Cultural differences matter in international business. For example, McDonald's has several restaurants around the world. The restaurant chain can literally write the book on how to do business in overseas countries. At the end of the 90s, McDonald's decided to open some of its restaurants in India. Even though India is a poor country, it has a thriving middle class of 200 million people. The opportunity to tap into this new customer base was enough for the chain to head towards India. However, India has a very unique Hindu culture where they venerated cattle and for a burger restaurant chain that uses beef as the main component of their burgers, this poses a big challenge for them. Therefore, beef was out of the question and most Middle Eastern countries do not eat pork. This leaves chicken and mutton (mature mutton) as an option for McDonald's to tap into potential customers from India. McDonald's counterattack was the mutton Maharaja Mac, the equivalent of its Big Mac in the United States. Therefore, how cultural difference influences how these companies conduct their business abroad. McDonald's illustration shows how companies must adapt to other cultures if they want to succeed internationally. One of the first issues that make an overseas business prosperous requires cross-cultural literacy. That, by his definition, conducting business between other nations required an understanding of how different cultures can influence how these companies do business abroad. This is important for distant companies, to understand how to overcome the cultural barriers of those countries they want to enter. (Hill 2009) In conclusion, cultural difference can be the determining factor in doing business internationally, successfully. With this in mind, it is imperative for managers conducting business abroad or for companies looking to expand their operations abroad. Study the country's culture, values ​​and norms of the society before embarking on this venture. By knowing a little about what to expect, these companies can adapt and improve the way they do business with other countries. Works Citedburttit.com “What are the values ​​and norms” retrieved February 20, 2011 from http://www. blurtit.com/q497478.htmlCharles WL Hill (2009) Global Business Today, sixth edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin Companycarla.umn.edu “What is culture?” retrieved February 20, 2011 from http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html