Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Cultural Barriers to Trade

The president of General Motors once remarked that "the business of America is business." Although there are political and ideological motivations behind that statement that can be criticized, the essential idea behind the statement is true. In fact, the statement could be more broadly applied beyond the United States. Adam Smith, the father of modern capitalism, believed that it was natural for all humans, regardless of nationality, to "truck, barter, and exchange." Although this may be a natural human inclination, as in all things human, there are some of us who take to it better than others. Indeed, there appear to be some cultures that take to it better than others (DeSoto, 2000). This results in differences in trading styles among cultures, and in these differences, difficulties in bartering, trading and exchanging between cultures. This paper seeks to identify some of the major impediments that may limit the ability to "truck, barter, and exchange" across international borders.

International boundaries are occasionally arbitrary and sometimes signify little more than power structure relationships. Sometimes, however, the border is a meeting point between peoples who are fundamentally different from one another in many important ways. In such cases, the border is a cultural demarcation, in which things may be done vastly differently on one side compared to the other. Cultural impediments to business and commerce can include, broadly speaking, language differences, differences in customs, and a history of conflict between the cultures in questions.

Any sort of transaction, whether a simple trade or a complex exchange, requires communication. It is obvious that such transactions will occur much more smoothly if both or all participants are speaking the same language. In the case of international business transactions, one of the key elements in facilitating exchanges is the availability of translators or nati...

Page 1 of 4 Next >

More on Cultural Barriers to Trade...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Cultural Barriers to Trade. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:10, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687476.html