Hofstede’s National Culture as a Guide for Sales Practices Across Countries: The Case of a MNC’s Sales Practices in Australia and New Zealand

When the multinational considers the global strategic sales effort, the temptation is to aggregate practices across seemingly similar countries. While this eases administration, it can lead to sub-optimal local practice. This research focuses on the attitudes of a multinational’s sales forces in Australia and New Zealand toward the various practices that are used to train, coach, and motivate the sales force. Scores on Hofstede’s national culture dimensions, along with other criteria, suggest similarities between the countries that could lead to the expectation that similar practices will have similar effectiveness in each of the countries. However, the findings suggest that the multinational still needs to customise practices in distinct aspects of the sales system. The findings lend credence to the claim that sales practices need to be adapted to local needs—despite potential temptations for transferring practices across (seemingly) like countries.