Steve Kafka, an American of Czech origin and a franchisor for Chicago Style Pizza, has decided to expand his business into the Czech Republic. He knows it is a risky decision; when he became a franchisor, he had to overcome a lot of difficulties. Steve anticipates he will face some of these difficulties again at the new location in Prague, Czech Republic. Although he was born in the United States, he has family and friends in the Czech Republic, speaks Czech fluently, and has visited the country of his origin several times. He knows the people and the culture. In this paper, I will analyze the cross-cultural differences between the United States and Czech Republic, determine comparative advantages in this country, and recommend ways to minimize the risks of establishing a franchise overseas.
A major challenge of doing business internationally is to adapt effectively to different culture. Such adaptation requires an understanding of cultural diversity, perceptions, stereotypes, and values (Hodgett &Luthans, 2005). Doing business overseas has its challenges as well as it rewards.
Some of the major differences and incompatibilities between the United States and Czech cultures are norms, values, beliefs and behavior. These differences will create a business risk for Steve because even though he is of the Czech origin, has friends and family living there, visits several times and speaks the language fluently he does not the full knowledge of how businesses are conducted in Czech. Though he is a franchisor for Chicago Style Pizza, he cannot operate internationally as he does locally because of the differences in value, as it will affect his management functions.
Alth ...