The United States is undeniably a powerful corporate leader, a political and economic powerhouse. The US is a diverse salad bowl of different cultures, ethnicities, beliefs, and sexes, a nation built on the universal idea of truth. Its vast and diverse geography breeds regional subcultures and traditions, ensuring that there is no ‘American’ stereotype.
Taking into consideration the amount of exposure many of us have to some facets of American culture, it is important not to fall into the pit of feeling that is already familiar while doing business in the United States of America.
Just like every other country, knowing the cultural concepts behind the surface is imperative to leverage the many advantages of doing business in the US likes those illustrated below.
| Benefits of Doing business in the USA | Drawbacks of doing business in the USA |
| The favorable economic environment | Dealing with Construction Permits and Getting Electricity |
| Federal, state, and local governments offer benefits | Registering Property |
| Access to new markets | Getting Credit |
| Availability of skilled workers | Protecting Investors |
| Stable political environment | Paying Taxes |
| Movement of goods | Trading across Borders |
| Technological advancements | Resolving Insolvency |
Advantages of Doing Business in the United States of America
- Pace and Accuracy
In the US the well-known principle ‘time is money’ is taken very seriously. Timeliness is an integral aspect of American business practice and rigid compliance with timelines. North Americans insist on having the best results in a short period so you can anticipate changes to be made quickly and effectively while doing business in the US.
- Hard-working and committed employees
The US values virtues such as ambition, individuality, self-reliance, and personal accomplishment in an unjust culture. Also highly regarded are personal competencies, integrity, and individual performance responsibility.
These attributes derive from the ‘The American Dream’ idea, which is based on the belief in the US that working hard earns prosperity and economic security.
- Equal Footing
Equality forms the foundation on which many social relationships are centered, considering the large array of disparities present in American society.
Due to rank or age, one’s place in US society is defined by qualification rather than ascription. You may initially be shocked when doing business in the US by the relatively informal working atmosphere in which conversational tones are utilized and people are called with their first names.
This stems from a lack of formality that is frequently correlated in other places with power but does not turn into unprofessional behavior or a lack of authority.
- Open to new ideas and prospects
Open contact in the US seems conducive to creativity and enhancement. These are all consciously promoted to question the status quo, new ideas, and change. In addition, US employee development is supported and monitored by continuous feedback, assessment, and appraisal systems.
- Clear rules and Specifications
The United States tends to use communication as a low background culture to share knowledge, facts, and opinions. Most knowledge is conveyed orally, and the speaker is strongly responsible for ensuring that the context is understood.
Consequently, instructions are always given in a very simple, indisputable, and concise manner. Similarly, a lack of structured status-driven conversational structures means that it is easy to ask questions and that disagreement is dealt with freely.
You should feel secure when doing business in the US that you know where you are, what you are doing, and what is expected of you.
- Diverse Population
The difference in today’s globalizing world is energy. This power can nowhere be utilized more than in the US, home to roughly 307 million people from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. Immigration from nearly every corner of the globe has ensured America’s unparalleled cultural diversity, turning the nation into what it is now.
Disadvantages of Doing Business in the United States of America
- Restrictions on offshore investment
The US stock market has grown into one big casino. Your grandparents’ days are gone when “buy and hold” was a fair way to invest, and your grandfather’s analysis saw actual shares of the railroad company stock sitting in a fire safe.
High-frequency trading today means the average investor has no hope of doing so. The everyday investor lost an average of 2 percent per annum between 2000-2010 by one metric, with the new developments from companies like Goldman Sachs just worsening this.
- American imperialism impacts business deals overseas
As a U.S. citizen or as a U.S. corporation, you are prohibited from engaging in any collusion with officials overseas at all. The Department of Justice has made a huge business out of suing even the biggest corporations for seeking to achieve an “unfair advantage” by bribing officials in other nations.
Although corruption may not be a positive thing, US policies are short-sighted in that they fail to understand the world’s realities. Corruption is actually the way business is conducted in most of the world.
As an American, you’re at a disadvantage, because you don’t even have the option of whether to obey local customs. This places American business at a disadvantage in cultures where it is the practice to take the local officials out for dinner or hand over a pack of cigarettes to the cops and one Jameson bottle once a month.
- Growing capital controls
Online banking is very amazing in other countries if you’re just used to dealing with US banks. I can transfer money between 12 different currencies in one click, send money orders around the globe at lightning speed, pay the bills, and more.
Such versatility is not common in the U.S., where banks normally provide only U.S. dollar accounts and most banks heavily restrict transfers to other countries. Including Canada.
- Limited knowledge of foreign opportunities
Go to London and you’ll see a whole industry of offshore promoters, even though they’re just in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Brits have seen the rich for decades and now even the upper-middle class is transferring their wealth to tax havens.
Years ago even the once-liberal Beatles transferred part of their company to the Channel Islands.
Bottom Line
It is obvious because the above-mentioned benefits of doing business in the US will greatly benefit foreign organizations. But doing business in the United States does entail successful strategies that optimize American society’s racial, social, and cultural diversity.
International groups that frequently do business with the US or hire American counterparts should provide a series of United States of America Intercultural Training courses to ensure they grasp the subtleties of American professional and economic culture at all levels. It’s just the first step to identify variations.
Businesses will greatly benefit from improving their workers’ intercultural skills through cross-cultural training courses that will help effectively leverage cultural differences in the United States.
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Business, marketing, and blogging – these three words describe me the best. I am the founder of Burban Branding and Media, and a self-taught marketer with 10 years of experience. My passion lies in helping startups enhance their business through marketing, HR, leadership, and finance. I am on a mission to assist businesses in achieving their goals.