Business Cultures: France, UK, United States

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It’s important to learn about the E.U. because you can market a new product to them. This will allow your market to be expanded, and over the years, there have been growing ties between the U.S. and the E.U. They are one of the most technologically advanced geographical areas. E.U. big industries include metal production/procession, coals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace and more.

Business culture from U.S. to France differs. Their work weeks include 35 hours, not the 40 hours U.S. is used to. Lunch time is not 30 minutes or 1 hour how it is here in the states, but they may have 2 hours or more. They also have 5 weeks of vacation. Punctuality is not crucial in France. It seems that the French have less work-related stress. Scheduled meetings usually occur 11:00am or 3:30pm. In the states, it’s whenever the meeting is called, no matter the time. The French tend to be suspicious of early friendliness, for us in the states, we always want to be friendly.

Comparing the U.K. to the U.S. in terms of business culture it seems almost the same. Things that both countries’ culture include a firm handshake, maintaining eye contact during initial introduction and the use of “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, or “Miss” to address someone. Also, punctuality is very important, and meetings are generally formal.

Article
I’ve heard of Zara brand before I read this article because my girlfriend has a handbag from them. I think they are a good company and they have a good variety of clothing/fashion to offer to the public. From what I’ve heard before, they are on the cheaper side of fashion, but still a bit more on the pricier side, but not comparable to other European fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, etc. If there was something that caught my eye, I don’t mind buying from Zara because they seem to make more than decent clothing. I’ve bought a few dress shirts at H&M before, so I figure, if I can shop at H&M, might as well shop at Zara if possible.

Zara’s success in Europe is thanks to products being made in Europe. They don’t have to deal with the long supply chain from China manufacturers, so they can easily change up styles of clothing according to what customers are buying. In contrast, if they were made in China, the lead time is too long, and by the time styles have changed, they would be stuck with a lot of inventory they couldn’t sell at full cost. Zara may be looking for new markets in China because if they can manufacturer there, they can sell there and be ready for any fashion changes. So for the reason of Zara not manufacturing anything in China now, one they have markets in China, they could start manufacturing it there, and make it more cost effective.

People in America have preferred the classic, roomier cloths. Chinese ladies’ like the slim fit more, and also, they like pastel colors to flatter their pale skin, rather than the stronger colors that the Europeans prefer. I think if Zara wants to be successful in the U.S., they would need to make some fashion apparel that caters to the U.S., for example, classic style and roomier clothes. They would have to start making some clothing that will fit the tastes of Americans and not the Asian countries or Europe.

Zara bought the outlet for $324 million because they want to convince shoppers everywhere that Zara is hip. New York is the fashion capital of the U.S. so it makes sense of what they did. I strongly agree with this move, if they want to market to the U.S. customers, they have to open up a store in the states, and not rely on the internet sales.
As far as being successful in China, I think they are already on the right path. They opened 179 new stores in Asia in 2011, and 156 of them are in China. I think they are already successful. I don’t think a company can open up that many stores, and not already be successful. The challenge Zara faces in China are convincing the Chinese to pay a little bit more for Zara clothing than what they currently buy in the same style apparel.

In my eyes, GAP is more popular, but I just looked at GAP’s 2011 revenue, and its about $15B, compared to Zara’s $19B, so I guess Zara would be more popular in certain areas, but not the area I live in. Even though I’ve only heard of Zara in the past few years versus knowing about GAP for what seems to be my whole lifetime, seems like GAP and Zara are pretty close in comparison. I don’t really buy any of those brands, but if I had to choose, I guess I would prefer GAP since there is a GAP store in almost every mall. If Zara had a store in every mall, I wouldn’t mind checking it out either. I’m not big on fashion, so I have no bias towards any store.