Business Culture: Cross-Cultural Issues and National Culture Research

Running head: BUSINESS CULTURE
BUSINESS CULTURE
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1BUSINESS CULTURE
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to culture: key concepts and theories......................................................................2
2. Culture as a business issue: Cross cultural moments (critical incidents). Hofstede model
overview. Psychometric application of the Hofstede model. Individual cultural profiling.............3
3. Wider business applications of national culture research. Individual behavioral adaptation......5
4. Culture shock. Success and failure in International assignments. Culture mapping in business.
Cross-cultural competency. Other major national culture research and models.............................7
5. National culture vs Corporate culture. Introduction to the Organizational Culture Inventory
(OCI)..............................................................................................................................................12
6. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................18

2BUSINESS CULTURE
1. Introduction to culture: key concepts and theories
Berardo and Deardorff (2012) stated that culture is associated with the social behavior
and the different norms that helps in justifying the different functions of the society. The range of
phenomenon that is being transmitted through the social learning and the circulation of
knowledge among the individuals in the society have helped in the construction of the different
societal norms and regulations. Kim, Schimmack and Oishi (2012) negated the norms and
regulations in the society help in guiding the activities of the human life forms. Identifying the
culture helps in understanding of the social psychologies and behaviors and thereby helps in
construction of society. The different theories of culture that are identified as a part of the report
will be focused on perceiving the effects of culture and the hierarchical systems it creates
through the class- based differentiation between different members of the society.
The clear concept of culture is based on the understanding of the transmission of
knowledge, language, values, customs and the like from one generation to the next for the
preservation of the ideas that are held by the predecessors. The identification of culture is based
on the functioning of the different social systems, which helps in the maintenance of different
ethical standpoints of the society. The concept of culture is dependent on the identification of
the beliefs, behaviors, customs, and the like as per the needs of the particular group or society at
large. The identification of the culture in the micro and macro levels assists in understanding the
values that are asserted on the society as per the functioning of different groups. On the other
hand, culture as a business issue has helped in maintaining the different levels of change in the
systems of the business while operating in the international markets. The cultural shifts that are

3BUSINESS CULTURE
faced by the organizations while operating in the cross- cultural market scenario has affected the
operations of the business.
The purpose of the report is focused on the identification of the different cross- cultural
issues and the concepts of individualism and collectivism that affects the functioning f the
organizations while operating in the international markets. The report will be enumerating the
Hofstede model, which will be emphasizing on the understanding of the effects of a
society's culture on the values of its members and the manner in which the values can be utilized
culminating into a proper factor analysis.
2. Culture as a business issue: Cross cultural moments (critical incidents). Hofstede model
overview. Psychometric application of the Hofstede model. Individual cultural profiling.
The cross- cultural issues that are faced by the organization while operating in the
international market scenario has affected the performance of the same. Some 82% of the
respondents of the Global Human Capital Trends survey stated that culture is taken to be the
most potential component of the competitive advantage that is gained by the organizations (Kim,
Schimmack and Oishi 2012). The different issues that are faced by the organizations while
operating in the international markets are related to the communication and the varied cultural
changes.
Hofstede’s model of multiculturalism has helped in the identification of the different
cultural issues that might be faced by the organizations while expanding their limits to the
international markets. The model has helped in fostering and identifying the different
psychometric applications as per the individualistic needs of the employees. The major issues
that are faced by the employees are dependent on their posting as expatriates in the different

4BUSINESS CULTURE
branches of the organization in varied international markets. Different organizations have taken
steps to develop strategies in support of the organizational cultural norms, which has helped in
maintaining the suitable performance of the businesses in the market. The norms that are created
by Apple have helped in maintaining the different changes in the systems of the operations while
operating in the international markets.
The model helps in identifying the different concepts of communication and the manner
in which the marketing and other management attributes of the organizations can be undertaken
in a cross- cultural outset. The needs of the enterprises are boosted through the application of
psychometric identification of issues and thereby enumerating the mitigation strategies. Saucier
et al. 2015 stated that the strategies ensure the businesses of undertaking the suitable activities

5BUSINESS CULTURE
that might be helping the same to develop their position in the cross- cultural backgrounds. The
issues that are faced by the women while operating on their job roles during their tenure in a
male dominated workplace culture affected the purpose of executing the different activities as
per the objectives of the enterprise. On the other hand, Tsai and Lau (2013) argued that the
prioritization of the goals of the organization and the individuals play a major role while
functioning as per the objectives of the growth of enterprises. The uncertainty and the issues that
are faced by the expatriates while adjusting themselves to a different workplace culture is being
enumerated as a part of the model. It has helped in maintaining the different elemental changes
as per the objectives of the organizational growth. The hierarchy and power that are faced by the
people while operating in their respective job roles as per the company’s internal structure helps
in accessing the degree of success that might be retained by the enterprise. The hierarchy in
organizational management systems has largely impacted the functionality of the employees in
the cross- cultural scenario. The time constrains plays a major role in amending the different
functions of the organization as per the objectives of the business while operating in the cross
cultural social culture. Different human related factors constitute the operations of the businesses
while operating in the diverse cross cultural scenarios. Therefore, the model has helped most of
the businesses in fostering a functional value chain analysis and thereby identifies the different
issues that are faced by the organizations while expanding their limits to the international
markets.
3. Wider business applications of national culture research. Individual behavioral
adaptation
The application of the national culture research on the business is based on the reframe of
the policies that are formulated by businesses while undertaking ventures in different cross-