The Cultural Challenges of Doing Business Overseas

University of Phoenix

MBA 501 Forces Influencing Business in the 21st Century

The Cultural Challenges of Doing Business Overseas

Background

Steve Kafka, an American of Czech origin and a franchisor for Chicago Style Pizza, has decided to expand his business into the Czech Republic. He knows it is a risky decision; when he became a franchisor, he had to overcome a lot of difficulties. Steve anticipates he will face some of these difficulties again at the new location in Prague, Czech Republic. Although he was born in the United States, he has family and friends in the Czech Republic, speaks Czech fluently, and has visited the country of his origin several times. In other words, he knows the people and the culture.

Cultural differences and incompatibilities

Families in the Czech Republic are different from those in the U.S.; however, there are also some similarities. Families in the Czech Republic eat three meals a day with a midmorning snack, which is common among families in the U.S. Both U.S. and Czech families eat meals at work and the children eat meals at school. The risks surround Czech’s customary dishes. Most foods in the Czech Republic are eaten with utensils. This can be a risk for Kafka because pizza is a meal that does not require utensils. Women do the cooking within the house, while men do not cook. Dinning out is not a tradition in the Czech culture. Most families eat traditional meals at home, consisting of foods such as cabbage soups, eggs, mushrooms and potatoes and dumplings. When one Czech invites another to eat out, the person whom extends the invite is expected to pay the bill. In the U.S. a person can invite another to dine out, but it is not customary for the invitee to pay the bill. Most people pay for their own meals when dinning out in the states.

Steve Kafka’s plan to open a Chicago style pizza franchise in the Czech Republic can be risky due to the culture differences....