By Somali K Chakrabarti
Globalization means we have to re-examine some of our ideas, and look at ideas from other countries, from other cultures, and open ourselves to them. And that's not comfortable for the average person. ~ Herbie Hancock
Culture, invariably, has an immense influence on the global business environment.
Customs, values, attitude towards work and what people consider as ethical in business vary from country to country. Besides the differences in policy or regulatory environment, differences that stem from different cultural backgrounds have often been known to create hurdles in the international business. Cultural barriers can stymie or delay business deals. On a number of occasions, business negotiations between multinationals have failed due to cultural differences.
So, it makes a lot of sense to set the cultural context for minimizing or dissolving the cultural barriers before talking business.
"Cultural barriers can be overcome relatively swiftly where there is the political will to do so.”~ Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
This is primarily what India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established during his trip to Japan, thus setting a brilliant example of how political leaders can create the required cultural context to pave the way for commerce to follow.
Four aspects that PM Modi put emphasis on for creating the cultural milieu for strengthening bilateral relations between India and Japan are:
Stressing on commonalities between the two cultures
Stressing on cultural commonality can create acceptance, breed tolerance towards cultural differences and accelerate the discovery of complementarities.
If you take mythologies from different cultures, the names may change and the story lines may vary but there is always something in common. ~Maynard James Keenan
The past cultural connection between India and Japan has provided a basis for commonality
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