The Cross Cultural Implications for a UK Manager Undertaking an International Business - Term Paper Example

?Cross Cultural Implications for A UK Manager Undertaking an International Business Assignment to another Country Introduction Culture plays an important role in determining the performance of employees and managers since culture defines the principles, value and morals that are inculcated into the individual. It is documented that culture influences the work behavior of employees as pertains to their communication, management and collaboration with other colleagues in the working environment. This is since the principles governing business in one culture may be different from that performed in another culture. If the cross- cultural effects are not addressed, this can lead to conflict and lack of business resolution especially by business managers. There are various forms of cultures that influence the performance of a business manager in another different culture. These factors are widely categorized as group culture, organizational culture and national culture. The national culture in a different country greatly influences the way in which a manager performs and hence the need to assess the cross cultural implications of a UK manager who is undertaking an international business assignment in another country. This will be done with reference to Hofstede and bond theories and also according to Trompenaars and Hall theories (Moody, Bebensee and Carter, 2008, p. 89). Hofstede (2001) Theory Of Cross Cultural Implications Culture is the way of life of a people and for a business manager to work competently in a cross cultural environment he needs to learn how to understand the cross culture and competently perform in the different cultural environment. It is important that he learns the implications of cultural diversity. Hofstede four cross cultural implications that may aid business managers on international businesses to competently perform despite the change in culture. The issues that will be discussed at length include; power distance, individualism and collectivism, masculinity and femininity, and avoidance of uncertainty (Moody, Bebensee and Carter, 2008, p. 89). Power distance is a concept that is evaluated by Hofstede theory in his quest to address the issue of cross cultural implications. This entails the inequality that exists in different cultures as pertains to the distribution of power. United Kingdom being a developed country has Low Power Distance (LPD) since the level of integrity, education and ethics is high. However, African countries are characterized by High Power Distance (HPD) since the margin between the intellect and the poor is very great. In a situation where a UK based manager is posed in an African country, embracing HPD will be a difficult task for the manager to accomplish. This is since the manager is used to power balance and following protocols to accomplish business deal. However, in Africa, superiors make the core of the decisions with minimal consultation to the managers. The running of the business is a top level endeavor hence challenging the performance of the UK based manager. Moreover, despite being assertive, the UK manager is inculcated into a community whereby subordinates are not consulted in decision making and the top level administration is not questioned. The issue of power distance is an example of a cross cultural implication that a UK based manager carrying out an international business in an African country will face during his business in Africa (Lim, 2004, p. 27). Secondly, individualism and collectivism is another cross cultural concept that Hofstede emphasizes in his cross cultural theory. According to him, individualists are more concerned about themselves and their gain while collectivists are concerned about the gain of the whole group. A country where individualism is rampant is in the United States, UK and Germany while the countries will collectivism are Asia and African countries. Basing on this documented evidence, the UK based manager has individualistic aspect and he has gone for an international business in Africa; a country that has collectivism. The UK based manager being an individualist, is concerned with efficient and lean means of performing his business deals. However, when compared with collectivism stipulated in African countries, business is mainly conducted by taking advantage of an enriched information environment hence thriving in social support groups. This would have a cross-cultural implication on the UK based manager since his individualism would be challenged and this may hamper not only his communication by also his performance in the international business in Africa where business is conducted using a collectivist principle (Kim, Jung, and Ball-Rokeach, 2007, p. 282). Moreover, masculinity and femininity is another issue that is addressed by Hofstede theory of cross-cultural implication. A masculine culture is plagued with assertiveness and is keen on performance of the subjects and the outcome stipulated to be generated. On the other hand, femininity is more concerned about the end user and how the activities being currently performed will help the end user. United Kingdom is characteristic of a masculine country hence the UK based manager is more concerned with performance, assertiveness and results as is the culture in his country. However, when the UK manager comes to work in Africa, he is introduced into a femininity culture where the end user is considered prior to the conduction of any business project. This is unlike his environment where he is used to gaining recognition and reward for his performance as is the prototype of a masculinity culture. Adjusting to the femininity culture in Africa will influence the international performance of the UK based international business manager in Africa. The disparity in femininity and masculinity as pertains to the UK based business manager is a cross cultural implication evidenced by Hofstede theory of cross cultural implications (Downing, Gallaugher and Segars, 2003, p. 20). Subsequently, the degree of avoiding uncertainty is the other concept that has been discussed in Hofstede theory of cross cultural implications. Every culture has a specific way through which the culture tries to avoid conflict. There are those cultures that are HUA: high uncertainty avoidance meaning that they will strictly adhere to the written rules and structured forms of law abiding and adherence to the set standards. On the other hand, there are cultures that have LUA: low uncertainty avoidance entailing that they have less structured ways of solving conflicts and they rely on strategic and continuous evaluation. A business man from the United Kingdom has come from a community plagued with LUA and undertakes his management skills in an African country that is plagued with HUA. This will hamper the UK based manager since he is used to an environment of risk taking and lack of standardized formats of seeking solutions to adverse effects. He is introduced to an environment where rules as made to be followed and there is no diversity in handling conflict. The UK based business manager therefore needs to comprehend the HUA in the African country so as to work competently in this environment. Uncertainty avoidance is an important cross cultural implication faced by international business managers when faced with working in areas that have different cultures from their original countries (Moody, Bebensee and Carter, 2008, p. 89). Edward Halls’ (1976) Theory Of Cross Cultural Implications This theory is also known as the high context and low context theory of cross cultural implications. Hall came up with the description of culture as a context entailing the setting where various activities take place and influence the outcome of each other. Context he elaborated as the ability of individuals to understand the non verbal communication that takes place during a communication session with an individual. High context (HC) is more concerned with the setting that the communication activity is taking place. On the other hand, low context (LC) entails the word and content of the communication taking place. A business manger from UK has been used to a culture that emphasizes on a high context meaning what influences communication according to his culture, is the setting in which the communication takes place. However, upon conducting business in and African countries that are plagued with low context, this may hamper his international business. This is since Africans are more concerned about the words and the content of what the business is all about and not merely the setting. According to Hall’s theory, the disparity between the UK based manager HC and Africa’s LC will have cross sultural implications on the international business being procured (Zakaria, and Cogburn, 2008, p. 115). Gudykunst Theory Of Cross Cultural Implications This is a theory that was developed in the United States after World War II. Gudykunst sort to elaborate on the issue of intercultural communication since for individuals to get along, there had to be sound communication among them. He asserted that following the war, there were many strangers and they found it difficult to integrate into their new cultures since they were not in a position to communicate competently with the cultures. He emphasized this by the use of uncertainty and anxiety as the two main ways in which the individuals “strangers” presented. With reference to the topic of discussion the UK based business manager in an African country is faced with uncertainties and anxiety since the culture in which he has gone to views him as a stranger. However, so as to combat this cross cultural implications, Gudykunst developed axioms which the strangers would inculcate and aid in their blending into the culture (Yip, 2010, p. 1). One of the axioms that the UK based business man working on an international business in an African country would employ is enhancing his self esteem. The esteem of a stranger greatly influences the rate at which the stranger will find accommodation into the culture that he needs to relate with for effective business. The UK based manager working in Africa also needs to inculcate the axiom of flexible attitude so as to survive in Africa. He needs not be rigid since by having a flexible attitude, that is the only way that he would learn the culture if the Africans and hence positively influence his business. Empathy and tolerance are two other axioms that the UK based manager needs to embed so as to learn how to enhance his intercultural communication skills. The business manager also needs to learn how to integrate complex information so as to learn in a speedy manner the complexity of the African culture and in turn appreciate the culture. Intercultural communication is an important cross cultural implication that the UK based business manager needs to understand so as to survive effectively and conduct business in Africa (Yip, 2010: pp. 1). Trompenaars (1993) Theory Of Cross Cultural Implications Trompenaars distinguishes culture into seven dimensions which he illustrates as dilemmas that illustrates the differences that exist in a cultural society. The first dimension compares Universalism v. Particularism where the former believes that principles can be universally applied while the latter asserts that there are particular rules and procedures that should be followed to accomplish a task The UK based business manager being a universalism, needs to understand the particularistic culture of the African country so as to work competently in the business. The second dimension is Individualism v. Communism. This relates with the individualistic and collectivism earlier foretold in Hofstede theory of cross cultural implications. Neutral v. Affective is the other dimension where neutral entails a culture that is not emotional and where feelings are not openly expressed. However, an affective culture allows and accommodates the expression of emotions by its community members. The UK based business manager having come from a neutral culture, needs to accommodate the affective culture that exists among the African communities so as to be successful in the international business. Achievement v Ascription is the other dimension and this corresponds with the masculinity and femininity outlined in Hofstede cultural theory. Sequential v. synchronous timing defines the timing and the context in which diverse cultures perform their businesses. Finally, inner v. outstretched is the seventh dimension according to Trompenaars. It is evident that in majority if the dimensions, the culture of the UK based business manager working in Africa contradicts with the African culture. This calls for the integration of the two dimensions so as to effectively address the cross cultural implications hence making business effective. Conclusion Culture plays a significant role in influencing the performance of any business individual especially in an area that is away from his own culture. However, various theorists have aided in addressing the cross cultural implications; Hofstede, Trompenaars, Gudykunst, and Hall. Despite their views being diversified, they are intertwined since they aid in assisting strangers to settle into the new culture. Hence for the UK based business manager to succeed in the African country, he needs to inculcate the cross cultural theories so as to effectively address the cross cultural implications of his business in Africa. References Downing, C, Gallaugher, J, and Segars, A 2003, “Information technology choices in dissimilar cultures: enhancing empowerment”, Journal of Global Information Management, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 20-39. Hall, E 1976, Beyond Culture. New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday & Company Inc. Hofstede, G 2001, Culture’s Consequences (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publication. Kim, Y.C., Jung, J.Y. and Ball-Rokeach, S 2007, “Ethnicity, place, and communication technology: effects of ethnicity on multi-dimensional internet connectedness”, Information Technology & People, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp 282-303. Lim, J 2004, “The role of power distance and explanation facility in online bargaining utilizing software agents.” Journal of Global Information Management Vol.12, No. 2, pp. 27-44. Moody, J., Bebensee, M and Carter, H 2008, “Whistle-Blowers and Technology: a Cross-Cultural Framework for Effective Corporate Malfeasance Reporting Systems”, Journal of International Business Research, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 89-105. Trompenaars, F 1993, Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd. Yip, G 2010, “A Theoretical Basis of Intercultural Communication Competence: Gdykunsts Anxiety/ Uncertainty Management Theory”, Global Missiology English; Vol. 2, No. 7, pp. 1 Zakaria, N., and Cogburn D, 2008, “Webs of Culture: Applying Intercultural Communication Theory to Understand Distributed Decision- Making Processes”, International Business Research; Vol. 1, No. 3; pp. 115-123. Read More