When entering a new international market, companies tend to focus on what they know best: their product, value proposition, pricing, distribution channels and commercial strategy. Yet there is another factor that can have a decisive impact on the success of an international relationship: culture.
A business proposal may be technically sound and commercially attractive, but the way it is presented, negotiated and followed up can influence how it is perceived by a potential client or partner. Expectations around hierarchy, communication, decision-making and relationship-building can vary significantly between markets.
This raises an important question for companies expanding internationally: should you adapt to the market or make the market adapt to you?
Understanding cultural differences: from Hofstede to GLOBE
One of the most influential approaches to understanding cultural differences in international business is Geert Hofstede’s model of national culture. Its six dimensions – including Power Distance, Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance and Long-Term Orientation – provide a framework for analysing how societies may differ in their attitudes towards hierarchy, individual and collective interests, uncertainty and time horizons.
These dimensions can help companies anticipate areas where their usual way of doing business may encounter different expectations. How decisions are made, who should participate in a meeting, how disagreement is expressed or how quickly a relationship is expected to develop may all vary across cultural contexts.
However, cultural frameworks should be treated as maps, not instructions. National averages do not define individuals, and culture also interacts with factors such as industry, organisational culture, professional experience and personality.
This is one of the reasons why later research has expanded the way cultural differences are analysed. The GLOBE Project, for example, studied 62 societies and more than 17,000 managers, examining nine dimensions of societal culture and their relationship with leadership and organisational practices.
The value of these frameworks, therefore, is not to tell companies how a particular nationality will behave. It is to encourage better questions: What might be different? Which of our assumptions should we question? And where might our approach need to change?
Building trust across cultures
These questions become particularly important when building trust.
Trust is rarely established in a single meeting or through the perfect sales pitch. It develops through consistency, credibility, communication and an understanding of what the other side values in a business relationship. Research on international business relationships has also highlighted the role of culture in shaping how trust is developed and perceived.
This is where cultural awareness becomes a practical business skill. What one party considers efficient may be perceived elsewhere as rushed or impersonal. A communication style intended to be direct may be interpreted as aggressive, while a more indirect response may be understood as uncertainty when it is actually a culturally appropriate way of expressing disagreement.
The challenge is therefore not simply to know the culture, but to recognise when our own assumptions no longer apply.
Adapting does not mean abandoning a company’s identity. Communication style, meeting dynamics, negotiation pace or relationship-building can be adapted while the fundamentals of the business – its values, quality standards, commitments and competitive proposition – remain unchanged.
Successful internationalisation is therefore not about choosing between adaptation and authenticity. It is about knowing what to adapt – and what not to.
From cultural awareness to international business
At Market Access, we see these differences regularly in our work supporting companies in international markets. Cultural factors rarely appear only in formal questions of business etiquette. They emerge in the details of meetings, negotiations and follow-up: who needs to be involved in a decision, how relationships are established, when to push for the next step and when to give the relationship more time.
There are no universal answers to these questions. The right approach depends on the market, the sector, the company and, ultimately, the people involved.
For this reason, cultural awareness should not be treated as an additional consideration after a market has been selected. It should be part of the internationalisation process itself, alongside market analysis, partner identification and commercial strategy.
At Market Access, we help companies understand these differences and translate market knowledge into practical approaches – from identifying the right partners and stakeholders to preparing for meetings and adapting communication and engagement strategies to local contexts.
Because entering a market may start with finding the right client, but succeeding in that market depends on knowing how to build the right relationship.
Is your company ready to adapt its approach without losing its identity? Get in touch with our team to explore how we can support your international expansion.
Patrícia Alves
International Business Consultant & Project Manager