Whoole Foods in South Korea - Research Paper Example

Whole Foods in South Korea Cultural Issues Geert Hofstede (1980) and Edward Hall (1976), autonomously developed paradigms used for identifying cultures during 1960s and 1970s. These paradigms have remained useful to date, especially for organizations intending to do businesses in foreign countries with unique cultural backgrounds from their home countries. Based on the research, five dimensions universal to all cultures around the world were established. These include: Power-Distance; collectivism-individualism; femininity vs. masculinity; and uncertainty avoidance and long-term vs. short-term orientation (Yoo, Donthu and Lenartowicz 194). Collectivism vs. individualism: South Korea and the United States exhibit these two extreme cultural dimensions. While the U.S. culture is more of individualism, South Korea is more of collectivism. South Koreans are more contented with groups. This demonstrates that the country is a collectivist society unlike the U.S, which is highly individualistic. Being a collectivist society, South Korea can be referred to as a high-context culture according to the framework of Edward T. Hall (Rubio-Sanchez 14). Power distance: South Korea is a high power distance society. It is a hierarchical society in which the society is stratified into hierarchical order with everyone has his or her position in the organization or the society. Subordinate staff in organizations usually relies on their bosses for instructions on what to do. Masculinity / Femininity: South Korea tends to be a feminine society in which the main focus is on working in order to survive. South Koreans value equality in the workplace and managers embrace consensus. Solutions to conflicts are usually arrived at through compromise and negotiation. In South Korea, a successful manager is one who is supportive and includes his or her subordinates in decision-making. Focus is usually on people’s welfare rather than status. Incentives like free time and flexibility are highly appreciated in feminine cultures. Uncertainty Avoidance: This cultural dimension concerns predictions about the future. Countries with high uncertainty avoidance tend to have rigid perception about other behaviors and ideas that are opposed to their own. South Korea has a high uncertainty avoidance culture. The society is characterized with low risk taking ability. The society is characterized by emotional needs for rules and people have innate drive to work hard and keep busy. Punctuality and precision form fundamental norms of organizations. Individuals are highly motivated by some sense of job security. Long-term vs. Short-term orientation: South Korea has one of the highest scores in long-term orientation of the society. Long-term orientation is connected with the teachings of Confucius, which focuses of a virtuous society that focuses on the future rather than the short-term benefits (Yim 38). South Koreans are directed by good moral codes and virtues. Organizations in south Korea focus on constant growth of their share of the market and have higher proportion of own capital unlike companies from the United States and other short-term oriented societies, which focus on short-term gains or profit. South Koreans prefer to engage in business with people whom they have connections with. The U.S has been present in the country for a long time and this might help in establishing the Whole food business. Cultural and language barrier is one of the things that would hinder successful establishment of the company in South Korea. In order to overcome this, it is appropriate to use managers and local employees with knowledge on both English and Korean language. Successful business negotiation will demand the knowledge about the country’s business etiquettes. Developing business contacts and bringing cards printed in both English and Korean language will ensure successful negotiation. Observing business etiquettes remain crucial for winning a deal and one must observe that South Koreans negotiate on a collective basis and focuses on what benefits a group rather than an individual. Ethical Issues Supermarkets and groceries selling whole food has received praises from the media and communities in which they operate. This comes handy in rising criticism of genetically modified food, which many have argued to be unhealthy for human consumption. However, Whole Foods dealers are not without ethical challenges. In South Korea, for example, whole food might face an ethical challenge in the type of food it sells in South Korea. By selling junk food and other foodstuffs perceived to be unhealthy for consumers, Whole Foods is likely to contravene its fundamental values of selling healthy food to consumers. High level of competition in the South Korean market might compel the company to venture into selling junk food to grab a reasonable market share. In this case, the company shall not have acted in the best interest of the South Korean society. In order to avoid this, Whole Foods can utilize utilitarian approach to make ethical decision in their operations in South Korea. Utilitarian ethical framework demands that a company acts in a way that result into greatest good for the majority (Sharma and Bhal 60). Despite the fact that this approach may be difficult to follow because it requires the company to focus on the society more than itself, it will undoubtedly help Whole Foods Market to remain within its core values framework amidst high competition level in the market. The second ethical issue that Whole Foods might face in South Korea is its opposition to unions. The company is well know to be anti-unions and does not encourage unionization of employees. This might be a problem owing to the fact that South Korea is a highly collectivist society, where common interest for all is preferred to individual interests. In order to overcome this ethical problem, the company should learn how to work in harmony with unions, especially among employees rather than working against the unions. Right-based ethical framework demands that organizations act in a manner that respects moral rights of all stakeholders. The approach demands that organizations should view people as ends rather than means (Sharma and Bhal 60). The third, ethical challenge that Whole Foods might face is the profit level it generates and what it pays to its South Korean suppliers. Usually, when a company generates very high profits, it is perceived as not friendly to the community in which it operates. High profit levels if often viewed by most people as being greedy to amass as huge chunks of profits as possible from the society. High profit levels have always been connected with less involvement in projects that contribute to the overall welfare of the community. A company is considered to be friendly and concerned with the welfare of the community when it contributes to the development of the community in which it operates. By making and reporting huge profits from South Korean market, Whole Foods can be viewed as being less concerned with the welfare of South Koreans. This will particularly be judged on the grounds of how much remuneration it pays to its South Koreans employees, including suppliers of organic food. The company can use virtue approach to decide on what is the right path to follow so as to gain trust of South Korean society. Works Cited Rubio-Sanchez, Alberto. Cultural Dimensions and Their Influence on Shopping Value. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2008. Print. Sharma, Poonam and Kanika T. Bhal. Managerial ethics: dilemmas and decision making. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2004. Yim, Haksoon. “CULTURAL IDENTITY AND CULTURAL POLICY IN SOUTH KOREA.” The International Journal of Cultural Policy, 8.1 (2002):37–48. Yoo, Boonghee, Naveen Donthu and Tomasz Lenartowicz. “Measuring Hofstede's Five Dimensions of Cultural Values at the Individual Level: Development and Validation of CVSCALE.” Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23.4(2011): 193-210. Read More