Week 9-Patricia De Perio

A successful business requires a good strong network, and if you are starting one in a different country, it gets a little more complicated forming one. Asian countries have specific customs and etiquette that needs to be respected and followed in order to establish a good foundation for a strong relationship to form. The less time a person spent in country, the higher chance for cultural misunderstandings. For example, Vietnam is built on relationships, depending on whom it is with band how strong those ties are. In business, contracts are worthless, it is more of an acknowledgment that there are existing relationships between two people or business that they are in good standing. Therefor, having a trusted local by one side can be the difference between success and failure in Vietnam. In many Asian cultures, it takes a while getting used to especially from the West. Having a good profound understanding of the explicit and implicit set of cultural rules will help minimize risk of getting tricked or scammed.

This is true in the Philippines as well. The right connections are key for success, and it is really important to know how business deals are done locally in order for a business to get going. Competence of a product is dictated by popularity, Filipinos love to follow tends. Once you understand Filipinos' ways of thinking and simply doing things, you can have a better understanding on how you can attract their attention. Once you get their attention and they love it, through word of mouth, it will be popular and successful. Which brings up the importance of relationships because knowing the right people will also help with the success of the product. Working with the locals is the key to our apps success, the tour guides will make or break our success of the app. Depending on who our target group is and similar competition in the marketer, we have to have a good understanding of how they handle business deals. More often, small businesses are likely to fail due to failed partnerships because they were scammed or tricked. Therefore it is important to have a good understanding of culture and etiquette when starting a business in a different country.

Question: Due to social construct, it is very hard for Westerners to really integrate themselves as part of an Asian country's society. They are always going to be branded as a foreigner. What are some ways to break down that barrier?