Market Culture Report On France: Insights For Doing Business

Geography and History of France

Question:

You are required to prepare a Market Culture report on a country of your choosing. You are to provide insights on culture of the Host Market, how it is different you’re your Home Country (Malaysia), and highlight what cultural factors to take note of when doing Business in that Country.

The aim of the paper is to delve into the market culture of a host country in comparison to the market culture of a chosen home country. The study considers Malaysia as the home country and France is the host country. The rationale behind the choice are, France is one of the richest countries in the world and provides a huge market to commercial organisations to sell their products and earn huge profits in Europe. The following sections would delve into important aspects of France like its culture, history, geography and the attributes of the French people. The paper would also compare between France and Malaysia based on Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions.

History of France:

The history of France dates back  to over a million years ago when the early human beings settled in the country which is evident from their cave paintings. France, then known as gaul , during the age of Antiquity spanning from 6^th century BC to 5^th century AD came under the domination of several races like the Ionian Greeks  and countries like Rome under Julius Caesar (Greenblatt & Cohen, 2015). The country consisted of several German kingdoms and Celtic Brittons. It was this time the name France is derived from the word ‘Francie’ that was the name of the race who settled down the northern Gaul. It was around this time that French people embraced Christian Gallo Roman culture and adopted Romanic language. The dominant language spoken in the country is French, which is a Romanic language of the Indo-European family (us.france.fr, 2017). France came into contacts with the other European countries like Britain which promoted to further trade developments. This resulted in emergence of France as one of largest colonial powers of Europe. France has taken part in various wars through history including the two World Wars. Today France is the developed country which receives highest number of tourists who come to experience this rich history of the country.

Geography:

France is bounded by the North Sea in the north, the English Channel in the northwest, the Mediterranean Sea towards its southeast and the vast Atlantic Ocean in the west. The neighbouring countries of France are Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra and Spain. The boundaries of France are marked by mountain ranges like the Alps and the Pyrenees and the Rhine River (cia.gov, 2017).

France's Economy and Transport Network

The map of France shows that the ocean surrounds the country from all sides except in the east, which results in a mild maritime climate. The mountains experience extremely cold climate with short mild summers.

Economy:

France has mixed economy and according the European Union, it has second highest purchase power in the world. The economy of France ranks fourth in Fortune Global 500 lists of countries with Fortune 500 companies. The economy has an extensive transport network consisting of road, air and waterways. The mild climate of France keeps the roads, airways and ports free ice which allows movement of goods all the round within the country and outside it. The geographical position of France shows that the country is surrounded by the wealthy markets of Europe like Germany and Belgium. This country is connected to the markets of Asia, Africa, America and Australia by airways and waterways. This allows movement of goods from these markets. France is a member to several international bodies like the European Union, which allows the country to avail free trade facilities with the other EU members like Germany. These economic factors result in robust flow of resources and capital in and out of the country, thus making it one of the developed markets in the world.

France is known for art, music, beauty, fashion and culture. The capital city, Paris is one of the most sought after tourist destinations of the world. The city is one of the world’s most important cultural centres, particularly fashion and beauty. The following section would delve into the French people and their unique cultural components:

People:

The people of France are famous all over the world for their culture, manners and modesty. France with a population of over 67 million consists of people of Celtic, Germanic and Latin origin. The nation is also a home of a huge population of immigrants from Europe, Asia, America, Australia and Africa. The first unique characteristic of the people of France are they are hospitable and tolerant towards people from other countries and races.  An analysis of the French population shows that it consists of people from all across the world (Wu & Chen, 2014).

The second unique cultural aspect of the people of France is that they love culture. France is a long history of being ruled by Kings and has participated in international cultural exchanges especially with Europe since ages. The country is home to forts, churches, palaces and museum, which reflect its rich culture and history. The people of the county are proud of their culture and display their culture on special occasion by decorating these cultural structures. The French safeguard these architectures as a part of their culture and do not accept criticisms against them.

Cultural Aspects of the French People

The third unique aspect of the people of France is their strong French values. The French people are proud of their country, government and do not tolerate any hate speech against them. They value etiquettes, integrity and equality among the citizens. The French people are very particular about addressing others and greet each other warmly. Kissing is a positive gesture of welcoming people and depends on the level of intimacy two people share. The acquaintances are kissed twice while old friends are kissed six times.

Culture:

As discussed above, France is known for its culture and the French are proud of their culture. There are certain salient features in the culture of France makes the country and its people unique.

The first cultural aspect of France is its love for fashion, beauty and clothing. The people of France like to dress and use cosmetics of various types. This has made the country a centre of fashion and beauty.  (Blanchard et al., 2013). The French judge each other by the ways of dressing and styling. Dressing up and fashion as a result form important component of their social behaviour.

The second cultural aspect of France is its arts and paintings. The art, architecture and literature of France are famous all over the world. The paintings, architecture and literature are famous all over the world (Kleiner, 2016).

Another culture of France, which makes the country unique, is the style of hosting gatherings and treating guests. The French wait for their guests and serve food and drinks only after all the guests arrive. They consider it rude to start the festive meals before the guests arrive (Lebreton et al., 2017). The guests are always served food and drinks and self-serve is not unaccepted. They  consider over drinking and wasting food extremely rude. The French accept sophisticated gifts like chocolates and flowers. Wine and foreign goods, unless highly branded are not considered for gifting.

A striking aspect of French culture is vous & tu, which refers to addressing and calling people. The French usually address strangers and people with whom they have formal relationships using the formal or ‘vous’ form of addressing. They address the people they know in ‘tu’ or informal ways using their first name (Murphy, 2015).

The business culture of France is very extravagant and shows the influence of the geography, rich heritage and culture of France. Geographically, the country is surrounded by rich European countries like Belgium and Italy. Economically, the country trades with far off but important markets like Asia and America through the air routes and the sea. The country is a leading member of international organisations like the European Union. The market of the country has the presence of several multinational companies from diverse industries like BNP Paribas from the finance sector and L’Oreal from the fashion industry. The people in the country are extremely proud of their culture, etiquettes and high fashion. This emphasis on fashion and sophistication plays a very role in the business culture of France as well. These geographical, economic and cultural factors have resulted in a rich business culture (Pradhan, 2017).

French Business Culture

The first business cultural aspect of France is that the main language of business is French. The French prefer to speak and be spoken to in French during business transactions. The business language of Malaysia is English but the languages from India and China are accepted in formal meets. (theaustralian.com.au, 2017).

The second business cultural aspect of France, which the Malaysiaan cosmetic company has to consider, is their style of business meets. The French businesspersons consider it important to take prior appointments and sudden visits are considered rude (Adams et al., 2015).  However, the French are not strict about punctuality. The business culture in Malaysia is strict about punctuality and expects the people to inform of their late arrivals.

The third aspect of French business culture is, giving gifts and greetings. The French do not exchange gifts on the first business meet and prefer to throw a dinner as a sign or corporate relationship. The Malaysians on the contrary exchange gifts as a part of professional conduct (Graycar & Jancsics, 2017). The French business culture does not consider it professional to warmth and generosity during meetings. The business culture of Malaysia places high importance on gifts and greetings of parties to business contracts.

The fourth aspect of French business culture is dressing patterns during business meets. The French prefer highly sophisticated formal wear. The Malaysians too prefer formal wear during meetings. The women can hold high in business organisations in both France and Malaysia. Hence, the women of both the countries wear sophisticated formal wears requiring sophisticated use of cosmetics like makeup (Vithiatharan & Gomez, 2014).

A very important aspect of business culture in France is its resistance to corruption. The country has very strict laws to regulate corruptive business practices. The government often launches investigations to probe into corruptive practices in the country. The government has declared offering or promising bribes a crime. Malaysia in comparison to France is a highly corrupted country. The government, the corporate organisations and the political parties are parties to the corruptive practices.  This enables smooth business transactions in France, which makes it one of the richest countries in the world. The business environment of France is transparent which enables smooth business transactions. The Malaysian business environment is dependent on bribery and corruption to enable business transactions. This corruptive nature of business culture in Malaysia makes its environment unfavourable for business transactions for foreign companies, which tend to enter its markets (Chong & Ahmad, 2015).

Comparison between France and Malaysia Based on Hofstede's Five Cultural Dimensions

Another striking aspect of French business culture is that the people of France are comfortable in entering into business deals with unknown people. They prefer taking calculated risks while conducting business. The people of Malaysia are more risk taking and take business risks.

Hofstede’s five-dimension model shows that impact of the culture on the values of people. The study of the culture, business environment culture and the economy of France and its comparison to Malaysia reveals that there exist cultural differences between these two nations. The Hofstede’s model shown below study the cultural differences between France and Malaysia on five grounds namely, power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence.

Figure 1. Hofstede tool showing comparison between Malaysia and France

(Source: hofstede-insights.com, 2017)

Individualism vs Collectivism:

Individualism refers to the degree of interdependence among the members in the society. As shown in the figure above, France scores high individualism index, which means that people in France give opportunities to display of individual emotions. Malaysia on the other hand is more collectivistic where the people give less priority to personal emotions. The Malaysian companies, while entering France should be very careful of this aspect while promoting its products. For example, the companies should position themselves as companies whose products personify the strong individualism of the French. This would allow the companeis to attract premium customers in France and earn profits by offering them high quality products.

Power Distance:

Power distance refers to the difference in privileges the people in the society enjoy. The people in France score low on power index as per the figure above. This can be attributed to the importance of equality in French culture. The women can hold important positions in French business organizations. The Malaysian society scores high on the power index and women hold secondary positions. The positions of the people are dependent on their roles in the society. The senior most member of a group like the family takes the most important decisions. The children are generally expected to obey the adults. There are however incidences of unequal treatment of woman employees in small French organizations but such treatments are not common. The French hold women in hold higher regard compared to the Malaysians.

Uncertainty avoidance:

Uncertainty avoidance scale reveals the propensity of people to face uncertainties in both personal lives and professional lives. The figure above shows that the culture of France shows high uncertainty avoidance against the low uncertainty avoidance propensity of Malaysia. This shows that the people of France are apprehensive about using new products. The people of France usually do not accept gifts from strangers and avoid business transactions in the first meetings. The Malaysians show greater risk propensity compared to the French.

Achievement vs Nurturing:

This scale shows the extent to which people of a particular culture control their emotions. France shows high degree of achievement display while Malaysia shows low degree of achievement display as shown the figure above. The French encourage people to display their individual achievements and regard them as signs of motivation. The Malaysians compared to the French, believe in collectivitism. They regard achievement of social groups like families more important than individual achievements.

Long-term orientation

The long-term orientation scale shows that attribute people of a culture to maintain relationships and support each other. The comparison between France and Malaysia in the figure clearly shows that the latter scores higher than the former. The French, though proud of their culture, do not emphasize on maintaining long-term relationships. The Malaysiaans on the other support each other and maintain long term relationships. The French are normally formal with business partners and concentrate on the profit earning aspects. The relationships they make with people are more straight forward and short-term compared to the Malaysians.

Conclusion:

The above study shows that France has unique attributes pertaining to history, geography, culture and economy. The country has a rich history, which contributes to a rich art, architecture and literature. The unique geographical attributes like being surrounded by rich European nations like Germany and having a long coastline has helped its trade and economic development. The country has its unique culture pertaining to areas like food, clothes and behaviour. The huge population and increasing demand for products have made the market of the country home to several multinational companies.  These attributes of France make it an ideal host country.

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