Differences In Business Culture Research Articles

Literature Review on Differences in Business Cultures and Negotiation Methods in USA, China, and South Korea

Literature Review on Differences in Business Cultures and Negotiation Methods in USA, China, and South Korea

Capital Structure and Financial Efficiency: Evidence from Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange of Vietnam

Capital structure and its utilization is one of the most crucial determinants to the growth and development of a business Thomas (2013). However, the level of financial leverage varies across firms and periods of time due to differences in business culture, administration, industry, or business strategy. In principle, there is no theoretically fixed perfect level for the proportion of financial leverage in a firm’s capital structure (Modigliani and Miller, 1958). Various capital structure theories have been mentioned in the literature such as trade-off theory (Miller, 1977) and the pecking order theory (Myers and Majluf, 1984). However, they always come with specific assumptions and contexts which cause the issue of empirical capital structure to remain debatable, especially in terms of an emerging market. Vietnamese stock markets, with a history of less than two decades of development, rapid growth, and with the establishment of derivative market in 2017 (The State Bank of Vietnam, 2017) is regarded as a typical one. Thus, this research aims to investigate the impact of capital structure on firm financial efficiency in Vietnamese listed companies. The panel data were collected from 85 firms listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HSX) during the period 2006 to 2017 (excluding the financial sector). The results reveal that short term leverage of listed firms is significantly positively correlated with its financial efficiency.

Cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the European neighbourhood: Tourism cooperation at the Finnish-Russian border

Knowledge transfer and innovation cooperation between the EU and its neighbours has remained weakly developed. To promote this cooperation, the EU has set up initiatives for the European neighbourhood. The issue has, however, received very limited scholarly attention in the field of tourism. This research gap is addressed here via interview data collected from participants in tourism related EU-funded projects in the Finnish-Russian cross-border region. These underline the importance of EU-funding in facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation between Finland and Russia. While language issues, and differences in business culture and administrative/legislative systems between the two countries, constitute barriers for practical cross-border cooperation, it is cross-border differences in culture and technological capabilities that drive cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the cross-border region. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for promoting future cross-border cooperation in innovation and tourism.

Can guanxi be created in Sino–Western relationships? An assessment of Western firms trading with China using the GRX scale

Differences in business cultures have been found to be one of the major impediments to global business. The cultivation of guanxi, i.e., reciprocal business relations and social networks that is common in Confucian cultures, has long been recognized as pivotal for leveraging success when doing business in China. As the second largest global economy and the largest trading country, understanding China's business culture is crucial. This article describes a qualitative and quantitative assessment of guanxi-building in Sino–Israeli business relationships using the GRX scale (Ganqing, Renqing and Xinren). The results show that a modified scale involving only two constructs (Ganqing and Renqing) rather than the three successfully captures Western perceptions of guanxi. This new scale provides practitioners and academics with a useful tool for examining their level of guanxi which can lead to stronger and more fruitful business relationships with their Chinese counterparts.

Similarities and differences in business culture in the people’s Republic of China and the Republic of Serbia

World economic crisis has affected the whole world including Serbia. Among various strategies used for improving this difficult situation, Serbian Government primarily focuses on attracting foreign investments. One of the possible future investors could be, among other countries, the People?s Republic of China. At present, Serbian Government is trying to help Chinese investors in Serbia, but there is still a need for better understanding of how Chinese businessmen work, negotiate and make deals. The main goal of this paper is to present similarities and differences in business culture in China and Serbia in order to define possibilities for mutual cooperation. The methodology of this paper is based on cultural dimensions research made by Hofstede. His national dimensions of culture can be used for explanation of specific types of business culture in China and Serbia. The data from this research will show similari?ties and differences in business culture in these two countries, and also some suggestions are made with regard to improving mutual understanding and doing business.

Strategy factors as drivers and restraints on dairy farm performance: Evidence from Sweden

This paper explored how factors that are potential driving and restraining forces on farm strategy affect farm performance, in terms of economic, technical and allocative input and output efficiency. By assuming some inputs as given in the short run (capital and farmer labor) both long and short run input efficiency scores were calculated. A model of how strategy driving and restraining forces affect farm performance was developed. Three levels of potential driving and restraining forces were identified: external-operational environment, internal environment and micro-social environment. The model was detailed with specific factors, and those of especially the last two types of environments were used as explanatory variables in Tobit regressions, where the dependent variables were data envelopment analysis efficiency scores. We found that several of the strategy factors were important for farm performance. For example, several geographic locations (external-internal environment) were driving forces for economic and technical efficiency. Differences in soil and climate may be reasons, as well as potential differences in business culture. When the internal environment was considered, size of fields, distance to fields, bunker silo and tower silo were found to be driving forces for farm performance, whereas quality of forage machinery and a high focus on dairy production were found to be restraining forces. In the micro-social environment, discussing dairy production with someone was a driving force whereas co-farmers were restraints.

Strategy implications of business culture differences between Japan and China

PurposeTo identify characteristics of Japanese business culture that differ from China, particularly in the dimensions of ‘high context’ versus ‘low context’’ and collectivism versus individualism.Design/methodology/approachApplication of the concepts in cross‐culture research suggested by Hall (1976), Hofstede (1980) and Trompenaar and Hampden‐Turner (1998) and on the base of comprehensive field visits and observation undertaken in China and Japan over the past several years.FindingsThe Japanese culture can be characterized as highly tacit and group‐centered, whereas Chinese culture is more explicit and individualistic.Research limitations/implicationsArguably the absence of a large body of supporting data represents a limitation in the methodology of this article. Future survey based research and further conceptualization on different kinds of collectivisms and individualisms will supplement this article.Practical implicationsVery useful advice in aspects of communication, human relations management, recruitment, and management control systems for international business management developing business opportunities in Japan and China.Originality/valueThis article elucidates the differences in business culture between Japan and China and shows to the global business community that a differentiated view of international business management in Japan and China is necessary.

Evaluating a Model of Industrial Relationship Performance: A Comparison of European and Chinese results using the IMP Data Base

Firms are not isolated economic actors. Their performance depends on more than their own efforts, capabilities and resources. It is also a function of the efforts and resources of others and on the relations a firm has both directly and indirectly with these counterparts. Based on these premises, we examine whether a model of international business relationship performance developed in a Western business context generalises to a Chinese context. Contrary to expectations, given the differences in business cultures, our results suggest that the same model applies in Swedish and Chinese samples of international supplier-customer relations. The exception is that connected business relations have a significant indirect effect on performance in the Chinese but not the Swedish sample. Differences also exist in the way some items used to measure two relationship dimensions operate in the two contexts. Management implications of our results and future research directions are discussed.

The South, the nation, and the world: perspectives on southern economic development

Like the rest of British North America, the American South was born capitalist. The slave plantation, then, was essentially a form of business enterprise like any other - indeed, one quite modern and sophisticated for its time. There were initially very few significant differences in business culture between the northern and southern parts of what became the United States Yet the plantation placed its peculiar stamp on the South, and vice versa, and its path of development diverged increasingly from that of the growing manufacturing belt of the North. In their essays collected in The South, the Nation, and the World, David Carlton and Peter Coclanis effectively argue that the chronic economic difficulties of the American South cannot simply be explained away as resulting from a distinctive premodern business climate, because there was actually very little variation between one region's business climate and another's during the Antebellum period. Instead, it was the collapse of the slave regime in the 1860s that left the South in dire need of economic restructuring, and by Reconstruction the emergent American economy had foreclosed options formerly available to southern enterprise. Forced to play catch-up, southerners have had at best mixed success in the continuing struggle to create an economic life affording stable growth and broad opportunity to all the region's people - and Carlton and Coclanis offer a fascinating illumination of the twists and turns in that economic history.

Mergers and acquisitions across European borders: National perspectives on preacquisition due diligence and the use of professional advisers

Recent years have seen a huge growth in European cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and considerable attention has been given to how such deals arise and are completed. However, most theoretical emphasis has been placed upon noncultural factors although it is increasingly recognized in other spheres of management theory that management styles and business performance cannot be separated out from national or regional cultural influence. As a consequence, this exploratory study focuses upon the influence of national differences in business culture upon preacquisition management. In this paper we report the findings of a large-scale exploratory survey into whether such cultural differences are reflected in different perceptions of the value of due diligence and the use of professional advisors in the preacquisition phase. The findings suggest that national cultural differences do play an important role in affecting acquirer’s perceptions of target companies and we suggest that this may have important consequences for the negotiation of deals and the subsequent management of the postacquisition phase.

Regional variations in business use of information and communication technologies and their implications for policy: Case study evidence from rural England

This paper compares the awareness, take-up and use of information and communication technologies in an ‘accessible’ rural region with that in a ‘remote’ rural region and assesses the implications for policy. Data are drawn from a survey of small businesses in south Warwickshire and north Lancashire. The findings reveal the overall adoption of information and communication technologies, both basic and advanced, to be low, but especially low in north Lancashire compared with south Warwickshire. The reasons for these patterns are explored. In general, the low take-up rates are a function of a combination of factors: infrastructure; business size; the cost, complexity and relevance of the technology; awareness and training; whilst the observed differences between the two regions reflect differences in business culture. The policy implications of these findings are discussed. It is advocated that local policy intervention is necessary to take account of the differences that exist between rural areas.