Foreign companies often trusted distributors with goods of high value in the hope of entrenching market share. In my experience, culture can impact on business in several forms. Firstly there is the practice of paying by kind in Eastern Europe. We found that production levels in our factories in Eastern Europe were inordinately low. What we interpreted as pilferage was, to the pilferers, part of their pay package, by right.
Different cultures have different perceptions of what is right and wrong.
Secondly, there is the issue of national and business name. Certain countries have stigmas from a previous era which are still carried over. The French in North Africa are an example. We, as a British firm, have found that this works to our advantage, by default. A Moroccan would prefer to deal with an English company, because of the fact that English corporate culture is not that of the French.