CULTURE
Probably the single most important problem confronting the entrepreneur occurs when crossing cultures. While culture has been defined in many different ways, the term generally refers to common ways of thinking and behaving that are passed on from parents to children or transmitted by social organizations, developed, and then reinforced through social pressure. Culture is learned behaviour and the identity of an individual and society.
Culture encompasses a wide variety of elements, including language, social structure religion political philosophy, economic philosophy education, and manners and customs (see Figure 5.1). Language, sometimes thought of as the mirror of culture, is composed of verbal and nonverbal components Messages and ideas are transmitted by the spoken word used, the voice tone, and nonverbal actions such as body position, eye contact and gestures. An entrepreneur or someone on her team must have command of the language in the country in which business is being done. Not only is it important for information gathering and evaluation, but it is also essential for communication among those involved as well as eventually in developing the advertising campaign. Even though English has generally become the general language of business, dealing with languages other than English almost always requires local assistance, whether in the form of a local translator, a local market research firm, or a local advertising agency. One U.S. entrepreneur was having a difficult time negotiating an agreement on importing a new high-tech microscope from a small entrepreneurial firm in St. Petersburg, Russia.
However, as corporations develop their CSR marketing strategy, it has become quickly apparent that the operating procedures of the company must align with the socially responsible image presented to consumers in their marketing campaigns. As evidenced by recent scandals including the 2008 financial services market crash, the 2009 Toyota safety recalls, and most recently the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, when a company’s day-to-day operating procedures do not align with the socially responsible image portrayed in their marketing, it can quickly give way to customer mistrust, anger, and a corporate image disaster. The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe may be a model case scenario of when brand image and reality do not align. BP started their corporate social responsibility program in the early 2000s and strategically marketed itself as a green company, utilizing the green and yellow sunburst logo while positioning its initials BP as “Beyond Petroleum” in advertisements. As early as 2002 though, critics surfaced to say that BPs green initiatives were not quite as proactive as the marketing campaign would lead customers to believe. This trend continued through 2010 when in the midst of the largest oil spill in history, BP’s socially responsible image was called into question on multiple fronts in a global media frenzy that resulted in significant detriment to the BP brand and reputation. Had BP been more proactive in implementing the socially responsible proactive in implementing the socially responsible policies they heavily marketed, perhaps the media fallout from the oil spill would not have been as severe and the BP brand and company reputation would not have been so badly impacted