The Culture & Political Environment of International Business

The Culture & Political Environment of International Business

29068222-Francia-Colombia-Banderas-Reg-strate-Concept-Foto-de-archivo.jpg

________________

Executive Summary

1. Introduction

2. Development

3. Conclusion

4. Appendices

5. References

________________

1. Introduction

To choose which countries I wanted to work on, I asked myself one question ; In which country do I have an advantage that could ease our expansion in a new market ?

Since I am half French and half Colombian I thought it would be a good idea to pick those countries. France is an old country. Its history and influence on the world is huge, and the culture very strong. Colombia on the other side have a very strong cultural background too, its geographic location makes it one of the most contrasted countries in the world with almost all the types of climate and landscapes.

When you want to launch a new product or service in a foreign country, it is primordial to know and understand the environment of it. The political, economical and cultural background knowledge is a major key of success when entering a new market. In this report, we will collect information that will lead to an overall view of the targeted country that will ease the penetration of the market.

My idea is to bring an innovative solution to the real estate market. Nowadays, time is money, and if we follow that statement, the more time you gain, the more money to win. I want to reinvent real estate property visits with the Virtual Reality. My goal would then be to work with the real estate agencies to make them want to use my service.

1. Main body

1. Political situation

1. Form of government

The French form of government is currently a semi-presidential system which that the power is divided in two with the president who runs the executive authority alongside the government composed of the prime minister and the “Council of ministers” (chose by the president and composed with a prime minister who is the head of the government followed by senior and junior ministers) and the parliament which owns the legislative authority. France is one of the founders of the European Union, its politic is then strongly influenced by the EU in when it comes to large scale objectives, as well as foreign and security policies and judiciary rules.

Even if the relationship between Bogota and Washington is very strong, France has a huge influence on Colombia, it’s the first investor and foreign employer of the country.

Both are representative democracies, unitary states, and the Colombian government is based on the same scheme than the French one (But still closer to the American model). Three separated powers ; Executive (President), legislative (Congress) and judiciary (Supreme court) but the president still have more power in Colombia. Both French and Colombian citizens elect the president by universal suffrage. Since June of 2012, the socialist party is at the head of the country, with François Hollande as the president while Colombia is ruled by a liberal party, which in many ways is the opposite to socialism.

Both political environments are pretty stable, even if Colombia is still way far from France’s situation.

Colombia

GDP / per capita

in K$

GDP / Global

in B$

PPP

HDI (2014)

HPI

Values

7,831.22

294

13,829

0.720

67.2

Ranking

89

31

84

97

?

Analysis

1. Cage analysis

Cultural distance

Admin/Political distance

Geographic distance

Economic distance

External Distance

* Language is not the same (French/Spanish)

* The ethnicities are different but the diversity is much more important in France

* Colombia is a very catholic country, and even if France use to be catholic aswell, it is now atheism that has the majority

* Trust in Colombia is low because of violence and trust in France is rising again after this hard past year

* In France there are lots of strikes, people want to work less while in Colombia people are always looking for ideas to make money and invest

* Colombia is part of the MERCOSUR trade bloc and France of the EU

* Colombia is part of the EFTA (European Free Trade Agreement) since 2013

* Colombia wants to be part of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

...