Culture consists of ideals, values, and assumptions about life that are widely shared among people and that guide specific behaviors (Brislin, 1993). In the broadest sense, culture is understood as the sum total of historical memories and experiences which generates a system of values and norms that shape and inform the behavior of individuals and groups. Culture, says Brislin (1993), is transmitted from one generation to another and cultural values permeate all aspects of a person's life even when culture is not discussed.
Given that the world is now engaged in a dramatic process of globalization due to free trade and the opening of once closed markets, companies that seek to do business in cultures other than those in which they were initially created, are being challenged to become sensitive to the nuances of culture and the ways in which culture impacts upon human behavior and attitudes.
Geert Hofstede (1980) proposed a theory of culture which uses several dimensions in order to classify cultural differences. These dimensions (i.e., individualism versus collectivism, high versus low power distance, high versus low uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity, and long-term versus short-term time orientation) are useful constructs which should be studied by a company as it moves into a culture different from its own.
The purpose of this report is to examine the consequences of different religious, moral, and other ethnic issues subsumed within culture when doing business in a foreign country. Brislin (1993) believes that companies that succeed in going global and developing a presence in a cultural marketplace significantly different from that within which the organization was created are those companies which give a great deal of attention to culture and its effect on business processes and strategies. The case of McDonald's, one of the most prototypically American companies, in Japan will be considered as ...