Global Business in the Asian Century Topic 2022

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Global Business in the Asian Century
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Topic 1: Hofstede Insight to Asian Cultural Context
Introduction:
The essay aims at discussing the aspects of the Asian culture and the management of an
Australian subsidiary in the cultural context of Asia from the point of view of the CEO. The
essay commences with identification of the common features of Asian cultures and their
influence on the management of Asia.
Discussion:
Hofstede identified five dimensions for the Asian culture which also acts common
features. This include power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS),
uncertainty avoidance (UA) and long-term orientation (LTO) (Venaik & Brewer, 2013).Power
distance is the dimension that takes into account the fact that all the individuals in the societies
are not same (Matusitz & Musambira 2013). In fact this dimension points the attitude of culture
towards the inequalities amongst people. It is defined as the extent where lesser powerful
members of the organization and the institutions within Asia accepts and expects that power does
not have a uniform distribution. Taking into consideration one of the Asian countries that is
Malaysia the impact of this dimension on the management is considered. As far as Malaysia is
considered it achieves a higher score thereby implying that people consider the hierarchical order
where everyone achieves a place with further justification. Hierarchy within the management
reflects inequalities, centralization of power and sub ordinates are told what needed to be done
and the boss represents the position of benevolent autocrat. The challenges to the leadership are
not accepted well. Individualism or collectivism represents the degree of interdependence that
the society maintains amongst the member. In an individualist society, people look after

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themselves and the immediate family (Cho et al. 2013). The Asian culture of Malaysia however
reflects collectivism that manifested a closer longer term commitment towards the family,
extended family and the extended relationships. Loyalty remains a key aspect in such societies
and has been found to override societal regulations and rules. Such a society is believed to foster
stronger relationship with everyone taking responsibility for the fellow members (García-
Sánchez, Rodríguez-Ariza & Frías-Aceituno, 2013). As far as the management is concerned,
this dimension will help in perceiving the employees in the moral terms.
As far as the dimension of masculinity is concerned the society remains driven by
achievement, success and competition with the definition of success being attributed to the
winner in the field. On the other hand, societies driven by feminine dimension portrays quality of
life and care for others. This dimension of the Asian culture influences the management by
motivating people either to be become the best or in developing a liking for the work they are
doing. The Asian culture also experiences the dimension of uncertainty avoidance that is
concerned with the ways in which the society tries to deal with the happenings of the future that
in most cases are unknown (Lee, Trimi & Kim, 2013). For instance, countries like Malaysia have
a lower preference for avoidance of uncertainty. Management in societies with lower preference
for this dimension must have flexible schedules with emphasis on punctuality and precision as
this does not come naturally (Minkov & Hofstede, 2014).
The dimension of long-term orientation describes that the Asian culture tries in
maintaining certain links with the past along with dealing with challenges of present and the
future (Mazanec et al., 2015). Societies however prioritize the goals in a different manner by
either following a normative approach or a more pragmatic approach. Malaysia however follows

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a normative culture and hence they influence the management to focus on the achievement of
quicker results.
On being hired as the CEO of an Australian subsidiary in the Asian country, say
Malaysia, the management of the subsidiary would be different and in the context of the
dimensions put across by Hofstede.
In context of power distance, the Australian subsidiary in the context of Asian country
Malaysia would now follow a hierarchical order where everyone would have a place. There
would be more centralization of power with an autocratic benevolent boss to guide his/he
subordinates. It Australian companies an individualistic culture is followed where employees
have been self reliant and always displayed initiative. However, the subsidiary in Malaysia
would have collectivist culture where loyalty would act as the paramount factor thereby
overriding the societal regulations and rules. The employee and the employer relationships
would be perceived in the moral terms with the promotion and the hiring taking account of
employees within group. As far as masculinity is concerned, the subsidiary in the Asian cultural
context would be proud of their achievements and success and it would offer a base for the
promotions and hiring decisions within workplace. Moreover, in the Asian context conflicts get
resolved at individual level with the goal of winning. When it is the matter of uncertainty
avoidance, Malaysia has a lower score thereby implying that the subsidiary should implement
minimum rules and should change the ones that are ambiguous. The schedules would be flexible
and hard work is undertaken when necessary. The subsidiary might however lack punctuality and
precision with hardly any plans for innovation. Nevertheless, managing the Australian subsidiary
in context of the long term orientation in the Asian country would mean following a normative
culture where people are concerned with the establishment of the absolute truth, respect for its