Change Management

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nExamine the nature and type of changes that can exist when a company expands intonew territories, and critically evaluate how these changes could influence behaviours and culture.

nIn the past few decades, most organizations have introduced new businesses in different parts of the world. Numerous medium and large sized companies have adopted globalization via inorganic or organic expansion. Along with its benefits, globalization can also lead to various barriers that should be solved in order to execute and satisfy the set goals. One of the major challenges is the cultural diversity and the way to deal with variations in a manner that they are agreement among business elements working globally (Bilgin and Wührer 2014). There is a wide range of challenges associated with cultural barriers but communication problems remain the biggest challenge. Various languages inevitably establish challenging conditions for global companies. It is the role of management to comprehend the variation in cultures aiming to establish strategies, which are equally satisfactory in numerous cultures. According to Hong and Lee (2014) culture is the shared programming of the thoughts, which differentiate one category or group of individuals from another. Culture is an indistinct set of fundamental values and assumptions, behavioural conventions, procedures, policies, beliefs and life orientation that are collective to a certain group of individuals (Hong and Lee 2014).

nBurmah Castrol Company cannot merely depend on its existing approach of managing business in case it makes a decision to initiate new business operations at global level. Every nation has a record of diverse variables that can be different from an offshore firm such as holiday periods, currency, taxation, regulation and rules (Christiansen 2012). More importantly, deliberation in this respect is the variation in culture. Burmah Castrol upholds that effective negations not only need technical talent i.e. communication system, but also require to appreciate the setting in which those negotiations are being carried out aiming to protect profitable contracts (Bilgin and Wührer 2014).

nThe expansion of business in Burmah Castrol Company into global territories can be via either acquisitions and mergers, or internal growth. The firm can suffer from cultural mismatch especially with regard to internal growth and the choice to establish a base in a new nation since it requires a lot of time to understand the culture and embrace its characters (Hong and Lee 2014). An acquisition or a merger of an already recognized firm is valuable method of growth intercontinentally as the parent organization can slowly learn the beliefs and norms of the target firm via the attained unit that is being worked based on the host countrys cultural preferences (Christiansen 2012).

nIt is vital for Burmah Castrol Company to understand the cultural differences that exist in a new area prior to starting business. In this regard, the organization should know and map the cultures of the host country because they can play a major part in bridging the gap between business settings working in various cultures (Christiansen, Turkina, and Williams 2013). Research has indicated that a multinational company such as Burmah Castrol Company with presence in diverse cultures will have a minor cultural gap than a company, which has business in a few varied cultures. The main reason of this minimized gap is the knowledge factor from operating in various cultures.

nIn some instances, the Burmah Castrol Company may find numerous comparisons in two cultures in conjunction with the obvious differences. The similarities levels between cultures changes from various countries. The international business theory, international companies attempt to grow into nations, which have less cultural diversity and more similarities in two cultures in order to avoid cultural mismatch (Bilgin and Wührer 2014).

nHowever, it is challenging to assume that expansion into emerging markets with higher level of differences in terms of culture will undesirably influence the performance for companies such as Burmah Castrol Company (Christiansen 2012). In this regard, there is no conclusive evidence. Indeed, some scholars have indicated a constructive performance after entering emerging markets with higher cultural differences (Hong and Lee 2014).

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nReferences

nBilgin, F. and Wührer, G., 2014. International Marketing compact. Wien: Linde.

nBoeing, M., 2013. Analysis of cultural differences and their effects on marketing products in the United States of America and Germany. Hamburg: Anchor Academic Pub.

nChirkov, V., 2015. Fundamentals of Research on Culture and Psychology. Taylor and Francis.

nChristiansen, B., 2012. Cultural variations and business performance. Hershey, PA: Business Science Reference.

nChristiansen, B., Turkina, E. and Williams, N., 2013. Cultural and technological influences on global business. Hershey PA: Business Science Reference.

nHong, J. and Lee, Y., 2014. The Influence of National Culture on Customers’ Cross-Buying Intentions in Asian Banking Services. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

nMoran, R., Harris, P. and Moran, S., 2011. Managing cultural differences. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

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