A MULTICULTURAL STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON THE QUALITY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXPORTERS AND LOCAL DISTRIBUTORS.

Abstract

This research is aimed at understanding the role of culture in the quality of the relationship between Portuguese exporting companies and their distributors in Angola. This study is particularly important because it is based on an analysis of exporting distributor pairs (matched pairs) i.e. Portuguese export companies and their distributors in Angola. This study aims to understand how culture has an impact on the quality of trade relationships established between companies in the internationalization of the business context. Also, note that in international contexts, the impact of the similarities/cultural differences on the relationship structures have not been particularly studied. In terms of methodology, we have chosen a qualitative analysis: five case studies of Portuguese exporting companies and five case studies of Angolan distributors were examined. Interviews with Directors/CEO of Portuguese exporting companies and boards responsible for export activities were carried out and the corresponding Angolan distributors in order to answer the research questions. The selection of the Portuguese companies was based on a list of the fifty largest exporters to Angola, provided by the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal, EPE (AICEP) in August 2011. In general, the results show that culture has an impact on the quality of the business relationships between the Portuguese exporting companies and the Angolan distributors
Classification-JEL:
Keywords: international marketing, culture, cross-cultural marketing, Exporters, distributors