Folkways and how they affect business

Folkways and how they affect business
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How can an entrepreneur greet a potential investor from a different culture? Perhaps the entrepreneur could smile and shake hands with the investor and what if the culture of the potential investor regards it offensive? One of the greatest hurdles to cross-cultural understanding and the efficient relationship remains our inability to decipher the impact of culture on personality. Folkways, a term coined by William Grahams Sumner refers to norms that dictate routine and casual interaction. Folkway considers appropriate greetings, dressing and normal behavior in varied settings. Folkways consider what is deemed polite or rude. However, violations of folkways do not warrant capital punishment in contrast to mores. To achieve success in different set-ups and environments, a business must consider the importance of obeying a particular communities cultural esteem. Understanding local cultural habits, local preferences, and values on both local and international business is a foundation for success in a multicultural regional and international business community.
Folkways define hierarchical power set up in a business environment, a concept of power distance. Greet Hofstede; an influential Dutch social psychologist, introduced the concept of understanding power distance in relation to folkways. Power distance according to Hofstede, refers to the perception of business hierarchy in the company. Specifically, power di…