Introduction
There is a growing importance of cross-national commercial relationships all over the world. The success of many international companies is now mostly based on how well they can understand the characteristics and behaviors of cross-national cultural groups in the areas they intend to carry out business. Due to the increasing pressure of competition, international companies have to be sensitive and understand that cultural convergence, divergence, and cultural change are important determinants for the future success of their businesses.
Important cultural aspects in Argentina
Argentina is a country of significant interest in entire Latin America because of its great wealth and social dynamism which have made Argentina the leading country in Latin America. The country is also exerting increasing influence in many international affairs. After stabilizing its economy during the 1990s, Argentina has established strong trading partnerships with the US and other leading industrial societies. Of great interest to international businesses is that Argentina has a well-established middle class that has a high level of purchasing power that is widely distributed among the citizenry. The country also has a higher standard of living compared to other Latin nations (Foster et. al. ix).
Argentina is largely an immigrant nation with significant proportions of Spaniards, Italians, Jews, mestizos, Amerindians, and other indigenous groups. A third of the country’s population lives in the capital city of Buenos Aires. The main religion in Argentina is Roman Catholicism which is mixed with some local practices. The other religions include Protestantism and Judaism. Spanish is the official national language Argentina has a rich literary tradition and cinema as well (Edward 329)
Many people agree that a collective Argentine identity is almost a myth; this is because many aspects make up the Argentinian national identity. Argentines are known to take great pride in their country despite their different backgrounds, the political struggles that the country has faced in the past have made some people to lack faith in the government. Groups are known to frequently stage demonstrations to protest on various concerns. Despite this, Argentines value their families, this is seen in regular meetings where extended families often come together for holidays and weekends. Parents usually have a couple of children and live with them till marriage. Argentines also avidly follow clothing trends, many are particularly interested with French designs. They dress more carefully for both formal and leisure activities like leisure strolls popularly called el paseo (Link&Mccathy 98)
Argentines are very sociable. A day usually begins with light breakfast and coffee. Those living outside the towns often take long lunches and siestas. During the evening, Argentines head to cafes for coffee, tea, chess, truco and leisurely chat. Restaurants do not open early and people may it till midnight after which they take an evening out (una salida) by visiting late night movie theaters,bars,all night shops or night clubs. Argentines also opinioned about many topics and can sit for many hours in discussion, they also like various games like football, auto racing, rugby, cicket, polo, horse racing and tennis owing to the successes of Diego Maradona and tennis star Guillermo Vilas(Link&Mccathy 100-101).
Important cultural aspects in Singapore
Singapore is a fast industriazing nation. The main ethnic groups that are found within Singapore include the Malays, Indians and Chinese. The country has in the recent recorded declining fertility rates in general population. The main languages used in Singapore include Chinese and a variety of Chinese dialects which form the predominant language, English which is used mainly for international business and administration and Malay which is the official national language. Family and kinship form the core of community life in Singapore and together with religion and language are keenly guarded (Roseman et. al. 251).
Many marriages occur within the specific ethnic groups though there is also some occurring outside the group. Majority of the households comprise of four family memnbaers as one person households are not favored by many of the ethnic groups within Singapore. Singapore is a multi religious country and has Buddhism as the the dominant religion. Most of the Malays and Indians in the country l are at Malays are Muslims while.Other religions that can be found in Singapore include christinaity, Hinduism, and Taoism (Roseman et. al. 255).
Cultural differences and related cost of doing business
The two countries share some significant similarities and differences in some aspects of their culture. These differences are notable in language first. Argentines use Spanish as their national language while Singapore uses Chinese, Malay and English for communication. There are also different Patterns in the structure of the family between the two countries, Argentines prefer smaller, and closely knit families while many ethnic groups in Singapore prefer bigger families.
About cost, its evident that that a company is likely to spend more in cross cultural communication especially in marketing in Singapore owing to the many languages that are used for official communication. This is also the likely scenario if a company would consider target marketing in Argentina because the country has many ethnic groups that may make it necessary to customize communication or design products and services with a particular ethnic group in mind. This may mean that the operational costs for production and marketing customized services will go up.
One can also be deduce that due to the declining fertility rates in Singapore the country may experience a severe shortage of labor. This would mean that labor intensive industries like manufacturing and mining may need to outsource for employees to meet the deficit. This situation is so unlikely in Argentina because in Argentina there is generally a proportional increase in all groups within the population. Hence the cost of labor in Argentina may be favorable to the growth of such kind of industries. The two countries also differ in terms of religious affiliation; in Argentina the most dominant religion is Roman Catholicism while in Singapore Buddhism is the leading religion. This is an important factor to consider as the religious beliefs and attitudes differ greatly and determine perceptions about a business product or service.
Prospects on future economic development
Both countries have a positive outlook for future economic advancement. However the relative political stability that is prevailing in Argentina would make it a top preference compared to Singapore. A strong middle class is essential in providing the needed human resource capital for business growth. This is also available in Argentina, the middle class again has the purchasing power that would assure business owners that their product and service will be bought and therefore make profits.
Argentines also have a vibrant and dynamic social life. This presents opportunities for companies to market their brands through corporate sponsorship of various sports events like football, tennis, Polo and other games that have a larger following within Argentina.
Conclusion
Businesses that are engaged or wish to start doing international business must realize that the success of their businesses greatly depends on how well they understand the different cultures in the countries they operate in or intend to start doing business in. Marketing strategies must be based on a sound understanding of how different characteristics and behaviors of people with different cultures are likely to influence the growth of the business. So this consideration has to be made in doing promotions, product design, selection of appropriate distribution channels, pricing and the entire process of delivering services or goods to the consumer (Bennet&Blythe 4).
Works cited
Bennett, Roger and Blythe, Jim.International marketing: strategy planning, market entry & implementation. London: Kogan page publishers, 2002.Print.
Edwards, Todd.”Argentina: a global studies handbook”. California: ABC-CLIO, 2008 Print.
Foster, Wiliam, Lockhart, Mellissa, and Lockhart, Darrell. “Culture and customs of Argentina”. West port: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998.Print.
Link, Theodore and McCarthy, Rose.”Argentina: a primary source cultural guide”. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2004.Print.
Roseman, Curtis, Laux, Hans and Thieme, Günter. “Ethnicity: geographic perspectives on ethnic change in modern cities”.Maryland: Rowman&Littlefield, 1996.Print