Executive Summary
Montana Wines, now rebranded as Brancott Estate Wines, is a large wine company that is based in New Zealand and includes a great variety of premium wine brands such as Church Road, Montana, Deutz, and others. It has a number of branches in other countries and all the opportunities to continue the expansion. In particular, the expansion to Canada is a good idea due to the relevant target market and acceptable cultural variables. This paper aims at the analysis of the background of the company and cultural peculiarities of business communication between New Zealand and Canada in the framework of Montana Wines.
Background and Situation Analysis
Being one of the most successful wine companies in the country, Montana Wines possesses a significant potential to expand worldwide. In particular, the export trade aimed at Canada, namely, at Vancouver and Toronto markets, seems to be a viable decision to increase its asset base. In Canada, the wine industry is a product of cooperation between state enterprises and private producers. Each province and territory of Canada has particular regulatory norms.
The focal wine-producing regions are located near Toronto and Vancouver. Among the leading competitive companies, there are Constellation Brands, Diamond, Encore Vineyard, and others (Statistics and facts on the wine market in Canada, n.d.). The conditions of the entering into the Canadian wine market are relatively mild as the great advantage of Canadian law is that it allows foreign companies to acquire real estate and commercial enterprises without any restrictions equating them in this matter to Canadian residents.
From my point of view, taking into account the competitive landscape of the chosen country, one might note that the entrance of a new player will be accompanied by a high probability of success. Moreover, Dana, Granata, Lasch, and Carnaby (2013) consider that “by virtue of being the largest wine company in New Zealand – the company could bring to the region reputation, legitimacy and knowledge” (p. 46). However, it is also essential to consider the demand rates, the target customer, along with his needs. Figure 1 clearly represents the current situation regarding the wine industry in Canada.
As one might note from the above Figure 1, there is a strong demand for imported wines (Canada’s Wine Industry, n.d.). The socio-demographic profile of wine production customers primarily consists of middle-aged women.
If we talk about getting into this business, now is the most opportune moment for this step. Prices of vineyards and wineries are still below their real cost, and the market offers relatively affordable prices while the interest in them is growing, especially among foreign investors. In other words, I believe that we can implement the best solution satisfying both customers and the company’s needs.
Cultural Variables, Business Practices, and Communication Strategy
Business communication is an integral part of any company operation, especially when it comes to global expansion. As a western country, Canada belongs to the low context culture or low interpersonal communication model, likewise New Zealand (Guffey & Almonte, 2010). In this connection, it will be easier to establish successful communication with Canadian representatives than with high context culture countries. Canadian managers are rather open and mutually polite during business meetings. There are low hierarchical differences and a high level of individualism. Furthermore, ideas and concepts should be presented concisely and exhaustively so that the opponent does not have to ask you a few times about the issue.
Canadians are always trying to learn more about their partners before starting a collaborative business. As a rule, they are interested in long-term cooperation and rarely change their partners (Guffey & Almonte, 2010).
In this regard, it might be useful to prepare and provide annual reports, catalogs, and other information to convince the partners in the company’s credibility. To make sure that the company’s reputation is proved, it is necessary to obtain recommendations or give contacts of previous or current partners to maximize openness. In their turn, New Zealanders first behave somewhat restrained, subsequently manifesting themselves as quite friendly and sociable people. Due to the fact that the same trend is seen in New Zealand business communication, I believe that our perspective negotiations will pass effectively.
In addition, a number of informally adopted rules of the target market should be taken into account. For instance, women are socially completely equated to men, namely, they can occupy high positions such as a top manager (Brounstein, Bell, Smith, Isbell, & Orr, 2010). In Canada, business meetings are usually held at lunch in the restaurant. However, you should be prepared for the fact that you might be invited to the evening dinner to your partner’s home.
Meanwhile, early dinner is preferable both to Canadians and New Zealanders. During business lunch conversations, Canadians prefer to discuss current events in the country and abroad yet avoiding evaluation statements. Their favorite theme is sport, especially the latest events in the world of hockey and baseball. Therefore, it is significant to be prepared to keep the conversation on the mentioned topics.
References
Brounstein, M., Bell, A. H., Smith, D. M., Isbell, C., & Orr, A. (2010). Business Communication. Ontario, Canada: Wiley.
Canada’s Wine Industry. (n.d.). Web.
Dana, L., Granata, J., Lasch, F., & Carnaby, A. (2013). The evolution of co-opetition in the Waipara wine cluster of New Zealand. Wine Economics and Policy, 2(1), 42-49. Web.
Guffey, M. E., & Almonte, R. (2010). Essentials of Business Communication (6th ed.). Toronto, Canada: Nelson Education.
Statistics and facts on the wine market in Canada. (n.d.). Web.