Juan Valdez Cafe En Suecia

|Exploring Coffee Business in Sweden |April 9 |
| |2009 |
|Cultural Communications|Mario Camacho 08085579 |
|MICM 2008-2009 | |
|The Hague University | |
|The Netherlands| |

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to put into practice theory and experience gained throughout the MICM program. The subject matter, a client from an international organisation which in this particular case is Procafecol an organization from Colombia, has a real context in which thecommunications management course is used as a very useful tool to improve, explore, develop, implement and manage complex communications strategies on a global scale. Acting as communication consultant this document gives general and detailed information on the client’s profile, its current cultural needs when doing business with Swedish organizations and the recommendations achieved after two months ofresearch.

The effects of cross-culture communications, information related to international business, the Procafecol main challenges, needs and expectations when exploring new markets at international levels, and the Swedish coffee industry context and its business culture, were investigated. Interviews with communications specialists were conducted with the aim to gather reliable data. Actual andup to date theory on cross-culture communications was used to be contrasted with the current contexts of the Colombian and Sweden cultures.

In the context of doing business internationally, such contrasts are critical, particularly when this project intends to deliver pertinent recommendations for the client organization. Analysis of a broad set of information on the development of interculturalrelations show a great interest of Procafecol to explore the international market considering foreign cultures. The common ways for the organization to promote its main brand, Juan Valdez Cafe, are delineated by public relations that require a complete understanding of not only the market in which the company wants to open new shops, but their culture in relation to coffee consumption and theirbusiness etiquette profiles.

This research asses and find that the implementation of the current management of cross-cultural business given by the organization demands an important invest in terms of time and human resources. Difficulties for this research were mainly the impossibility of having interviews with the Commercial Manager of Procafecol who is in charge of establishing direct contactwith other international organizations. Time was the biggest challenge and obstacle when assessing feasible recommendations to accomplish the objective of the research .The study concludes with a discussion of the implications of this research and the advantages of considering the recommendations given for taking the maximum benefit bearing in mind the factors mentioned above.

GlossaryBarista: barista is a name applied to a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks. The word is borrowed from Italian, where it has a wider meaning of "bartender".

Café Latte: A latte (from the Italian caffè latte, meaning "coffee [and] milk") is a type of coffee drink made with hot milk.
Procafecol: Coffee retailer with a total of 58 coffee...