¶ … Mills Decisions about international business take into account a wide range of different factors, including political, economic and social environments, in addition to firm-specific issues such as where to produce, what the company makes and how easy it is to ship the company's product. In this report, the case of General Mills in Europe will be considered. General Mills is a major producer on consumer consumables, and the countries in question are going to be France and Greece. The paper is going to discuss the key issues with respect to each country, keeping in mind the General Mills context.

General Mills produces food under a number of common household brands -- Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Haagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Yoplait and Nature Valley. The company is based in Minneapolis and began in 1860 with two flour mills, hence the name. The company would change its name to Gold Medal Flour in the 1880s. In response to consumer questions about baking, the company's founder created a character to give advice to consumers -- Betty Crocker. This was the beginning of the brand empire. Save for a brief foray into toys in the 1960s, the company has remained steadfastly a food company, and has operated internationally for decades. The company's stated mission is to "make lives healthier, easier and richer" which connotes some nutrition, but also convenience and value. Today, the company operates in over 100 countries and has manufacturing facilities in 30 (General Mills.com, 2013). The company has production facilities in both France and Greece. With both countries, exporting was the method of market entry initially. However, acquisitions have been used to gain market share, for example the recent acquisition of Yoplait in France (2012 General Mills Annual Report).

Background Information

It is important to understand the similarities and differences of the two countries. Politically, both share similar systems of democratic republics, and both are members of the European Union and the Eurozone. Thus, there are significant similarities and with respect to Europe there are policies to which they are both subject. Culturally, there are some similarities but the cultures are different and therefore there remain areas of divergence. In terms of business culture, both countries trend towards formality in terms of the superficial things. However, with respect to the methods of doing business, from negotiation to relationship building, the French are more analytical, drawing on northern European norms. The Greeks are purely southern in their business culture, emphasizing relationships and being less analytical in their approach.

The two countries share a currency and external trade policy as members of the EU and the Eurozone. This creates opportunities of which General Mills should be aware. There are also some strategic dimensions that need to be discussed, with respect to the availability of inputs in these countries, the respective labor costs, and the economic outlook. In these, France is generally superior to Greece, having much more agricultural land and no physical trades barriers with the rest of the EU. Greece also has a much more dire economic outlook, given the problems the country has had with budget deficits and an antiquated economic structure.

Cultural Differences

One tool that can provide good background on the differences between cultures are the cultural dimensions of Geert Hofstede. The main dimensions are power distance, individuality, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. A fifth is time orientation but Hofstede did not study Greece for this so it will not be used. Both countries have relatively high power distance, meaning that inequalities are generally accepted in these countries. As a result, their societies have some class structure, and if there are inequalities of opportunity that is something that these societies accept -- upward mobility is not as high as it might be in other parts of Western Europe, for example. France scores much higher on individuality, meaning that individuals are independent and are expected to act accordingly. By contrast, Greek culture is highly collectivist in nature. This manifests in a number of ways, including absences from the workplace to deal with family matters, and a lack of initiative-taking on the part of individual workers.

Greece scores medium on masculinity, which means that the culture places at least some emphasis on competition and achievement -- they invented the Olympics, after all. In countries that combine masculinity with collectivism, achievement is shared so that if the individual enjoys success this reflect on the entire family group. France tends towards feminine society, which emphasizes quality...

Both cultures score high for uncertainty avoidance, which means that in both countries there is a high adherence to rules because they create a sense of order -- for a country that developed the ideas of chaos and anarchy the Greeks do not like these things at all. They are the highest scoring country in the world for uncertainty avoidance, and France is not far behind.
These cultural dimensions highlight some ways where Greece and France are similar, like with uncertainty avoidance, and ways where they are different, such as along the masculinity/femininity continuum. In almost all of these, both cultures are quite different from the home culture. Americans have low uncertainty avoidance, and they have high individualism. Understanding these cultural differences will be critical to dealing in either of these countries. Fortunately, General Mills already has the experience needed to excel in either country, having operated in both for a significant length of time.

Political Economy

There are essentially three governments of note when thinking about France and Greece -- each country's national government and the European Union. While both countries are democratic republics, France has the more stable economic and political situation. French politics are typical of Western Europe, generally taking a pro-business stance. There is government support of key industries, same as would be found in the U.S., and in France these tend to be industrial or agricultural concerns.

The French economic environment is stable, with the country having an economy focused on both services and industry. France is one of the largest economies in the world, ranked 10th in the world with a value of $2.2 trillion. The French economy is well-diversified and this provides it with ample export markets for its products. Most of its key exports are industrial goods, with most agricultural products being reserved for domestic use. Food processing is noted as one of the country's main industries (CIA World Factbook, 2013).

The Greek government is in a state of instability. The current budget crisis has led to a widespread lack of confidence among the Greek people about their politicians, most of whom are working with the EU to dismantle the Greek economy and slash the budget. This creates conditions of instability and rioting. This social disorder is likely to be ongoing in Greece, putting government stability at risk. Economically, the crisis has been a disaster for the country, with the medicine being just as bad as the illness. The GDP dropped 6% is 2012, 6.9% in 2011 and 3.5% in 2010. The Greek economy has taken a beating, and there is no particular end in sight, with EU parties calling for further 'structural reforms'. Merits of these reforms in the long run aide, the short-term economic conditions in Greece as bad, and many talented Greeks are taking advantage of the freedom of labor movement to relocate to healthier economies within the European Union, something that will result in long-term dim economic prospects for the country (ABC, 2012).

The European government has played a large role in the Greek economic and political turmoil, mandating harsh cuts to public service in exchange for loans. Greek insolvency is a major political and economic issue for the European Union, to the p

Global Trade and Currency Exchange

Both France and Greece are part of the European Union, which is a customs union throughout much of Europe. There are no customs or tariffs, nor physical borders to trade, between the countries in the union. Greece, however, is along with Cyprus an exclave of the European Union, separated by the countries of the Balkan Peninsula from the other EU countries. Access to Greece is therefore via sea or air. Trade with external countries like the EU. While the EU and the U.S. are both party to the World Trade Organization and therefore committed to reducing trade barriers between the member countries. However, there is no comprehensive trade agreement between the U.S. And the EU at present. There are talks, underway, however, but there are many stakeholders with concerns and such an agreement could take a long time to be reached (BBC, 2013).

In addition to having a common customs union, France and Greece share a currency. This makes for free-flowing trade between the two countries and the other Eurozone countries as well. Moreover, the euro is a highly liquid currency, so American companies are able to trade the euro freely and build in hedges using derivatives to reduce the risk associated with euro exposure. The current USD-EUR exchange rate (Oanda.com, 2013) is 1.311 dollars to the euro. The rate has been…