Cultural Differences in New Zealand: A Cross-Cultural Management Perspective

This report discusses the idea of cross cultural management between China and New Zealand. It analyses cultural differences through Hofstede’s cultural dimension, five strategies and Manaakitanga as the core values of New Zealand’s tourism strategy.

Running head: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN NEWZEALAND
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN NEWZEALAND
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Introduction:
This report discusses the idea of cross cultural management between China and New
Zealand. As these two countries have many differences in their value system and perspectives
(Mackenzie, Golembiewski & Rahim, 2018). The report has discussed cultural differences
through Hofstede’s cultural dimension, analyses five strategies and Manaakitanga as the core
values of New Zealand’s tourism strategy.
Discussion:
Power distance:
In this index New Zealand scores low. The hierarchy is recognized for convenience
and the superiors are easily accessible. The mangers rely on the individual employees as well
as team for expertise. The communication is participative and informal. On the contrary the
society in china is very hierarchical. There is no way to defense against the abusing behavior
of the higher authorities.
Individualism:
New Zealand is highly individualist where the people are brought up to fulfil their
personal ambition rather than doing task for a team or community. China on the other hand
has a highly collectivist society. The chines people do not work or make decision for
themselves but for their groups.
Masculinity
Both the countries score high in the masculinity dimension. The New Zealanders are
proud of their success. Achievements in both the societies measured by the recognition as
winner. The Chinese workers come to the urban places to work hard so to them the ranking
and recognition are important (Jiang, Gollan & Brooks, 2015).

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Uncertainty avoidance:
New Zealand scores 49 in uncertainty avoidance dimension therefore, it shows no
preference but for China it is low. Truth in this society can be relative and adherence to law a
regulations are flexible as per the suitability to the actual situation (Moore, 2015). These
people are comfortable with ambiguity.
Long term orientation:
New Zealand scores low in this dimension. It is seen to be a normative country.
People in this societies tend to establish absolute truth. The people in this society show great
respect for their traditions and focus to achieve quick results. On the contrary the Chinese
employees believe in the pragmatism. They believe that the truth depends on the time,
context and situation these people have abilities to adapt traditions quite easily with the
changed condition. They achieve results through their strong propensity to invest and save
(Stahl et al., 2017).
Indulgence:
In this dimension, China scores very low which means the society is highly restraint.
The society tends to be cynic and pessimist. In contrast to the indulgent society, the society of
China do not pence much time for leisure. They tend to control gratification of inner desires.
The people of New Zealand possess a positive attitude therefore, have tendency towards
optimism.
Issues:
Chinese managers regard age and experience to be important and use them to show
authority. Hence a young New Zealander employee may be denied instead of being right thus
gradually get frustrated. Individualism issues can occur when assigned for a group task, the

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Chines employees prefer to accomplish the task collaboratively but the New Zealanders
would have spilt the task. There is a high chance that the risk management of the New
Zealanders are more detailed than that of the Chinese. They aim to higher uncertainty
reduction than that of the process of the Chinese. Therefore, different opinions may emerge
and cause conflict among them. The people of New Zealand put importance on the leisure
time and spend money whenever their wish. In business as the Chinese are more cynic than
the New Zealanders, the problem of customer satisfaction becomes a great issue. The Chinese
purchasers may cause irritation of the New Zealander seller
Strategies:
In case of arranging meetings with the cross cultural employees there can be numerous
problems which can affect the business objectives of the companies.
1. Listen: listening properly is the best way to understand all the issues which are to be
presented. The cross-cultural managers will be successfully reach the others only
when their accurately hear and then propose.
2. Effectively communicate: the mangers need to know the methods of communicating
with the people of different cultures. There are potential barriers to effective
communication which need to be clear and to the point.
3. Avoid ambiguity: being clear is the expectation of all the business meetings. Through
proper use of language and delivering the understanding of the subject, the managers
can be successful in fulfilling purposes of the business meetings (Dalkir, 2013).
4. Respect diversity: by doing basic researches about the cultures which are interacted in
the meeting, the managers can show respect to the diversity. Any kind of disrespect to
the cultures may lead to failure to the business objective.

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5. No judgement: Being judgmental about the decisions of the people from other culture
leads to have biased perspective which later can be reflected in to decision making or
communication. Therefore, the managers must take care of this aspect when arranging
meeting with cross-cultural managers.
Manaakitanga influencing hospitality:
Manaakitanga is a Maori word which refers to hospitality. It is a traditional value
which is considered as highly important. It is the art of hosting the visitors, treating the
visitors generously and ensure that the international visitors feel welcome in New Zealand.
Like all other Maori words, Manaakitanga refers many layers of meaning. However, at its
heart this word means the need for reciprocal hospitality as well as respect among different
people, culture and groups. In New Zealand, hospitality is not an industry verbiage but the
heart of the aboriginal culture of the country. Manaakitanga though is central to the Maori
society, inspires the way of welcoming the travelers into New Zealand. In the indigenous
society as well as the country over all, the provision of food as well as rest of the travelers or
visitors is very important the chief focus is to make them feel comfortable and impress them
with local delicacies. In 2015, the concept of Manaakitanga became central to the New
Zealand’s hospitality and tourism industry.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be concluded that due to cultural differences, the employees of New
Zealand as well as China can face problems. Hence they need to follow strategies to
effectively communicate. In these years the idea of Manaakitanga or treating visitors as the
family members has become very famous in New Zealand.

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Jiang, Z., Gollan, P.J., & Brooks, G. (2015). Moderation of doing and mastery orientations in
relationships among justice, commitment, and trust: A cross-cultural
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Mackenzie, K.D., Golembiewski, R.T., & Rahim, M.A. (2018). Introduction. In Current
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Moore, F. (2015). Towards a complex view of culture: cross-cultural management,‘native
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Stahl, G.K., Miska, C., Lee, H.J., & De Luque, M.S. (2017). The upside of cultural
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