Here are my responses to your questions: 1) MNCs play a role in the production and reinforcement of gender identities at the global level through their marketing, employment practices, and supply chain management. Through advertising, MNCs promote certain images of masculinity and femininity. Their hiring and promotion practices within companies can also influence gender roles and norms across borders. MNC supply chain management, such as in apparel manufacturing, has been criticized for exploiting women workers in developing countries. 2) To establish a successful global business in a multi-cultural country like South Africa, I would take the following steps: - Understand the diversity of cultures and consider how your products/services may need to be adapted for different

2. Introduction

3. Cross-cultural Marketing
• Domestic and international
companies are confronted with the
task of marketing products and
services to diverse cultural groups
• Understanding local culture
around the world is becoming one
of the most profitable ways of
marketing products and services

4. Cultural Analysis
• Successful implementation of a marketing plan in
one country does not mean it will be successful in
another
• Cultural analysis is the study and classification of
non-economic factors
• Being able to operate in a multi cultural environment
it is important to know and be aware of the cultural
differences
• The Self Reference Criteria enables firms to identify
customer needs in foreign markets and not transfer
the domestic ones

5. Criticisms of Hofstede’s Five
Cultural dimensions
• Used because of its popularity not it’s
accuracy
• Considered superior as it can be easily
replicated
• Leads to laziness, as most research in the
field is an extension

6. Cultural Orientation Variables
1) Time – perceptions vary in different cultures, high value
of time (Germany, China), acceptable to be late
(France)
2) Space – boundary during conversation, in the “West”
men avoid touching, while in Asia & Latin America
people get close.
3) Friendship – inter-personal relations is a product of
culture, has a role in building international business
relations
4) Status – material possessions mean different things in
different cultures, and influence business attitudes
(USA, Middle East)

7. Business Agreements
• Rules for negotiation vary from country to
country – 3 categories
1) Rules that are spelled out technically as law
2) Moral practices mutually agreed upon and
taught to young as a set of principles
3) Informal customs to which all conform without
being able to state the exact rule

8. Ethical Issues
• Bribery- the payment of money, typically to a foreign
official in exchange for him/her violating some official
duty.
• Pricing – includes unfair differential pricing, questionable
invoicing
• Products/Technology –banned for use in the home
country but permitted in the host
• Tax Evasion Practices - used specifically to evade tax
such as transfer pricing

9. • Illegal/Immoral Activities in the Host Country –
practices such as: polluting the environment, maintaining
unsafe working conditions; copying where protection of
patents, trademarks or copyrights has not been enforced
• Cultural Differences – between cultures involving
potential misunderstandings related to the traditional
requirements of the exchange process (e.g.,
transactions) may be regarded by one culture as bribes
but be acceptable business practices in another culture.

10. Strategies for resolving ethical
conflict
• Avoiding: Strategy for the stronger of two parties.
• Forcing: One party forces its will on the other.
• Education and Persuasion: communicating the
benefits of employee safety and human resources
management policy.
• Infiltration: The spread of an idea or principle in a
society. Another strategy
• Accommodation: when one party adapts to the ethic of
the other.
• Collaboration & problem-solving: focus is on
uncovering problems in the ethical relationship and
solving those problems to mutual satisfaction.

11. •International marketers must be aware of cultural differences when
conducting international business
•Must be able to adapt business strategies to cultural requirements
of the country
Than
k Y ou!

12. Questions:
1)What is the role of MNCs in the production of gender
identities at global level?
2)How would you go about establishing a global business
in a multi-cultural country, such as South Africa?