Case

It was with mixed feeling of joy (for having completed the work assigned to him to work out the details of the already completed, barring the formal signing of the documents) and uncertainly in the new assignment entrusted to him, that Jimmy Varghese left the CEO's office. Jimmy was the Vice President (Planning & Execution), RANCO Automobiles Ltd., and Chennai. The above mentioned new assignment was related to the merger of RANCO with a German Automaker DAIMLER. Both RANCO and DAIMLER had been holding talks of a formal merger between the two to gain competitive advantage and marketing edge. Jimmy had already spoken to the eight executives directly reporting to him, on the top management's decision to transfer each of them on a rotation basis initially for six months. This could extend to a period of 2-4 years of them so as to enable them to learn German, culture, values, style of working etc., which can be used to further train their employees in Chennai, on how to behave or on what is the new organizational behavior expected of them? Now that a formal communication was received from the CEO, Jimmy in turn called for a formal meeting with his managers. There were only 2 (from8) takers for the proposed moving of RANCO's employees to Germany. Abay and Kunal did not oppose the proposal because they were newly married and didn't mind going to Germany, if only their spouses could accompany them. But the other managers were very apprehensive and raised queries regarding the following cultural differences, which they felt in turn could affect their behaviors as a global organization. RANCO culture has always adopted a low-cost business strategy. They preferred to use cost effective ways such as online marketing. Whereas, German firms had a preference for using elaborate brochures to highlight reliability and efficiency, indicating distinctiveness, wealth etc. Usually German managers held meeting not only lasting the whole day but even stretching over to elaborate night dinners. In fact the real issues surfaced during such night dinners. Whereas, a cost conscious company such as RANCO, followed the practice of conference calls and at times video conferencing so as to reduce time taken if executives are required to travel to different locations. To some extent both the countries had similar outlooks on-Designations, Location of the office, Salary and associated perks etc. as important status symbols which depicted the power and authority relationships among employees. Similarly, handling international assignments was treated as another stepping stone to further one's career. Most of the above issues were discussed during the meeting. Only Jimmy was thinking on how to respond to the comment made by Diana (Sr. Human Recourse Manager) "Since German is an alien language, and we are required to proceed within a fortnight to Germany, probably we will have to request for a translator to accompany us?"

Question

Carefully read the Case given above and answer the following question. Choose two cues from the case that appear to be culturally diverse and distinct. Compare / contrast the cultures of these countries (Germany and India) and then indicate the facts on how cultural differences may influence:

a) The marketing costs of doing business in each of these country;

b) The likely future business prospects of those countries in automobile sector;

c) International marketing practices vis--vis cultural impediments which are critical to understand for better decision making for business.