BUSINESS CUSTOMS IN GLOBAL MARKETING:
A LOOK AT PERSONAL SELLING TECHNIQUES

1    What are you used to?
   If you work hard, you will succeed
   Women have similar opportunities to men
   If you set goals, you can plan a path to achieve them
   If you work hard, you will be rewarded
   It is good to be recognized for your efforts among your peers
   People will work with you, despite your background or ethnic group

2     Expatriates (people from your home office in the destination country)- what
       are the specific problems they may face?
   Local Nationals - what are the advantages they bring?
   Third Country Nationals - response by persons from your company and in
               destination country
   Host Country Restrictions

3    Market Entry Options and Sales Force Strategy
   Does your firm have its own sales force? Have you chosen to enter the market
               through a broker, an EMC, a trading company (sogoshosha), a subsidiary, etc??
   If so, what is the reputation of the sales force that will represent you?
   What will the salesforce do?  Take orders? Make deliveries? Educate the
               customer? Solve problems?

4    Five Cultural Dimensions- Hofstede
   Power distance - concentration of power
   Individualism vs. collectivism - I vs. we
   Masculinity vs. femininity - achievement vs. relationships
   Uncertainty avoidance - does uncertainty cause stress?
   Long-Term orientation
 

5    Corporate Culture
   Understanding the relationship between individual culture and corporate culture
   What happens if someone from one culture works in a firm from another culture?
 

6    Time Congruity
   Person who is monochronic and highly-scheduled
   Company which is polychronic and flexible
   A mismatch in timestyles is thought to cause conflict

7    Myers-Briggs Type Indicator of Personal Characteristics (MBTI)
   How was it developed?   Why was it developed?  Will it perform reliably in
               another culture?
    Extrovert (action) vs. introvert (solitude)
    Sensing (realistic, present time) vs. intuitive (possibilities, future)
   Thinking (logic) vs. feeling (human aspects)
   Judging (quick decisions) vs. perceiving (open to new info)

8    Attributes Required for International Operations
   Maturity - can you interpret what is happening based on fact, not emotion?
   Will you try to understand the events?
   Emotional Stability - reasoned responses
   Positive Outlook - do you need encouragement?  Can you survive on your own?
   Do you need constant reinforcement?
   Suppose that rewards are much less often in Country X?  Suppose they go to
               the group?

9    More Characteristics
   Flexibility - can you change if needed?  Or, do you want to keep to your
               plan, no matter what?
   Cultural Empathy - can you allow people of other cultures to act as they
               believe, even if you do not understand their behaviors? Will you judge them
               on your terms?
   Energetic - can you adjust to different time schedules?
   Enjoy Travel
 

10    Basis for U.S. Management Attitudes
   Master of Destiny" - hard work gets results
   Independent Enterprise as an Instrument for Social Action
   Personnel Selection and Reward Based on Merit
   Decisions Based on Objective Analysis
   Wide Sharing of Decision Making
   Never Ending Quest for Improvement - some cultures rely on tradition

11    Do's of Global Compensation
   Do involve representatives from key countries.
   Do allow local managers to decide the mix between base and incentive pay.
   Do use consistent performance measures (results paid for) and emphasis on
               each measure.
   Do allow local countries flexibility in implementations.
   Do use consistent communication and training themes worldwide.

12    Don'ts of Global Compensation
   Don't design the plan centrally and dictate to local offices.
   Don't create a similar framework for jobs with different responsibilities.
   Don't require consistency on every performance measure within the incentive
               plan.
   Don't assume cultural differences can be managed through the incentive plan.
   Don't proceed without the support of senior sales executives worldwide.
 

13    Preparing U.S. Personnel for Foreign Assignments
   Overcoming Reluctance to Accept a  Foreign Assignment
   Reducing the Rate of Early Returns
   Successful Expatriate Repatriation

14    Cultural Skills
   Communicate respect and interest for people and their culture.
   Tolerate ambiguity and cope with cultural   differences.
   Display empathy by understanding needs and differences.
   Be nonjudgmental by not judging by your value standards.
   Recognize and control SRC as an nfluence.
Laugh things off when things do not work as planned.
 

15    Colgate-Palmolive Fast Track
   Two Years-Rotate Through Finance - Manufacturing - Marketing - Market System
                  - Ad Agency - Marketing Research - Product Management
   Seven Months in Sales
   Trip with Company Mentor to Foreign Subsidiary upon Completion of Two Years.
   Foreign Posting - not Paris but Brazil, Zambia or some third world
   Second Foreign Posting  Possible
   Return to Domestic Market

16    Suppose that . . .
   One of the young ladies in class had gotten a job in a major global company
               and had done well
   Now, she is offered a position as a manager in Saudi Arabia
   What would you recommend that she do?
 


 
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