The Cultural Challenges Doing Business Overseas

The Cultural Challenges of Doing Business Overseas

MMPBL/501

University of phoenix

April 19th, 2010

Steve Kafka who currently owns a franchise of Chicago Style Pizza in America has decided to expand his franchise in the Czech Republic. Will Kafka, who has made his way in America, become successful in another country? Steve carries an advantage in that he has friends and family members in the Czech Republic. Being that Steve speaks Slavic fluently he also understands the culture since he has visited the Czech Republic many times prior. Kafka will face many challenges in his future. Will he be able to deal with the culture differences between the U.S. and the Czech Republic? He will have to look at the comparative advantages in the Czech Republic and see if he can take advantage of them. Being that this will be the first franchise Steve opens up overseas, we will have to look at Hofstede’s four primary dimensions to determine how his business will survive. He will have to determine the pricing of the pizza and look to see if there are any trade barriers that might affect his business negatively.

Traditional Czech cuisine is heavy and takes time to prepare. Since the last decade the Czech diet has changed in that many people are eating healthier. 90 percent of the Czech population is made up of Bohemians, 4 percent is Moravian, and 2 percent is made up of Slovaks. The rest of the population is made up of groups of Germans, Greeks, Poles, Silesians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Russians, and Ukrainians. The U.S. population is different in that it is very much diverse in ethnicity. About 66 percent of the population in the U.S. is white, 15 percent consist of Hispanics, the black population is made up of 13 percent, Native Americans are 1 percent, and Asian and Islanders make up 5 percent. A great similarity that will benefit Kafka’s business overseas is the fact that both countries have strong economic, political, and cultural relationships. Another...