Cultural Relativity of Relationships in International Business: The Case of Bulgaria

Abstract

The role of connections and relationships, that is, of whom one knows, is logical and universally recognized as a success factor in the theory and practice of international business. However, is there a conceptual equivalence in how the nature of relationships is construed, as well as in the ways relationships are built and developed across different cultures? The article defends the thesis of the cultural contextualization of business relationships. Representatives of different national cultures have different perceptions of the essence and role of the process of establishing and developing relationships with business partners. Based on a conceptual synthesis and secondary cultural data analysis, the article examines how national cultural context shapes the understanding and enaction of business relationships. The paper applies a comparative cross-cultural perspective, employing the category of national culture as the main unit of analysis. Specific attention is devoted to the cultural peculiarities of business relationships in Bulgaria. The study foregrounds the intercultural competence of international business actors as a guard against unduly leaning on dispositional attribution (at the expense of the situational attribution) in a cross-cultural context.

JEL: F23, M16, Z198