Biology Forums - Study Force

Discuss the impact of the Internet on various cultures. How do cultural differences complicate international management in regard to the use of technology? Provide specific examples in your answer.

The Internet has affected many social variables, such as associations, education, and the economy. At the same time that the Internet is affecting culture, culture is also affecting how the Internet is used. One of the pervasive ways that culture is determining how the Internet may be used in various countries is through the local attitude to information privacy. Generally in Europe, each person must be informed and given the chance to object, if the information about that person is going to be used for direct marketing purposes or released to another party. That data cannot be used for secondary purposes, if the consumer objects. In the United States, personal data is collected and sold without government oversight. Differing cultures means that international managers will often need to "localize" their use of IT to different value sets about its use. This advice applies in particular to the many e-commerce companies doing business overseas. With 75 percent of the world's Internet market living outside the United States, multinational e-businesses are learning the hard way that their Web sites must reflect local markets, customs, languages, and currencies to be successful in foreign markets. Different legal systems, financial structures, tastes, and experiences necessitate attention to every detail to achieve global appeal. In other words, e-businesses must localize to globalize, which means much more than translating online content into local languages.