Developing Cross-cultural Business Relationships:A Case Study Of A Born Global

The internationalization for enterprises has evolved as trading barriers are reducing,and globalization is increasing.(Wang-Wu,2009,p.1).Since the 20 th century,the Uppsala Model explains how enterprises expand operations by entering culturally and geographically close markets.In a revised version of the model Johanson ? Vahle,(2009)they explore the concept of liability of outsidership and foreignness to describe how firms with no network position enter international markets;it implies that the firm needs to create relationships based on knowledge and trust to have internationalization success.This ignores the distinction of type of firms or markets.Hence this paper explores the case of Born Global SMEs,which start the business by having competitive advantages from global suppliers and markets.Generally,BG are SMEs that have limited resources but these are outweighed by high knowledge and adaptability;it faces more challenges to prove their trustworthiness and qualification to provide attractive business opportunities.(Mc Dougall ? Oviatt,1994).The purpose of this paper is to explain how BG develop cross-cultural relationships with suppliers to create value.The entrepreneur has to be skillful at managing symbolic actions to have positive effects on suppliers with different national cultures.This research was conducted as a case study of a BG trading company founded by Swedish nationals,with suppliers all over Europe and Asia.The objective is to understand how these relationships are built by using four main skills from the Symbolic Management Theory(Zott and Nguyen,2007): reflexibility,enactment,customization,and complementarity,in order to manage cross-cultural suppliers according to the six national dimensions(Hofstede,2011).The results suggest firstly that cross-cultural relationships between buyer-supplier are easier to build when there is cultural closeness in terms of language,values,and business visions.Secondly,the complementarity skill incentives the creation of trust which is vital for business relationships and interpersonal relationships with international suppliers.Lastly,positive interpersonal relationships create value that is perceived as non-financial benefits for the business.