Our second session of student presentations highlighted international market cultures in Australia, China, Germany and Switzerland.
Our final evening of student presentations started with a Filipina partnered with a French girl dressed in a black jersey labelled G'Day Toronto! With an interesting accent, Claire explained that Australian strongly believe that the way they do business will be successful around the world without modification. Australians are also highly individualistic, placing highest priority on taking care of themselves and their immediate family.
The next team was comprised of two Brazilian women who analyzed China. A key feature of the Chinese market culture is a strong focus on long-term success. This in turn makes decision-making very slow and cumbersome in the People's Republic.
My Ukrainian partner and I were third to present. Germany is the world's number exporter, and has strong language, cultural and perceptual barriers that may prevent Germany from becoming a true global superpower. For example, Germans are very formal and require that they be addressed by title (like Herr Workman) rather than by first name. Also, Germans have a strict - if unspoken - code of conduct for attending business presentations. No one should enter the meeting room until invited and told where to sit. The oldest and highest rank enter the room first. Among those of equal rank, men go in before women.
A Middle Eastern couple made the final presentation on Switzerland. While Switzerland's population of 7.5 million is much smaller than Germany's 82.4 million, Switzerland has a multicultural population including people of German, Italian and French heritage. This fact makes it easier for Swiss management to adapt to cultural demands of multinationals, since they need to adjust to different cultures within their own boundaries. In contrast, 95% of Germans speak German and are conditioned to well-documented and proven German business practices.
