Cross-cultural differences normally affect the conduct of the way different operations of various businesses work. Thus, these cultures are very important in the development of company ideas. In this line, there exist different cultural factors considered by firms established in Asia such as Singapore and the United States.
Companies in Singapore face tight competition from both local and international firms promoting the need for persona excellence. The management ensures the employees focus on the growth of the firm thereby emphasizing on their work as compared to workers in the United States. Employees in the US balance their work with social life thereby lowering their working trend (Dogra & Ghuman, 2010).
The US has a complete working condition that encourages women to work from their homes. This promotes the social life of gender with their children. This differs from that of Singapore in that employers ignore the social content of families and require employees to work from their office to promote stability. This explains the differences existing between work and family a factor that promotes performance (Karen, 2001).
Ideally, business communication between the management and the workers differs in both countries. In the US, people initiate conversion regarding their social lives before work, which differs from Singapore, where a boundary exists between the management and the employee. Their relation is quite formal.
Product packaging and differentiation in firms in the US and Singapore differ significantly because of diversity in customer preferences. The US has regulations that control the packaging of products to reduce environmental degradation, which is underdeveloped in Singapore.
In the same line, the US market has the potential for product differentiation with an attached price increase. As compared to Singapore, this feature has increased product growth in the country. Companies in Singapore produce similar products (Dogra & Ghuman, 2010).
Considerably, pricing strategies differ in the two countries. US firms have various pricing strategies due to their financial capability of consumers. This relates to the high production rate because of high labor and capital cost that reflect the high prices. Most firms use discounting strategies while pricing their products. This differs from that of Singapore where consumers purchase few products limiting the possibility of discount offers.
Production promotion is yet another feature that differs distinctly between the two countries. In Singapore, product promotion is limited because of underdevelopment in technology. Unlike the US which has an adverse technological aspect that boosts their promotion.
In line with selling location, US have advanced selling places located in different accessible places. This eases the delivery of the orders placed by the consumers. This differs with that of Singapore since consumers have to move to the designated place to collect their goods.
Ethical issues in business help in the determination of moral conduct and norms. Extant literature demonstrates that Asia represents a difficult posting for many international managers as different cultures and different expectations on ethical issues generate a scenario that can put international managers in an awkward position and hence negatively impact their business effectiveness (Neupert et al., 2005).
Owing to distinct ethical standards between Western countries and their Asian counterparts, many marketing managers successful on the domestic front often find that the mental illustrations that they depended on for years do not essentially apply within the Asian business context.
The divergence of ethical issues between the domestic business context and the international realm often contributes to management failure, not only as evaluated by premature return, but also by interrupted relationships with local managers and nationals, diminished efficiencies, lost business opportunities as well as damage to the image and reputation of the company.
The two ethical issues that may result in the above orientation once they are not understood and respected when doing business in Singapore include (1) authority and command structures, and (2) egoism, nepotism and corruption (Neupert et al., 2005).
To discuss the first of these issues, it is evident that local managers in Singapore and other Asian countries have tended to remain deeply rooted in the traditions of command cultures, expediency and stern punishment of employees as a technique of sustaining conformity and discipline in the workplace.
On the contrary, Western management style stresses the need to respect employees and to include them in the daily management of the organization within the realm of transformational leadership. A foreign manager may, therefore, need to understand the differences in leadership.
The second ethical issue implies that foreign managers intending to do business in Singapore must come to the realization that, unlike in Western countries where employee recruitment is based purely on merit and professionalism, the story is different in Singapore as egoism, nepotism, and corruption assume the frontline position when it comes to recruitment of employees.
It is, therefore, necessary to prepare programs that will ensure that locals understand the benefits of a merits-based approach to recruitment, particularly concerning the transformation of business practices along with international standards.
References
Dogra, B., & Ghuman, K. (2010). Rural marketing: Concepts and practices. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Karen, A. (2001). Wartime Women: Sex Roles, Family Relations, and the Status of Women During World War II. New York: Berkley Books.
Neupert, K.E., Baughn, C.C., & Dao, T.T.L. (2005). International management skills for success in Asia: A needs-based determination of skills for foreign managers. Journal of European Industrial Training, 29(2), 165-180.