Cross-Cultural Management: A Comparative Study of Decision-Making

This essay provides a comparative analysis of decision-making processes in Bolivia and Ireland, focusing on the influence of cultural contexts. It begins by defining decision-making as a cognitive process and outlines the steps involved. The essay then contrasts the decision-making approaches in the two countries, highlighting the individualistic style in Ireland, influenced by the 'assisted decision making' act and low-context communication, and the collective approach in Bolivia, which reflects high-context communication. The analysis incorporates the Hofstede and Trompenaars theory, emphasizing the importance of cultural values in decision-making, and references Edward Hall's communication style to further illustrate the differences. The conclusion summarizes the key distinctions, emphasizing the governmental support for decision-making in Ireland and the communal approach in Bolivia. The essay provides insights into how cultural differences shape organizational practices and communication styles.

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Cross Cultural Management
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Introduction
Decision making is a cognitive process that results to careful selection of a belief. The
choice is amongst alternatives that sometimes pose a challenge to the person involved. The
primary focus of this comparison will be based on two countries; Bolivia and Ireland. Life is
more of making decisions and thus, caution is always to be taken when deciding because
some outcomes in a decision are fatal and may make a person regret in life.
Some steps are involved in decision making. They include the identification of the
decision and nature of the ideas to choose from. The next step involves gathering information
about what to choose. This gives the individual clear information before they make a choice.
There is the identification of alternatives that are cheap and easily applicable and thus they
can be opted for. The success of the opted choice can be looked into to ensure it once
succeeded when applied in the practical world (Lerner, Li, Valdesolo and Kassam, 2015,
pp.813). The next step is taking affirmative action. The step involves reviewing the decisions
made and analysing if there are consequences that can be experienced in the future.
The Hofstede and Trompenaars theory describe the culture and the decision making in
a human being’s life. The theory states that there is a way in which people should act to solve
the problems that they experience in society. They are therefore required to employ solid
decision making. This calls for a sound mind and being sober as one takes a step of making
the decision (Mazanec, Crotts, Gursoy and Lu, 2015, pp.300). In Ireland for instance,
decision making is treated in a special way. There was an act that was enhanced in the year
2015 that was termed as the ‘assisted decision making'. The act was vested to ensure there is
an establishment of a platform where people could raise issues and the contributions to
decision making. The ministry of health was involved because decision making is a health
matter and may affect some people, either mentally or socially (Saaty, 2018, pp.85).

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Considering Edward Hall’s communication style, decisions made in Ireland are mostly
individualistic. As a result, the low context culture applies.
However, in Bolivia, the decision-making process is done in a common pool. This is a
suitable method because a lot of people are involved and can make their contributions. In this
case, no specific person is held responsible for the outcome of the decisions. Through holding
such a forum for decision making, it makes the involved individuals to be more assertive
while undertaking the task. Edward Hall’s communication style is so much evident in the
manner which Bolivia, as a country, come to an agreement on the best decision (Holtbrügge,
Weldon and Rogers, 2013, pp.93). In this case, the decision is reached by collective
agreement, which is the high context communication.
Conclusion
It is very clear that in Ireland, they have put in place an act that governs the process of
decision making. This takes care of their health matters, making sure that people do not feel
inferior or stressed up for the outcome of the results. In Bolivia, the case is different as people
do collective decision making where all are involved and no one is victimized for the results
that are not favourable.

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Bibliography
Holtbrügge, D., Weldon, A. and Rogers, H., 2013. Cultural determinants of email
communication styles. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 13(1), pp.89-
110.
Lerner, J.S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P. and Kassam, K.S., 2015. Emotion and decision
making. Annual review of psychology, 66, pp.799-823.
Mazanec, J.A., Crotts, J.C., Gursoy, D. and Lu, L., 2015. Homogeneity versus heterogeneity
of cultural values: An item-response theoretical approach applying Hofstede's cultural
dimensions in a single nation. Tourism Management, 48, pp.299-304.
Saaty, T.L., 2018. Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. International journal
of services sciences, 1(1), pp.83-98.