Cross-Cultural Management Aspects in Case of Hungarian Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Abstract

The study examines the cross-border business relations of Hungarian small- and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) from the viewpoint of cross-cultural management. The study aims to illustrate why cross-cultural management is a necessary condition of successful cross-border business relations. After having reviewed secondary data and literature the study illustrates the practical importance of the topic by using the findings of a quantitative research conducted among SMEs owned by Hungarians and operating in the Austrian border region. Consequently the research question deals with which differences can be observed between the business culture of the analyzed Hungarian enterprises and the Austrian culture, and which types of problems these differences may cause during cross-border business relations. The findings of the online questionnaire survey reveals that even the description of the behavior of enterprises deriving from diverse cultures can be problematic from the fields of cross-cultural management, which impede the comparison of the behavior of the enterprises. The eligible understanding of the communication among international participants may also be problematic due to the diverse behavior patterns of cultures. The findings of the empirical research also demonstrate that besides differences similarities can also be observed between the business culture of the analyzed enterprises and the Austrian culture, however, even these similarities may lead to misunderstandings during communication and relations. Nevertheless, these research findings may provide a significant help for those Hungarian SMEs and their representatives who either want to establish business relations with Austrian partners or have already done so, since they show to which culture-related fields, habits and differences must be paid a special attention by the management of these enterprises. By doing so, not only the preparedness and the knowledge of these enterprises are enhanced, but they can take advantage of these during business negotiations and relations, which eventually improve the successfulness of business.