Question

Briefly explain two cultural dimensions. What recommendations do you have for American marketers in their international efforts, based on the knowledge of these cultural issues?

Answer 1

When considering entering an international business, managers need to be aware that the conditions under which they are accepted may differ from one country to another. For example, Walmart's first international expansion was in Mexico. He modeled after Wal-Mart in Mexico after his one-stop shop in the United States, surrounded by large parking lots. But he soon realized that was the problem. Many customers took the bus to the store. This means that customers have to go through the parking lot to go to the store and can only buy what they can take back to the bus. To address this, Walmart added a spaceship that brings visitors to and from the store.

Difficulties, like what Wal-Mart faces, are easy to spot and easy to overcome. However, cultural differences also refer to deeper beliefs, values, and customs that are difficult to identify. Understanding cultural differences is especially important for managers because managers need to understand their employees to encourage and guide them. Geert Hofstede, a Dutch research researcher, conducted a multinational study to explore different ways of describing cultural differences. His study included more than 100,000 employees of a global corporation in 40 countries. The next study, called the GLOBE project, involved 170,000 managers in 162 countries. These studies identify nine dimensions that describe national cultural differences.

These dimensions are the distance from power, avoidance of insecurity, orientation towards implementation, assertion, future orientation, humanitarian orientation, institutional mobilization, group mobilization and gender equality. Take a look at each in more detail.

Power distance. The distance between powers is the degree to which people accept unequal distribution of power and rights. In high-energy countries at a distance, there is respect for age and status, people are expected to obey the law, and there is more tolerance for centralized power. India, Mexico and the Philippines have great energy distances. The United States, Australia and Israel have lower energy distances.
Avoid uncertainty. The degree to which people are unhappy with risk, change, and uncertainty is called avoidance of uncertainty. In countries with great uncertainty, there is an increasing emphasis on laws, structures, order and predictions. France, Japan and Costa Rica, for example, are countries that avoid great uncertainty. The United States, India and Sweden avoid low levels of uncertainty.
Orientation of practice. Performance orientation is the level at which high standards of innovation and good practice are encouraged and rewarded. Countries that focus on high performance value materialism and competition, and they expect to invest in training to encourage better performance. The United States and European countries have guidelines for high productivity. Argentina, Russia and Greece have low productivity targets.
This assertion. Strength is the level at which people are strong, confrontational and aggressive, as opposed to cooperative and sympathetic. In countries with high self-confidence, such as the United States, Germany, and Mexico, communication is direct and uncertain. Individual initiatives are encouraged and relationships are more likely to be competitive. The countries with the lowest trust rates are Switzerland and New Zealand, the rulers in these countries are more likely to seek consensus and make joint decisions.
Future Orientation The extent to which delays, satisfaction, and planning for the future, measured by short-term results, is called future orientation. Countries with a high future outlook encourage investment for future payments in immediate use. It is similar to human ability to diminish satisfaction. Canada, Switzerland and Malaysia have high prospects. Poland, Argentina and Russia have low prospects.
Human orientation The degree to which justice, dignity, generosity, and kindness are encouraged and valued is a measure of a country's human orientation. In highly humane countries, people have a responsibility to improve the welfare of others, not the state providing social and economic support. The Philippines, Ireland and Egypt have high human destinations. France, Germany and Singapore have low humanitarian tendencies.