MBA630 University of Maryland International Expansion Case Report Follow requirement by following attached steps: Write 5 double spaced pages report (Step

MBA630 University of Maryland International Expansion Case Report Follow requirement by following attached steps: Write 5 double
spaced pages report (Step 9) based on finding from research notes, outline (Follow
each steps in guide provided) in APA format 12 font and use attached international
expansion case to write report. All work
must be free of plagiarism Project 5: Managing a Global Business
Step 8: Review the International
Expansion Case
URGENT MESSAGE (Special Assignment)
From: Janet Yoon, CEO, Colossal Corporation
To: International Task Force
Team,
I know it’s been a while since I checked in, but I’ve appreciated all of your
dedication and progress in these cases. Since you’ve successfully
addressed so many complex issues, I’d now like you to weigh in on the
International Expansion case file. This final case involves issues arising
from NBD’s recent international expansion into Asia.
To answer these questions, you may need to review cross-cultural ethical
business decision making (specifically focus on the “Cultural Theory in
Global Business” resources), and country cultural differences, and will
need to do some additional research on the internet and in the library to
fully answer my questions.
I am confident you will produce great work here. Great teams do great
things.
Janet
In the next step, you will write your International Expansion report.
Step 9: Prepare Your International
Expansion Report
Using your outline and research notes write a report for the CEO. Be sure
to meet the following requirements:
•
Include APA-formatted in-text citations and an APA-formatted reference
list (do not format the body of the report using APA style, just the
reference list). See references and citations for details.
•
Include a specific recommendation on what action, if any, the CEO should
take based on your analysis and conclusions.
•
Support your conclusion with references to cultural norms, strategy, and
ethical theory and principles.
•
The report should be no more than five pages (double spaced, 12-point
font; the reference list does not count towards page limit).
•
Title your file using this protocol:
teamName_InternationalExpansion_date.docx.
When you have finished, submit your report to the dropbox located in the
final step of this project. You should try to have this report complete by
the end of Week 10.
In the next step, you will complete your Skills Gap Analysis and Global
Attitude Protocol survey.
International Expansion Case
Colossal Corporation maintains a subsidiary in Serafini, a small country in
Eastern Europe. This subsidiary is incorporated in the state of Delaware
as New Brand Design, Inc. (NBD), a company that designs, brands, and
manufactures innovative electronic products and markets and distributes
them for resale across the globe. NBD has been admitted to conduct
business in Serafini.
NBD recently expanded its operations beyond Serafini and into Western
Asia. It has attained all government permits and successfully opened a
new facility in Asia. The CEO of Colossal Corporation, Janet Yoon, is
worried about certain reports concerning NBD’s expansion into Asia. The
CEO has submitted the following issues to the international task force and
requires solutions immediately:
1. The local employees in Asia seem to spend considerable time chatting
with each other instead of getting right to work in the morning. Not only
that, but when meetings are scheduled it seems that everyone is late,
sometimes significantly late.
2. In filling a recent vacancy in the new Asian facility, the local who headed
the hiring committee insisted on hiring his uncle. The uncle appears to be
qualified, but the CEO is worried about nepotism and whether that
creates ethical issues for the company.
3. The various suppliers in Asia with whom NBD has supply contracts for
the components that NBD uses in its manufacturing do not always honor
the specific terms of the contracts that NBD has entered into with them.
Particularly where market prices have shifted significantly, they insist
that the contracts represent a partnership and that each partner should
help protect the other from losing money on the deal. They say that the
relationship is more important than the contract terms.
4. Four weeks ago, NBD’s Asian facility introduced an employee incentive
plan with annual awards for outstanding individual performance by
employees. Employees were encouraged to nominate a deserving
colleague, or they could nominate themselves. So far there have been no
nominations. The CEO, Janet Yoon, wants to know what’s wrong and
whether the incentive plan should be scrapped.
Yoon would like the international task force to research and provide an
analysis of the issues and recommendations on how to approach them.
Cross-Cultural Ethical Business
Decision Making
Management in the global arena involves addressing unique and difficult
issues of culture and morality. Although general ethical frameworks may
help you to assess management decisions in a cross-cultural context,
there are unique questions that arise in global settings. The resources
below provide guidance for situations involving conflicting ethical norms
and customs of different cultures within the business context.
How an organization addresses unique situations involving ethics and
customs will impact its success in the global arena. The first subtopic
examines the role of ethical theory in global business. The second
subtopic examines the role of cultural theory in global business.
Resources
Ethical Theory in Global Business
•
Global Business Ethics
•
Corruption in International Business
•
Major Ethical Perspectives
Cultural Theory in Global Business
•
Introduction to Culture and Business
o
What is Culture, Anyhow? Values, Customs, and Language
o
Understanding How Culture Impacts Local Business Practice
•
Ethical and Cross-Cultural Negotiations
•
Cultural Diversity
Country Cultural Differences
In workplaces, as in communities and nations, people spending time
together are likely to share certain values, attitudes, and beliefs. Because
of this established culture, people at work may have developed certain
preferences or orientations in the following situations:
•
interacting and communicating with others
•
working in teams
•
making decisions
•
responding to and evaluating risks and opportunities
•
managing or attempting to resolve disagreements and conflicts
•
interacting with those at different levels in the organization
•
engaging in numerous other workplace activities
Those who have studied and compared societal cultures and their
possible implications for the workplace have identified some differences
that can be important for success.
Perhaps the leading expert on cultural differences and their potential
implications for business is Geert Hofstede, a Dutch scholar who worked
for IBM in the late 1960s. Hofstede’s early research (1980) examined,
compared, and categorized the culturally derived preferences of IBM
employees in many countries. He, and other scholars who have followed
in his path, created a classification scheme that differentiates country
cultures across what were originally four dimensions, though they have
since been expanded to include six.
In what is probably his best-known book, Cultures and Organizations:
Software of the Mind (published first in 1991 and revised and republished
in 2010 with his son Gert Jan and Michael Minkov), Hofstede presents a
careful explanation of his work and its implications. Hofstede reminds his
readers that “culture is learned, not innate” (p.6), and introduces the
analogy of culture as “software of the mind.”
Hofstede uses the layers of an onion to help convey the way culture
manifests itself. Values are deep at the core or center of the onion and are
very slow to change compared with the other manifestations of culture.
Examples of common core values in US businesses include integrity,
accountability, fairness, and excellence. Other layers of culture include
our rituals (e.g., greeting with a firm handshake and direct eye contact),
the heroes we honor (examples include Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs),
and on the outside of the onion, the symbols that have special meaning
for societal members.
Examples of U.S. Business Cultural Manifestations
Created by Christina Hannah
Using an analogy of culture as mental programming, Hofstede explains
that we are each conditioned (or programmed) by multiple societal
levels: national, regional, ethnic, religious, linguistic, gender-oriented,
generational, socioeconomic, and professional. Values associated with
these levels may or may not be in harmony. One consequence of these
multiple sources of programming is that it can be difficult to predict what
will influence a person’s response or behavior in particular situations.
Our present interest is not in delving deeply into the causes and
consequences of individual differences in values, attitudes, and beliefs,
but rather to learn about those shared at a societal level. Hofstede
explains that his extensive research, and that of others who have studied
culture, make it possible to differentiate between and among national
cultures using a set of dimensions. He originally proposed the first four
dimensions in the list below, then added a fifth—long-term orientation
(Moskowitz, 2009)—and later added indulgence as a result of further
research by and insights from collaborators.
Here is a simple explanation of Hofstede’s current six dimensions:
•
Power distance (PDI)—In countries with a high power distance
dimension score, we can expect those in lower level positions to respect
or defer to those who outrank them. In other words, power is thought to
come with position. In such cultures, employees may expect managers
and leaders to make decisions and might be surprised or uncomfortable
when asked for input. In countries with a low power distance score, we
are likely to find that employees treat those they report to more as
colleagues and hold the view that respect must be earned. There may, of
course, be exceptions to this model (for example in military and
paramilitary organizations). Not surprisingly, the United States’s score on
this dimension is relatively low at 40. The score for France is is 69. In
comparison, the scores for Malaysia, Slovakia, Guatemala, Panama, the
Philippines, and Russia are all above 93 (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov,
2010, pp. 57-58). This means that, in general, we can expect employees in
the United States to expect a more egalitarian workplace than may be
true in other societies.
•
Individualism or collectivism (IDV)—In countries with high scores for
individualism (like the United States), you are likely to find a shared
belief in developing strong individuals who are comfortable working and
making decisions on their own. In such workplaces, you will probably
find an emphasis on the importance of developing, recognizing, and
rewarding individual contributions. In countries that score low on the
individualism dimension, you are likely to find an emphasis on the
community, team, group, or department (i.e., the collective). People may
be embarrassed if they are singled out publicly for praise or recognition,
because they strongly believe their success depends upon the support
and work of others. For this dimension, the US score is the highest, at 91.
The score for France is 71. The country with the lowest score is
Guatemala, with a score of 6 (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010, pp. 9597).
•
Masculinity and femininity (MAS)—The label used for this dimension
may not be the best. The basic idea is that some country cultures place a
relatively high value on competitiveness, assertiveness, achievement, etc.
Such countries are given a high score for masculinity because these
preferences and traits were historically associated with men more than
women. Other country cultures place greater value on caring for others,
cooperation, quality of life, etc. Such countries are given a high score for
femininity on this dimension. Despite the problems with these
unfortunate gender-based labels, when you step back and compare
countries you will probably recognize that there are some where
businesses seem to value competition over cooperation, achievement and
success over quality of life, and so on. Japan has a masculinity (MAS)
score of 95. The US score is moderate at 62. The score for France is 43.
Sweden has the lowest score for this dimension, with a 5 (Hofstede,
Hofstede, & Minkov, 20110, pp. 141-143).
•
Uncertainty avoidance (UAI)—This dimension recognizes that there are
differences among countries, which results in differences among the
leaders of businesses that operate therein and the extent to which they
are willing to take risks. In countries that are low in the uncertainty
avoidance dimension, business leaders might be very comfortable
exploring new opportunities and see this as the likely path to success. In
other countries, this may not be the case. Sometimes those in country
cultures that are highly risk averse (with high uncertainty avoidance
scores) have a very good reason for their responses. There may be, for
example, significant legal penalties for failure, including the possibility of
being sent to jail in the event of bankruptcy or reneging on debts. The
country with the highest score for uncertainty avoidance (UAI) is Greece
at 112. France is relatively high, with a score of 86, and the US score is 46,
indicating a tolerance for uncertainty and acceptance of risk-taking to
achieve success (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010, pp. 192-194).
•
Long-term versus short-term orientation (LTO)—In countries with a
high long-term orientation score, shared work values emphasize learning,
accountability, and self-discipline. Patience and waiting to make a profit
are acceptable. Creating and nurturing lifelong networks is valued. In
contrast, those favoring a shorter-term orientation tend to focus on “the
bottom line” and value achievement, freedom, and independent thinking.
Quarterly and annual profitability are important. Korea, Japan, and China
have high long-term orientation scores (100, 88, and 87, respectively).
France has a moderate score of 63. In contrast, the US LTO score is low, at
26 (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010, pp. 255-257).
•
Indulgence versus restraint (IVR)—In countries with high scores on
indulgence, you are likely to find people who value having fun and
enjoying life. In the United States, for example, it is common to find that
employees emphasize the importance of a good work-life balance and
quality of life. The IVR score for the United States is relatively high (68)
and for France is moderate (48). Pakistan has the lowest score (0) among
the countries studied. Territories with the highest indulgence scores are
Venezuela (100), Mexico (97), and Puerto Rico (90) (Hofstede, Hofstede,
& Minkov, 2010, pp. 282 – 285).
A very important caveat when reading and thinking about Hofstede’s
work is to remember that the comparisons are at the societal level, rather
than the individual level. In other words, in any country you will find
individuals who are different from what you see suggested as the norm
for the country culture. In fact, for any given dimension you may find
yourself thinking “but this isn’t what I’m like” or “this doesn’t explain
what happens in my organization.” Those who have studied and
compared country cultures ask you to suspend these responses
temporarily and to try instead to look at a country as a whole, and then
consider how it compares on these dimensions with other countries.
When you adjust your imaginary lens to consider cultural differences
from a broader perspective, you are able to discover things that may be
helpful when explaining what happens when companies do business
abroad, when people work together on country teams, and when they
work together in multicultural, multinational organizations.
One challenge is that we are often less knowledgeable about our own
shared country culture than we are about the cultures of others
(Hofstede, 1980). This is because our culturally derived values and
preferences are so deeply embedded that we may not be aware of how
they influence our decisions and behaviors. Those who have worked or
studied in a country other than their own are likely to have developed
higher levels of cultural intelligence than those who have not had this
experience.
The United States has traditionally tended to place strong emphasis on
equality, individualism, risk-taking, assertiveness, achievement, and the
opportunity to enjoy life (pursuit of happiness).
This brief introduction to the comparative work on country cultures and
their potential consequences for individuals and their organizations,
along with the Resources below, should help you understand the possible
sources of confusion or conflict that could, if not anticipated and wellmanaged, result when multinational and multicultural team members
work together. These issues may include training, coaching, mentoring,
and effective leadership. Remember to consider as well the possible
advantages associated with building and using teams with members who
bring different country cultural perspectives to their work (Chakrabarti,
Gupta-Mukherjee, & Jayaraman, 2009).
Check Your Knowledge
Question 1
Using Hofstede’s onion metaphor, what are the ways in which country
culture manifests itself?
Question 2
What are the six dimensions of national culture identified by Hofstede?
Describe each one briefly.
Question 3
Why is the study of Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture important?
Question 4
What is meant by the term Cultural Intelligence (CQ)?
Question 5
What are the four key capabilities held by people who have high CQ?
Question 6
Why is CQ important?
References
Chakrabarti, R., Gupta-Mukherjee, S., & Jayaraman, N. (2009). Mars-Venus
marriages: Culture and cross-border M&A. Journal Of International
Business Studies, 40(2), 216-236
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Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and
Organizations: Software of the Mind (3rd. ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Motivation, leadership, and organization: Do
American theories apply abroad?. Organizational Dynamics,9(1), 42-63.
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