BUS3011 Report: Developing Cross-Cultural Capability for Expansion

This report examines the significance of cross-cultural capability for a shoe manufacturer, Edward Green & Co, aiming to expand into China and other countries. It defines culture, categorizes cultural differences (traditional, rational, and post-modern), and analyzes the impact of these differences on business expansion, including challenges like language barriers and customer preferences. The report highlights the role of HR in managing cultural diversity through training and strategic approaches, and it explores cultural theories like Hofstede's dimensions to provide a framework for understanding and navigating cultural nuances. The report provides solutions to overcome culture issues and grow their business, discussing HRM roles and benefits such as increased adaptability and improved employee well-being. The report also focuses on cultural theories, providing insights into how the company can create an effective organizational culture and reduce barriers in the international market.

BUS3011- Developing Cross-
Cultural Capability

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Culture Definition........................................................................................................................3
Categorise of culture....................................................................................................................3
Impact of Culture Difference in Expansion:................................................................................4
Culture issues related to operations and business........................................................................5
Different theories of culture which will help company in expansion:.........................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Cross-culture define as an effort in which company make sure that their employees are
interacted effectively with the different backgrounds of peoples. Cross culture is also refers on
the basis of different factors such as regional, gender, language, country etc. This report helps
shoes manufacturer company in Northampton like Edward Green & Co to understand effective
cross culture for their expansion in China and different countries (Chen, and Huang, 2017).
Edward Green & Co is a company in Northampton which are manufacture shoes in large scale.
This report will explain difference in culture. It also explains categorize and impact of culture
difference and how HR handle this issues. It also provides solution to the company with different
culture theories such as Hofstede, Trompenaars etc.
MAIN BODY
Culture Definition
It is a pattern in which organization learn and share information and their behaviour with
each other based on social, ethic and age group. It also includes different ideas, and social
behaviour of the employees. Culture is an art and it affects whole organization. Nature of culture
play important role in organization. Modes of behaviour, philosophies and ethics, morals and
manners, customs and traditions, religious, political, economic and other factor affect culture and
its nature. In manufacture shoe company culture is play important role for their company growth
and for effective communication in the organization.
There are different types of culture which affect organization and its growth which
include, material culture, non-material culture, real and ideal culture. These all cultures affect
organization directly or indirectly. The shoes manufacture company make sure that their culture
is effective and there is no culture difference because in expansion in China and different
countries effective cross culture is necessary to grow in their market and to maintain their
position in industry.
Categorise of culture
Cross culture refers to a concept in which it identifies differences among people
of different countries related to their background, ethics, rules, norm, culture and attitude. But
due to globalisation the concept of cross culture is increasing in the glob (Li and et.al, 2020). As
per Ruano-Baobalan culture has been divided in four categories.
Traditional culture

Traditional culture refers to the old culture which is still followed by some countries.
People who follows traditional culture they give more importance to religion and their ethic, they
don't want to accept new and modern culture and market trend. They don't accept individualism
and follow the concept of joint families (Dudai, 2020). But this culture is not present in China,
the people of China accepts globalisation and follow new trend as well. In opposite, Arab
countries still follow traditional culture they give priority to their tradition. As company wants to
expand the business in China and the people of China want innovative products and they dont
want to use old products all the time so lack traditional culture in China is an opportunity of
Edward green &Co. But this culture is an issue as well for the company as they can enter in those
country where the people follows tradition culture.
Rational society
Those people who follow rational culture, they give first preference to their interest and
choices and it is beneficial for the companies to work in such countries. Because when people
like their products they will definitely buy them. Somehow china follow this culture and this will
be beneficial for Edward green & Co who wants to expand their business in China. If the
customer like the product of Edward green & co they will buy them and the profit of the
company will increase. On the other hand there are people from different countries whose
primary objective is survival they are not so brand obsessed and but only those goods which are
necessary for the survival. For example- Africa. People of Africa still facing inequality and
differences therefore most of the companies avoids expanding their business in such countries.
Post- modern culture
Post modern culture follows democracy in their country, where people have all the rights.
This right benefited the companies who want to invest their money in such countries (Grott and
et.al, 2019). All they have to do is marketing and promotion of their products and if it fulfils the
needs of the customers they will definitely buy them and will not think to pay premium prices as
well. The people of China also have rights to buy whatever they like. The biggest issue in such
country is that people buy only necessary products and the products of Edward green & co is
little expensive so the growth for the company is difficult.
Impact of Culture Difference in Expansion:
It means variety of culture present in organization and society. Different cultures are
followed in different countries. In UK company faces different culture issues such as language

barrier, manner of speaking, small talk etc. so company make sure that they use different
opportunities and overcome there culture differences. In Shoes manufacture company if they
want to expand their business in different countries such as China than it ensure that they follow
their culture for effective growth in their business. In China comply may face culture key issues
like power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance culture etc. (Groysberg, and et.al.,
2018). So company ensure that they use effective cross culture to overcome culture difference
and grow their business. Effective cross culture are beneficial for the company expansion in
different countries. Effective culture also help company to overcome culture issues and its
impact on the company.
Impact of different culture in the company also affects their growth. Edward Green & Co
company make sure that they reduce difference in culture and create positive and effective
culture in organization, They can also use different opportunists such as diverse culture and
different perspective inspire company and drive innovation and creativity. In expansion local
market know help company to know about insights of a business and their competitor and it
provides them competitive advantages (Shahtaheri, and et.al., 2020). Cultural difference show
various talent from different backgrounds and knowledge which attract the best talent and help in
organization growth. If organization know how to deal with culture diversity in workplace then it
will be very helpful for the company to manage their management on the basis of different
culture. Culture competence include various abilities such as understanding, communication,
effective interaction with different peoples and work with varying and beliefs etc. These abilities
are opportunity in culture diversity and it helps company to grow and done their work with
higher performance.
There are various reasons for Edward Green & Co company to manage there culture
difference in expansion country like China for instance these reasons are building international
business success, help company to build global international competencies, to avoid culture
conflicts, to create brand name and to acquire the best talents irrespective of their culture
backgrounds and effective performance.
Culture issues related to operations and business
Edward Green & Co face different culture issues in their business expansion in China and
other company. These issues or challenges include market access, customer preference,
bureaucracy, government laws and challenges, intellectual property, competition with local

business, their labour increase their wages, human resource also faces challenges because of
different cultures, and administration etc. These challenge and issues impact on business growth.
Culture impact business by many things for example marketing, sales and distribution,
managing employees and projects decision-making and negotiating, business protocols and the
pace of the company. These all are affected by culture issues such as language barriers, lack of
communication, sexuality difference etc. To overcome negative impact of the culture from the
company and help then to expand their business in China and other country they must understand
the different culture of the countries, and they should try understand how people communicate,
how culture impact on time and groups, how people respond to management and how people
take decisions. This understanding help company in their business expansion in different
countries.
As above discussed HR play important role in culture management so here is some HRM
roles in culture diversity and with the help of these roles they overcome different culture issues
and assists company to grow their business in international market (Lin, and et.al., 2020). Some
Human resource roles are as follows,
HR help company to provide proper training to employees so that they can follow
effective culture in company (Sibani, 2018). To overcome different cultural issues HR can use
different strategies and cultural theories which helps them to manage their workplace.
Different strategies includes gain senior leadership commitment, engage employees in the
process, support local community diversity groups and promote open communication and also
provide diversity trainings. These different strategies help Edward Green & Co company to
easily survive in their business expansion in China and other countries, and it also helps to create
effective work culture which will give effective and higher performance result. HR department
also focus on different areas to minimize cultural issues and differences such employee attitude,
skills, knowledge and awareness. These areas help company to focus on employees behaviours
and to create effective internal culture for employees. HRM role provide company different
benefits such as increased adaptability, broader service range, variety of viewpoints, better
performance, improved staff well-being and lower risk of discrimination and harassments. These
benefits help company to motivate their employees to do higher performance.

Different theories of culture which will help company in expansion
Edward Green & Co firm can use different culture theories to make in effective culture
organization and also reduce different culture barriers (Groh, 2019). Some culture theories are
explained below,
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory: This Theory is developed by Geert Hofstede
mainly it is used to understand cultural differences in countries across the world. It helps
company to differentiate culture framework in natural cultures, dimensions of culture and their
impact on business and company. Hofstede theory is divided into six categories,
Power Distance Index:In this category different factors such as inequality and power are
measured (Beugelsdijk, Kostova, and Roth, 2017). In this high power index show that business
culture are accepted inequity and power difference and low power index represent organization
culture encourage effective culture and participative style management. In China Company may
face power distance issues due to these issues' society believe that inequality are acceptable.
Collectivism vs. Individualism: This category help company to differentiate between
individualism and collectivism. Basically individualism show the importance to the company
employees to achieve their personal goals and their commitment towards company is low and in
other hand collectivism show the importance to company objectives and goals and fulfil them
with higher performance. In China individualism is preferred in compare to collectivism so
before expansion company ensure their strategies according their culture.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index: In this category company handle the situation and
unexpected events which are occurred due to culture difference. High uncertainty avoidance
index indicates that low tolerance and risk-taking it can be reduced by strictly following rules
and regulation. In other hand low uncertainty avoidance index show the high tolerance and this
be control by lax rules. Expansion amnion in china will be opportunity for company because they
use uncertainty avoidance in their business industry.
Femininity vs. Masculinity: It refers to the achievement and the attitude of the society
on the basis of sexuality and gender, Masculinity occur when such characteristics are followed
such as distinct gender roles, wealth building material achievement and success related to male
gender but in other hand femininity comes when characteristics follow which include fluid
gender roles, modest and do house hold works for others life. China follow masculinity in their
country in this there are masculine society is success oriented.

Short-Term vs. Long-Term Orientation: In this shirt term orientation represent focus
companies short term goals and success it gives quick result which help company to monitor
employees performance and in other hand long term orientation shows focus on long term target
which take time to achieve it also represents long term business growth. China prefer long term
orientation to provide maximum benefits to the company.
Restraint vs. Indulgence: This dimension show that how organization and society control
their desires. For this indulgence show that society allow comparatively free satisfaction related
to enjoyment and in other hand Restrains indicates that society control their satisfaction for their
needs and for responsibilities.
Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions: This theory help company to explain different
cultural dimension on the based on their performance. According Trompenaars cultures
deference help company in better undersaturated of reality. This theory is divided into seven
categorize which are as follows;
Universalism versus Particularism: In this dimension universalism are try to treat all
cases equally. For example in this dimension employees get same salary and, In particular
culture employees believe in circumstances and for them personal relationship is more important
than company rules. If company want to work in universalist then it makes sure that they are
using following tips which include be consistent, keep your promises etc. As UK include
universalism but in China particularism is followed so before expansion company ensure their
strategies according to their culture.
Individualism versus Communitarian-ism: This dimension can be help to reorganization
between individualistic and communitarian. In individualistic culture company believe is
employees work and their outcomes (Pîrlog, 2017). But in comm-unitarism culture company
believe in quality of life is better when employees help each other. China include
communitarianism culture which help shoes manufacture company in their expansion.
Neutral versus Emotional: It can be summarized by differentiating neutral and affective
culture in organization. In neutral culture employee never share their emotions with others. But
in affective culture employees share their emotion at workplace and after sharing their emotion
they feel comfortable and management also motivate their employees to feel comfortable.
Specific versus Diffuse:In this dimension specific culture help employees to keep their
personal and professional life separate. By this culture employee never overlap their personal and

professional life, but in diffusive culture employees personal and professional life are
interconnected.
Achievement versus Ascription: In achievement culture employees earn specifies status
by their performance, knowledge and skills and in ascription culture employees get status based
on their personality and behaviour. As China follow ascription but in UK it includes achievement
so before expansion firm make sure their techniques according to their culture.
Sequential versus Synchronous time: In this dimension company ask employees to do
many things at one time and also it asks for one thing at a time. In sequential time culture for
employees time is everything they try to do their project and work on time but in synchronous
time culture employees depend on past and future work, in this they various thing at one time.
Internal direction versus External direction: In internal direction culture employees
believe in their work, and they control their work according to environment achieve their goals
on time and in external direction culture important for employees to maintain good relation with
external department to achieve their goals on time.
These different theories help company to overcome culture difference. It is suggested
from above explantation that company must use Hofstede's theory for understanding culture
difference and to make their work place with effective cultures which helps Edward Green & Co
company to grow and expand their business in China and different countries.
CONCLUSION
After analysing the entire report, it can be concluded that this report speaks about the
cross-culture and different categories of culture which is present throughout the glob. This will
affect the business of the company in positive and negative manner, in those countries whose
people want change, cross-culture will help the company to settle their on the other hand if
people are stuck with their own products and dont want innovation, the company cant grow in
such countries. The importance of organizational culture for the companies has elaborated here
and how culture affects the performance of company in different countries has discussed in this
report. Apart from this the role of politics, norms and values play in the cross culture, and how a
company can avoid such politics has been explained in this report. Besides this, impact of HR
related issues in the company has been described here and to resolve such issues Hofstede's

culture dimension theory and Hall's culture factor theory has mentioned in this report. This
report contains recommendation for the company to avoid loss faced by cross culture issues.

REFERENCES
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