Cultural Awareness
Trident University
Robert Miller
Case Study Module 1
MGT 501 Mgt. and org. Behavior
Dr. Frank Nolan
23 May 2013
Culture and the environment affect a business in many ways. Culture is not simply a different language, a different shade of skin, or different styles of food. Culture, and the environment in which you are a part of, affect the running of day to day business operations of all companies’ day in and day out. This paper will assess how Linda Myers, from the article, “The would-be pioneer,” (Green, S., 2011) was affected by the huge culture shock of working for a global conglomerate from Seoul, South Korea. We will discuss what went wrong with Ms. Myers approach to business, Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture as it pertains to the article, and make some recommendations based on the author’s thoughts. Let’s first start by discussing how culture and environment affect management in an institution. A culture and its environment affect the operations of a business because that culture generates practices based on its environment. To clarify, how a business sets its policies is based on cultural exceptions, like politics, points of view, whatever is considered the “norm” for that environment. In many cultures, it is also safe to assume that women do not have the same pull as a man in charge. An example of how women are belittled can be women in Middle Eastern countries that are forced to wear veils to cover their faces and walk behind their husbands, not hand in hand like in Western cultures. Politics plays a huge part in how a company runs as well. If a country is firm in the belief that men are the only way to accomplish goals and run the government, then companies under that government will more than likely have the same approach. Many countries still believe that men are superior and don’t quite believe that women should be in the workplace. We have seen American culture change to where women successfully run businesses.
Robert Miller
Case Study Module 1
MGT 501 Mgt. and org. Behavior
Dr. Frank Nolan
23 May 2013
Culture and the environment affect a business in many ways. Culture is not simply a different language, a different shade of skin, or different styles of food. Culture, and the environment in which you are a part of, affect the running of day to day business operations of all companies’ day in and day out. This paper will assess how Linda Myers, from the article, “The would-be pioneer,” (Green, S., 2011) was affected by the huge culture shock of working for a global conglomerate from Seoul, South Korea. We will discuss what went wrong with Ms. Myers approach to business, Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture as it pertains to the article, and make some recommendations based on the author’s thoughts. Let’s first start by discussing how culture and environment affect management in an institution. A culture and its environment affect the operations of a business because that culture generates practices based on its environment. To clarify, how a business sets its policies is based on cultural exceptions, like politics, points of view, whatever is considered the “norm” for that environment. In many cultures, it is also safe to assume that women do not have the same pull as a man in charge. An example of how women are belittled can be women in Middle Eastern countries that are forced to wear veils to cover their faces and walk behind their husbands, not hand in hand like in Western cultures. Politics plays a huge part in how a company runs as well. If a country is firm in the belief that men are the only way to accomplish goals and run the government, then companies under that government will more than likely have the same approach. Many countries still believe that men are superior and don’t quite believe that women should be in the workplace. We have seen American culture change to where women successfully run businesses.
References: Green, S. (2011) The would-be pioneer. Harvard Business Review. 89(4), 124-126. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. Understanding Workplace Values Around the World. Retrieved May 20, 2013 from: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_66.htm