...Culture & Business in the usa Deliverable 2 Culture & Business in the usa Deliverable 2 Lotte Daniels – 0880763 Kinsley Nji – 0886397 Baris Yazici – 0882833 Jordi Ruijs – 0882261 IBMS203 - 24-09-2014 Lotte Daniels – 0880763 Kinsley Nji – 0886397 Baris Yazici – 0882833 Jordi Ruijs – 0882261 IBMS203 - 24-09-2014 Index Introduction 2 Hofstede’s dimensions in the United States of America 3 Power Distance 3 Individualism versus Collectivism 3 Masculinity versus Femininity 3 Uncertainty avoidance 4 Long Term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation 4 Implications for doing business in the USA 5 Hard work 5 Action 5 Competitiveness 5 Conclusion 7 Bibliography 8 Introduction In this report we are going to investigate the USA in terms of their culture. We are going to explain the (business) culture of the USA by using the theory of Geert Hofstede. This theory includes 6 dimensions, but for this particular report we will only need 5. The 5 dimensions are: * Power distance * Individualism * Masculinity * Uncertainty avoidance * Pragmatism This theory will help us understand what the most important aspects of America’s culture are, what the differences are between America and European countries based on their business culture (even though they seem so similar) and how to handle those differences when you’re an foreign company/entrepreneur with a desire of doing business in the USA. Hofstede’s...
Words: 1939 - Pages: 8
...editor for Academia Press (college-level business textbook publisher) has arrived from New York, USA to Bogota, Colombia. He was intended to combine leisure and business. He met his old college friend Rodrigo Cardozo and spent some good time his family. But his primary aim was to conduct a series of meetings with directors of business schools at various Bogota Universities and establish business contacts in the Colombian market, as his company has seen future opportunities in Latin America. The deal was important not only to his company, but for him also, as it was a good possibility to get a promotion. He scheduled the meeting and went for the first one on Tuesday. He was supposed to meet 3 professors at 11:00, but two of them arrived half an hour later. Then they offered Jim to go for a lunch, during that time they were not discussing the business matters at all, all the conversations were about the dishes and the sights of Bogota, the professors seem to be simply not interested in Jim’s offerings. The lunch finished at 2:30, but Jim hasn’t accomplished his goal at all, he was didn’t understand what went wrong and very upset about it. When he came to his friend’s home later, he met friend’s father Dario, who was a businessman and had conducted business with people from different countries. He told about the meeting and asked for the advice. Dario reminded that Jim is Bogota now, not in the USA and the way of negotiations and doing business is simply different. First of all it is...
Words: 1757 - Pages: 8
...Brenner Machine Tool Company: To bribe or not to bribe? 1) Frank’s doing in Latino is not ethical. In Latino bribe is the part of business. If you don’t bribe you cannot survive here. Companies from other countries as Germany, Italy and Japan accepted it. But ethically businesses should participate in an economy, they should also attempt to change this economy into more honest and fair economy. In that situation, Frank’s doing is unethical because instead of giving bribe he should try to change business environment. “Other countries do it as well” doesn’t make him free from his ethical obligation. 2) The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prohibits American executives and firms from paying bribes to officials of foreign countries. So both payments are illegal. 3) First bribe which paying to the government official is extortion. Frank was obligated to pay this amount of money under that situation. It was lawfully, because the government official wanted this money for adjusting their defects of the machines. In the USA it is legally wrong, but in Latino it is only morally wrong. But everything is legally here. Second bribe which paying to the dockworkers is lubrication. He paid small cash of money to dock workers to expedite them. 4) There are different things. Big dinners are the place where the companies get business transactions. It is something doing without the expectation. Bribe is given in the hope of benefit or doing illegally something. 5) Paying to the government official is...
Words: 551 - Pages: 3
...P6 How political, legal and social factors are impacting upon the business activities and stakeholders of McDonald’s Contents page 1. Introduction 2. McDonald’s 3. Aims and objectives 4. Political factors 5. Political factors in UK 6. Political factors in USA 7. Social factors 8. Social factors in UK 9. Social factors in USA 10. Legal factors 11. Legal factors in UK 12. Legal factors in USA 13. Referencing 14. Bibliography Introduction In this report I am going to be talking about McDonald’s and how as an organisation it is influenced by political. Legal and social factors in two different business environments. McDonald’s McDonald’s is a global organisation that is known all over the world. It is an organisation which has gone from strength to strength since it first opened its doors. It serves more than 60 million customers daily in more than 100 hundred countries worldwide. It has taken over the hamburger market and now is the largest chain of fast food restaurants in the world. They are a really popular organisation and are well known all over their logo is recognised by almost everyone around the world. In 2012 McDonald’s had sales revenue of $27, 5 billion and a profit of $5, 5 billion. These numbers on their own show you just how big the McDonald’s organisation is they make a huge amount of money and that shows that they are achieving what they set out to do as an organisation because McDonald’s is...
Words: 1746 - Pages: 7
...2010 Benny Van Calster – EMBA 2009-2011 AMS - Take Home Exam – Global Business Law & Ethics [GLOBAL BUSINESS LAW & ETHICS – PROF. DONALD MAYER] Take home exam for course of Global Business law & ethics. Based on teaching notes & B. Nelson book. Q1 of CVD CASE -> State why Karl Mann’s boss has provided advice that was ethically & strategically to be ignored … + Why is digging a shallow trench a poor choice? We have clearly seen in the course that the legal and ethical behavior of an organization and its employees should support the long-term business strategy. It is imperative that ‘sustainable growth’ is the driving force of any organization… and this should be based on the People-Profit-Planet structure we have reviewed in the course. If we look to the advice of Karl Mann’s boss we could analyze it as following: 1. Profit: the decision/advice will support the short-term goal of profits, but not in a foreseeable and sustainable way; the risk which is embedded in his advice (i.e. possible death of people) is too high for the corporation! If something happens with injuries of workers the reputation of the corporation is damaged as such that the long-term profit is at risk… 2. People: this is clearly not the right advice in order to prevent damages and injuries at the people side. He reckons there have been accidents with dead people before, and still advices to go down that route ..; clearly an unethical decision where he –on purpose- risks the life of his workers. This...
Words: 2726 - Pages: 11
...Bribery and corruption is a way of life in many countries. These practices affect the way international business is regularly conducted. However, in most of these countries, it is illegal to offer or receive bribes or engage in corrupt practices. Yet corrupt practices are a part of the ‘culture’ of ‘doing businesses. Unless companies ‘conform’ to such practices, in many cases, international business cannot be transacted. This paper will attempt to provide discussion about bribery and corruption in international trade example in vary different point of view in according to the principal ethical system suchlike religious, philosophical and ‘natural’. It will anayize the case of Siemens bribery scandal related to ethical issues. Bribery is a most important issue of concern to many companies. Incidents of bribery vary across many countries. Not everyone has the same opinion about this issue. Hong Kong and Greek managers are less critical of bribery in certain situations than Americas. Paying bribery carries with it a great risk to damaging the company reputation with the country which the briberies are paid and at home. Moreover, there is also the risk that the corporate culture of the company will become more open-minded of several of other practices at the legal issues. There is also evidence to suggest that those countries with the reputation for bribery and corruption damage themselves as it reflects in their economic growth has a low rates for high level of corruption. Corruption...
Words: 1520 - Pages: 7
... CT0203124 UCD ID: 14207863 Case 1. Question 1A) Figure 1.0 Hofstede’s Five Cultural Deminsions for Germany, UK, USA and Japan. (Data from Geert-hofstede.com,n.d) Figure 1.0 is a bar chart that presents the full data of all four cultures. (Germany, UK, USA, and Japan) Other than two dimensions (Individualism and uncertainty avoidance) that have been discussed in the case, the rest of the three dimensions will be discussed in following article. Masculinity Masculinity shows whether the society is driven by competition or quality of life (Geert-hofstede.com, n.d). According to figure 1.0, all four cultures are masculine culture. USA scored at the lowest of 62, followed by Germany and UK at the score of 66. The highest score in Masculinity is Japan, at 95. Although Japan has an extremely high score at Masculinity dimension, due to its collectivism, there are not much intense competitions between individuals. Power Distance Power distance is referring to how people within the society react to unequal power distribution. The higher the score is, the higher acceptability for unequal power distribution by the society will be. This time, UK and Germany again scored at the same mark of 35, and USA has a slightly higher score of 40. It shows that all three western countries have a low power distance culture, means that people from these culture believes that people should be treated equally...
Words: 3226 - Pages: 13
...The video we used for this project is 'Doing Business in the USA', presented by Scott James. It focuses on an overseas (UK) perspective regarding the legal environment surrounding doing business in the United States from another country; particularly intellectual property, market entry, contracts, and liability. He explains how intellectual property laws (copyrights, patents, trademarks) vary between the US and other nations, and advises foreign companies to register their intellectual property within the US in order to secure their rights in the event of dispute. With regard to entering the US market, James points out red tape surrounding obtaining Visa's, in addition to concerns over which type of company to set up in the US and how tax laws can impact this decision. James mentions contracts, and how they should be written to be effective under the law in the target nation; within the US disclaimers must be 'conspicuous' in order to be enforceable. Liability is the final element James discusses; the US has very strict liability laws for products: These center around the knowledge, action, and potential for action of those liable. James's seminar is significant to 'Global Business Environment' because it focuses on the legal environment surrounding doing business globally. Legal issues are a major part of the overall business spectrum; misread a law and your company can be liable for extensive damages. What are perfectly legal business practices in one country are often illegal...
Words: 283 - Pages: 2
...status. This reality encourages more and more businesses to expand to other markets where they see would generally increase their profits and revenues. After all, most people do business with one mindset: minimize cost, and increase/maximize the profit. Risks from Foreign Government Policies It is generally true for a fact that most businesses’ next step is to expand to other markets to increase profits. However, expanding to other markets is not as easy as it sounds. There are many risks that affect decisions of businesses to invest in a foreign country. The greatest risk international businesses face is government regulation (Deresky, 2014). Businesses have to follow foreign government policies before they can start doing international business. Although following government policies may sound as easy as checking boxes, foreign government policies tend to change, either favorable for international business or not. For example, countries that have democracy as their political system change government administrations and possibly the policies, every once in a while. Government policies and regulations usually are not just two sides of a coin. There can be many possible government policies that can be implemented that can also lead to many possible countermeasures for an international business. This makes the risk so high on the list, according to Deresky (2014). A clear example is the recent exit of Britain from the European Union (EU), or more famously known as...
Words: 924 - Pages: 4
...| 2013 | | | [Case 6: Walmart's Global Strategy] | 604.800 International and Comparative Management | 1. Case summary 2006 was one of the years that marked the biggest retrenchment in Wal-Mart’s history. It was the year that Wal-Mart had decided to exit the German market after trying to penetrate it for about eight years. The company undertook its international expansion in the early 1990s to rejuvenate sales and growth. However, on July 30th, 2006, Wal-Mart had announced that it was selling its operations to German retailer Metro. In May of same year, Wal-Mart had also announced that it was selling its 16 stores in South Korea, admitting another internationalization failure. What went wrong with Germany? Wal-Mart had underestimated its German competitors, the power of German shoppers, cultural differences and the power of labor unions in Europe. The company did not expect that these differences would impede its ability to apply in Germany what worked so well in the United States. German competitors offered very low prices, while German shoppers had shown how demanding they can be and that they buy products predominantly based on price; even if that meant going to a few different retail stores during their shopping trip. German shoppers were also not accustomed to workers putting their groceries in shopping bag. Moreover, German regulations limited Wal-Mart’s ability to offer extended weekend hours and sell merchandise below cost. Strong labor unions limited...
Words: 3054 - Pages: 13
... New York, NY, USA Sep. 2005-Jul. 2009 3.53/4.0 Dalian University of Foreign Languages (DUFL) Dalian, China Jul. 2009 Bachelor of Arts in English (Emphasized on Business), School of Applied English CERTIFICATE CFA Candidate Overall GPA AWARDS 2008-2009 The 2nd Place Scholarship, DUFL 2006-2007 The 3rd Place Scholarship, DUFL EXPERIENCE May.2011-Present American Leak Detection-NY New York, USA Budget & Marketing Analyst • Helping the general manager with daily management, office administration, A/R, A/P, as well as all the finance related work and business (loan applied and paid, etc.) • Preparing the marketing materials, focus on enlarging the market and helping to build the business relationship with insurance companies and property management companies Oct. 2010-May. 2011 • Aided as the bookkeeper and the assistant of the accountant Aegis Service Corp. New York, USA Internship • Aided as the of insurance broker and producer, helping customers to apply for any kind of insurance policy such as auto insurance, property insurance, general liability for business, workers’ compensation, etc. Aug. 2010-Oct. 2010 • Worked as an interpreter in the Safety Training class such as Scaffold 4, OSHA 10, etc. Shengjin Yang Esq. (Law Office) New York, USA Internship • Worked as an interpreter both in interpretation and translation, translating the documents for the attorneys and doing as an interpreter...
Words: 340 - Pages: 2
...Dayra Cerda Extra Credit Assignment Comparing Japan with USA The United States and Japan differ in many things, such as power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence. Power distance refers to how power is distributed and the extent to which the person who is less powerful accept that power is distributed unequally. The power distance in the United States is a 40 on the scale, compared to Japan with a 54. Japan exhibits a more unequal distribution of wealth compared to the USA. US's wealth is distributed more evenly and decisions are more democratic than in Japan. Individualism people believe in taking care of themselves and immediate family only. The scale of individualism in the US is 91. Americans are comfortable with doing business and interacting with those they do not know well. Japanese scale is at 46 which indicates they are oriented more toward collectivism. Japanese are more concerned with groups, family and areas of interest that pertain to many individuals. A masculine society means they enjoy competition, success and achievement. In the United States, the score for masculinity is at 62, which means they strive to be the best. Many Americans display their...
Words: 1117 - Pages: 5
...In today’s world, more companies are selling their products globally in an effort to increase their revenue. For example, Johnson and Johnson whose domestic market is in USA now generate more revenue globally than its domestic revenue. The increase in its global business revenue has lead the company building factories strategically in different part of the world so that it will be able to streamline its logistic reaching target market. This can be said to many companies increasing their global business by building plants in other countries away from their local market especially in an undeveloped countries that are poor and corruption are high. All these factories that are been built around the world have led to mangers communicating with one another which can cause cultural conflict. The reason for the conflict is examines in an article called the cultural roots of ethical conflicts in global business. I grew up in Nigeria where the author wrote is far more corrupt than Finland. “Many of the people inhabiting poorer countries are more concerned with survival than success, the argument goes, and higher ethical standards are often considered a luxury people cannot afford" (Sanchez-Runde, Nardon and Steers 2013). For example, in Nigeria it is highly unlikely to import a product into the country without paying some kind of bribe to officials at the port authority who are paid low wages, and have to supplement their income with bribery for survival. A manger in Nigeria who works...
Words: 977 - Pages: 4
...Starting a Business in Canada Starting a new business in Canada can vary in degrees of difficulty depending on the industry you choose to pursue, and the province in which your business will reside. Fields such as telecommunications make it nearly impossible for new entrants to grab market share, as mega-corporations such as Bell, Telus, and Rogers, have essentially monopolized the entire industry. In contrast, industries with little to no barriers to entry, such as the restaurant industry, make it very easy for new businesses to enter. In order to start a business in Canada, you first need to come up with a business idea and then methodically turn it into a structured plan, while ensuring to consider the degree of competition in your respective industry. This is a critical first-step, as the smoothness of your day-to-day operations will rely a great deal on the organizational model you established in your business plan. In Canada, there are four legal forms of business to choose from: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and cooperative. In sole proprietorship, the business owner is directly responsible for all debts and obligations related to their business. In turn, all profits generated by the business are for their keeping. Some of the advantages of choosing a sole proprietorship form of business are: simplicity and inexpensiveness, direct control of decision-making, and a limited regulatory burden. Disadvantages of sole proprietorship include...
Words: 2243 - Pages: 9
...…………………………………. 4 Pros & Cons ...……………………………...........................................................………. 5 Domestic Sourcing……………………...........................................................………. 5 Foreign Sourcing…….......………………...........................................................………. 6 Contract Liability... …………………………………………………………..………... 7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….…………... 8 Introduction Gloria’s business is going global and many decisions need to be made in order for her to fulfill her clientele’s needs. She needs to make decisions that make sense for her and her business. We will start by providing the definition of contracts and offers in our textbook, so we can have a clear idea of what we are about to discuss next. We will explore and analyze 3 different scenarios or proposals to suggest Gloria which one makes more sense for her business and her clients. Having the opportunity to expand her business and take it to the next level is definitively a situation that needs to be thought thru taking in considerations the how each of the following proposals is financially the best for her company. Greenleaf Manufacturing, Sunrise Ltd and Groupo Embraco. Two of these companies, Sunrise and Embraco are located overseas, which make represent extra considerations to be taken when choosing the right supplier for Gloria’s new venture....
Words: 1482 - Pages: 6
