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The Cultural Challenges Of Doing Business Overseas

Running head: THE CULTURAL CHALLENGES OF DOING BUSINESS OVERSEAS

The Cultural Challenges of Doing Business Overseas


Course: MBA501

Introduction
This paper will focus on analyzing a business opportunity that an American citizen of Czech descent has in Czech Republic. Elements that will be analyzed are differences between the two cultures, risks introduced due to these differences and risk mitigation. Comparative advantages for Czech Republic will be listed and analyzed which of them the business person could take advantage of. The trade barriers are also enumerated and their potential impact on the business will be analyzed. The paper will establish if the four primary dimensions will help Steve evaluate the Czech business environment and finally will attempt to create a price strategy for the pizza business products.
a) Are there major differences and incompatibilities between the U.S. and Czech cultures? Will these differences create major business risks for Steve? How might Steve mitigate these risks?
One of the differences between American and most of the European cultures is the fact that most of the Europeans, when dining out, prefer a cooked meal over pizza or any other type of fast food.   Another important detail is Czechs especially out of other Europeans, do not dine out often, leading to the conclusion that pizza would not be a sought after item on a dine out menu (Culturegrams)
Another fact that could affect a foreign pizza business is that in Czech Republic as well as in many other European countries, the work schedule is between 8 and 4 pm, leaving families enough time to go home and prepare dinner.
Another difference in cultures, which could create a business risk for Steve, is the fact that families tend to be close knit, young couples often living with their parents, sometimes three generations living under the same roof (Culturegrams). A high possibility exists that in many Czech homes, a grandmother cooks dinner or lunch for the...