Culture in International Business: a case of UK

Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie 

Published: 12/12/2013

1.1 Identify the country

The identified county for this study is England

2.1 List the main aspects of this country’s culture, as you perceive it today

Culture is defined by the group of artefacts, beliefs, norms and values that govern a given society and what is obtainable from the people within the society or system (Gordon and DiTomaso, 1992; Schein, 1992; Schwartz and Davis, 1981); and different people have different type of cultural values and beliefs. Basically, culture is very broad and analysing them individually with respect to their numerous definitions can be very difficult. Thus, it is deemed right to adopt the Hofstede’s cultural dimension in this discussion to tailor down all the cultural dimensions and provide a better understanding on the topic of discussion.

2.1.1 Individualism-vs-Communism – this is the degree at which people want to be alone or in group with family and friends. In an individualistic culture, people value privacy and they prefer doing things on their own (Hofstdede, 1980). England is an individualistic country as discussed by Hoftstede. For instance, it is very common to see restaurants with just one or two seats per table as compared with the Chinese setting that has 5 to 10 seats or even more per table.

2.1.2 Masculinity-vs-Femininity – in a masculine society, people are very competitive and they want to prove that they are the best. There is a high level of social class with luxurious products used to define the class that people belong to. However, a feminine society seeks an understanding for co-existence and the main focus is on nurturing people in the society (Hofstdede, 1980). England is a very masculine society – thus winners are hailed while losers deserve no place in the people’s mind. Thus, products are marketed based on their quality and capability to define social class.

2.1.3 Power distance – this is the degree at which power is distributed in a society. England is a lower power distance country (Hofstdede, 1980). In a country with high power distance, managers have the ultimate decisions as to how businesses are run and the employees just have to stick with the managers’ decision. However, the opposite is the case for low power distance country (which England is one of them). In England, managers make decision by consulting employees are they are also open to criticism from the employees.

2.1.4 Uncertainty avoidance – this is the degree at which people are willing to take risk in order to meet success, in which people high in uncertainty avoidance less likely to take risk while those low in uncertainty avoidance are more willing to take risk (Hofstdede, 1980). England is lower in uncertainty avoidance and this is the main driving force behind the country’s innovative approach to business.

2.1.5 Long-term orientation – in a long-term oriented culture, business is more like a friendship and the goal of the parties is to achieve unity in terms of gains for both parties. England is low in long-term orientation as is common with individualistic nations and businesses are transaction based in which both parties seeks their own personal gains (Hofstdede, 1980).

3.1 What assumptions do you have about this country and why? What sources of information shape your assumptions?

Basically, the assumptions I have about the country are as described above because I have been studying as well as applying the Hofstede’s model on England for the last 5 years or so. I believe that English people are very individualistic in the sense that movies show young teens living on their own as is common in such countries. I also believe that they are low in power distance, love in uncertainty avoidance, low in long-term orientation, and a masculine country. These view were first shaped by the Hofstede model and support by movies, magazines and other entertainment mediums.

3.2 How does this country’s culture differ from your own?

I am from Nigerian, a country colonized by the British. The culture seems to be similar in masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism; but different in power distance and long-term orientation. Therefore, unlike in England, managers of companies in Nigeria have the final say and employees are not expected to question their views on things. Transactions are also relationship based as companies can easily offer products and services on credits with their trusted partners.

3.3 What cultural values do you bring to the transaction and how would you need to adapt?

The cultural value I bring to negotiation is long-term orientation. Both parties must seek an understanding that will be beneficial for both of them and not keep one at the mercy of the other.

4.1 How would you approach the negotiation?

Negotiation style in international business can be described as the way people from different cultures react when negotiating businesses with other people. In terms of describing how I will approach negotiation with an English company, it will based on the approach presented by Jeswald Salacuse from his result from seminal study on international negotiation styles  (Salacuse 1998) by considering the 10 factors in his study as illustrated in table 1 below.

Table 1: My negotiation approach with an English

Negotiation factor	Range of responses	How I will approach negation with an English company or manager
Goal	Contract – relationship	Contract
Attitude	Win/lose – win/win	Win/win
Personal style	Informal – formal	Formal
Communication	Direct – indirect	Direct
Time sensitivity	High – low	High
Emotionalism	High – low	High
Agreement form	Specific – general	Specific
Agreement building	Bottom up – top down	Top down
Team organization	One leader – consensus	Consensus
Risk taking	High – low	High

Source: Salacuse (1998), p. 223.

4.2 Would your approach vary from how you would approach a negotiation in the country of your native birth or primary professional experience?

Yes it will

4.2.1 What factors of negotiation and business relationships do you have to consider differently?

Take a comparative view below to see how it will differ in the table 2.

Table 2: differences between my negotiation approach with an English and someone form Nigeria

Negotiation factor	Range of responses	How I will approach negation with an English company or manager
Goal	Contract – relationship	Relationship: for long-term business partnership
Attitude	Win/lose – win/win	Win/win
Personal style	Informal – formal	Formal
Communication	Direct – indirect	Direct
Time sensitivity	High – low	Low: to allow the person needed time to attend to other things is the need be.
Emotionalism	High – low	Low: to allow for harmony
Agreement form	Specific – general	General: to include all aspects of the business process.
Agreement building	Bottom up – top down	Top down
Team organization	One leader – consensus	Consensus
Risk taking	High – low	Low: Nigerian companies or individuals are not reliable to me as compared with the English and it would not be advisable to take high risk under such stings.

Source: Salacuse (1998), p. 223.

References

Gordon, G.G. and DiTomaso, N. (1992), “Predicting corporate performance from organizational culture”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 29 No. 6, pp. 783-98.

Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA.

Salacuse, J.W. 1998. Ten Ways that Culture Affects Negotiating Style: Some Survey Results. Negotiation Journal, vol. 14.

Schein, E.H. (1992), Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2nd ed., Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Schwartz, H. and Davis, S.M. (1981), “Matching corporate culture and business strategy”, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 30-80.