Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 1

‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬

College of Administrative and Financial Sciences

Assignment 2
Introduction to International Business (MGT321)
Due Date: 09/04/2022 @ 23:59

Course Name: Introduction to International Student’s Name:

For Instructor’s Use only

1. How Hayek Family’s Influence Impacts the Corporate Culture in the Company and

the International Culture

Hayek family, the owner of the Swatch Group Company, got the inheritance of the

corporation upon their father’s death, as the founder of the company. According to Hill & Hutt

(2017), Nicolas Hayek founded the company in 1983 and established strong ethics and cultural

grounds, which influenced the culture of the Swatch Company and on the international level. The

strong state and boldness contributed by Nicolas Hayek made the company trend globally. That

contribution impacted the international culture through meeting successful achievements of the

company in cultural and marketing aspects of watches. The Swatch Company was the sole

producer of the Swatch Watch, and that made the customers have diversified watches that

impacted their culture. As a sole firm, this gave the family of the business great network

coverage and interacted with the stakeholders like the clients efficiently in an exchange of

culture.

In addition, the company's headquarters was located at Biel, which bordered France and

Germany. According to Hill & Hutt (2017), the Swatch Group, with its headquarters in Biel,

Switzerland (Europe), is a manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The establishment of

headquarters followed that two languages were supposed to be used, namely French and German

language. Due to the company's ownership by the family people, that had a global cultural

impact on communicating in different languages. The Hayek family had strong backgrounds and

roots by covering 40 % of the business subsidiaries at the international level. The family

understood the company's goals, which made it impact the culture at the corporate and

international levels. The Hayek family did promotions of the watch products to have a secured

market that greatly influenced the growth of the international culture. Swatch watches began
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from the family as the founder of the company. This cultural attribute was translated to the

corporate and later to the international level by the company such that most individuals in the

market were greatly impacted.

Moreover, there was a family succession in terms of the ownership of the business upon

the demise of Nicolas Hayek, the founder. Nick’s junior, George, was the CEO and the president

of Swatch Group even when the father was alive. In the year 2010, Nayla Hayek, the daughter of

Nicolas Hayek, became the chair of the Board of Directors in Swatch Group when her father

passed away. This family succession transferred the cultural values, norms, beliefs, and artifacts

to the corporate and to the international level. The when the company was founded, it involved

merging of Societe Suisse pour industrial Horiogele, and the Gaseilschaft des Weizerischen (Hill

& Hutt, 2017). The merge transferred to cultural attributes like languages and artifacts to the

other people at the corporate and global level. In that way, the culture of people was greatly

impacted by the family of the Hayek in terms of the marketing and artifacts exchange.

2. Why Swatch Has a Strong Cultural Icons in the Global Marketplace and the Swatch

Revolution That Started When Nicholas Hayek Founded the Company

Swatch Company has had strong global cultural icons since Nicolas Hayek founded the

company due to his great and positive influence. Some reasons made the company qualify the

aspect of Swatch Revolution due to the impact that began from the family level. The company

had strong brands as cultural icons and cores globally. Swatch and its 37 global subsidiaries

employ about 37,000 people (Hill & Hutt, 2017). In the process of operating, the company

developed new watches designs that made it secure its fame, thus leading to a strong culture in

the marketplace. The new design of watches was made effective and possible through the high
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innovation involved in the business operations. In addition, the company developed new fashions

and reliable watches as its operations progressed. These fashionable watches had different tastes

and preferences in the market and eventually became cultural icons. 

The Swatch Company engaged in operations that considered people's cultural, social, and

economic aspects. In that way, it made economically friendly watches to the clients. In other

words, the watches were cheaper and more affordable to the customers, which made the

company secure a high market share by delivering so many watches in the market. The more the

company marketed its products, the more its operations became wide and strong in the

marketplace. The customers were also cultural icons, just like the watches, which made the

company have global fame in its operations. The company operated economically such that

efficiency in manufacturing was involved. The business investments were economical, with the

inputs giving the business returns. Due to the swatch revolution, the company enjoyed

economies of scale as it developed. This efficiency in the manufacturing operations made the

clients and materials which were manufactured like watches be cultural icons worldwide.

Swatch Company had 37 global subsidiaries which employed 37,000 people. The people

and products out of investments acted as representatives in the world. By so doing, the company

secured a great market share that developed the issue of cultural icons. The company was

operating from an economic perspective and thus getting great revenue. The company’s revenue

was about $ 9 billion U.S Dollars. The revenue was re-invested in the business that kept the

system vibrant in manufacturing more watches and jewellery in the world. In addition, the large

amounts of revenue ensured that the company kept growing and developing, and by so doing, the

cultural icons were more established. The headquarters of the Swatch Company was located at

Biel, which meant that there was the socialization of people who spoke both German and French
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languages. This meant that interactions were very strong, and the more people interacted, the

more they exchanged cultural icons like watches and jewellery. The people also were an example

of cultural icons. Other aspects like values, artifacts, norms, and beliefs were applied, and that

contributed to great fame to the company. In other words, socialization contributed towards the

Swatch Revolution, which led to a strong core in the marketplace.

3. How Swatch Can Accessorize Its Swatch Watch, and How Watch Gets Embedded

Into Person’s Culture in Creation of Cultural Image

The Swatch Company can accessorize or enhance its watch through innovations to make

them more appealing in the marketplace. Innovations can involve beautiful decorations and

modifications with colors. The company can also use new designs to improve the quality of its

watches. This can make it secure a large market share in the system. A watch can be fixed into a

culture to create a cultural image. Watches are connected to have values, beliefs, artifacts, and

norms. The company has to consider all these aspects rather than focusing on the marketplace for

only financial gains. In this way, watches have values that are fixed with people’s culture; for

example, some watches may be more expensive than others, which views people differently in

the cultural aspects. Some cultures have norms and beliefs associated with watches, for example,

defining people’s financial status and class.

According to Hill & Hutt (2017), the watch has a broad meaning than just being

conscious about the time. The meaning is attributed to the culture of people as a prestigious

aspect. For example, a watch is a way of communication that is the essence of heart-to-heart

communication. By wearing a watch, there is that feeling of communication from one person to

another, which is attributed to the cultural aspect of the swatch people. Moreover, wearing a
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watch can show individuals' culture according to the swatch image. A watch can be fixed to the

culture because it shows communication without words. In this light, clients worldwide can

express their close connection through the watches as cultural material from the Swatch

Company even without using words. In the case study, watches were used as tags like the

#MySwatch, meaning that this had a cultural embedment in the people wearing them.

Furthermore, culture involves consideration of the ages of different groups of people. Culture has

to do with the socialization of people of all ages. In connection to the Swatch Watch, different

watches fit all ages. In addition, these watches connected with occasions such that there were

those to be worn at some and not others. Therefore, in connection to the swatch company,

watches can be attributed to the people's cultural aspects who wear them. It is not only the aspect

of time that qualifies a watch to have its meaning. 

 
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Reference

Hill, C. W. L., & Hult, G. T. M. (2017). International Business: Competing in the Global

Marketplace, 11e.