Cultural Differences Zimbabwe

Running head: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ZIMBABWE
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ZIMBABWE
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1CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ZIMBABWE
The aim of this paper is to discuss the situation of the country named China as the
Australian company will be expanding in that particular country. The external situation of the
country is important to be analyzed before the company wants to expand their branches in
other markets. In the case of Zimbabwe, any type of company can grab the attention of the
customers. Therefore, this paper will be discussing the external factors that helps the
companies to flourish in the market of Zimbabwe. Along with this, the informal institutions
will also be discussed. This paper will also discuss the skills that the expatriate employees
need to develop for working efficiently in the market of Zimbabwe.
The Country:
Zimbabwe is a land locked country bordered by South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and
Mozambique with it capital in Harare. The population of this country is roughly 16 million.
The country has 16 official languages among which English, Ndebele and Shona are
important. The country is consisted of 99% of Black African and the rest are the white
Africans and Indian (Zim.gov.zw 2019). The country is an important route for migration and
trade as the geographical location of the country is in the southern part of the continent. The
country had endured international isolation as well as 15 years long guerrilla war with the
Black Nationalist forces. The country has several important membership like United Nations,
the African Union and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
(Zim.gov.zw 2019). Due to the importance of trade and business on the southern part of the
continent, it was known as the Jewel of Africa once.
Formal Institutions:
Political environment:
The politics of this country is not very stable as there are issues of corruption and
conflicts of power among the political parties are quite common. After Emmerson
Mnangagwa became the president and following constitutional referendum 2013. The

2CULTURAL DIFFERENCES ZIMBABWE
country has a mixture of English and Dutch legal system which may help the Australian
company to flourish gradually. This parliamentary democratic system does not create barriers
for the business in this region and there is no real existence of policies for limiting the
business activities.
Economic environment:
The economic situation of Zimbabwe us supportive of business and the country wants
foreign investment to grow more. It is a known fact that due to the colonial past and political
upheaval, the country did not get exposure in the international business. This is the reason
why in spite of having an advantageous location, the country has been suffering from poverty
and joblessness (Castaño et al. 2015). Moreover the country has needed natural resources that
can support the local business to grow but the initiatives among the local business investors
does not show effect on the local trade and business. However, after 2000, the white owned
farms started to capture the market. Now the current GDP of the country is more than 17
billion USD (see figure 1).
Figure 1. GDP of Zimbabwe