Socio-cultural factors all cultural aspects that influence the society. People grow up in a specific society that shapes their languages, religion, manners, basic values and beliefs. ( Czinkota and Ronkainen, (2007,80) state that the only way to learn a culture is to live in it. They mention two ways to deal with cultural diversity: other one to globalize the product and the other is to tailor the business for individual cultures.
According to a study conducted by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), education level in Spain is in a good level. Upper-secondary attainment rates are below average, but tertiary attainment rates are nearly in the same level with other OECD countries. (OECD Education at a glance indicators 2012) The survey made By the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals the foreign language skill of adult population. The study shows that 45% have medium level knowledge while only 20% have higher level. According the survey 35.5% know English and 14% know French. The best English skills are in Madrid and Catalonia. Language skill, however are improving among young population.
Work culture has moved towards shorter lunch breaks and employees in office remain at their desks throughout the afternoon in bigger cities. In addition, other tradition, Spaniards highly value personal relationship and face-to-face meetings. The key for doing successful business in Spain is to create personal relationship with counterparts and build trust. It is also good to know that concept of time differs from other EU. Spaniards are known for their temperament and customer service process in Spain has a bit of a bad reputation. Being late is not considered impolite and deadline are often seen as objective to be met where possible, but not considered as binding.
According to the study, the quality of customer service is the third criterion when choosing a product. The research method used was mystery shopping where 72% of the participants stated that the customer service influence their purchase and repurchase process.
Malaysia represents a unique fusion of Malay, Indian and Chinese traditions, creating a multicultural and pluralistic nation that has its character strongly rooted in social harmony, religion, and pride in its ancestral background. Malaysia offers a unique blend of old traditional culture and new technological innovations. Malaysia market that could not be hard due to the higher level of acceptance from the nations towards different cultures and religions.
In Malaysia, the official language is Bahasa Malaysia but English is very widely spoken by the nation. There are other major language as well that are being used in the country such as Chinese language and Tamil. The other part of Malaysian uniqueness is that most there can speak more than one language and many dialects too (The Malaysia Page Of Tourists, Kids and Teacher 1997). When scheduling business meetings in Malaysia one must take into consideration the importance of prayer times in this predominantly Muslim country. Fridays are a particularly religious day of the week and if possible meetings should not be scheduled for this time.
Attitude to punctuality varies according to which nationality are doing business with. For example, the Chinese expect punctuality whereas both ethnic Malays and Indian business people have a more relaxed attitude toward time. Business in Malaysia requires interaction with Malaysian Government officials ensure that all communication takes place in the language of Bahasa Malaysia. The majority of transactions and correspondence with Malaysian companies however, will generally be conducted in English.