Doing business abroad is rife with potential problems.
From language missteps to mealtime gaffes, crossing
international borders in business without knowledge of
other cultures’ mores and norms can be bad for business.
To shed light on these cultural and societal differences
and help students learn how to navigate them, the MBA
Plus Program offered five Business Across Borders
workshops this spring. The sessions—covering China,
India, Brazil, Mexico, and the United Kingdom and
Western Europe—were led by international MBA students
with substantial work experience in each nation who
wanted to help teach their peers about working abroad.
Each country’s business landscape is different. For
example, India has no laws protecting intellectual
property, so companies must make extreme efforts to
protect potential patents, said Bhootnath Singh, MBA ’08
and former IT consultant. “Indian business partners must
be pressured to keep sensitive information private—it
can’t be assumed they will know to do so.”
In China, the world’s fourth-largest economy, it’s
important to establish whether you’re working with a
private or state-owned organization, said Lance Mu, MBA
’08, who worked in finance at ConocoPhillips prior to
enrolling at McCombs. Mu explained that significant
disparities exist in China among companies that are
joint ventures, foreign-owned, foreign-investment or
privately owned, so it’s essential to establish their
status prior to engaging them in a business
relationship.
“There are extremes in China that need to be
understood,” Mu said, referring to the dramatic
differences between such destinations as Shanghai, an
international financial hub, and many of China’s more
rural, underdeveloped areas. What’s more, 30 percent of
China’s economy is state owned, which results in much
more bureaucracy and much less efficiency—problems that
may be compounded if the business is in a less developed
area of the country.
In Brazil, opening and closing companies is often
hampered by the country’s complex bureaucratic system,
said Jiro Takahashi, MBA ’08, who worked in Brazil’s
venture capital and private equity industry for six
years. “Brazil is among the few countries where it takes
more than 120 days to open a business.”
Takahashi also warned of Brazil’s complex tax
structure, which can be a source of extreme financial
loss or gain. “Even specialists sometimes don’t know how
to account for taxes,” he said.
When dealing with people in both India and Brazil, it’s
essential to connect with business associates at a
personal level before delving into deeper discussions
about work details. “Don’t be afraid if someone talks
about their personal life in your first meeting,”
Takahashi said of working in Brazil.
Jitesh Sharma, MBA ’08 and IT and business consultant,
recommended making small talk about the weather and
cricket games before launching into business
negotiations to put Indian business partners at ease. He
also warned that Indian employees are more reticent to
complain about work problems. “If employers want a
culture where the staff feels comfortable speaking out
and giving constructive feedback, they will have to work
on it,” Sharma said.
Despite the limited development level of some of the
countries covered in the sessions, all have impressive
potential as lucrative and interesting business
destinations—as long as you do your cultural homework.
by Chantelle Wallace
