Analyse how cultural differences affect international businesses There are a number of important factors that influence businesses and some of the ways in which they have an impact. It is worth mentioning that for international businesses, it is important to make clear assessments about how to change the way they run the business on these factors is remarkably important. Cultural factors have a very strong influence on the ways that international businesses operate, including: Composition of the workforce The way the workforce is composed will have a big impact on the way that it operates. The culture, expectations and methods of working are likely to affect the way that the business operates. International businesses have a certain point of view about sending workers to a particular country to start trading, according to the advantages that it brings to the business, or may take the view that they will employ a local workforce to make sure that they have a better understanding of the local area and also of the company’s expectations. Sometimes international businesses may choose, through the existing use of technology, to have some of their workforce based in one country and some in another. A good example to support this idea of where this has happened in the past has been call centres that have been able to operate in India, in collaboration with call centres run in the UK. Management style Management styles in companies in the UK vary extensively. Some businesses perform a very organised and controlled structure which is best known as an autocratic management style while other firms prefer going for more discussion and collaboration. This is known as democratic style. Differences in management style are very common between businesses in the UK but when it comes to other countries, cultural factors can affect management styles completely and the impact of these differences are felt even more strongly. Contract negotiations In some countries, corruption is acceptable, while in others it is not even an option. Negotiating contracts is a key part of a business and this is why being informed of what is an acceptable business practice in different countries is very important. In the UK, in 2010, the Bribery Act was passed in order to avoid this practice being used