Question

Provide minimum of 200 words as a response to the questions:

What is the importance of "cultural empathy" to international business?

How does a business acquire or adapt to "Cultural empathy"?

"For the inexperienced marketer, the "similar but different feature of culture creates an illusion of similarity which usually does not always exist." Discuss and give examples.

Answer 1

Cultural empathy refers to the appreciation of another culture and consideration of the differences of that culture with one’s own. Cultural empathy is an important characteristic requirement for an international business. It means that the international players should be tolerant to all the cultural differences so that the market structure could be understood well and the business could be modified on the basis of the market culture which could bring in more profits to the business. Moreover, the trade patterns would have a strong influence on the cultural patterns of an economy and hence it is also essential for establishing a strong trade relation in the international economy.

                                    A business, especially an international business should be capable of adapting itself to various cultures so as to make the business more profitable. For example, the product ranges could be varied in accordance with the cultural patterns followed by the market and the local market may be referred while conducting the business. The international business policy may be structured so as to follow the cultural patterns of each local market for each country so that the society would be able to meet their requirements and the business would be more profitable

                                    There are different features of culture which may look similar for an inexperienced marketer, but may be different in reality. For example, various local products may have the same usage, but the differences in their product patterns or the method of production would make each of them different in accordance with the culture followed in each community. This should be identified properly so that the business would be more productive among such communities and thus may bring in more profits to the international business.