Country specific entry mode

Country Analysis and Market Entry Strategy

of Malaysia

UNIVERSITY OF DHAKA

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING

Fall – 2019

Term paper

Term Paper Title

Country Analysis and Market Entry strategy

Course Title

Global Marketing

Course Code

MKT – 526

Submitted to

Professor Dr. Imrana Yasmin

Submitted by

Mahmud Shahriar

Shahdat Hossain Sikder

41737029

Date of Submission

November 24, 2019

Culture Dimension

Culture can be defined as the norms, values and beliefs of a particular group or community in a

particular area or geographic location, and shared by its members (Hofstede, 1980). This means

that the beliefs, norms and value systems can influence the members of the community to behave

and act in a particular way considered acceptable by the other members in the group. For example,

it is the culture of the Malays not to speak with a high tone to an elderly person or superior, as it

is perceived to be ill mannered. Superiors or people considered in higher hierarchy should be

addressed with appropriate humility with a title like “Pak Long” or “Mak Long” (means “senior

uncle” or “senior auntie”) (McLaren and Rashid, 2002). According to Asma (1992), the Malays

are motivated by their affiliation to groups, families and individuals. Malaysia is a multiracial

country in which the major ethnic groups, namely the Malays, Chinese and Indians, interact

harmoniously in their everyday living. Each of these ethnic groups had maintained their separate

ethnic identities, and continued practicing their distinct cultures in their customs, behavior, the

language they speak, norms, values and beliefs. The presence of the Chinese and Indians in the

country was attributed to historical reasons. Prior to the British intervention in the Malay states in

1875, the community was predominantly the Malays and the other indigenous ethnic groups. Due

to political and economic reasons, the British “colonized” the Malay states, and brought in the

Chinese and Indian workers to assist in the exploitation of resources in the Malay states (Gale,

1981). In 1957, when Malaysia (formerly known as Malaya) achieved independence from the

United Kingdom, the Chinese and Indian communities were well accepted by the Malays, and

assimilated in the Malaysian society. Today, the Malays accounted for nearly 60% of the total

population and the Chinese accounted for 30%, while the Indians represented for nearly 9% of the

total population. Malaysia is a multi-religious society and Islam is the official religion. According

to the Population and Housing Census 2000 figures, approximately 60.4 percent of the population

practiced Islam; 19.2 percent Buddhism; 9.1 percent Christianity; 6.3 percent Hinduism; and 2.6

percent traditional Chinese religions. The remaining was accounted for by other faiths, including

Animism, Folk religion, Sikhism and other faiths while 1.1% either reported as having no religion

or did not provide any information. As such Malaysia has a diverse workforce comprising of the

individuals from different cultural beliefs and values. While this may be a colorful sight in the

country, it cannot avoid tensions and misunderstandings due to lack of awareness or

comprehension of one culture or the other (McLaren and Rashid, 2002). The differences in the

cultural values could also lead to differing views on what is considered right or wrong in one

culture or inappropriate in another culture (Frederick et al., 1992). In this type of situation it can

result to failures in business deals and negotiations. At the initial stage, there may be deadlocks or

minor crisis in the business negotiation, but subsequently reached to a conflicting phase. For

example, it is not an uncommon business practice that “what is acceptable to the Malays or Indians

may not be acceptable to the Chinese.” For example, it is considered reasonable to a Chinese

businessman to invite a Malay businessman to a drinking session as a business gesture and

recognize their business relationships. To a Malay businessman, accepting such an invitation is

acceptable, but since the Malay is generally a Muslim and does not consume alcoholic drink, the

Chinese businessman may feel offended if the Malay businessman does not consume the alcoholic

drink. The Chinese businessman could misinterpret the action of the Malay businessman as not

giving “face” to him in this situation. This could cause misunderstandings in business

communication and relationships. Similarly, what the Malays consider appropriate may not be

acceptable to the Chinese or Indians. In Malaysia, the racial or ethnic divisions tended to coincide

with and are reinforced by linguistic, cultural, religious and economic divisions (Crouch, 1996).