Clara wrote: Well I hope this is some part of the project these are the five things I found that might be a cultural problems. Gender & Sex Gender can refer to various of ways in which cultures socialize males and females that construct them on a particular role that society deems them to play and in some countries kinship is passed to the men and the women is to be seen and not heard. (www.coursesmart.com) Religion Some believes that their religion is better than the next take September, 2011 that showed that these people thought that there was the most important  when they destroyed the world trade center. Intolerance is a problem through oppression of other groups but it also leads to outright violence (www.coursesmart.com). Food there are different kinds of food for everybody’s culture take rice and fish that is more common in tropical places like Indonesia and Thailand but New Orleans is famous for spicy shellfish but they both reflects the geographic limitations because of their locations as well of the history of the people. (www.coursesmart.com). The importance of understanding cultural differences.  In some countries in the world it is culturally acceptable to use child labor. In other countries bribing government officials is seen as part of the normal course of a tendering process. While refusing to deal with these people will lose you the deal, your stance on human rights and corruption will enhance your reputation with other countries and benefit you more in the long run. (www.insidebusiness360.com) www.sgiquarterly.org  this site talks about different examples of cultural differences through people eyes that were dealing with different cultures. Michael Saunders wrote: WOW! Coca cola has had so many controversies and issues concerning culture, segregation, health, money etc... Just briefly looking it’s hard to believe they are still in business. I did see one key factor to why they are still going so strong though. They have DRIVE. Coca cola represents what a business can do if it bans together in times of crisis and doesn't give up, a willingness to see the problem analyze it from all angles and keep moving forward while correcting the problem keeps that company going. They definitely however need to be more knowledgeable of what is happening in their other worldly manufacturing facilities. Aleathia Bowens wrote: Our corporation, Coca-Cola is expanding its manufacturing business globally to Asia and Europe; therefore, I have been task with the assignment of researching cultural barriers that contribute to failures of new companies in Foreign Markets. As well, I will develop a plan to avoid these intercultural errors. Cultural Barriers Some cultural barriers in business success are as follows: Government sanctions, due to conflicts about government like human right conflicts and foreign business practices that occurred while the Pepsi cola company was in Myanmar (Htun, 2013). in Language is a cultural barrier in succ.

1. Clara wrote: Well I hope this is some part of the project these
are the five things I found that might be a cultural problems.
Gender & Sex
Gender can refer to various of ways in which cultures socialize
males and females that construct them on a particular role that
society deems them to play and in some countries kinship is
passed to the men and the women is to be seen and not heard.
(www.coursesmart.com)
Religion
Some believes that their religion is better than the next take
September, 2011 that showed that these people thought that
there was the most important when they destroyed the world
trade center. Intolerance is a problem through oppression of
other groups but it also leads to outright violence
(www.coursesmart.com).
Food
there are different kinds of food for everybody’s culture take
rice and fish that is more common in tropical places like
Indonesia and Thailand but New Orleans is famous for spicy
shellfish but they both reflects the geographic limitations
because of their locations as well of the history of the people.
(www.coursesmart.com).
The importance of understanding cultural differences.
In some countries in the world it is culturally acceptable to use
child labor. In other countries bribing government officials is
seen as part of the normal course of a tendering process. While
refusing to deal with these people will lose you the deal, your

2. stance on human rights and corruption will enhance your
reputation with other countries and benefit you more in the long
run. (www.insidebusiness360.com)
www.sgiquarterly.org this site talks about different examples
of cultural differences through people eyes that were dealing
with different cultures.
Michael Saunders wrote:
WOW! Coca cola has had so many controversies and issues
concerning culture, segregation, health, money etc... Just briefly
looking it’s hard to believe they are still in business. I did see
one key factor to why they are still going so strong though.
They have DRIVE. Coca cola represents what a business can do
if it bans together in times of crisis and doesn't give up, a
willingness to see the problem analyze it from all angles and
keep moving forward while correcting the problem keeps that
company going. They definitely however need to be more
knowledgeable of what is happening in their other worldly
manufacturing facilities.
Aleathia Bowens wrote:
Our corporation, Coca-Cola is expanding its manufacturing
business globally to Asia and Europe; therefore, I have been
task with the assignment of researching cultural barriers that
contribute to failures of new companies in Foreign Markets. As
well, I will develop a plan to avoid these intercultural errors.
Cultural Barriers
Some cultural barriers in business success are as follows:
Government sanctions, due to conflicts about government like
human right conflicts and foreign business practices that
occurred while the Pepsi cola company was in Myanmar (Htun,
2013). in Language is a cultural barrier in success of global
business, because communication is the primary tool that is use
to give instructions. Effective communication determines rather
or not there are misunderstandings in business; another issue is
symbolism (Editorial Board, 2012). Because symbols in
different cultures can mean different things like the color of

3. white symbolizes mourning in China, and red symbolizes
happiness diversity in symbolism can cause conflict. Tools used
for agreements of contract may be different in many cultures,
causing uncertainty in expectation of business agreements. Be it
verbal contracts, or deliberation over decisions of agreement
and disagreements of contracts; Certain rules of cultural
procedures in business, such as to include elders and other
family members in financial investments, may seem silly to U.S.
Business Personnel; however, they are ritual customs that other
culture live by to avoid mistakes that will cause them to be
ostracize from their family members (Coca-Cola, 2014).
Attitudes about business and time schedule as it relates to U.S.
and Foreign business ethics may be different, because some
foreign cultures are less hurried about immediate decision
making and sometimes persons of authority may run a little
behind schedule; Many foreign cultures like to build
relationships of trust in business partners, and they perceive
trust between business associate similar to a covenant with God
and man kind; therefore, once those bonds are broken it is hard
for a firm to redeem themselves. Lastly, trying to impose U.S.
values, customs, beliefs, advertisement approach, language,
ethics and structure of working rules on foreign cultures will
only cause more confusion and conflicts to a foreign work
force (Coca-Cola, 2014).
Disregard of other Cultures Ideas
Reasons why people may not appreciate other ideas of view of
others are as follows: ethnocentrism can affect an individual’s
attitude towards other cultures; this can be caused by the
patriotic individual feeling that they must remain loyal to their
country, by avoiding the indulgence of learning or practicing
foreign cultural history, values, religion, customs, pride, beliefs
and societal laws. As well, people from highly developed
countries may misjudge the intelligence, values, conservatism
and unique strengths that individuals in less develop or ancient
cultures possess. (Editorial Board, 2012)

4. Plan to Avoid Intercultural Errors
Plans to avoid intercultural errors include the following
researching Asia and Europe’s’ culture, there business
practices, their subculture, history, advertisement strengths,
government, financial stratification, social structure, values,
beliefs, cuisine, monumental sites and religion. As well, I would
like to hire staff and management in that are native and
expertise in positions of management, advertisement, on the
board of committee, in position of legal management as it relate
to foreign investments and affairs; reasons for this action is to
educate our U.S. foreign personnel within the new country of
how procedures, rules, business ethics, and how to communicate
properly with employees, consumers and Investors effectively.
As well, it will establish trust, employ most of the citizens, and
help to future charity programs that can benefit the citizens,
community and reflect Coca-Cola’s commitment to honesty,
trust and the well-being of our communities. Many foreign
societies are relationship focus, oppose to preoccupation with
only personal gain such as rule base societies like the U.S.,
which means that they look at benefits of business deals as a
whole to members in their country. So, it is necessary for a
Firm to be considerate in fairness, safety and transparency when
it comes to protecting the well-being of their citizens (Coca-
Cola, 2014).
Appreciating Cultural Diversity and Communication
By understanding cultural history of foreign societies, its way
of life, there unique strengths and language, as a multinational
corporation we can eliminate barriers, such as: communication,
conflicts, achieve success in business, empower one another,
improve international relationships, eliminate hunger, increase
sustainability throughout the world, and breakdown walls of
fear of global unity and eliminate terrorism (Editorial Board,
2012).
My Experience of Foreign Culture
My experience of foreign culture begins with my year tour as a

5. U.S. soldier in South Korea. When I arrive at the airport;
initially, I was shock, because I found that their culture seem
more advance when it came to computer technology; the airport
seem like something from a future model compared to the U. S.
airports that I was used to. As well, there culture consists of
both urban and city markets, like New York and a farmers
Market. Many merchants don’t stand behind the quality of their
products, but they do negotiate bargains. Some of their cuisine
is different like goge I think it’s called for dog meat, chicken on
a stick, kimchee, and sol juice, and many signs are written in
Korean off post, but ultimately the people are polite, all about
family and very creative. One of my favorite quotes is as
follows: “When in Rome, Do as the Do Romans (ST. Ambrose,
387 A.D.)” and “Imitation is sincerest form of Flattery (Charles
Caleb Colton, N.D.)”
References
Coca-Cola. (2014, 07 10). 2011/2012 Sustainability
Report. Retrieved from Coca-Cola: coca-cola.company.com
Editorial Board. (2012). Chapter 10 Research Applications. In
E. Board, Introduction to Sociology, Edition 1 (pp. 150-163).
Schaumburg, IL: Words of Wisdom LLC.
Editorial Board. (2012). Chapter 2 Class and Group
Identification. In E. Board, Introduction to Sociology, Edition
1 (pp. 16-34). Schaumburg, IL.: Words of Wisdom, LLC.
Editorial Board. (2012). Chapter 3 Culture. In E.
Board, Introduction to Sociology (pp. 36-48). Schaumburg, I.L.:
Words of Wisdom, LLC.
Htun, Y. (2013, 06 o4). Coca-Cola Opens Myamar Bottling
Plant. Retrieved from The Big Story: bigstory.ap.org
Jamira Haggins wrote:
Europe and Asia are regions of diversified cultures. The US is
one huge bloc of a cultural unity. Mostly, the ways of life of all

6. Americans are very similar. This helps to explain how difficult
it would be to penetrate a market that is naturally segmented.
The first and most obvious factor that is an automatic barrier is
language (Peterson, & Wunder 1999). The US is mainly an
English speaking nation; actually, it is the first language.
Europe has England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales as the only
countries that use English as a first language. The rest of
Europe has diversifications with almost each country having its
own language. This not only creates barriers in production and
distribution but also increases marketing and advertising costs.
This is due to the fact that each country requires its own tailor
made marketing with adverts designed in the particular local
languages of the target market.
To just mention, Italy has Italian, France uses French, Spain
Spanish, Portugal Portuguese, Germany German etc. A portion
of Belgium however uses French. This is evidence of the
language constraint that Coca Cola would face (Foster, 2008).
The traditional beverages of the particular places would as well
be hard to beat in the market. Each cultural segment has its own
traditional drink. The Germans for instance are known to
traditionally prefer bear to any other drink. For example, the
famous Oktoberfest, a national celebration devoted to beer
taking place every year in Munich, is one of the most important
events of the year in the country. On a light note, USA doesn’t
have a soda drinking festival per se.
Beating the bear drinking culture by Coca Cola in Germany
would be a tough task.
Asia has even a bigger problem. Although mostly legal and
governmental structures in Asia stand out as blocking factors,
social aspects as well stand to affect business. Religion is one
of them. Various religions in China and India advocate for
existence supported by what is provided by nature. Jainism for
instance is one religion that advocates for natural food and
survival means. Noting that Coca Cola is not made from the so
called ‘natural ingredients’, it would automatically be shunned
by them (Thomas, A. P. 2004, June 23).

7. Asceticism embroiled in some of these religions (an example is
Mahavira’s asceticism) advocates for abstinence from worldly
pleasures. Taking of beverage, which to many is viewed as a
luxury, would be contravening of the religious believes.
Language barrier is not left behind in this. Different Asian
countries as well have different languages that present the same
problem as in Europe. China alone for instance has different
variations of Chinese such as Mandarin. Korea, Japan, Thailand,
China and the Middle East all have different languages.
Actually, most are not used to the English alphabet (Consider
Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Japanese etc. writing. To an American
these would seem to be a pre-school kid’s attempts to write –no
pun intended- so for any American trying to learn the language
especially in writing to be able to work there would be an
automatic nightmare.
There are some parts that are too remote and aren’t reachable by
most forms of media. This creates a huge barrier in terms of
awareness. Unfortunately, since the American imagination of
almost every place in the US being reached by information is
very stagnant in most American companies marketing brains,
such a problem might be hard to even imagine that it might
exist.
Plan to avoid the errors
Various steps are significant if the problems brought about by
the mentioned issues are to be avoided. The biggest mistake that
most corporations get into is that of direct administration.
Production from the US and then exporting would be a poor
strategy since it would mean that the products are almost purely
American and would resemble those meant for the American
market.
Outsourcing would be very essential. The products should thus
be tailor made to match the requirements and expectations of
the market (Harvey, & Allard 2009).
Malt for instance could be added to drinks mean for German
market.
Secondly, producing from the very specific localities would be

8. advisable. Although most firms have taken this step, some have
had their own American employees being taken there to take up
administrative roles. Since such a management wouldn’t
understand the cultural and language trends of the locals like
they would do themselves, it would be very advisable to give up
the management to the locals as well. If need be, American,
management would only set in at a minimal managerial aspect
of supervision (once again where it deems most right).
Vigorous marketing would be a very instrumental way to create
awareness in places such as those that are stuck with adamant
tradition or just do not know much about the products.
Introducing Coca cola drinks in social set ups (through religious
means) would help integrate the drink among the staunch
supporters of some beliefs.
References
Coca-Cola bottler beats fourth-quarter expectations but
struggles in Europe.. (2006, February 10). The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution, p. 36.
Foster, R. J. (2008). Coca-globalization following soft drinks
from New York to New Guinea. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Global Powers Of The Consumer Products Industry 2010.(Coca-
Cola Retailing Research Council Europe). (2010, March 23).
Mondaq Business Briefing, p. 32.
Harvey, C. P., & Allard, M. J. (2009). Understanding and
managing diversity: readings, cases, and exercises (4th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Peterson, R. D., & Wunder, D. F. (1999). Social problems:
globalization in the twenty-first century. Upper Saddle River,
N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Thomas, A. P. (2004, June 23). Coca-Cola May Have to Close

9. India Plant. AP Online, p. 16.