148 Part 2 The Cultural Environment of Global Markets to encourage his country to become more punctual. Spain is considering similar measures to adapt to a siesta-less world.46 Business negotiations are perhaps the most fundamental commercial rituals. All the just-discussed differences in business customs and culture come into play more frequently and more obviously in the negotiating process than in any other aspect of business. The basic elements of business negotiations are the same in any country: They relate to the product, its price and terms, services associated with the product, and, finally, friendship between vendors and customers. But it is important to remember that the negotiating process is complicated, and the risk of misunderstanding increases when negotiating with someone from another culture. Attitudes brought to the negotiating table by each individual are affected by many cul-tural factors and customs often unknown to the other participants and perhaps unrecognized by the individuals themselves. His or her cultural background conditions each negotiator’s understanding and interpretation of what transpires in negotiating sessions. The possibility of offending one another or misinterpreting others’ motives is especially high when one’s self-reference criteria (SRC) is the basis for assessing a situation. One standard rule in negotiating is “know thyself” first and “know your counterpart” second. The SRC of both parties can come into play here if care is not taken. How business customs and culture influence negotiations is the focus of Chapter 19. The extent of a company’s marketing orientation has been shown to relate positively to prof-its. Although American companies are increasingly embracing this notion (and marketing in general),47 firms in other countries have not been so fast to change from the more traditional pro-duction (consumers prefer products that are widely available), product (consumers favor prod-ucts that offer the best quality, performance, or innovative features), and selling (consumers and businesses alike will not buy enough without prodding) orientations. For example, in many countries, engineers dominate corporate boards, and the focus is more toward a product orien-tation. However, more profitable American firms have adopted strong marketing orientations wherein everyone in the organization (from shop floor to finance) is encouraged to, and even receive rewards if, they generate, disseminate, and respond to marketing intelligence (that is, consumers’ preferences, competitions’ actions, and regulators’ decisions). Recently research-ers have empirically verified that for various complex reasons, including cultural explana-tions, a marketing orientation is less prevalent in a number of other countries;48 and it can be difficult to encourage such an orientation across diverse business units in global companies.49 Negotiations Emphasis Marketing Orientation Gender Bias in International Business The gender bias against female managers that exists in some countries, coupled with myths harbored by male managers, creates hesitancy among U.S. multinational companies to offer women international assignments. Although women now constitute Nearly 60 percent of the professional and technical U.S. workforce,50 they represent relatively small percentages of the employees who are chosen for international assignments— less than 20 percent. Why? Some argue that deep-seated negative attitudes LO3 The extent and implications of gender bias in other countries 46Jim Yardley, “Spain, Land of 10 P.M. Dinner, Asks if it’s Time to Reset the Clock,” The New York Times, February 18, 2014, pp. A1, A12. 47John F. Gaski and Michael J. Etzel, “National Aggregate Consumer Sentiment toward Marketing: A Thirty-Year Retrospective and Analysis,” Journal of Consumer Research 31 (2005), pp. 859 – 67. 48Sin et al., “Marketing Orientation”; John Kuada and Seth N. Buatsi, “Market Orientation and Management Practices in Ghanaian Firms: Revisiting the Jaworski and Kohli Framework,” Journal of International Marketing 13 (2005), pp. 58 – 88; Reto Felix and Wolfgang Hinck, “Market Orientation of Mexican Companies,” Journal of International Marketing 13 (2005), pp. 111–27. 49Paul D. Ellis, “Distance, Dependence and Diversity of Markets: Effects on Market Orientation,” Journal of International Business Studies 38 (2007), pp. 374 – 86. 50U.S. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau, http://www.dol.gov/wb; Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, http://www.dpeaflcio.org.
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