This document discusses various aspects of adapting business customs when operating internationally. It identifies different levels of adaptation required based on factors like a country's awareness, communication, and education levels. Business customs are grouped into cultural imperatives, electives, and exclusives. Aspects of adaptation include authority levels and patterns, management objectives, communication styles, formality levels, and approaches to negotiation, gender biases, business ethics, and bribery. Strategies for cultural change and influencing attitude changes are also outlined.

1. Business Customs and Practices
International Adaptation: willingness to adapt the
business custom, practices, attitude of other countries.
Guide to Adaptation
a) Open tolerance: you have to accept the miss behavior
of the people for the sake of business interest.
b) Flexibility: to adapt with new culture, marketers should
show their flexible attitude.
c) Humility: polite and gentleness can wine the world; it is
not only for domestic but also for global business.
d) Justice and fairness: avoid all kinds of fraud and
cheating; maintain a basic principles and ethics.
e) Adjustability to varying tempo: you have to adjust
yourself with changing environment.
f) Curiosity: show your interest and curiosity about the
history, culture and tradition of the country.

2. Guide to Adaptation:
g) Knowledge of the country: different aspects of the
country such as politic, legal, social or govt.
h) Linking for others: maintain a strong relationship,
identify their sensitive issues and do accordingly.
i) Ability to commend respect: you must behave in such
a way that other person must respect you.
j) Integrated ability: adjusting ability with every situations
Degree of Adaptation
a) Awareness level: if the awareness level of the people is
very high then adaptation process will be first.
b) Communication level: if the communication level of the
people is very high then adaptation will be first.
c) Education level: if the education level of the people is
very high then adaptation process will be first.
d) Personalization: if personal interest level of the people
is very high then adaptation process will be first.

3. Adaptation Forms
Business customs can be grouped into three categories
i) Cultural imperatives: are those business customs that
are not avoidable. Friday is holiday.
ii) Cultural electives: customs to which adaptation is helpful
but not necessary. Offering tea or gifts.
iii) Cultural exclusives: customs in which an outsider must
not participate. A Christian attempting to act like a Muslim.
Adaptation Aspects:
Different methods of doing business or different aspects of
adaptation in international marketing.
1) Authority Level:
a) Ownership: sole trade, joint venture, joint stock company
b) Size: small, average or large size of firm orientation
c) Contract: person to contract or communicate first
d) Public accountability: level of public awareness
e) Cultural values: differ from culture to culture

4. 2. Authority Patterns
a) Top-level management decision: top authority take
decision and direct control the business operation.
b) Decentralized decision: it allow executives at different
levels of mgt. to exercise authority over their own function.
c) Committee decision: is by group or consensus. It may be
operated on centralized or decentralized basis.
3) Management Objectives: of the foreign delegates
a) Personal goal: American executives emphasis on salary;
Bangladeshi executives emphasis on other benefits.
b) Security: To American, security means financial benefits;
To Bangladeshi, security means job security.
c) Personal life: To Japanese, personal life means company
life, Bangladesh, family life is personal life.
d) Social acceptance: To Japanese, business executives
have the high social status; opposite in Bangladesh.
e) Power: To Japanese, Govt. people hold the high power;
political people hold the high power in Bangladesh.

5. 4) Communication: status in the foreign country
a) Internal communication: downward, upward, vertical,
horizontal, formal or informal communication.
b) Face to face communication: foreign marketers use
translators; English is preferable by the British.
c) E-communication: communication through e-media.
4) P-time vs. M-time
a) P-time: (poly-chronic): highly flexible and humanistic;
human transaction is highly emphasis than work
schedule, (may come from 8 to 12).
b) M-time: (mono-chronic): not flexible and robotic; work
schedule is highly emphasis than human transaction,
(close at 8 pm).
5. Formalities: in Japan, business formalities is very
simple and dynamic; in Bangladesh, business formalities
is very complex and traditional.
6. Negotiation: it is the fundamental business rituals; the
basic elements are the same in any country; they related
to product, price, place, promotion or other business
issues but terms and conditions are different.

6. 7. Gender Bias
It is a very sensitive issues in international marketing;
against women managers that exists in some countries
(Saudi Arabia); some countries are women dominated.
8) Business Ethic: serious problems in international
marketing; That which is commonly accepted as right in
one country may be completely unacceptable in another.
In many countries of the world gifts are accepted and in
many countries gifts are not allowed.
9. Bribery:
In some culture bribe is crime and in some culture it is
highly accepted; it is not only money matter but also
have other forms.
a) Bribery and Extortion:
i) Bribery: willingly or voluntary offered payment by
someone seeking unlawful advantages is bribe.
Executives offer secretary for appointment.

7. 9. Bribery:
ii) Extortion: not willingly or pressurizes offered payment
by someone seeking unlawful advantages is extortion.
Secretary offer executives for giving permission.
b) Lubrication and Subornation
i) Lubrication: relatively small sum of cash or gifts or a
service given to a low ranking officials in country where
such offerings are not prohibited by low.
ii) Subornation: large some of money designed to enteric
an official to commit an illegal act on behalf of the one
offering the bribe.
c) Agents fee: when a business person in uncertain of a
country’s rules and regulations, an agent may be haired
to represent the company in that country.

8. Cultural Change:
i) Borrowing: learn from other culture; our food habit,
dress, have been change due to cultural borrowing.
ii) Similarities: different language same culture (France-
Canada), same language cultural difference (US-Inland).
iii) Resistance to change: changes influence on values or
ideology; now Bangladeshi people accept birth control.
iv) Cultural change agent: when marketers want to
change a part of culture; three strategies for changes
a) Planned change: free offering by company and they
become habituated, tea offering by British company.
b) Unplanned change: first identify the issue then offer the
product; first food or mineral water accepted by people.
c) Forced change: marketers take some aggressive
marketing strategy, promotional appeal change culture.

9. Changing Dimensions:
a) Cultural variability: refers to the degree to which
conditions within a culture are changing at a low or high
and stable or unstable rate (fashion is very unstable).
b) Cultural complexity: refers to the degree to which
understanding within a culture is depend on information
processing (convert from suspect to partners).
c) Cultural hostility: refers to the degree to which
conditions within a culture are threatening to
organizational goal (acceptance by the stakeholder).
d) Cultural heterogeneity: refers to the degree to which
separate cultures are dissimilar or similar. Dissimilarity
means company needs to take centralized decision.
e) Cultural independency: refers to the degree to which
conditions in one culture are sensitive to developments
in other culture. It reduce subsidy, autonomy.

10. Attitude Changes Strategies
a) Classical conditioning: a stimulus audience like such
as music is consistently paired with the brand name.
b) Advertising: use advertising appeal and slogan; bank
for saving attitude “using a woman with ornaments”.
c) Mere exposure: repetition is critical for affect-based
campaigns, repetition can change the attitude.
d) Change beliefs: American cars are not as well made as
Japanese cars; about the performance of brand.
e) Shift importance: more important than others;
vegetables roles reduces the risk of heart disease.
f) Add beliefs: add with beliefs structure; we are born to
die; so, what is the harm of drinking beer.
g) Change ideal: change the perception of people; change
the perception about food habit or product use or brand.
h) Group pressure: accept drink when offered by friend,
some people use alcohol within group involvement.

11. Attitude Changes Strategies
i) Social system: sometime we should avoid or accept the
products or services by the new rules and regulations.
j) Learning: coupons, free sampling or price reduction are
common techniques for including trail behavior.
k) Use of fear: fear can causes some people to change
their attitude; target selling change attitude of salesman.
l) Co-opting approach: customers are very much attached
with a supervisor; he can influence customers.
j) Creative program: through mass media such as talk
shows in the television, open discussion change attitude.
k) Word of caution: some word of caution such as highest
production, stock limited, no smoking have impact.
l) Information: provide new and informative information
create confidence to the people and influence attitude.
m) Persuasion: it is a common methods to change attitude
of people; implement different motivational strategies.