HRMT20025: Managing Culture Shock with IHRM - A Case Study Approach

This essay provides an overview of culture shock in the business context and explores the role of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) policies and practices in effectively managing it. It highlights the discomfort and challenges faced by individuals entering unfamiliar cultural environments, discussing factors such as language barriers, lack of cooperation, and varying work cultures. The essay emphasizes the importance of training programs and HR policies in helping employees adapt to new environments, reducing negative impacts on performance and organizational growth. It uses the example of Woodside, an Australian company, to illustrate successful strategies for identifying and addressing culture shock, including recognizing cultural and individual differences, and implementing motivational strategies. The essay concludes by summarizing the key factors contributing to culture shock and the measures taken by Woodside to mitigate its effects, emphasizing the need for organizations to prioritize employee well-being and cultural integration.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF CULTURE SHOCK IN BUSINESS
Management of culture shock in business
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1MANAGEMENT OF CULTURE SHOCK IN BUSINESS
Introduction
The term ‘culture shock’ generally refers to the discomfort that an individual feel
when they visit a completely different as well as unfamiliar environment in terms of culture
(Gunn, 2017). The term has also been adopted in the business sector to identify the issues like
feeling of not knowing the ways to adjust with the new environment, feeling of anxiety and
other emotional distresses that a business individual feel due to several reasons (Shi & Wang,
2013). The reasons might be related to language, lack of cooperation from colleagues or some
other factors. In order to discuss the culture shock in business the essay gives an overview of
the term. The easy then discusses the human resource policies and other strategies which can
help in addressing the issues of cultural shock. It also mentions that the strategies and policies
help organizations in overcoming cultural shock along with suitable example of organization
that has managed culture shock in their business.
Discussion
The term ‘Culture Shock’ defines a feeling of anxiety, uncertainty or confusion that
business individuals experience when they change their workplace and encounter an entire
different environment (Van & van, 2013). Culture shock can occur due to different reasons
such as the unfamiliarity of the person with culture, language, business etiquettes and
behavior and so on. The generally when a person shifts to a new country, he or she find
difficult to adjust with the local customs, language and behavior. Work culture of the
organization plays a crucial role in this regard. Work culture may vary in different countries.
For example, the work culture of the person’s previous organization might be different from
that of the organization in which the person is presently working. Therefore, culture shock
has an impact on the performance of the person. It creates difficulties for the person in

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building relationship with the organization. In order to address the issue, nowadays both
international as well as national organizations provide training to the business professional so
that they can overcome the culture shock. There are some stages of cultural shock along with
different approaches. Different researches have revealed several symptoms of cultural culture
shock ranging from homesickness, feeling of frustration, suffering from isolation, lack of will
to work and so on. Culture shock not only negatively impacts on the business individual’s
efficiency but on the other hand it also affects the growth of the organization. According to
Lombard, (2014), it has been noticed that most qualified and efficient employees leave their
jobs as they fail to deal with culture shock in the work place. As per the records and survey,
the rate of sick calls is higher among the employees who move to a foreign country than the
employees who work in their native country. Conclusion can be drawn from this that
international organization should give more attention to the training program to overcome
culture shock (Roces & Roses, 2013).
In order to discuss how to overcome culture shock in business, an example of an
Australian company, Woodside is given. The company had cultural issues and it had
successfully managed it. The following are the strategies and measures that the company had
taken to identify the issues of culture shock (Jack, 2014) and therefore, in order to help the
employees to deal with cultural shock and overcome it, the company had adopted several
training program. Along with that, some human resource policies were also taken. Some of
the strategies had been mentioned below that the company adopted in order to manage culture
shock.
While identifying the issue related the related to ‘culture shock’ the company
identified cultural differences as the main factor for which business professionals were
experiencing culture shock, which is the differences between the culture of his/her native
place and culture of foreign country (Rajasekar & Renand, 2013). Initially, those who moved

3MANAGEMENT OF CULTURE SHOCK IN BUSINESS
to a United Kingdom for the purpose of working with the company had a perception towards
the culture of the foreign country. It has been noticed that often individuals found their
perception to be wrong and failed to adjust and adopt the culture. In order to address the
issue, major effective measure that the company had taken is the training program regarding
culture shock to help their employees to combat culture shock and adjust with the new work
environment. The training process includes the process of evaluation and the suggestions.
Individual differences were another major factor that deserves mention while
discussing the root causes of culture shock experienced by the employees of the company.
The ability to deal with the issues of work place as well as the ability to adjust with the new
environment plays a major role in the matter of culture shock. It has been seen that some
business individuals who were age old persons did not wish to adjust with a new work
environment. Another reason behind this was their lack of will to come out from the comfort
zone. Socio-economic class differences, education, age, sex and other factors were identified
to be included in the individual differences. Different models and plans had been introduced
by the companies as well so that they can motivate themselves to overcome the issue.
Experiences of temporary stay or the experiences of the business professionals
received during their visit to a foreign country also had an impact and it further increased the
risk of culture shock. It has been noticed that when a business professional did not receive
desired treatment from the country where they visited, had a strong influence on them in
order to adjust with the culture of the country. As a result, they felt discouraged in coping
with new work environment as well as the social environment and left their job. Therefore,
the company had taken some measures like motivational strategies to keep their employee
encouraged so that they can deal with culture shock.

4MANAGEMENT OF CULTURE SHOCK IN BUSINESS
The article “Could climate risk disclosure be the new bottom line for Australian
companies?” 2018 suggests that one of the largest companies of Australia, Woodside has
effectively addressed the issue of culture shock and managed it.
While recruiting overseas employees the human resource management of the
company checked and understood the motivation of the employees to adapt the new work
environment (Appannah & Biggs, 2015). The human resource management of the company
interacted to keep the employees engaged to their work. As per the result, it has been noticed,
interaction also helped in preventing the employee withdrawal. According to Chiu et al.,
(2013), in case of employees from different cultural background, a healthy environment
should be maintained where he or she does not feel deprived or isolated and the company
applied that in their work place. In order to retain efficient employees, the organization kept
their employees motivated so that they do not suffer from cultural shock. Learning program
regarding culture shock was introduced in work place so that the employee themselves could
evaluate them and take measures in order to avoid cultural shock.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said to address the issue of culture shock, the essay defined
the term ‘culture shock’. While defining the term, the essay also explains the idea of culture
shock in relation with business. It discussed how culture shock affects the efficiency of
business individuals as well as the strength and growth of organization. Meanwhile, it also
discussed the root causes of culture shock. Three major factors have been discussed that
increased the rate of culture shock in Woodside Company. Finally the essay concludes by
mentioning the strategies and measures taken by Woodside Company that has successfully
managed the culture shock in their work place. The factors were cultural differences,
individual differences and experience of temporary stay.

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References
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culture and the participation of older workers. Journal of Social Work Practice, 29(1),
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Chiu, C. Y., Lonner, W. J., Matsumoto, D., & Ward, C. (2013). Cross-cultural competence:
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Could climate risk disclosure be the new bottom line for Australian companies?. (2018). the
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business/2017/jul/03/could-climate-risk-disclosure-be-the-new-bottom-line-for-
australian-companies
Gunn, S. (2017). Globalisation, education and culture shock. Taylor & Francis.
Jack, A. A. (2014, June). Culture shock revisited: The social and cultural contingencies to
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