...Culture and International Outsourcing Nettie Richard Cleary University International Business MGT420 Professor Martin Anumba January 5, 2015 CULTURE AND INTERNATIONAL OUTSOURCING Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions We know that we are living in a global age. Technology has brought everyone much closer together, even though we may be thousand miles apart. Today’s technology allow people of different cultures to work together and communicating in each other’s language with software that allows each to understand what is written through translation. With such achievements in today’s technology, it can also be frustrating and apprehensive with uncertainty about communicating with others that are not of the same culture. Building connections with people from around the world is just one dimension of cultural diversity. How can we understand cultural differences? Are we relegated to learning from our mistakes, or are there generalized guidelines to follow? To our learning, psychologist Dr. Geert Hofstede asked himself this question in the 70’s. What emerged after a decade of research and many interviews is a model of cultural dimensions that has become an internationally recognized standard. Dr. Hofstede initially identified four distinct cultural dimensions that served to distinguish one culture from another. Later on he added a fifth dimension which is used today in gathering information about cultures and countries. Dr. Hofstadter’s Five Dimensions of Culture * Individualism...
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...Topic 4 Managing The Environment What’s Your Global Perspective? • Parochialism - viewing the world solely through your own perspectives, leading to an inability to recognize differences between people. • Ethnocentric Attitude - the parochialistic belief that the best work approaches and practices are those of the home country. Other Global Perspectives • Polycentric Attitude - the view that the managers in the host country know the best work approaches and practices for running their business. • Geocentric Attitude - a world-oriented view that focuses on using the best approaches and people from around the globe. Understanding the Global Environment – Trading Alliances • European Union (EU) - a union of 27 European nations created as a unified economic and trade entity with the Euro as a single common currency. Exhibit 4-1 European Union Map Trading Alliances (cont.) • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - an agreement among the Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. governments in which certain barriers to trade have been eliminated. Trading Allowances (cont.) • Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - A trading alliance of 10 Southeast Asian nations Exhibit 4-2 ASEAN Map Global Trade Mechanisms • World Trade Organization (WTO) - a global organization of 153 countries that deals with the rules of trade among nations. • International Monetary Fund (IMF) - an organization of 185 countries that promotes international monetary cooperation...
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...International and intercultural communication is very important in today’s world. In order to be able to communicate effectively, one must be aware of, understand and appreciate another culture. Cultural difference is the biggest barrier in doing business in the world market. Hofstede (1993) believes that the spread of business onto the global stage brings the issue of national and regional differences to the forefront. Hofstede measures culture in five dimensions and teaches that cooperation across cultures is essential to human survival. These five dimensions are Power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance , and long term orientation. In this paper, I plan to present some similarities as well as some differences in the culture of the United States of America and China based on Hofstede’s dimensions. The United States of America is frequently investigated in cross cultural research due to its economic power and because of its cultural representativeness. China as the largest market, and possibly the most appealing market in Asia, is entering into global collaboration with a wide range of foreign partners. There are only two dimensions were the two countries are even close to being similar and they are masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. A masculine society is driven by success and achievement. A company with masculine culture operates assertively and competitively. If the country is ranked lower on this scale they are referred to as a feminine society...
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...Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: A Comparison of Greece and U.S. Human Resource Management Approaches By Kelly M. Mistretta MBOL2 MBA 533, Human Resource in Management Dr. James C. Dumville Saint Leo University – Center for Online Learning September 9, 2012 Name: Kelly Mistretta Title: Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: A Comparison of Greece and U.S. Human Resource Management Approaches Date: September 9, 2012 Abstract Globalization continues to become more important in the business culture in our world. No longer can management focus only on companies within their own country. Businesses are forced to compete with companies from other countries. With the increased global competition, a business must understand other cultures if they hope to remain competitive and have continued success. There are several models that show the influence of cultural differences between nations. Hofstede’s model, called the theory of cultural relativity of organization practices is the most recognized model. Hofstede’s model focuses on cultural influences and work behaviors in five different dimensions. Each dimension has important implications in understanding business. This paper will compare the Hofstede analysis of Greece and the United States. Biographical Sketch Kelly Mistretta is currently an MBA student at Saint Leo University. Mistretta has a BA in Accounting and plans to obtain an MBA to equip her with improved business skills to better contribute to society...
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...Introduction Culture may be defined as how a society perceives the world and how it should operate. Culture includes the beliefs, values, attitudes, and expectations for behavior that the society believes to be good, effective, desirable and beneficial. Organizations have unique culture even though they belong to the same industry. In this case, 5 Star Electronics and Amtech Electronics have different cultures even though both of these organizations belong to Electronics Industry and are in same state, Ohio. The leadership style of the organization decides the culture. Culture is the environment that surrounds you at work. Culture is also shapes your work environment along with your work relationships. The organizational culture can be identified by using the four variables which are Flexibility, Internal Focus, External Focus and Stability. The four variables are used to state the culture of a given organization. The basic types of corporate cultures are along with the dimensions are listed in the below table: Type of Corporate Culture Dimensions Clan Culture Flexibility, Internal Focus Bureaucratic Culture Internal Focus, Stability Adaptability Culture Flexibility, External Focus Achievement Culture Stability, External Focus The present discussion is to understand the corporate culture of 5 Star Electronics and Amtech Electronics using the above dimensions. Corporate Culture of 5 Star and Amtech Questions 1Q. Using the competing values model, what type of culture would...
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...Culture and its implication on the international business management. Introduction Today, problems associated with global business management have been identified as factors that negatively impact the performance and productivity of multinational corporations and in turn, adversely affect regional and national economic growth The goal of this paper is to analyze the influence of culture in international business. The globalization of the world economy has intensified international relationships, increasing the importance of cultural dimension. The world is being affected by the globalization of the economy. This phenomenon is bringing movement of companies, assets, services, capital and people. Analyzing globalization this process is taking the world to major changes in the economic, technologic and social areas, which are having consequences in all organizations and societies that participate in this globalized market. It is a process that does not bring equal benefits to all participants. The globalization concentrates more of its actions in some sectors of economic activity and some regions and countries, rather than acting everywhere. With the world getting flatter doing business anywhere in the world is easier today, because of major changes in technology, global politics and expanded educational opportunities. But it is not only businesses that are affected. Governments, NGOs and society itself is changing at a fast pace. Nevertheless going forward can only happen...
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...Culture: Obstacle or Key Customer? Almaayta, Hassan Borg, Richard TMG610 Michael Buckley Date, 2015 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 3 Methodology 4 Background 4 Dimensions of culture 5 Case one: Sweden 6 Sweden and its business culture 6 Swedes differ from the general view on culture 6 Case study: Slussen 6 Case two: Jordan 7 About Jordan 7 Business Culture in Jordan 8 Case study: Casino Project in Dead Sea 8 Consequences of stopping the project 9 Conclusion 9 References 10 Abstract Along with the huge trend toward globalization, the world economic get more united. Still there are several obstacles slow down this trend, or it seems to be that. One of these obstacles is the culture. Through the following discussion, the main idea is to show that culture is not an obstacle; rather that globalization should deal with it as a key customer. Moreover, nations, countries, states, and people should change their vision to start deal with globalization as a project not as a goal. This project should have several goals. These goals should be in line with customers’ requirements. Therefore, the customer who is the local culture will accept and support this project. Introduction Culture is an umbrella term for patterns of thoughts, emotions, and ways to act which mankind lives by. Everywhere we go outside our own land border one would face a new culture that somehow differs in a way from the one used to, regardless if it concerns a neighboring...
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...few others who probably didn’t get involved. This is a reflection of today’s modern and segmented society. Globalization and technology have taken front seat in merging cultures and creating a world where communities interact more closely than ever. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) there are about 63,000 multinational companies (MNCs) in the world and they have 700000 branches in other countries. Looking at the enormous reach of these global entities, one can only agree how critical it is to understand the cultural perspective of different societies. As a global business, it was an attempt by Coca Cola Company to embrace the diversity of multicultural world -- both in the marketplace and in the workplace. Evidently because societal culture has major influence on businesses. Global businesses have to deal with customers/clients, distributors, strategic partners, employees with different background and cultural mindsets. How organizations make decisions, implement policies, recruit workforce or even make strategic choices are affected by these cultural forces, both externally and internally, and impact the way organizations behave and deal with issues affecting society at large. My interest as a student of Gender and Cultural studies and a Human Resource Professional would be to explore the role of cultural forces that contribute towards shaping organizations culture and their identity and study the cultural differences in terms of Human...
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...“Internationalisation of operations is critical to a company’s success in today’s competitive environment” Internationalisation of operations is a huge issue which has faced many companies in today’s competitive business environment. With the increase in communications and ability to reach other countries being cheaper and easier in the 21st century, many companies have chosen to internationalise and expand on the domestic market in order to generate greater profits and become household names internationally. This essay will look at how American born company Wal-Mart Stores, Inc has grown and seen successes and failures in the international environment. It also will look at reasons behind the failures in relation to culture, using the venture into the world’s third largest retail market, Germany as the main focus for the essay. Firstly, this essay will look at culture and some theories that surround it and also look at different dimensions that make up culture. The definition of culture according to the Oxford Dictionary (1992) is: “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively or a refined understanding or appreciation of culture”. The theory that has been chosen to outline culture is Geert Hofstede’s five dimensions. The reason Hofstede’s theory has been used as an example in this case is because of the extensive research that he has put into developing his theories, as well as its relevance to the Wal-Mart failure in...
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...The Importance of Understanding Culture in International Business | Business Management in an International Context | | The increasing number of interactions between independent countries, companies and people has highlighted the importance of an understanding of global cultures, both national and organisational. Culture plays a large role in the way individuals behave and interact with one another and therefore plays an important role in business interactions across cultures. Many definitions of culture are offered, but one more relevant to culture in international business is : “Culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas.” (E.Schein 1985) The first way in which countries can be broadly categorized is into either a high context or a low context culture. High context cultures place more emphasis on the importance of group identity. They have a high sensory involvement and participate more readily in bodily contact. Low context cultures prioritise individualistic properties. They use body language less frequently and are monochronic thus placing a high importance on timing and scheduling. Most Northern European countries and other western societies are low context cultures. It has been suggested by the acclaimed social scientist, Norbert Elias (1978) that the development of society and the basis of its’ cultural contexts are closely associated with the prominent historical groups of the region leading to an establishment...
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...tension. What does it mean? Is it the same as affirmative action? Why should you focus on it? When people think of diversity, they may think first of ethnicity and race, and then gender; however, diversity is much broader than that. In Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource, diversity is defined as “otherness or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups to which we belong, yet present in other individuals and groups.” Dimensions of diversity include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience (Loden and Rosener 1991, 18-19). It's important to understand how these dimensions affect performance, motivation, success, and interactions with others. Institutional structures and practices that have presented barriers to some dimensions of diversity should be examined, challenged, and removed. Managing diversity is defined as "planning and implementing organizational systems and practices to manage people so that the potential advantages of diversity are maximized while its potential disadvantages are minimized," according to Taylor Cox in "Cultural Diversity in Organizations." Managing diversity well provides a distinct advantage in an era when flexibility and creativity are keys to competitiveness. An organization...
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...IL 62901-4605 618-453-1982 ukic@siu.edu 2 ABSTRACT Intercultural communication refers to messages transmitted between members of two or more different societies Globalization has made intercultural communication inevitable. Communicating with other cultures characterizes today’s business, classroom, and community. Technology especially the internet has increased the probability that whatever is documented online will be read by someone from another culture. Intercultural communication is of importance in any career field thus the art of knowing how to communicate with other cultures should be a work place skill that is emphasized. This is a conceptual paper whose purpose is two fold. First the paper gives a synopsis of the importance of efficient and competent intercultural communication in various career fields; namely, education, business, medicine and in counseling. Secondly, the paper presents studies and perspectives that various authors have on intercultural communication. INTRODUCTION Globalization has made intercultural communication inevitable. Communicating with other cultures characterizes today’s business, classroom, and community. Hence, the art of knowing how to communicate with other cultures should be a work place skill that is emphasized. Various authors have studied about intercultural communication; however their studies have diverse perspectives and emphasis. The various views give a balanced approach to intercultural communication. This...
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...Introduction One of the topics that exist since ancient times are leadership, national culture and organizational culture because every nation and country have their culture and need their leaders. Some of the leaders are better than others and because of this reason they manage to govern their countries better and to win advantage for them. Like every country the companies all over the world have their organizational cultures and their leaders. Every company is trying to shape its organizational culture striving to reach its personal goals and because some are better than others they have better products and bigger market shares. The first purpose of this paper is to present the old organizational culture, the old values and leadership style of Ford and how they affected the performance of the company. The second goal of the paper is to show why the need for change came in Ford and how they managed to implement this change into practice. Organisational culture, Leadership and Leadership Style – Definitions One of the possible definitions for organisational culture that exists is as follow: Organisational culture is “the set of shared values, beliefs and norms that influences the way employees think, feel and behave toward each other and toward people outside the organization” (George and Jones, 2012). One of the aspects which are considered in this paper and which is aspect of organisational culture is organizational structure. It can be described as “the pattern of relationships...
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...International Business) Instructor: Dr. Rehana Afaqi Research Paper Three Approaches That Will Help in Comparing Cultural Differences By Emmanuel Makoni, Sonia Jerin & Laren Michel Due Date: November 6th 2014 Introduction: There are around 196 countries in the world and the cultures and values differ between the different countries. There are still similarities in some of the culture traits. In today’s world people are more willing to engage in global business and for this reason they need to be able to adapt to the different cultures. As the cultures vary from country to country, people around the world may face many difficulties during their communication. Many businesses have failed due to the fact that they failed to fully assess the market they were entering in. The paper will portray three different approaches that will aid in understanding cultural differences that can be utilized as effective tools in conducting global business. These approaches are known as the context approach, the cluster approach and the dimension approach. 1. Context Approach: This is one of the three main approaches to understand cultural differences. Context approach is considered as the most straightforward as it relies on a single dimension. In addition, there are two parts of the context approach, known as: (i) High context cultures and (ii) Low context cultures. The two types of contexts have different cultures, values, norms, and ways of thinking. In low-context cultures such as...
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...Running head: EXPANDING BUSINESS OVER SEAS Expanding Business Over Seas Armond Shelley 7/16/2011 University of Phoenix In this paper I will explain the life of an individual that is attaining a structured opportunity this may help him tremendously or bring an empire down to its lowest. The paper will help the reader understand many differences and the incompatibilities that go on when an industry is trying to do business overseas. These same venues have created many differences and risks for business owner Steve Kafka. Many times in this society business owners want to expand and make his or her business a franchise and represent with more locations as well as attract a different crowd. As an entrepreneur the individual main focus of the industry is to help others as well as make sure that the business stays on an upbeat with competition. The situation of this scenario is that an American of Czech Steve Kafka is a business- man and a franchise owner of Chicago Style Pizza; he has decided to expand his business into his own country Czech Republic. Steve’s thought is that it may be a risky situation, but he is willing to take a chance on success or failure. However, he has already had to overcome many difficulties as a franchisor. At this time Steve mainly knows that he will face some difficult times just because he is trying to move his business to Prague to expand the business but realizes in today’s economy to survive he has to expand. Although Steve was born in...
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