GENIAL INFO

Albert Heijn

Albert Heijn is a company that offers all basic groceries, such food and household assecories, all in one place.This poster serves to help Albert Heijn establish itself in Bulgaria, while adopting their cultural norms.

Tessa Smits van Oyen, s2182238University of Twente

Bulgarian Business Etiquette [1]

• Shaking your head from side to side means "yes", up and down means "no".
• Hard liquor may be offered before a meeting (even in the morning/afternoon), if you do not wish to drink it, display your appreciation for the offer.
• Bulgarians will expect you to be punctual, however do not be alarmed if they are a bit late.
• The process of decision making can take a long time, as Bulgarians take their time to consider all the facts.
• Do not make a point of telling Bulgarians about resources that you have in you home country, that they might be missing.
• Do not go for a drink with strangers, you may be robbed or drugged.

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions [2]

According to Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions (figure 1), Bulgaria scores close to the Netherlands on long term orientation. However on all other dimensions the countries are very diverse. The largest difference is in indulgence. Bulgaria scores very low, this means a high level of restraint will be expected of businessmen and -women. A tendency to cynicism and pessimism is also to be expected. There will be less regard for leisure time. Bulgarians also prefer to avoid uncertainty, which comes paired with their long decision times. Furthermore, this results in an intolerance for unorthordox behaviour and ideas. Time and productiveness are highly valued, and there is a need for rules, even if they do not seem to work. The Netherlands score over twice as high on individualism, which means that more commitment to "the group" than the Dutch are used to can be expected. Everyone takes resposibility for their fellow group-members. Hiring and promotion is influenced by the group relation between employer and employee.

Figure 1) Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

Conclusion:

As Bulgarians are less prone to indulgence, Albert Heijn will have to present itself less as an A-list supermarket with high quality groceries. Instead Albert Heijn should provide Bulgarian products that are known to the customers. Because time is highly valued, the lay-out and flow in the shop should be effective, to make sure customers do not spend more time than necessary on grocery shopping.

[1] Hofstede Insights. (2021). Compare Countries. https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/ [2] Sabath, A.M. (2004). International Business Etiquette. Authors Choice Press. https://books.google.nl/books?id=LTziCgAAQBAJ