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Individual cultures around the world strongly influence the attitudes,behaviors and feelings of the people who live within them.Correspondingly their daily lives might be seen as a reflection of cultural taboos,norms and values in common with consumption patterns,eating habits,gift giving,matrimony...etc. For this reason cultural differences are an important consideration for companies as they develop their strategies if they operate in more than one country or globally.Companies have come to realize that effective operation and ultimate success depends on adapting their strategies to account for cultural differences. At the same time,however,a trend has emerged which pulls in the opposite direction.This trend,known as globalization,makes applying a standardization approach quite attractive for companies as it has advantages in cost savings and stabilizing communication with consumers particularly as cultural distances between different countries shorten by virtue of such technological advances as internet,satellite broadcast,increasing immigration...etc.

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Guengoeren, Guelcin
Gül‡in Güngören (Mag. rer. soc. oec.), Master of International Business Administration & International Marketing, University of Vienna.

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