Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture When is cultural knowledge particularily important ? - Cultural distance is large - Your business faces hard competition - The customer is experienced and knowledgeable (or NOT!) - There are only a few external (= international) rules - The customer has a strong decision-power - When the customer does not understand his need - The longer you intend to work there, joint-venture, construction etc. - The more complicated your product is - The longer it takes for the customer to make a decision - The more you have to interact with many persons/organizations - The more important the area is to you

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Success in working within different Cultures Knowledge Understand the Concept of culture Self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-awareness Know the host country… …and her Culture… Skills Intercultural Communication Adaptation Skills Organizational Skills Values & Attitude & Moral Code Modesty, respect, honesty … treat the others as… Personal & professional commitment to your work

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Values & Attitude & Moral Code ”Do onto others what you wish them to do to you” …”You” are the customer... =>… think that you are actually serving yourself Be positive. Make an effort to talk, understand and give help. Relate at a personal level, make friends, create social networks. Show willingness in trying to use the host language "State of mind": high tolerance of ambiguity non-judgemental open-minded field-independent

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Background : Facts are the same for everyone in all cultures. The differences lie in the –interpretations- of these facts! People are all the time interpreting and choosing sides, (not logically ?) …and… …making decisions… Frustration : …mismatch of facts and their interpretations… Cultural features e.g. : …norms, values, symbols, rituals, traditions, …what is right / wrong… What things are noticed ? How are they interpreted ? What is selected to be presented & how …strength, limits, covered… ? Knowledge

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Universal Pan-human InherentAquired Tribe/Organization Sub-culture Individual / Personal All cultures have the same Base with growth possibilities Local surrounding and environment mold and direct All collectives have same social & mental base-structure Same biological background Slow development ”Living Being” …info, power, decisions… Can quickly adopt to new environments => Family, Professional, Organizational, National Cultures Knowledge

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Culture : Model of the world (abstract & material) that is shared by the members of a society and that play an enormous role in their understanding of that world and how they live and behave in it. Culture is an organic entity like the human body. If you want to change (improve?) anything in a given culture, be prepared to spend much - …and even much more, in your endeavours. It is much easier to change yourself. Knowledge

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Skills Communication & Interaction skills (e.g.): being a good listener pls. check listening being able to get the message through in a manner that is adapted to the listener(s) ability to use this information Relationship skills (e.g.): show interest and empathy to the other ability to show respect and politeness allow the others to “save the face”, keep their pride Multicultural teamwork skills

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Comm. & Interaction Skills Responsibility of the Interaction ( Personal &. Professional) Good-Will, caring Respect other people Responsibility of own emotions, thoughts and acts Hear correct – understand correct( Don´t talk while listening) Bring up the important issues – honesty( Be discreet, White Lies.. ) Elements

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Relationships List of Relationship characteristics B-to-B, means that the relations are of the type : Network-Network. pls check the DMU. Co-operation ( between everyone )Longevity ( hit and run…) Dependency ( network like )Power ( misuse… ) Adaptation ( learning…) Trust, Risk ( both parties ) Close / Superficial ( personal/prof.)Formality ( legal…) frequency, regularity, intensity, attraction PERSONAL etc. etc.

Export Marketing Veikko Laine "...the capacity to adjust personally so that s/he is content and generally at ease in the host culture." Adaptation

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Organizational Skills Ability to interact with people of another culture in a way that earns their respect and trust, thereby encouraging a cooperative and productive workplace that is conducive to the achievement of professional and assignment goals If you cannot express your plans in writing and N o :s, then they are not clear enough nor accurate AND you cannot estimate the results of your work NOR improve your actions

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Export, general Don´t dream, accept the hard facts ! Costs : Product idea 1 Unit Screened product idea 10 Units Prototype 100 Units Marketing 1000 Units To fail to prepare is toprepare to fail ! …export= much, much money, work, time… and REAL JOY of SUCCESS !!

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Export, general To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail ! The most important AND most expensive task of any Marketing is : information distribution a) From the Customers b) To the Customers Most of the culture-related information is non-verbal, implicit…

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Non-verbal, implicit info E.g. decisionmaking West : time… linear (= money), …”logical sequence”… Far-East : time…, …”holism” & harmony… Africa : time ?, 1) Human Relations & ”nice” 2) task under work…

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Non-verbal, implicit info E.g. China Ethnic Chinese control 60–100 % of the economies in S-E Asia Something to think : Guanxi, relationship Renqing, another currency Mianzi, keeping face Baojiang, praising Some ”rules” Nothing is easy Everything is possible Western business logic… Project… deadlines… ?? You must persist – things will happen NEVER show your frustration Patience is everything ”You don´t know China” = they disagree ”New regulation” = …the agreement… ”Internal regulation” = you are wrong ”Basically no problem” = ”Yes” = I heard you BIG PROBLEM

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Non-verbal, implicit info The structure of a language ~ the way these users think Indo-European & Finno-Ugrian Comparison Bertolt Brecht : ”Finns are silent in two languages” How to co-operate with Finno-Ugrian people ? Don´t take silence as negative, … hostility or arrogance Don´t repeat too often Don´t interrupt Don´t self-celebrate - honest, helpfull, no structural racism, low hierarchy, organized society technology based thinking, weak service culture, not yet so international Don´t wait any feed-back

Export Marketing Veikko Laine Culture Non-verbal, implicit info The structure of a language ~ the way these users think What Finno-Ugrians ought to do : Answer with more than one word ( …Y / N… ) Rehearse small-talk, prepare subjects for one to discuss about - repeat, get enchanted, open up, praise, express your gratitude SHOW positive interest, …don´t only think, contemplate Communicate, be expressive Start using body language, become conscious => rehearse