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Geri Dön
| EGE SERBEST BÖLGESİ , İNGİLİZ İŞ VE KÜLTÜR GÜNÜ
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 THOUGHTS ON BRITISH-TURKISH BUSINESSES
As an experienced partner for the last ten years of my career, I had no hesitation in accepting the kind invitation of ESBAŞ because I thought my personal background would be very useful to identify difficulties that arise during the negotiations, agreements and implementations concerning any kind of business deal, joint venture or alliance between Turkish businessmen and those from other countries including Britain. Indeed, having spent more than ten years at government service (Ministry of Finance), I then joined a Turkish conglomerate active overseas to serve there as Finance Director for years and finally became a modest accountant/advisor under , a global Anglo-American name, PwC. Such a combination of experience taught me a lot, even if the financial rewards were not so great.
Today I would like to deal with a basic question first: Does management have anything to do with the national culture? In my belief, it certainly does. The British style of management is characterised somewhat by pragmatism and interpersonal skills, with managers being rather task-oriented, reserved and respectful, thereby creating an impersonal and formal atmosphere in business dealings. The British also have a relatively shorter term perspective compared to, say, the Germans or the Japanese. This might be because of the importance of the capital markets in the Anglosaxon world which puts more emphasis on quicker return on investments.
Turks, on the other hand, tend to have a variation on the Italian style family business approach with an element of the centralised flavour of the French that emphasises dependence, trust, personal relationships and clear hierarchical order to avoid conflicts. In addition, their business approach is too short-term focused. Altogether this may end up with a competitive body towards the external world.
When two such sets of culture come together in business, it may work very well if both parties know how they can use their mutual strengths. Indeed, the pragmatism and relatively shorter term focus of the British could provide a good ground for such businesses as long as divergent attributes can be reconciled properly. The curiosity and willingness of Turkish people can facilitate the reaching of a mutual understanding, if the firm is given a family like outlook.
We have to admit that there are deficiencies in the Turkish business environment. Some of those relate to HR and the behavioural side. Turks seem to need to develop their cooperation and teamwork skills and should have a wider/more global perspective. The regulatory and corporate environment has also a number of weaknesses: the size of the unregistered economy, the reliance on form rather than substance, moral hazards, corporate governance and reporting standarts for the majority of corporates, TL accounting under high inflation, minority rights and most importantly, enforcement of law. However there are a lot of improvements as well such as various liberal tax provisions to promote investments, a very liberal foreign exchange regime, free zones like ESBAŞ which allow no red tape, the use of foreign currency and free income transfers, more global approach to rules surrounding M&A and Banking Supervision, allowing international arbitration for disputes between foreigners and locals, a large Double Taxation network encompassing tax sparing provision, and the absence of withholding tax on retained earnings. In addition to all these factors, a young and energetic population, dynamic entrepreneurship, strong commitment to the IMF backed austerity programme, EU aspirations, Customs Union and a fantastic historical heritage/tourism potential. It is clear that with the advantages it offers, this country deserves a far greater number of international ventures going forward.
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