For this D2 I will be evaluating the impact of cultural differences on international business
performance in the international market. I will discuss what effect the entering of Panama will have
on the MediaMarkt. Based on the findings I did in my M2 I will be giving justified recommendations
about how the MediaMarkt can deal with these differences in order for them to be successful in
Panama.
As I explained I M2 entering Panama can have an big effect on the MediaMarkt. Of course the politics
in Panama are different than over here in The Netherlands. The politics can affect the MediaMarkt in
a way that the employees of the MediaMarkt that are under the age of 17 can work past 20.00
because of the curfew set for them by the government at 21.00. The MediaMarkt can handle this in a
few different ways. First of all then can go with the most logical option and that is that they won’t
employ people under the age of 17. But this means that they can only hire people that are 18 years
of age, but these employees are more expensive. The second option is that the MediaMarkt won’t let
people under 17 work past 20.00.
The second effect that going into Panama has on the MediaMarkt is an economical effect. The
people in Panama earn about 32K less than what we earn in The Netherlands. This will have an effect
on the MediaMarkt in a way that Panamanian people will think very will well before buying such an
expensive product. What the MediaMarkt can do to handle this problem is that they can sell a lot
more cheaper products in comparison with the more expensive ones. This will probably result in
more sales of cheaper products. Another thing the MediaMarkt can do is to focus their marketing
more on selling more expensive products for example in a sale.
The third effect moving into Panama can have on the MediaMarkt is an social-cultural problem. A
social-cultural problem can be the language that’s spoken in Panama, which is Spanish. In Panama
the first language is Spanish, the inhabitants also speak: English, and indigenous languages like: Kuna
and Guaymí but these languages are hardly spoken (source). This can have an effect on the
MediaMarkt in a way that people speak other languages and have dialects. A solution can be that
they describe their products in Spanish and English, and where spoken the indigenous languages. The
television commercials also need to be changes
because of the different languages. But because
Spanish is the first language the commercials
need to be in Spanish. But the Spanish is
different in comparison with the Spanish that’s
spoken in Spain. So the commercials really need
to be spoken by someone that’s from Panama
(source). But for people that speak the
indigenous languages the commercials can be
subtitled.
So this are three examples on how the MediaMarkt can adept on how doing business in Panama.
Name, Class, Student no, date , BTEC Nationals in Business, Unit 1 Business Resources 2015-2016
1
performance in the international market. I will discuss what effect the entering of Panama will have
on the MediaMarkt. Based on the findings I did in my M2 I will be giving justified recommendations
about how the MediaMarkt can deal with these differences in order for them to be successful in
Panama.
As I explained I M2 entering Panama can have an big effect on the MediaMarkt. Of course the politics
in Panama are different than over here in The Netherlands. The politics can affect the MediaMarkt in
a way that the employees of the MediaMarkt that are under the age of 17 can work past 20.00
because of the curfew set for them by the government at 21.00. The MediaMarkt can handle this in a
few different ways. First of all then can go with the most logical option and that is that they won’t
employ people under the age of 17. But this means that they can only hire people that are 18 years
of age, but these employees are more expensive. The second option is that the MediaMarkt won’t let
people under 17 work past 20.00.
The second effect that going into Panama has on the MediaMarkt is an economical effect. The
people in Panama earn about 32K less than what we earn in The Netherlands. This will have an effect
on the MediaMarkt in a way that Panamanian people will think very will well before buying such an
expensive product. What the MediaMarkt can do to handle this problem is that they can sell a lot
more cheaper products in comparison with the more expensive ones. This will probably result in
more sales of cheaper products. Another thing the MediaMarkt can do is to focus their marketing
more on selling more expensive products for example in a sale.
The third effect moving into Panama can have on the MediaMarkt is an social-cultural problem. A
social-cultural problem can be the language that’s spoken in Panama, which is Spanish. In Panama
the first language is Spanish, the inhabitants also speak: English, and indigenous languages like: Kuna
and Guaymí but these languages are hardly spoken (source). This can have an effect on the
MediaMarkt in a way that people speak other languages and have dialects. A solution can be that
they describe their products in Spanish and English, and where spoken the indigenous languages. The
television commercials also need to be changes
because of the different languages. But because
Spanish is the first language the commercials
need to be in Spanish. But the Spanish is
different in comparison with the Spanish that’s
spoken in Spain. So the commercials really need
to be spoken by someone that’s from Panama
(source). But for people that speak the
indigenous languages the commercials can be
subtitled.
So this are three examples on how the MediaMarkt can adept on how doing business in Panama.
Name, Class, Student no, date , BTEC Nationals in Business, Unit 1 Business Resources 2015-2016
1
