Cross Cultural Management: Hiring Practices in Tanzanian Firms

This report delves into the complexities of cross-cultural management, focusing on the ethical challenges faced by businesses operating in Tanzania. The assignment begins with a description of the issue, highlighting the prevalence of nepotism in hiring practices within the country, as exemplified by a case study involving an American firm, Hydro Generation (HG). The report analyzes the cultural dimensions of Tanzania using Hofstede's framework, revealing insights into the societal values and behaviors that contribute to the issue. It then examines the issue through Hall’s High Culture vs. Low Culture and Communication framework. The report concludes with recommendations for addressing the ethical dilemmas, including implementing ethics committees, establishing clear codes of conduct, and promoting ethical decision-making based on Utilitarianism. The report underscores the importance of ethical considerations and cross-cultural understanding in international business operations.

Running head: CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Cross Cultural Management
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Part A- Group Podcast...............................................................................................................3
Description of the issue:.........................................................................................................3
Analysis of the issue:.............................................................................................................6
Recommendation:..................................................................................................................8
Part B- Reflective report............................................................................................................9
Justification of the choice of theory:......................................................................................9
Experience of working in the podcast group:......................................................................10
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................11
References:...............................................................................................................................12

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Introduction:
In the highly competitive business environment, running business in the international
market has become the matter of utmost importance. Thomas and Peterson (2017) showed
that this is the key of gaining a strong position in the international market and thereby gain
competitive advantage. However, different countries follow different culture. There lies the
significance of cross cultural management. Present paper would put forth the discussion of
the critical business related to hiring staffs at Tanzania. Recommendation will also be
presented in order to mitigate this issue. Finally, a reflection on working in the group will
also be provided in the paper.
Part A- Group Podcast
Description of the issue:
Tanzania is one of the major countries in East Africa. It is true that it is one of the
poorest countries of entire world, still the economy of the entire country is emerging in an
impressive rate in the entire Africa. This is acting as a great opportunity for the people who
are working at Tanzania. However, Bird and Mendenhall (2016) observed that there is a
negative factor being followed in Tanzania, while hiring people. Nepotism is being followed
in the country, while hiring while hiring human resources. Such negative practice makes it
difficult for the competent staffs to access employment opportunity.
Now, it is imperative to discuss the practice of nepotism, followed in Tanzania in
order to hire the staffs. In the contemporary business scenario, Nepotism is the most
significant unethical practice, followed throughout the globe. There are wide ranges of
recruitment agencies, operating in Africa. The fundamental objective of such recruitment
agencies is to help the recruitment agencies to access employment opportunity.
According to Tjosvold (2017) it is becoming difficult for really competent graduates to get

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job due to nepotism in the hiring practice. Most of the fresh graduates are getting job
through the referral by their friends and family members. As per the case study, Jones,
one of the operation managers of Hydro Generation (HG) - an US based firm, follows
nepotism in hiring people. It is true that, he is highly efficient and hold the capability of
completing projects within time and budget. It has been observed by Graham Steinberg – the
vice president of the firm that, the way, through which Jones completes his assignment is
highly questionable. Most of the time, Zone hire people, through referrals without checking
their skills and competency level. At the same time, discriminating practice on the basis of
religion has also been found in the hiring practice of Zones. Jones has hired one of the
specialists from Africa due to his religious belief. However, it is absolutely unethical to hire
someone on the basis of religion.
Evidences are showing that nepotism is not new in Tanzania. Still, in the
contemporary times, such practice is increasing in the labour market. The rate of
unemployment in Tanzania is 11%, the rate of which is increasing rapidly due to nepotism
(Www2.staffingindustry.com. (2019). Now, it is imperative to analyse the cultural dimension
of Tanzania. Hofsdete's cultural dimensions is a framework, which would help in analysing
Tanzania from the context of culture.
Figure 1: Hofsdete's cultural dimensions of Tanzania
(Source: Hofstede Insights. (2019)

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 Power Distance
This dimension shows the fact, all the individuals in the society are not treated equally. In
this dimension, Tanzania scores 70, which means that hierarchal order is being followed in
the country in terms of treating people. However, inherent inequality is there in the corporate
dimension of Tanzania. Autocratic attitude is also found among the higher authorities of
corporate entities.
 Individualism
This dimension deals with the degree of interdependence in the society and its members
(French 2015). In this dimensions, Tanzania scores 25, which means that collectivistic
society is there, in the nation. Long term commitment and commitment among the members
of the society can be found in Tanzania. The members of the societies fosters strong
relationship with each other. The relationship in between the employers and employees is like
a family link.
 Masculinity
A high score in this dimension shows that intense competition, achievement and success
are the key factors of the society. The score of Tanzania in this dimension is 40. Thus,
Tanzania is being considered as feminine society. Richter et al. (2016) opined that working in
order to live the life is the key factor of Tanzania. In the organisations, the managers are
utmost committed towards competent people. In such society, compromise and negotiation
are the key factor of resolving conflicts.
 Uncertainty Avoidance
This dimension deals with the way through which society controls any kind of negative
events and take necessary action in order to restrict it in future. The score of Tanzania in this
cultural dimension is 50, which means that the members of Tanzanian society is highly
ambiguous towards any kind of unknown situation (Adekola and Sergi 2016).

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 Long Term Orientation
This dimension covers the role of a society to maintain cordial relationship with the past
at the time of dealing with past as well future. Tanzania secured 34 in this dimension, which
means that it has short term oriented culture. Tanzanian society exhibits great respect towards
the tradition. However, Stahl Stahl et al. (2017) argued on the ground that the society is quite
impatient in terms of achieving result.
 Indulgence
This dimension shows the extent to which, people can restrict their impulses and desires.
In this dimension, Tanzania scores 38, which is lower than that of normal. Restraint is one of
the most imperative factors of Tanzanian culture. Pessimistic attitude can also found in
Tanzanian society. At the same time, people have very low control over their impulses over
their desires.
Based on the cultural dimensions of Tanzania, it can be said that, the country is highly
exposed towards multiple negative aspects such as moral relationship in between the
employer and employees, loss of control towards impulses and desires, ambiguous attitude
towards unknown future. Contrarily, Holden et al. (2015) observed that it has also been found
that, equality is also being found in the organisation. Still, there are certain negative aspects
of Tanzanian government. It has been observed that the relationship in between employer and
employees is like family link. This is the reason, for which most of the graduates in Tanzania
got job through referral. This is the practice of nepotism followed in recruiting and selecting
staffs.
Analysis of the issue:
The issue of nepotism in hiring staffs is prevalent in Tanzania. According to the legal
experts of the country, nepotism is absolutely unethical in the recruitment and selection
process and its results in abuse and politics in the corporate environment. Nepotism is one of

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the most unethical practices in the recruitment process of Tanzania. Organisation culture
plays a major role in running the internal functionality of a firm with utmost efficiency (Dietz
et al. 2017).
According to Hall’s High Culture vs. Low Culture and Communication framework,
healthy organisational culture and cordial communication throughout an organisation are the
key factor of preventing any kind of unethical practice in the workplace. In the era of
globalisation, most of the organisations are running their business by crossing the national
barriers. There lies the significance of intercultural communication as it supports in sharing
all the vital information among the staffs from different background (Jiang et al. 2016). It is
imperative to note in this context that culture is an important factor in both verbal and non-
verbal communication.
Figure 2: Hall’s High Culture vs. Low Culture and Communication framework
(Source: Jackson 2016)
According to Hall’s framework, Africa follows comparatively low context culture,
which means that, local as well as expatriate employees, working in Tanzania are capable to
cope up with diversity. However, the staffs working in the nation are used to communicate
with extreme explicitness, which sometime results in resentment and offense. As per the case
study, Jones is being considered as local employee of Hydro Generation (HG), who is
engaged in nepotism in terms of hiring human resources. Association is one of the most

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significant aspect of high context of culture. In this context of culture, the relationship in
between employers and employees builds on trust and degree of productivity among
individual employees.
According to the case study, Jones is highly efficient in terms of completing
complicated projects within time and budget. This is the reason, for which a healthy
relationship has been created in between Jones and Graham Steinberg- the vice president of
the company. Interaction is another vital aspect of high context culture, which shows that
both verbal and non-verbal communication play a major role in keeping an entire
organisation informed (Ahammad et al. 2016). Territoriality is also a vital aspect of high
context of culture, where people in an organisation share identical background. This is quite
evident in Jones’s practice of hiring staffs. He generally hires staffs on the basis of their
religious background and through referrals.
Recommendation:
Implementing ethics can solve the corruption problem between America and
Tanzania. Cultural differences influence Brett’s and Steinberg’s perceptions of business
ethics (Hunt and Vitell’s, 2006). For Brett, culture plays an important role but some situations
present huger ethical dilemmas, so his decision to appeal to bribes suggest that in his point of
view ethics are a consequential perspective, which are relative of cultural interpretation and
depends on the results and effects. While Steinberg consider ethics as a universal concept,
which from a deontological perspective is no room for cultural interpretation only for the
importance of what is bad and what is good (Sims, 2006). In a U.S. and Western approach,
ethics becomes laws, what means that bribing is considered an unacceptable practice, a crime
that can harm the HG’s reputation and can lead to repercussion for the dam project in
Tanzania (OECD, 2018).

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Furthermore, Steinberg should ensure that Brett Jones understand the company’s
ethics by implementing strategies, in order to deal with this ethical dilemma, such as: ethics
committee in Tanzania, statements on ethics, code of ethics, punishment for un unethical
conduct. In order to respect the code of ethics, HG organisation should choose to speed down
the progress of their dam project and in return for the whole community, HG can offer
sponsorships and donations for the local community institutions.
From the case study, it is quite evident that, Jones in engaged in unethical practice in terms of
hiring people. Thus, it is imperative for the higher authority of HG organisation to take
necessary action against Jones in terms of avoiding such negative practice and thereby ensure
equality in terms of hiring and recruiting human resources. According to Utilitarianism
approach of business ethics, it is the prime responsibility of every people in an organisation to
follow the code of ethics and put their utmost effort towards accelerating organisational
productivity (Groves et al. 2015).
As Jones recruits people on the basis of religious belief and through referrals without
measuring the expertise level of the people. From this activity of Jones, it is evident that he is
violating his code of conduct. Thus, it is recommended for the higher authority of HG
organisation to take necessary action against Jones. Initially, it is suggested for the vice
president of the organisation to provide verbal statement to Jones that necessary action will
going to be taken against him. If Jones continues his unethical practice of hiring people even
after receiving the notice, the management should give him written notice. It is suggested for
the management of HG organisation to end the employment relationship with Jones as he is
engaged in unethical practice. Suspension can also be applied to the employees, who are
engaged in the unethical practice.

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Part B- Reflective report
Justification of the choice of theory:
In the group podcast, the issue related to the nepotism practice in hiring in hiring
people in Tanzania has been analysed. As discussed by De Cieri (2017) this is the most
prevalent issue in the corporate environment of Tanzania, which is restricting the skilled
graduates to access employment opportunity. In order to figure out the root cause of this
issue, it is imperative to evaluate the underlying culture of the country. There lies the reason
for which Hofsdete's framework of cultural dimension has been chosen in the podcast. The
fundamental reason behind choosing the framework in discussing the issue is that, it has
helped in exploring different aspects of Tanzanian society.
Detailed knowledge regarding the scores of different dimensions has helped out group
to cultural aspects along with the tendencies of the nation. In the context of globalisation,
international business in an emerging concept. Miska and Öner (2015) showed that as
Hofsdete's framework of cultural dimension provides detailed knowledge regarding the
culture of different countries, it supports the managers of multinational organisations to gain
knowledge about the societal structure of the country, before planning to expand the business.
The theory has helped to understand the inner culture of the Tanzania, for which such
unethical practice in the recruitment process is being followed in the country.
Hall’s High Culture vs. Low Culture and Communication framework has been chosen
in terms of analysing the issue of nepotism in the recruitment strategy of Tanzania. This
framework has helped in understanding the way of communication high context culture.
From the framework, it has been observed that high context culture is being followed in
Africa (Vogel et al. 2015). Thus, selection of this theory has supported in understanding the
role of appropriate organisational culture and communication style. As per the case study,
Jones is engaged in unethical practice and thereby violates code of conduct. Thus,

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Utilitarianism approach in order to provide recommendations to HG organisations in order to
take disciplinary action.
Experience of working in the podcast group:
Working in the group podcast has helped me in understanding the significance of
team working in terms of completing a project in a timely and cost effective manner. I have
understood that, collaborative working is a major factor in generating brainstorming ideas.
Thiis the key of accomplishing the project. However, I have also understood that, working in
a team has some negative aspects also.
Stahl and Tung (2015) commented that conflict is quite common in team working.
Initially, conflicting attitude was there among our team members, which has restricted prompt
decision making process. Our team leader has defined the roles and responsibilities of the
team members clearly in order to resolve this issue. Still, working in the podcast has helped
me to strengthen my knowledge on project management. At the same time, working in the
group podcast has also helped me to amplify my commutation skill. This is the key factor of
building and maintaining cordial relationship with the co-workers (Rode et al. 2016).
Conclusion:
To conclude, it can be said that, culture of a country plays a major role in running the
business in an effective manner. Hofsdete’s cultural dimension in the context of Tanzania has
been presented in the paper in order to understand the local culture of Tanzania, which is
leading the country to follow the unethical practice. Recommendation has been provided in
order to take necessary action against the staffs, who is engaged in the unethical practice.
Reflection on working in the group podcast has also been presented in the paper.

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References:
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perspective. Routledge.
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cross-border acquisition performance: The impact of cultural distance and employee
retention. International business review, 25(1), pp.66-75.
Bird, A. and Mendenhall, M.E., 2016. From cross-cultural management to global leadership:
Evolution and adaptation. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.115-126.
De Cieri, H., 2017. International human resource management: from cross-cultural
management to managing a diverse workforce. Routledge.
Dietz, J., Fitzsimmons, S.R., Aycan, Z., Francesco, A.M., Jonsen, K., Osland, J., Sackmann,
S.A., Lee, H.J. and Boyacigiller, N.A., 2017. Cross-cultural management education rebooted:
creating positive value through scientific mindfulness. Cross Cultural & Strategic
Management, 24(1), pp.125-151.
French, R., 2015. Cross-cultural management in work organisations. Kogan Page Publishers.
Groves, K.S., Feyerherm, A. and Gu, M., 2015. Examining cultural intelligence and cross-
cultural negotiation effectiveness. Journal of Management Education, 39(2), pp.209-243.
Hofstede Insights. (2019). Tanzania* - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country/tanzania/ [Accessed 6 Jul. 2019].
Holden, N., Michailova, S. and Tietze, S. eds., 2015. The Routledge companion to cross-
cultural management. Routledge.
Jackson, T., 2016. Paternalistic leadership: The missing link in cross-cultural leadership
studies? CRC Press.
Jiang, X., Flores, H.R., Leelawong, R. and Manz, C.C., 2016. The effect of team
empowerment on team performance: A cross-cultural perspective on the mediating roles of