing with the clients (cross-cultural clients or within a country clients) it is better to show them some respect and politeness, it is better not to provoke their norms, values and ethnical beliefs. Business culture varies from country to country and organization to organization, the way of dealing differs from person to person. Communication plays a huge role in conducting such course of action in a proper manner. Preparing beforehand of short coming may prevent possible losses or broken trade. Communication is more concerned with dual parties listening to each other as Thai people are good listener interrupting them while talking can be very inappropriate, they can even take a moment of silence while having conversation as a serious thought.