A Model for Assessing Cultural Impacts on International Buyer-Seller Relationships for Key Accounts of Hotel Companies

Abstract

An understanding of the role of relationship building and the constructs that are important to developing business-to-business relationships can assist salespersons in developing successful strategies. Identifying what kind of relationships are acceptable and desirable is particularly important when operating internationally due to cultural influences. This article presents a model for examining international buyer-seller relationships in the hotel industry. The model was developed from literature in marketing, international business, and sociology as well as related literature in services and hospitality. Major constructs in the model are personal and work values as they relate to national culture, structural and social bonding, communication dimensions, trust, long-term orientation of the buyer, relationship commitment, and a continuum representing the range of potential relationships. Asia and North America are used to provide a frame of reference for examining international relationships within the model. © 2004 International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education.