Expansion of a Business into an Asian Country

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Hello;

This is actually an interesting assignment you have. Expanding internationally for any company is an exciting venture, as it opens up new markets for a product. It can also be financially devastating to the company if not undertaken with caution and with careful consideration of the culture into which you are heading.

Three Major Cross-Cultural Differences That Would Need to be Taken Into Consideration If Your Company Were to Expand Into This Market Based on your Selected Country

For this part of your assignment, you are taking a western U.S. based company and expanding into Asia. For the purpose of this assignment, let's consider the country of Thailand in Southeast Asia. It looks like you need to discuss three major differences between the two, so let me give you three ideas on which to base your essay.

Difference #1 - Concept of time - Before I begin, it is always important to approach an essay dealing with cross-cultural differences from the viewpoint of cultural relativism. This is to say that no one culture is better than another. Said another way, the way people of different cultures live or behave should simply be viewed as different, not wrong. This is an important concept to remember as a company expands its operations into another culture, because one's first reaction is to simply say that they are wrong, and then set out to fix. If this is the attitude, then failure is an almost certainty. Instead, it is important to embrace the differences and learn to adapt. Consider the concept of time. In America, when management wants something done, they will set a timeline and expect the product to be delivered. This is not necessarily the case in Thailand. Relationships and other aspects of life often ...