How Your Global Business Can Meld Your Company's Culture with Local Culture

Businesses that are trying to expand harbor ambitions to make great products and provide stellar services. While these goals may be universal, the method of achieving them certainly varies across different countries and cultures.

The first thing any expanding business should do is to spend time studying the culture of the place they want to establish in, talking to the people and understanding the way they live, consume, and relate to local and new brands. Businesses should consult experts who understand these behaviors and trends.

Once these fundamental principles have been studied, the business should look for values that they share with the new culture, and depending on how receptive their clients are to new values, strategically introduce the things they want to change. Sometimes a product or culture works out just fine. Other times, it will take time, and in some instances, businesses need to blend the two, offering something exotic while making the people feel comfortable with what they already know.

The key to any plan is language and communication. Speak to your staff and your clients in a language they understand. For cultures with a single language, it’s easier to apply a model, but attention should be paid to nuances that differentiate different regions of the same country. Something said in one part of the country might be offensive in another section. Stay out of bitter local rivalries unless it’s genuinely sporty and brings the people together, but there’s always space to engage local communities through the arts, common causes, and cultural events.

Businesses on the global market must embrace diversity and decentralization of authority to enable managers to make decisions about products, prices, and marketing that meet the specific needs of their markets. Glocalization, the term coined to describe these adaptions, must be done with the needs of locals in mind, serving them global brands in a way that suits them.

Sweet Tips from Ally

Think your business is ready to expand and engage a new culture? Here are a few tips to help you glocalize.

1. Collaborate

Work with local authorities, businesses, and organizations to learn about customs, laws, tax, incentives, and projects that foster a pleasant business environment.

2. Adapt and create brands

Some brands work out fine in a new culture, but learn to adapt your products to the culture, or create new brands if that will work for you and your clients.

3. Allocate money for unplanned expenses

There are going to be new things that you learn that need your business to change or adapt its strategy. Set aside money for surprises along the way.

4. Train your staff

You probably don’t want to change your company culture completely to obliterate your vision. Introduce your concept to a core group of workers and train them to pass on your identity.