Expansions of the Burberry Company in Malaysia

Introduction

Burberry Corporation is a British based corporation that acts as a luxury fashion house in Britain. The company is based in England and is mostly known for the manufacture and distribution of trench coats. However, other commodities dealt with by the company includes, fashion accessories, sunglasses, fragrances, ready to wear outerwear, and cosmetics. Burberry Corporation is a multinational company that started in 1856 by Thomas Burberry and initially focused on the manufacture of outdoor attire but now ventures into the production of various commodities after its reincorporation from an independent family-controlled company in 1955 (Robinson & Hsieh, 2016). Burberry has branches in about fifty-one countries worldwide, one of which is Malaysia. The literature will discuss the issues revolving around the expansion of the Burberry Corporation in Malaysia while comparing the Malaysian and British culture regarding the Burberry Corporation activities.

Based on their clusters, it is quite tricky for the adjustments of the Burberry Corporation to fit into the Malaysian culture. This is because; there is a big difference in terms of how the two countries perceive the issues of power distance and individualism. In Malaysian culture, most people agree that everybody has his or her place in the hierarchical order of social status (Hofstede Insights, 2020). The hierarchical organization in Malaysia is reflected in inequalities, subordination, and centralization of the popular while challenges to the current existence are not very well received. Furthermore, the degree of interdependence in Malaysian society is very high. The collectivistic community in Malaysia, where people often perceive themselves ‘we’ instead of ‘I’.

On the other hand, in British culture, there is a strong sense of belief that encourages people to treat others fairly and equally. The Burberry Corporationis based on such religion and expansion in Malaysia would be discouraged by the fact that the operations of the corporation would be associated with a specific class and the other classes are supposed to respect the PDI rankings brought by the Burberry Corporation operations. Besides, the corporation is based in an individualistic culture while Malaysia in a collectivistic culture. Thus, services of the Burberry Corporation in Malaysia should be inclined to support the collective people relationships if it is to thrive in Malaysia.

In terms of their context, the Burberry Corporationcould be incorporated successfully and efficiently into Malaysian culture. To conclude this, according to the Globe (2020), the context of the Malaysian culture in terms of performance orientation, future endeavours and uncertainty avoidance levels are all high thus resulting to higher possibilities of the Burberry Corporation success if incorporated adaptively. In Malaysia, the population is driven by a range of values regarding business relations. Thus with the correct approach – one that is collectivistic and community-based, the corporation is likely to advance quickly.

Also,as it is in Britain, people in England exhibit desires for optimism and willingness to spend in enjoying life in general. There is a positive attitude towards a high degree of leisure time spending, and high life status importance is quite treasurable in Malaysia. Therefore, the Burberry Corporation operations are likely to be welcomed to Malaysia, as it would add more value and relevance to their culture living styles.

Examples

Give examples of how the Burberry Corporation should adjust when dealing with the host country culture based on;

• Power Distance Scores – on this dimension, the Burberry Corporation could approach the hierarchical culture by making commodities and accessories in both low and high standards and prices to fit all the classes of the society.
• Individualism Scores – here, it is essential to understand that Malaysia is a ‘We’ driven culture where loyalty is highly upheld. Therefore, the company could approach the culture by making it seem indigenous to the Malaysian culture by ways such as management by Malaysians and making Malaysian related accessories and fashion trends.
• Masculinity Scores –the Malaysian culture scores a 50 in this dimension thus a preference cannot be readily determined but, the corporation could approach the culture with both masculine and feminine quality of products and standards thus making choices available for both masculine and feminine quality of life.
• Uncertainty Avoidance Scores –with low preferences of uncertainty avoidance in Malaysia, the company could approach the culture by a preceded study of the economy and the possibility of success of the business before venturing into operations.
• Long-term Orientation Scores –there are high preferences in Malaysian for maintaining strong ties with their culture. Therefore, the Burberry Corporation could approach the culture by inclining its productions to appear culturally related to the Malaysian culture in terms of colours and drawings.

Comments

There is a significant difference between England and Malaysia in terms of cultural differences. From their relations to one another to how each views the relationships in terms of existence. In terms of corruption levels, Malaysia is reported to have a score of 52. This high score makes the country to be termed the second cleanest country in Asia. At the same time, England, on the other hand, is known for relatively high levels of corruption as recently reported after the state fell out of top ten least corrupt countries in the United Kingdom recently (Kyc360, 2019).

References

Globe. (2020). SFU Beedie School of Business. Retrieved from Globe 2020: https://globeproject.com/results/countries/MYS?menu=list#list

Hofstede Insights. (2020, Apri 14). Introduction to Cross-cultural Management. Retrieved from Hostede Insights: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/

Kyc360. (2019, January 30). Corruption Index: UK, US fall in new anti-corruption rankings, the UK gets a warning. Retrieved from KYC360: https://www.riskscreen.com/kyc360/news/corruption-index-uk-us-fall-in-new-anti-corruption-rankings-uk-gets-warning/

Robinson, P. K., & Hsieh, L. (2016, December ). Reshoring: a strategic renewal of luxury clothing supply chains. Operations Management Research, 9(3-4), 89-101. doi:10.1007/s12063-016-0116-x