Global Intercultural

The challenges of launching your business globally are many and one of them is cultural awareness of the business and societal environment. Before you venture to open a branch somewhere across the ocean you have to invest your hard-earned money and your time to investigating the market, the culture of the country you will do business in. It will pay off in the future, be sure of that.

For example, your company’s logo is a hand showing thumbs up. This is an understandable and popular concept almost everywhere you go and everyone knows it’s a sing of approval. Almost is the key word here however. Because of you go to Turkey the sign will cause an immediate scandal. We won’t tell what exactly it means but be sure it’s not a good thing. So make sure all your important logos and trademark slogans aren’t offensive in other cultures and languages. It is not rare that in some languages company names sound funny or silly so you may want to think about changing the stress in certain words or go for a different one altogether.

Don’t assume your globalized image will work everywhere. Make sure the staff get proper trainings and education about the culture and especially business customs of the country they will be working in. Cultural misunderstandings can ruin prospective deals and shut doors in an instant. Do don’t make them happen. Ever.