Leglise, LaureAlfarroba, Inês Filipa Ramos Correia2015-09-162015-07-082015http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/18265As companies increasingly trade in a greater variety of countries with different cultures, it is essential to understand how these may influence the success when operating abroad. This thesis was designed to contribute to existing literature by studying the impact that perceived and actual cultural distance, encompassing habits and language, have on the internationalisation process and decisions using the case study of a Portuguese fast food restaurant, H3. As the company has internationalised into Poland, Spain and Brazil, it was possible to study situations with varying degrees of cultural distance from Portugal. The study was undertaken in a sequential process, encompassing the decision, preparation, implementation and post-implementation phases, to get a comprehensive overview of the entire process. From this study’s results it was possible to notice that the company’s perceived cultural distance didn’t appear to have an obvious relation with the definition of strategic objectives, the duration of the preparation period and the entrance sequence in the countries. On the other hand, when perceived cultural distance was lower there were more adaptations done. The longevity of the company in the countries could also have influenced this result. Nonetheless, this study supports that the company will have more success in culturally closer countries. The study highlights that a company’s success in foreign countries was always found to encompass cultural challenges, due to different mentalities and habits. Thus, companies should do an extensive in-depth research prior, so they may be prepared and can more easily adapt to the challenges that arise.engmaster thesis201170701