Culture Still Counts in the Global Marketplace

By Donald Macintyre

You’re at your first dinner with new partners in Korea – grilled ribs and stir-fried glass noodles. The MOU is signed and a deal is in the works. But your chopsticks aren’t cooperating, so you sink them into your rice bowl and grab a fork instead. Suddenly, the conversation around the table grinds to a halt, and your Korean counterparts look aghast.

In many Asian cultures, table manners go beyond simple etiquette—they carry deep cultural meaning. Chopsticks standing upright into a bowl of rice recall Buddhist funeral rites, so jamming them into your rice bowl is a major faux pas. Also to be avoided: pointing the utensils or waving them around while speaking.

Amid rising geopolitical tensions and supply chain worries, more companies in North America and Europe are looking to Asian markets for expansion, and to reduce the risk of overreliance on China. The region is home to the world’s fastest-growing economies and a growing middle class. However, leadership teams should remember that cultural blunders have tripped up more than a few promising business ventures. While local hosts may be forgiving, first impressions count. In Asian business culture, relationship-building is critical, and a lack of cultural “intelligence” can lead to delayed or lost deals.

Marketing especially can be a minefield: famously, the translation of Pepsi’s tagline in Taiwan, “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation,” suggested the cola would “bring your ancestors back from the dead.” But it’s not the only area where local knowledge counts. Culturally adept companies weave cultural insights into every aspect of their operations, from marketing and web design to HR practices, team dynamics, and contract negotiations.

So executives heading into new markets should come prepared. They will make better decisions if they understand their team members and stakeholders' diverse cultural backgrounds in this global marketplace, reducing the risk of costly misunderstandings. They may need to adjust their leadership style. An assertive approach that works in North America may come across as overly aggressive in some Asian cultures, where an indirect style and sensitivity to context get you further. Leaders need to understand cultural differences in order to read the room correctly.

Cultural knowledge is sometimes discounted as a nice-to-have. But in the global marketplace, it’s an essential soft skill. And it's probably easier to master than those tricky Korean chopsticks.