Business Across Culture

Running Head: BUSINESS CULTURE
Business Across Culture
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Business culture
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Section 1..........................................................................................................................................3
Hofstede model of national culture..............................................................................................3
Criticism for the model................................................................................................................6
Alternate models..........................................................................................................................6
Section 2..........................................................................................................................................6
Business development by Wal-Mart in Germany........................................................................6
Impact of national culture on activities of Wal-Mart..................................................................7
Role of organizational culture in Wal-Mart.................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13
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Business culture
Introduction
International trade is gaining growth in the changing economy and in that it is necessary to
ensure that proper communication exists among the various culture. There are several issues
which are faced while expanding business in a new culture and they are identified as cross-
cultural issues. The report will be describing the Hofstede model by which a proper
understanding of the elements to be involved in the national culture will be taken into account. In
the modern world, there are various criticisms which are faced and the same will be the case for
the given model. All of them will be determined and explained below in such a manner that
proper understanding of same is gained. There are several other models also and they will also be
considered to have a complete understanding. Various companies expand cross culture and Wal-
Mart is also among them. The cross border business expansion which was made by it in
Germany will be discussed. In that, all the aspects involved will be considered together with the
manner in which the development has been affected by the cross-cultural differences. The
challenges which are faced by the organization in the process of expansion will be identified and
implication of the Hofstede model in the same is to be covered. The corporate culture is an
important factor in the success of any venture and so all of that will also be described in a
detailed manner. The failure and success will be depending on the culture of the company and
for that analyzation of the same will be made. There be the inclusion of the relevant facts about
all the concepts and the case of Wal-Mart which are important to make any decision and draw
the conclusion.
Section 1
Hofstede model of national culture
In an organization, there are several types of people who are working which are from different
cultures and beliefs. They are different and so the manner in which they think and work is also
different and that is identified as the culture of that organization. In a similar manner, the culture
of every nation is also different and so it is necessary that it shall be identified and considered
while taking any business decision.
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Business culture
The cultures face high level of conflicts and there are various reasons for the same. The main
reason may be dominating or aggressive culture. Due to these conflicts there is impact on the
culture and the need to take the use of any theory arise which involves all the aspects (Gelfand,
Leslie and Keller, 2008).
All of the factors which are involved and will be affecting the business are to be taken into
account and due to this reason Hofstede came with a proposal in which all of such aspects were
determined (Geert Hofstede, 2019). By this, the manner in which the employees of the company
will be affected is evaluated. There are several key elements which are included in the model and
they are described below:
Figure 1 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
(Source: B2U - Business-to-you, 2017)
The above presented figure provides the idea about all the dimensions which are involved in the
Hofstede model. They are total six in number and cover all the aspects which are required to be
taken into consideration.
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