Understanding of Cultural Differences Important to the Business Managers at ‘Breadtalk’?

Cultural differences refer to the different way individual believes, their lifestyle, religious beliefs and traditions between people or countries. For Breadtalk, if they should decide to expand to Australia, managing the cultural differences in Australia is crucial especially in a multi cultural society. Each individual have their own expectations, ways of interaction, communication and social values.

Australia has one of the most diverse cuisines in the world. Australians enjoy a huge range of food in restaurants and homes, reflecting the country’s cultural diversity. Italian, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Greek, Thai, Malay, French and Vietnamese restaurants are common, particularly in the capital cities. (http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/people_culture.html)

Bread Talk has the concept of uniqueness and creativity and this differentiates old bakeries in the business. The organisation frequently develops and improves their products reflecting modern lifestyle of the Australians. http://www.breadtalk.com/business-review.html

The national language in Australia is English, and that leaves no communication barrier between customers and employees. Australians are generally sociable and friendly people. This makes it easy for the employees to build relationship with the customers.

With Breadtalk having a high visibility brand name in South East Asia, and its dedicated and innovative R&D, I feel the Management can expand its business to Australia. The Manager must not only have extensive cultural knowledge in Australia, so that he can impart them to the employees. This will reduce work friction among each other. He also must be able to manage the cultural differences.