US Airways Group - Sociocultural - Essay Example

Examining the different cultural aspects of various cultural clusters also creates a different understanding of how a business should work. When looking at US Airways Group, it can be seen that there are several sociocultural aspects which relate to business.This is specifically defined when looking at the cultural clusters of the Far Eastern Countries, with an emphasis on China, and Germanic countries, with a focus on Germany (Ajami, Cool, Goddard, 2006). Both regions have different attitudes, beliefs and expectations that are based on flight and business principles and which create a different relationship to the business through the sociocultural aspects of each country.

The first aspect which differs in both groups is the individual versus the collective, as defined by Hofstede. This is inclusive of the social orientation which both has (Hofstede, 1984). When examining China, it can be seen that there is a collective mindset, while Germany is focused on the individual mindset. For the US Airways Group to meet both mindsets, there is the need to create and organize leadership values from managers while working with team efforts in the internal organization. US Airways combines this with the individual preferences for flyers, such as traveling according to needs or with business or leisure.

However, they have also expanded to include group travel, such as with family or friends that would take a vacation together. These two different focuses are able to provide the group with more alternatives to meet both sociocultural needs (US Airways, 2011). The second reference to Hofstede is the power orientation, which is based on power tolerance and power respect (Hofstede, 1984). The country of China is more interested in power respect, while power tolerance is associated with the country of Germany.

When looking at the corporate structure of US Airways Group, it can be seen that the power tolerance is first defined, specifically because of the hierarchy used for stakeholders, CEOs and others who are noted as the primary caretakers of the company. However, power respect has been added with each of the caretakers through the association of the groups, similar to the attributes of China. A committee for auditing, finances, labor, nominations and human resources are used, specifically which creates a group function and which allows the power respect to come from an overall voice of the company.

This combined effort for power then provides more options for US Airways to work with different cultures (US Airways, 2011). The third aspect that is used with Hofstede is uncertainty orientation, which consists of acceptance versus avoidance. Germany is based on the acceptance of uncertainty while China holds a sense of avoidance (Hofstede, 1984). For US Airways, the main concept is based on the acceptance of uncertainty and the need to change. This is seen with the development, plans and orientation to future growth that is a part of the company.

However to limit this with cultures that are based on avoidance, is also a set of communication methods which are used. The foundation remains the same with the group while continuous meetings, webinars, presentations and development of high – end communication are created to limit the amount of avoidance and to try to embrace the uncertainties that are a part of the airline. This tactic works because the foundation of the airline is stronger and is based on implementing growth (US Airways, 2011).

Hofstede follows this concept with goal orientation, which includes aggressive versus passive. Germany is more aggressive in endeavors while China would be noted as passive. This follows with the last concept of Hofstede, which is inclusive of long term versus short term time orientation, where Germany would be noted as short term and China would be committed to the company for a long term time frame (Hofstede, 1984). US Airways is focused more on the sociocultural aspects of aggressive endeavors, specifically for growth and assistance from stakeholders, while the short term