Intercultural Dimensions: Planting Seeds for Trade with Naturebios

Planting Sees for Trade with Naturebios – Analyzing Intercultural Dimensions
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Planting Sees for Trade with Naturebios – Analyzing Intercultural Dimensions
Introduction
Cultural diversity is an inevitable factor in international business. Today, businesses are exposed to global environments, interact with different cultural aesthetics, and undergo conflicts due to minimal knowledge and a sense of inclusion. While doing business internationally, both verbal and non-verbal, intercultural communication holds significance for companies to strengthen acceptance among stakeholders in a hostile market environment (Simpson, Dervin & Tao, 2020). The case study involves two culturally diversified companies in Norway and Brazil negotiating a partnership to sell bio-products internationally (Herbst, 2020). The report critically investigates communication gaps and intercultural conflicts through Hofstede’s cultural framework, followed by recommendations.
Identification of Problems/Issues
Assimilation was the primary challenge in the negotiation for the Brazilian representatives. According to Lewis (2021), Assimilation refers to false consciousness developed by individuals towards a dominant culture based on self-beliefs or experiences. As identified in the case, the Brazilian representatives became victims of Assimilation when they expressed a balanced concern for the professional and personal wellbeing of employees. Body High representatives expressed dominance over Brazilian culture by emphasizing more on business values (Herbst, 2020).
The second issue is the verbal communication exchange between Norwegian and Brazilian representatives. Articulation is a probable gap incurring during intercultural communication exchanges. In most cases, the sender and receiver ignore cultural values while exchanging messages during negotiation (Corrigan & Slomp, 2021). Naturebios expressed a warm and welcoming gesture during the initial interaction with Body High representatives by offering handshakes and business cards in the provided case. On the contrary, Body High remained casual and concluded the conversion with a simple ‘Hello,’ reflecting an articulation gap in the two culturally distinct representatives (Herbst, 2020).
Lastly, alienation is the third challenge, a non-verbal communication gap between the representatives. Alienation disconnects the sender or receiver from the exchanged message due to minimal interest in the context of communication (Yang, 2020). For instance, Body High exhibited alienation while negotiating since Naturebios was concerned about the technologies integrated with the process controls, which could influence social and environmental harmony (Herbst, 2020). Hence, the identified problems incurred during negotiation due to intercultural gaps between Brazilian and Norwegian cultures.
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions – Model Justification
Model Description
To understand intercultural differences, Dr. Greet Hostede proposed a framework that caters to six cultural dimensions. The framework compares cultural relevance and dominance between two or more countries through different factors, which is essential for businesses while undergoing negotiation, penetrating different market structures, or managing people in the workplace with distinct backgrounds (Schoen, 2021). The six dimensions in the framework are as follows:
* Power Distance Index (PDI) – This factor refers to the inequality present in cultural backgrounds between authorized and unauthorized people. Countries with high PDI are more likely to practice centralization and implement complex hierarchies while exchanging relationships with people (Schoen, 2021a).
* Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV) – This factor refers to the bonds formed by people in a community. Countries with high IDV are more inclined towards self-leisure, such as privacy, freedom, and rewards. Low IDV countries focus on skill development and intrinsic rewards (Schoen, 2021a).
* Masculinity vs. Femininity (MAS) – This factor identifies the role of men and women in culture. Countries with high MAS are more likely to experience gender gaps while participating in activities. Women in high MAS receive lesser opportunities and importance than men (Schoen, 2021a).
* Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) – UAI refers to the emotional context in cultures. Countries with high UAI are expressive, aggressive, and demonstrate a controlling nature with a conservative mindset. Cultures with high UAI are less flexible to adopt changes in the environment (Yi & Chen, 2021).
* Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation (LSO) – This factor measures the tendency of pragmatism and normative aesthetics present in a culture. Countries scoring high in LSO are pragmatic and modest. Emphasis on principles is lesser than normative cultures since virtues vary with personality (Yi & Chen, 2021).
* Indulgence vs. Restraint (IVR) – This factor studies people’s perceptions from different cultural backgrounds. Countries scoring high in IVR are optimistic and believe in freedom of speech. Personal happiness is the fundamental focus among people instead of controlling the behaviors of others in the environment (Yi & Chen, 2021).
Strengths
The primary strength of the framework is its diverse application in different scenarios. Organizations can use the framework for managing people, negotiating business terms, and creating a product or campaign for a specific marketplace (Zhou & Kwon, 2020). Secondly, organizations could use the framework to educate executives and representatives for mitigating cultural conflicts during international assignments. Through this framework, businesses can connect with culturally distinct stakeholders, deliver expectations, and build performance relevance systematically (Amir & McAuliffe, 2020). The framework effectively captures dimensions like PDI, LSO, UAI, and IDV between Brazilian and Norwegian cultures in the provided case. The framework’s identified strengths apply to the negotiation scenario between Body High and Naturebios (Herbst, 2020).
Weaknesses
The fundamental challenge with the framework is vast generalizability. The dimensions measure individuals with central tendencies of cultural aesthetics. However, cultural exchanges are influenced by broad factors that emerge at regular intervals based on the sensitivity of scenarios and intentions of parties under negotiation. The framework remains general while measuring the cultural differences between two or more countries (Amir & McAuliffe, 2020). Additionally, cultural aesthetics recorded by the framework are not subject to evolution and changes incurred over the period. Due to technological advancements and awareness among people, most cultures evolved, which are not captured due to the generalizability of dimensions (Zhou & Kwon, 2020).
Case Analysis
Problem/Issue: PDI among the Representatives
PDI is the primary gap in the cultural values in the first negotiation stage, namely preparation. As discussed previously, PDI measures the inequality between authorized and unauthorized people in a cultural setting. In the provided case, the Brazilian culture exhibited high PDI. As evidence, the partnership negotiation with Naturebios was a critical deal for Body High. However, the Marketing Executive of Body High, Sofie Hansen, contacted the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Naturebios, Dr. Ana Sousa, instead of personnel designated at the same position (Herbst, 2020). Countries with high PDI are more likely to practice power and hierarchy during negotiation (Schoen, 2021a). The PDI-based intercultural communication indicates that Norwegian culture initially experienced a significant challenge during negotiation by following the hierarchical setting practiced in the Brazilian culture. The PDI factor mitigated the inclusion and autonomy for Norwegian guests, regardless of the warm gesture offered by Naturebios during the visit to their home country.
Discussions on corporate culture and stakeholder management also exhibited PDI differences in intercultural communication. Sousa inquired about corporate gatherings and team-building activities to entertain employees. Sousa also questioned the incentive policies deployed by Body High to keep employees motivated and retained with the company. However, Han...