Kulturella utmaningar vid internationella affärsrelationer : En kvalitativ studie som undersöker svenskars upplevelser av brasiliansk affärskultur

Sammanfattning: International business relationships provide an opportunity for companies to expand and grow in foreign markets, however it is not always easy to collaborate and create long-term relationships with international partners when challenges arise along the way. The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of cultural challenges in an international business relationship, with the following question; what cultural challenges do Swedes experience in their international business relationships with partners from Brazil and how can these cultural challenges be handled? This work has a theoretical frame of reference based on three theories: Hofstede's cultural dimensions, psychic distance and the network model. The study is based on a qualitative survey conducted via a respondent pool of four respondents where they were selected based on subjective selection and a snowball sample. The data is collected via semi-structured interviews. This study concludes that cultural differences can lead to challenges in international business relations and the more you understand the other party and its culture, the easier it will be to prevent challenges such as misunderstandings. Having knowledge of cultural differences and being open to them facilitates adaptation to international business partners.