Cultural Variation Issues in International Management: A Case Study of Cadbury

This document discusses the cultural variation issues faced by Cadbury, a UK-based multinational confectionery company, in international management. It explores the importance of adopting cultural change, identifies the issues faced by Cadbury, and suggests strategies to address cultural variation. The document also provides a structure for conducting the research.

International
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Research aim...............................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives....................................................................................................................3
Research questions......................................................................................................................3
Structure of study........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
Importance of adopting cultural change in international business..............................................5
Several issues found while managing operations of Cadbury at international level. .................7
Several strategies of international management for addressing cultural variation issue within
Cadbury.......................................................................................................................................8
Research Methodology .................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
The core motive of every business is to attain higher profitability by simply developing good
brand image and satisfying its customers at extensive level. For attaining success effectively
business organisations emphasizes on start operating their business at global scale with the
motive of enhancing their approach towards the international customers too (Helmreich and
Merritt, 2019). This simply brings range of opportunity for the companies but at the same time it
increase number of challenges as well as issues which arises due to execution of business
activities at international scale. Cultural variation is mainly acknowledged as one of the most
occurred issue whose management is highly important to attain success at international scale.
The present investigation is conducted on Cadbury, a UK based multinational confectionery
company which was incorporated in the year 1824 and headquartered at Uxbridge, London,
England. The respective company operates its business in approximate 50+ nations. It has been
analysed that even though the respective company has strong global presence but it often faces
issues associated with cultural management that ultimately places major influence over the
international management of business. In order to develop better understanding on the same, the
researcher has conducted investigation on the same. For this, best suitable research aim,
objective and questions have been developed which are stated as below:
Research aim
The main research aim for the present investigation is “To explore about cultural variation
issues that influence the international management of business. A case study of Cadbury”.
Research Objectives
 To determine the importance of adopting cultural change in international business
 To explore several issues found while managing operations of Cadbury at international
level.
 To ascertain several strategies of international management for addressing cultural
variation issue within Cadbury.
Research questions
 Explain the importance of adopting cultural change in international business?
 What are the several issues found while managing operations of Cadbury at international
level?

 What are several strategies of international management for addressing cultural variation
issue within Cadbury?
Structure of study
Structure of the investigation is taken as the core blue print of the overall activities of the
research that would be performed while executing whole research activities in the rightful
manner. In addition to this, it also provides support in providing an overview of the investigation
which includes several sections. Also, by going through the structure it becomes easier for the
readers to obtain idea on overall investigation as well as its core concept along with the role of
each section in it (Hornsey and et. al., 2018). With reference to the present investigation
conducted on the topic “To explore about cultural variation issues that influence the international
management of business.”, the respective structure that would be carried out for conducting this
investigation has been specified as below in detailed manner:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION – This is the first and foremost chapter of the
investigation which provides an overview about the topic and its core background regarding the
research area so that an idea could be provided to the readers. Along with this, the respective
section also provides an overview the main reason behind conducting the research along with its
core research aim, objectives and research questions that set the criteria for gathering
information.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW – This is the second section of the
investigation which reflects the secondary information gathered with different sources such as
books, journals, online articles, magazine and other published sources. The purpose of this
chapter is to include views and perception of different people on the core topic so that the better
understanding on the same can be developed and valid outcome towards the same carried out
effectively. This support on determining the nature of study area by gathering view point of
several scholars and then evaluate it critically to extract best information that cover all the major
aspect and help in creating further direction for primary study.
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY – After conducting an effective
literature review section, the next chapter is the research methodology section. This section is
consist of the several methods, approaches and set of tools that would be used researcher with
the motive of gathering, analysing and interpreting the overall information for obtaining final

conclusion. The respective section is highly important in every investigation as it provides
support in executing research with validity and reliability.
CHAPTER 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION – After selection of rightful methods, the
investigator now focuses on analysing the overall information gathered from both primary and
secondary information. In order to analyse this in effective manner appropriate interpretation of
the core topic has been performed in order to obtaining the required findings in accordance to the
core research questions.
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION – It is the core last
section of the research in which actual conclusion of the project is extracted by simply analysing
information gathered from both the primary and secondary sources. After presenting determined
conclusion, appropriate recommendations are mentioned in the so that few steps can be taken for
bringing improvement.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Importance of adopting cultural change in international business
On the basis of views expressed by Jamali and Karam, (2018) Cultural change is
acknowledged as the common thing which can be seen in international businesses. Here, it can
be said businesses which are operating their business activities at international scale focuses
bring several forms of changes in their working practices so that they can easily execute their
their work at new location and make their business successful their effect6ively. In addition to
this, it has been seen that cultural change is main among all the changes which are required to be
adopted by large scale companies while they are operating their business at international scale so
that they can attain success at that marketplace in rightful manner. It has been observed that
every nation has its own culture and cultural value which is directly placing influencing over
customers buying behaviour and their response towards the products and services offered by the
same company effectively. It can be said that if the companies do not acquire the cultural change
according to the nation then they might face range of problems that would directly affect their
business performance as well as growth in negative manner. This can be well understood with
the help of the example. For instance: Cadbury is having strong global presence. It has been
analysed that the management team of the company focuses on acquiring cultural values of
nation in which they operates their business so that they can get positive support of the customers

in rightful manner. This simply supports Cadbury in maintaining its sales performance and
maximising their profitability. Cadbury offers its confectionery food items in every nation
according to their culture of the nation. It brings few festive promotions like Christmas and
valued festival of the operating country with the motive of influencing localise people towards
them and boost up their sales performance in effective manner. In addition to this, the respective
company also makes use of different packaging styles and adopts the quotes as per the cultural
value in order to grab attention of the maximum number of customers towards them in effective
manner. This clearly depicts that adoption of the bicultural change is supportive for the
businesses in boosting up their performance and maximising their revenue across the world in
rightful manner. In addition to this, adoption of cultural change brought range of benefits for
international businesses which are specified as below one after another:
Contributes in developing strong relations with customers in foreign countries: this
is recognised as the first and foremost benefit of adopting cultural change that are attained by the
businesses which are operating their activities at international scale in rightful manner (The
Cultural Advantage, 2020). With reference to the Cadbury, it can be said that the company can
easily develop strong bond with the customers at international marker with the incorporation of
cultural change. It can be said that effective support of the customers helps company in
maintaining their operational activities and gaining competitive edge as they are getting
supported by the customers at international scale.
Influences sales performance of the company: Another benefit that are attained by
large scale companies operating business at international scale is effective boost in the sales
performance of the company. This is so because, with the adoption of the cultural values the
business entity is able to influence interest of the customers towards them which directly
persuades the customers to buy the products and services offered by the same company at
constant basis which brings rise in the sales performance of the entity in rightful manner. In
addition to this, it can be later said that effective boost in the sales performance of the entity
provides remarkable support to the organisation in generate huge revenues that maximises their
profitability in rightful manner.
Contributes in business expansion: The last but not the least benefit of adopting
cultural change within the entity operating business at interactional scale is appropriate
contribution in the business expansion. Adoption of cultural change helps business entity in

developing their own understanding on the cultural values of the nation. This simply helps the
business in expanding their businesses in the other countries whose cultural values is as similar
to the already operating company. As a result, it makes it easier for the business entity in
expanding their business in more nations which ultimately maximises their profitability in the
near future as they are able to approach more number of customers and maximise their sales
performance in lucrative form.
Several issues found while managing operations of Cadbury at international level.
According to perception given by Littlewood and Holt, (2018). it has been analysed that
In the present era, globalisation has enabled the companies across the globe to tap entry into any
market they deem fit if the legal restrictions of that country are not too stringent to limit the
entities from gaining access into the territory. Thus, this implies that facilitation of expansion in
new foreign markets has become the need of hour for all the businesses in the short run. By
carrying out expansion on a wide level, entities are able to successfully augment their revenues,
scale of operations and profits. This also allows them to expand their existing base of customers.
However, everything has its ups as well as downs (Richardson and Rammal, 2018). In the same
way, it can be analysed that operating in international landscape also holds certain downsides for
the companies. These critical issues or challenges are needed to be duly taken into account by
them so as to ensure imposition of least possible harm to the organisation in the long run. In this
regard, the detailed discussion over these challenges is given in a comprehensive manner as
follows:-
Excessive Competition: The global landscape of commercial sector has become hyper
competitive. This is largely due to the infinite number of companies which are operating within
the bounds of each and every business sector (How cultural differences impact international
business in 2017, 2017). The aim of every corporation operating at the global level is to tap the
latest market and consumer trends in order to leave an impeccable impression over the public at
large and ensure its sustainability in market place for a long period of time. In the market
scenario whereby each and every organisation strives hard to appeal to the customers and retain
them for a considerably longer period of time, competition becomes the most prominent issue
that is encountered by the companies operating at global scale.
Cross cultural Communication: An entity operating at an international scale has some
employees functioning who belong to the domestic country and some of the personnel which are

recruited from the local space of the international territory. In this regard, it is seen that such kind
of a working scenario creates communication issue as the language spoken by one employee may
differ from that spoken by the other. When such kind of circumstance prevails within the bounds
of a company, it is usually seen that communication gap arises within the workforce thereby
leading to internal discrepancies in the long run.
International recruitment and local expertise: When an entity facilitates expansion
into a new country and thereby operates in a global landscape, it requires to recruit employees
from the local space also. This becomes important as these individuals along with the local
marketing experts have sound knowledge of the consumer trends and demands pertaining to that
location. They can provide this knowledge to the entity operating at international scale. As a
result of this, the international corporation undertakes measures with the help of which it can
exploit the local market opportunity and thereby appeal to the population of that geography in a
lucrative manner. This increases the chances of the corporation to make its distinct standing in
the global market and ensure its sustainability for a considerably longer period of time. Thus,
hiring skilled individuals and local experts from the international territory in which the company
operates is sort of essential or the company may run out of the competition.
Cultural Issues: Businesses when expands existing business in the nation whose cultural
value is completely different from them then it directly creates cultural associated issues. These
cultural issues can be seen among employees as their colleagues belongs to different culture
which ultimately raises conflicts among them. This simply slow downs the working capability of
the employees in negative manner. Away with this, cultural issues might also result in the
increase in employee turnover at workplace as due to non comfortable environment employees
are not able sustain within the entity.
Several strategies of international management for addressing cultural variation issue within
Cadbury.
From the information stated by the author named as Reiche, Lee and Quintanilla, (2018)
it has been analysed that cultural variation issues are increasing day by day. This simply creates
requirement of adopting different strategies for the large scale companies so that they can
effective addressing cultural variation issues which is being faced by them. In order to address
this in effective manner, it is highly important for the large scale companies to go for few
strategies that are easier to be implemented within the entity and also provides maximum support

in addressing cultural variation issue effectively. Some of the main strategies that could be
adopted by international businesses are specified as below in detailed manner:
 Conduct training session for employees: this is the first and foremost strategy that
must be adopted by the international businesses so that they can easily handle cultural
variation issues. Here, it can be said that these training session will develop knowledge
of the employees about different languages, especially the localise language of the
country in which they are operating their business in appropriate manner. As a result,
this will reduce chances of conflicts at workplace within the entity as employees are able
to communicate with one another in effectively that ultimately reduces chances of
miscommunication among employees. This also results in the creation of open and
friendly corporate culture where employees can effectively perform the work with less
conflicts.
 Hire local expert: The next strategies which could be adopted by large scale companies
operating business at international scale is to emphasise on hiring expertise from the
local market. It can be said that this is highly supportive for the business as the local
expertise are having effective knowledge about the localise culture. Thus, they are able
to guide the business entity about cultural values. As a result, they are able execute the
operational activity accordingly and also satisfy its localise customers in appropriate
manner. Also, local expertise could also help the company in finding out some ways
with which they can grab attention of the localise people in rightful manner and succeed
in the same areas.
 Include diversity in corporate culture: Inclusion diversity within the corporate culture
simply helps businesses in reducing cultural variation issues (3 Tips for Managing a
Cross-Cultural Workforce, 2020). This is so because, when people with two or more
nations are hired for performing work towards common organisational goals then they
can be achieved effectively in quicker manner. Diversity can be included in corporate
culture by simply hiring employees within the entity who belongs to different culture.
As a result, it becomes easier for the employees to develop their relationship with the
people belonging to different culture. Thus, conflicts among employees due to cultural
variation would reduce day by day as employees are valuing each others culture
effectively.

Research Methodology
Data collection: Data collection is refers to the effective method of gathering information
from several sources. There are commonly two main types of data collection methods such as
primary and secondary methods. With reference to the present investigation conducted on the
topic “To explore about cultural variation issues that influence the international management of
business.”, both the primary and secondary method of data collection would be used by the
researcher. Here, in primary method questionnaire would be taken as the main preference from
which preliminary information would be taken. On the other hand, in secondary method books,
journal, online article, magazines and several other published medium would be taken into
consideration.
Types of investigation: This is another influential element of research methodological
section. In this, gathered information from different sources is analysed so that it could
contribute in obtaining valid outcome on the core research problem. Qualitative and quantitative
are two main forms of data analysis method. Among these investigator selects quantitative
method as main one through which they will analyse the overall information in rightful manner.
Also, the method is useful in analysing bulk information in simpler manner that ultimately
provides contribution in obtaining accurate outcome. This simply makes it easier for the reader
to develop their knowledge on the overall outcome of investigation.
Sampling: Sampling is mainly acknowledged as the best way through which sample size
gets selected from the overall sample population. Sampling can be effectively performed with the
usage of probabilistic and non probabilistic method. In present research, the respective
investigator has made use of the random sampling which comes probabilistic method. The main
reason behind choosing this method is to finalise respondents by simply providing equivalent
opportunity to whole sample population to get selected as the sample size. With the help of the
random sampling method, investigator selects 40 employees of Cadbury as the respondents.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Helmreich, R.L. and Merritt, A.C., 2019. Culture at work in aviation and medicine: National,
organizational and professional influences. Routledge.
Hornsey, M.J., Bain, P.G., Harris, E.A., Lebedeva, N., Kashima, E.S., Guan, Y., González, R.,
Chen, S.X. and Blumen, S., 2018. How much is enough in a perfect world? Cultural
variation in ideal levels of happiness, pleasure, freedom, health, self-esteem, longevity,
and intelligence. Psychological science, 29(9), pp.1393-1404.
Jamali, D. and Karam, C., 2018. Corporate social responsibility in developing countries as an
emerging field of study. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1), pp.32-61.
Littlewood, D. and Holt, D., 2018. Social entrepreneurship in South Africa: Exploring the
influence of environment. Business & Society, 57(3), pp.525-561.
Reiche, B.S., Lee, Y.T. and Quintanilla, J., 2018. Cultural perspectives on comparative HRM.
In Handbook of research on comparative human resource management. Edward Elgar
Publishing.
Richardson, C. and Rammal, H.G., 2018. Religious belief and international business
negotiations: Does faith influence negotiator behaviour?. International Business
Review, 27(2), pp.401-409.
Online
The Cultural Advantage. 2020. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://group.atradius.com/publications/trading-briefs/the-cultural-advantage.html>.
How cultural differences impact international business in 2017. 2017. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://www.hult.edu/blog/cultural-differences-impact-international-
business/>.
3 Tips for Managing a Cross-Cultural Workforce. 2020. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288796>.