Marketing and Culture Diversity:

What challenge do marketers face when marketing in culture diverse countries?
In a culture diverse countries, marketers must be sensitive to subcultural. Marketers should preform cross-cultural analysis. Cross-culture analysis involves  an understanding of and an appreciating for the values, customs, symbols and language of other society.


Values:
Culture value is what is considered acceptable and not acceptable. Understanding culture values is the key for marketers success. for example: in India you can't find Hamburgers in McDonalds, but you will find McMaharajah since cows are considered sacred to 85% of population.

Customs:

They are what is considered normal and expected about the way people do things. Customs vary significantly from one country to another. For example: 

• Food slurping is considered a sign of approval and appreciation to the chef.
• Giving token business gifts is considered an acceptable and in some country is expected; however, some country consider it as bribery and it is illegal.

Symbols:

They are objects, ideas and processes which represent a group of people and society. Different culture attach different meaning to things, therefore, symbolism take a very important role in cross-culture analysis. The wrong use of symbols will cause a disaster. Some of you might have heard of or saw Coca Cola ad in the Perthenon!! Coca Cola turned the white marble in the Parthenon that crowns Athens's Acropolis into Coca Cola bottles. The Greek were outraged. They refer to the Parthenon as the "international symbol of excellence" and to the Acropolis as the "holy rock". Coca Cola had to withdrew the ad and apologize.

Languages:

There are around 100 official languages exist in the world, but anthropologists estimate that at least 3000 different languages are actually spoken. Canada has two official languages: French and English. Europe has eleven official spoken languages. India has seventeen official spoken languages. Global marketers should pay attention to language use and translation, for example: The Vicks brand name which is common in North American, but in German they call it Wicks because "Vicks" is German slang for sexual intimacy.

References:

Kerin, R., Hartly, S., Rudelius, W., Clements, C., & Skolnick, H. (2009). The Core. Toronto: McGraw Hill.

An example for a company with a diverse clients:

I would like to talk about gyms. People from different cultures now days know the benefit of healthy eating and exercising; however, if the gym doesn't show them that it care about their differences they wouldn't join that gym or the gym would lose a lot of clients.

To elaborate on that I would like to take GoodLife Fitness as an example. GoodLife Fitness has two types of gym: Coed club (men and women) and Women only. They have a wide variety of classes from dancing to weight lifting. They offer better and flexible hours around Christmas time - so members who need to firm and tone up before Christmas eve can take advantage of that. They also offer to hold membership of the members who fast the month of Ramadan for free. They hire a diverse Personal Trainer - so the members can sign up with whom they prefer - whether its because the PT speaks the same language or they have the same culture.

Do you have another idea on how to make gym target more diverse clients?? 

Culture Diversity Training/Educating:

It is important for companies with culture diverse employees and/or customers to provide their team members with Culture Diversity Training. The training provides the team members with the knowledge, skills and tools to assist them for behaving differently. It focuses on building community rather than pointing out the differences. The following are some points which Diversity Training help companies in:

• solving conflicts from different point of view
• safeguarding against harassment and unfair employment lawsuits
• benefiting from employees' diversity to increase productivity
• aiming to combat racism, sexism, exclusion and ethnocentrism.
• preparing employees for International work - also companies which send their employees for International convention  will definitely benefit from the training too.

References:

PRISM. (n.d.). Cultural Diversity Training Resources. Retrieved from http://www.prismdiversity.com/resources/diversity_training.html

DTUI. (n.d.). Becoming a Diversity Trainer - FAQ. Retrieved from http://www.dtui.com/qapg1.html

From the above, do you think that it is worth adding it to the usual training the employees receive?

Pros and Cons of Diversity in The Workplace:

Pros:

1. Enables organizations to develop more innovative and effective programs/services for the diverse clients it serve, which leads to more sales.
2. Addressing the specific needs of the customers with respect to their cultural values.

Cons:

1. Resentment, misunderstanding and/or tension could happen; therefore, culture sensitivity/diversity training should be provided.

References:

Articlebase. (2007). Diversity in the Workplace - Enhancing an Organization's Success. Retrieved from

http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/diversity-in-the-workplace-enhancing-an-organizations-success-270672.html

Dowdell, Sommer. (n.d.). Pros & Cons of Workplace Diversity. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_5941766_pros-cons-workplace-diversity.html

Please feel free to add any additional information by commenting below.
My question is: what and how can the employers provide diversity education/ training?

Culture Diversity and Language:

Culture diversity in workplace is great for those companies whom customers/consumers/ or clients are diverse too. What I mean is hiring employees from different cultures and speaks different language will ensure success to the company because the second language will help reach more customers/consumers/ or clients especially in a diverse country with many immigrants. As an example, here in Canada there are couple of companies took that approach, Bell, most Banks and some pharmacies as well. By doing this the company is making sure that they are able to reach their clients and hear what they have to say.

Joe Gerstandt - Business Case For Diversity

Part 1:

Part 2:

These are great videos which briefly explain why culture diversity in business should be appreciated. It is not something has to be done, moreover it is something that will cause success. Diversity in the workplace helps in getting different point of view and different talent. Most importantly it should be done, as Gerstandt stated, "in a healthy and functional way".

Before the end of part 2, Gerstandt mentioned that everyone has a tendency to seek for people like them thinking they are making a difference. This brings me to my question: How do we keep a healthy and functional environment to practice and succeed in creating diversity in the workplace?

From my own experience I think that it is very important to:
1. Treat everyone the same. The workplace's policy applies to every single one without exception.
2. Be fair when preparing the schedule. Shift rotation is a great solution, and if that is not applicable then just stick to what you promised when you hired the employee, for example if they asked for morning shift during the interview and you said yes, you can't just change your mind without confirming with the employee.
3. Give equal work to everyone - also apply in treating everyone the same.

that's all I can think of, if you would like to add any please do so by commenting back.

Festival of Cultures

If you have been to it, you probably have already got an email informing you about the dates. I am talking about Carassauga: Mississauga's Festival of Cultures.  It  is the largest multicultural Festival in Ontario and is now recognized as the 2nd largest cultural Festival in Canada in terms of visits & ethnic diversity representation; Winnipeg’s Folklorama being the first. 


I personally like the festival. For 2012 they have 60 different countries in just 12 locations. Its like you are travelling and visiting 60 countries. In my opinion this is a great example of how culture diversity would help the business succeed. In 2011 the Festival had 263,161 visits.


I have couple of friends who book a three night hotel at Mississauga, since they live far, and enjoy each minute of the festival. Check the website. The dates are May 25, 26 and 27th, maybe if you live nearby you would like to come, also don't forget to share your experience here. 


http://www.carassauga.com/

A Great Book:

May be you have heard of it and my be not, this book is essential for business people and entrepreneurs but it is a great addition to anyone's knowledge and library, "Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands: how to do business in 60 countries" by 

Terri Morrison and

Wayne A. Conway. It scans each country in terms of backgrounds, business practice and protocols. 

After the book had hit a 100,000 sales, the authors had wrote a second edition from it. They also added a couple for a single countries, for example Asia, Latin America and Europe. In addition, they wrote one for Sales and Marketing only which is a guide to what to do and to avoid in any given sales or marketing situation from Argentina to South Africa.

In my opinion this book is offers a great advice especially in our diverse world. It gives a helpful tips in how to deal with the other side whether its in business or just in regular day, for example: a "thumbs up" sing in US means "O.K" in Australia it is considered rude. I would give it a four out of five for two reason: 1. some countries are missing. 2. since 60 countries are mentioned in one book, not everything is covered therefore it would be great to expand and update each country on a separate book. 

Anyone out there like to share another great book to learn and brows which will help in our diverse world?? Also what do you think about his one? and what do you give it out of five and why?