Supply Chain Design
A company needs to know and respect cultural differences when it decides to conduct business in a foreign country (Collier & Evans, 2019). Sourcing is essential in operation management in global settings; therefore, one must know the country’s culture to achieve good results and avoid issues like miscommunication. Communication is an essential factor when it comes to global business. Countries have different styles of communication. Some nations may prefer a straightforward way of relaying information, while others may take a long way. Consequently, knowing the proper way of speaking would contribute to good communication. Also, learning a country’s culture would help an organization to understand how to interact with people in foreign countries.
Another factor to consider regarding the country’s culture is workplace etiquette. Having a proper understanding of the nation’s workplace etiquette could highly contribute to respecting the people’s cultural norms (Gezon & Kottak, 2014). For example, people from the countries in the East Asian region prefer the title Mr. or Mrs. Additionally, understanding the culture of people in different nations may help the organization know how to handle workplace issues. For example, employees in some countries may find it normal to be late for a few minutes while others may find it abnormal. Break times may also be another thing to consider regarding the workplace culture in a new country. For instance, workers usually have a lunch break of around 2 hours in France, while the break takes almost 30 minutes in America. Therefore, it is essential to understand various workplace etiquettes to bridge the cultural differences at work.
The significant consequence of not understanding the local culture and practices are failing to identify new opportunities. Cultural barriers may contribute to missed opportunities since the organization may fail to recognize the gaps that exist in the markets. Moreover, ignorance may threaten the company’s ability to retain and attract its pool of global talent. Human resource policies should be adapted to reflect the cultural profile of the local workers when a foreign organization hires the local staff.
References
Collier, D. A, & Evans, J. R. (2019). Operations and supply chain management. Cengage Learning.
Gezon, L., & Kottak, C. (2014). Culture (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.