LCBS5042 Business Across Cultures Assignment Sample
Explanations of Dimensions of Culture and Critical Evaluation of The Models
In terms of the dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, it provides clarity to the management facilities regarding the ways that business is done across different countries based on their culture.
In reference to the power distance index dimension, it focuses on showcasing the extent to which inequality and power is being tolerated within the local culture based on business perspective (Harun et al. 2020). Individualism vs collectivism is a factor that choices to the extent to which people have been incorporated within groups of people, as well as their recognised projects and reliance on groupings (Almawla, 2022). In accordance with the dimension of uncertainty avoidance index, it highlights that individuals within a society have a clear ideology with less tolerance to uncertainty in daily life within the society (van Baar et al. 2021). Moreover, it can be considered as a severe factor that refers to delicate persons within society according to accomplishments, views regarding sexuality, equal treatment, and behaviour based on the component of masculinity vs femininity (Ventriglio and Bhugra, 2019). The extent to which society sees its time horizon is considered when comparing long-term vs short-term orientation (Jung et al. 2020). The indulgence vs constraint component, on the other hand, considers the degree and propensity to which a community satisfies its needs (Huang et al. 2019). In terms of Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, it is a basic framework that is being utilised to understand the significant difference in culture across countries. Geert Hofstede developed the theory by using factor analysis to investigate the findings of an IBM worldwide employee based survey done between 1967 and 1973 (Chun et al. 2021).
In terms of the Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions theory, there are seven basic dimensions of cultures which can be useful for highlighting the different factors within a cultural aspect of a country. The Universalist cultural component may be applied everywhere and there is always an expression that could be implemented to differentiate between positive and negative. Individuals that reside in a particularistic culture, on the other hand, believe that the surroundings direct how concepts may be implemented (Voevoda, 2020). Individualism regards persons as distinct individuals, whereas communitarianism regards individuals as a part of a community. Individualist culture relates to western ideas, whereas communitarian culture has a relationship with non-western cultures (Sapuarachchi, 2021). According to the neutral vs emotional dimension, neutral emotions are regulated within cultural features, whereas emotions are expressed freely and spontaneously in an emotional culture (Pîrlog, 2021). According to the specific vs. diffuse dimension, specific culture entails assessing people who have a large public space that they may easily share with others. On the contrary side, it has been noted that dispersed culture emphasises the value of formality (Pîrlog, 2021). When it comes to the dimensions of achievement vs ascription, an achievement-oriented culture emphasises an individual’s value on the effectiveness with which people fulfil their duties (Sattorovich, 2020). On the other hand, management that adheres to ascription-oriented cultures must hire knowledgeable persons, those who are well-versed in information and talents, as opposed to those from achievement-oriented cultures (Sapuarachchi, 2021). Sequential time is a dimension that uses decades, number of days, weeks, and time periods that helps in the measurement of the future, past and present. Moreover, synchronous time is more conceptual and emphasises having the capacity to work on several tasks at once (Pirlog, 2021). After ten years of studying the beliefs and habits of people from many cultures throughout the world, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner established the notion of the Trompenaars cultural dimension and was published in their book in 1997, “Riding the Waves of Culture” (Hannichenko, 2021). They submitted surveys to more than 46,000 executives in 40 different countries as a part of their research (Kamath, 2021).
As for the Meyer’s cultural theory dimensions, it has been found to have 8 different scales of culture or dimensions. All types of engagement revolve around the scope of communication. The dimension of the communication scale is based on measuring the cultural differences in communication that could influence values, temperaments, and sense of humour (Nehrbass, 2021). Regarding the second dimension, the evaluation measure is a gauge for how feedback is given and received. In the business world, feedback has a multi-edged effect, particularly if culture is involved. Cultures of feedback can be either indirect or direct (de Sousa, 2022). The persuasion scale is used for handling an international workforce; thus, it is critical to comprehend how different cultures influence persuasion. The persuasion index reflects people’s proclivity to use reasoning to understand and undertake a profession. On the persuasion spectrum, there are two categories: principles-first explanation and applications-first argument (Jean, 2019). The two extremes of the leadership scale, which are egalitarian styles and hierarchical from a cultural perspective, are the working style and preferences of people among different cultures (Nyssen Guillén and Deckert, 2021). The determining scale might be top-down or consensual, which helps managers to stay with one type of decision-making (Nyssen Guillén and Deckert, 2021). The capacity to assess high task-based scale and high relationship-based scale with the corporate culture is the emphasis of the trusting scale’s dimension (Shekshnia and Zagieva, 2021). The emphasis focuses on confrontational and non-confrontations depending on whether feelings in the cultural aspect are noted to be outspoken or inexpressive form, corresponding to the aspect of the disagreeing scale (Slade, 2020). Regarding the scheduling scale’s dimension, how people perceive time and a timetable varies from culture to culture and can be anything from linear to flexible (Nyssen Guillén and Deckert, 2021). The Culture Map by Erin Meyer was developed by melting pot of cultures and understanding every culture, country, region, and religion has different sets of regulations and norms (Nehrbass, 2021). It was published in the book “The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business in 2014” (Nehrbass, 2021).
The validity of the concept of ‘national’ culture and the debate between the relative importance of national culture vs organizational culture
Hofstede
Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions is one of the most widely recognized and influential approaches to comprehending national cultures. Although Hofstede’s framework has proved helpful in understanding cultural differences, it has also come under criticism (Venkateswaran and Ojha, 2019). The idea of national culture itself is one of Hofstede’s framework’s criticisms. Several scholars argue that national cultures are diverse and complicated, rejecting the misconception that they are homogeneous. Shenkar et al. (2020), argue that by putting too much emphasis on national borders and ignoring subcultures inside nations, Hofstede’s paradigm may oversimplify cultural differences. As a result, the usefulness of the term “national culture” continues to be disputed.
The relevance of organisational culture vs national culture remains a topic currently under debate. Organisational culture can be categorised as a set of common belief systems, individual values, and practises that define an organisation, as opposed to national culture, which refers to the common values, beliefs, traditions, behaviours, and artefacts that define a nation (Gerlach and Eriksson, 2021). The main point of disagreement is whether organisational culture has a greater influence than national culture, or vice versa (Venkateswaran and Ojha, 2019). On the other hand, supporters of national culture argue that national culture is more significant as it strongly influences individual perspectives and behaviours from childhood. Thus, it may be challenging for people to adjust to various organisational cultures, especially in international firms where employees come from a variety of backgrounds.
Trompenaars
The Trompenaars cultural dimensions theory offers an alternative approach to comprehending variances in culture, and it can be employed to contrast with the results of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. While Trompenaars’ framework and Hofstede’s have certain key similarities it also has a few differences, respectively. The idea of ‘national’ culture is one of the main distinctions between Trompenaars’ and Hofstede’s frameworks (Sattorovich, 2020). According to Trompenaars, national culture is not a single, homogeneous cultural grouping but rather a complex and varied collection. The theory argues that people can be members of organisational, regional, and ethnic communities as well as other cultural groupings. As a result, the complexity of cultural diversity is not entirely represented by the idea of “national” culture (Pirlog, 2021).
Meyer
The three main cultural aspects identified by Meyer’s cultural theory are cognitive orientation, institutional collectivism, and in-group collectivism (Rodríguez-Rivero et al. 2020). In contrast to institutional collectivism, which describes how much people identify with and engage in collective decision-making inside institutions, cognitive orientation characterises the way individuals view the world. The degree to which people identify with and give preference to their own community over other groups is referred to as in-group collectivism. Meyer, like Trompenaars, challenges the legitimacy of the idea of “national” culture, arguing that national cultures are not consistent but rather comprise a variety of subcultures (Nehrbass, 2021). Meyer also stresses the significance of understanding how regional, ethnic, and language differences in cultural orientations may affect organisational culture. Meyer presents the argument that both national and organisational cultures are significant, but they may also contradict. Meyer argues that organisational culture may both reinforce and act as a buffer against the adverse effects of national culture. An organisation that emphasises individuality, for instance, would find it challenging to fit into a country with a collectivist culture. Meyer’s approach also emphasises how crucial it is to take political and historical context into account when attempting to comprehend cultural differences (Arellano et al. 2021).
Part 2: Application of the theory
British retail company entering the Chinese market
In terms of entering the Chinese Market, a British retail company would face cross-cultural consequences and issues. The hypothetical venture needs to consider the cultural differences between the UK and China in terms of successfully establishing their business.
Hofstede comparison
In order to highlight the cross-cultural differences, the Hofstede cultural dimensions framework can be highlighted. According to the theoretical evaluation, different debentures of culture can be highlighted based on which national market and cultural context can be understood (Escandon-Barbosa et al. 2022). While referring to the case of China, the country has obtained a high-power distance index with a score of 80, whereas, the UK has obtained a low score of 35 (Hofstede-insights, 2023). It reflects a cultural difference within Chinese society as compared to the UK with the acceptance of inequalities. A polarised superior-subordinate relationship takes place in the Chinese cultural norms with regard to power distance. This aspect may create difficulties for the British retailer to formulate an appropriate working environment with zero discrimination. As a result of this, the retailer may have to focus on the achievement of extended employee engagement with the provision of additional support under the lights of an emotional intelligence-oriented approach.
Apart from that, a collectivist culture is followed within the Chinese society whereas the UK follows an individualist culture (Huang et al. 2019) (Redford, 2020). This aspect highlights another cultural difference where Chinese society promotes the interests of the group rather than considering individual perspectives. In this regard, a cultural clash might take place for the British retailer in China, which can be avoided through the empowerment of teamwork and collaborative culture within the working atmosphere. The British retail organisation is also advised to foster a growth mindset in the form of teamwork to ensure success in China. The Chinese society also prefers pragmatic culture due to long term orientation focus with a score of 87 (Refer to appendix 1). This aspect may be challenging for the British retail organisation in terms of coping with the adaptive intention of Chinese people towards traditions rather than considering changed conditions. As a result of this, the retail organisation may experience obstacles in terms of considering successive change management within their business. Along with this, the retailer may also face problematic circumstances to ensure growth opportunities in alignment with the upcoming trends and market preferences.
Due to this reason, the context of the Harvard framework of HRM is taken to advise the British retailer regarding successful entrance and progress in China (Refer to appendix 2). The theoretical understanding highlights significant interrelation between the stakeholder interest and situational sectors in terms of deriving valuable HRM policies (Tiwari et al. 2019). Adequate HRM outcomes can be achieved by an organisation with extended commitment and competence, which may result in long-term consequences with individual and societal well-being and business effectiveness. As per this theory, the British retailer is advised to consider the situational factors in China concerning the cultural alignment by ensuring employee engagement.
The Chinese society has eventually been following a restrained culture with a low score of 24 in this dimension (Hofstede-insights, 2023). It reflects a higher tendency of the Chinese people towards pessimism and cynicism. On the other hand, the UK follows indulgence culture with a score of 69 (Hofstede-insights, 2023). This aspect reflects another cultural difference between the UK and China concerning the people’s mindset of controlling the gratification of their desires. With the restrained cultural value, the British retail company may witness challenges in terms of ensuring cross-cultural collaboration between the management and Chinese employees. Due to this reason, the company is profoundly advised to conceptualise inclusivity and diversity oriented cultural focus within the workplace environment as an integral part of eliminating the cultural differences between the UK cultured retail management and Chinese cultured employees (Tam and Milfont, 2020).
Meyer’s dimensions
While referring to the concept of Meyer’s cultural dimensions framework, perceptual difference in culture can also be highlighted between the UK and China. Considering the elements of communication, the Chinese society is noted to abide by high context communication culture (Global-foresight, 2023). It reflects the Chinese preference of relying on background and implicit hints rather than focusing on detailed elaboration. Almost similar consequences are eventually followed in the UK, which might be supportive for the British retailer to successfully enter and progress in China. The company in this case is advised to comply with the local market culture and values in terms of communication. Along with this, similar hierarchical cultures are eventually followed between both the countries, which also highlights alignment of cultural values between these two countries. This aspect would be motivational for the British retailer to formulate a top-down leadership approach to proceed with business decision-making.
On the other hand, relationship based cultural dimension is preferred in China for trust building (Meyer, 2023). This attribute is likely to be considered by the British retail organisation as an integral part of maintaining effective workplace relationships with the employees and workforce. Apart from that, the company is also advised to consider a transparent feedback collection system from the Chinese labour forces to identify potential areas of improvement within the internal workplace culture.
Moreover, another cultural difference takes place between the UK and China where the UK follows monochronic culture and China considers polychronic culture (Eprojectconsult, 2023). This cultural difference highlights the nature of being easily distracted and interrupted in Chinese society with the feature of extroversion and people-oriented focus. A completely different cultural aspect is followed in the UK with introverted features along with a perceived focus on tasks. Due to this reason, a cultural clash may again take place while leading the Chinese employees towards a focused and job-oriented culture. In this case, the British retail company is advised to provide cultural training to the Chinese labour forces to align their cultural values with the organisational culture.
Trompenaars theory
The analysis can assist in uncovering some of these issues and then create workable remedies to them by utilising the Trompenaars cultural theory. Based on the case study of Wenxin and Yue, (2022), one of the key distinctions between the British and Chinese cultures revolves around the dimension of individualism against communitarianism where China reflects a more distinctly collectivist culture. The Chinese culture places greater significance on group cohesion and collaborative decision-making than the British culture, which favours individualism. This cultural disparity can make it difficult for the British retail company to negotiate with Chinese suppliers or establish collaborations with regional companies. Chinese competitors would anticipate a more collective approach to decision-making from the British corporation, which might be different from the company’s conventional business procedures. The British retail corporation may respond by embracing more group decision-making procedures and developing alliances based on trust and mutual benefit to adapt to the Chinese culture (Qi and Lee, 2019).
Another distinction in a culture that may pose an obstacle is in the dimension of universalism versus particularism. The Chinese culture, in contrast, places a higher significance on particularism, which means that laws and norms are implemented differently based on the circumstance and the relationships of the individuals involved. When it comes to adhering to Chinese rules and regulations, the British retail firm may have difficulties due to this cultural gap. Chinese officials could anticipate that the British corporation will approach compliance in a way that differs from the way it typically does business. Establishing contacts with regional regulators and displaying a willingness to cooperate with the Chinese legal system will help the British retail firm adjust to the Chinese way of life (Pirlog, 2021).
Another variation in culture that may pose difficulties is in the dimension of achievement versus ascription. Success in the British culture is focused on individual work and merit since performance is often given priority. In contrast, the Chinese culture lays more emphasis on ascription, which means that success is dependent on elements like status in society and family background. When it comes to hiring and managing employees in China, the British retail firm may face difficulties because of this cultural gap between them (He and Filimonau, 2020). Chinese employees may expect a more directive approach to management and career growth from the British corporation, which might be different from the company’s standard operating procedures. The British retail firm may respond by acknowledging the significance of social standing and family history in Chinese society and creating career development directions that take these elements into consideration (Tao and Li, 2020). As a result, this would enable the company to adapt to the Chinese standard of living.
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