you are the nail. In a Youtube video, Dr. May Hongmei Gao comments on how the Home Depot enterprise misread Chinese culture. This venture was a hugely costly mistake. Is it merely the lack of a DIY culture that caused this failure? Cultural values create the social structure of a country. That means the fact that working class Americans live in single resident homes is possible is because the culture supports plumbers, truck drivers, and union workers to own homes. The reverse would be true, if the culture doesn’t support unions, DIY will not become popular. China, like India, is a solidly stratified culture and it will unlikely change its culture in response to short term marketing efforts. What cultural mistakes can your business avoid? To watch the entire 5 min video, click here.
About Author
yvonne.liu.wolf
Yvonne Wolf was born in Taiwan and educated in the U.S. and Europe. She has extensive experience living and working internationally (Denmark and Japan). She is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Danish, and has studied Japanese, Spanish, and Greek. Between work and personal travel, she has visited more than 20 countries and well-traveled within the U.S. and Canada. She has worked with organizations and business executives focusing on communication strategies working with Chinese and East Asian partners. Among her many skills is mediating across cultural misunderstandings.