How Do Traditional Social Culture and Values Impact on Business Culture in Your Country? B. Evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of Your Own Company Culture Focusing on Leadership and Employee Behaviours, Organisation

Uncertainty avoidance indicates how threatened a society will be by ambiguous contexts and the degree to which it will attempt to avoid these situations by not tolerating deviant ideas or behaviours, and a belief in absolute truths[4]. This ambiguity leads to anxiety. Different cultures manage this anxiety in different manners. A High Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This creates a rule-oriented society that implements laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order avoid uncertainty. A Low Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country is less worried about doubt and is more comfortable taking into account a wide variety of views and opinions. This is mirrored in a society that is

Individualism: Individualism is the term that refers to the ways in which people identify themselves and focus their goals. Individualism gives priority to personal goals as opposed to the goals of a group or society. Once the men have stepped off the bus on Parris Island they give up every aspect of individualism, they are stripped of all valuables and given the same clothes and haircut which they will wear for the remainder of time. American cultures which are seen almost daily are the ability to voice your own opinion, choosing your personal perspective, and even just the choices you choose to make. Individualism is something that can differ between cultures, but most cultures share certain qualities.

In today’s high tech global community, it is not uncommon to have companies in one country doing work with others clear across the world. It is important to keep in mind that understanding the role of culture, in the international business setting, is key to success and prosperity. It is essential and know that each nation has their own set of values and ways of interacting. For example, although the United States and China frequently do business together and are equally seen as leaders on the global market, they still have very apparent differences in cultural norms. These contrasting characteristics are grouped under Geert Hofstede’s six dimensions of culture. They include, the level of uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity, individualism versus collectivism, power distance, long-term versus short-term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint (Hofstede, 2001). Once one is able to properly distinguish cultural differences, can they then successfully communicate, thrive, and potentially lead in the global economy.

3. ____ refers to the degree to which cultures will encourage less powerful members of groups to accept that power is distributed unequally.

“Individualism is the idea that the individual’s life belongs to him and that he has an inalienable right to live as he sees fit, to act on his own judgement, to keep and use the product of his effort, and to pursue the causes of his choosing.” My take on individualism, is basically that we can control ourselves, we can do what we want with restrictions to keep those that stand by us safe. Individualism is a way of a society. Now, on the other hand there is collectivism, “the idea that the individual’s life belongs not to him but to the group or society of which he is merely a part of has no rights, and that he must sacrifice his values and goals for the group’s greater good.” My take on this is “idea” is that you are completely controlled when put under this way of society. Having read the book Anthem by Ayn Rand collectivism is for sure something that I would not want to be a part of.

For the last century, individualism vs. collectivism has been a political conflict in America. What is collectivism and individualism you might ask, well collectivism is briefly defined as a group of people working together to give priority over individuals. On the other hand, individualism can be defined as a theory of favoring freedom over collective individuals and working to benefit his/her own self. Although the two seem very different, they also share many similar characteristics.

Every country differs in culture which has been there for centuries. The international market is growing rapidly, with more and more multinational organisations entering new markets each day. In this assignment I will evaluate how the difference in cultures affects the performance of international businesses.

What distinguishes the individualist culture from collectivist culture is in how the relation of individual interests and community interests are dealt with. In a collectivist culture, people are taught that the interests of the community are considered to be the most important.

Individualism is an idea or norm that one opt to live as they feel like and the life belongs to that individual, thus lives as he/she sees fit, at on own judgment and his/her efforts and pursue values and beliefs of his own choice. “It’s the idea that the individual is sovereign, an end in himself, and the fundamental unit of moral concern,” (The Objective Standard, 2016). Collectivism on other side is the idea that an individual’s life belongs to a group or community instead of their own. Thus, an individual has no rights of their own except for what is defined by the group as the norm. This leads to sacrifices of one owns values and goals for the group is greater good. Collectivism is mainly used in my country where I come from, hence we have saying that it takes the entire village to raise a child. This simply means that particular group henceforth makes hat we work as group of our association and decisions. “From the day of his birth until the day of his death society allows him to enjoy certain so-called rights and deprives him of others; not . . . because society desires especially to favour or oppress the individual, but because its own preservation, welfare, and happiness are the prime considerations,” (The Objective Standard, 2016). My culture involves collectiveness where as I have peers from all over the world hence, it is easy to observe

The United States is an example of a low power distance culture. The United States is a democracy run by an executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch. Members of this culture are aware that some other individuals may have more power, influence, and authority but those lower-ranking members are not intimidated or more respectful toward members in higher standings of power (Sprague, Stuart, Bodary, Verderber, Sellnow, 2015). An example of this would be that although the United States is run by the President, he or she is always under examination of the other branches of government as well as the citizens they represent (Carroll,

collectivism. Individualistic cultures place the majority of their value on personal independence, while collectivistic cultures, according to Neuliep, “groups bind and mutually obligate individuals,” (Neuliep, 2015, p. 51). Individualist cultures tend to value the self-made man and value standing out from the crowd as an individual. Having the ability to make up there own mind is heavily valued and a key characteristic. Collectivists are oriented to believe that the group comes first and everything that is accomplished is done so for the good of the group. Typically family is a heavy influence in collectivist cultures. Direct confrontation is heavily avoided as well. The goal of collectivist cultures is to promote and achieve harmony throughout the

This dimension determines the culture in the term of “I” or “we”. Individualism prefers to the society in which individuals only take care of themselves and their immediate family. In contrast, collectivism prefers to the the society in which people integrate and share good relationships in groups, and expect the unquestioning loyalty. (Hofstede, 1991). The three questions related to this dimension are:

Using appropriate theories critically analyse the role of culture in International Business. Support your answer by quoting relevant examples from the case study.

How to measure social culture and organizational culture of one country is an important issue (Miroshnik, 2002). Culture can be defined as the way of life of the group of people, which includes beliefs, art, law, morals, customs, and any capabilities and habits acquired by a man as a member of society, and enables people to communicate with others, provides the knowledge and skill necessary, and anticipates how others in society are likely to respond for the actions (Miroshnik, 2002).

Brian C. Satterlee (2014) discuss, “Culture is the set of shared attitudes, values goals, and practices that characterized a society, or in the business sense, an organization” (p.42). The definition of Cultural values in the Cultural values Business Dictionary (2015) lists, Cultural values are commonly held standards of what is either acceptable, unacceptable or the opposite of both. Also, an organization can be described as a group of people that interact with each other to “perform essential functions that help attain goals” (Daft, 2013, p. 12). Combine these three underlying concepts combine the cultural values of an organization.