International Management Report: Cultural Differences in the Workplace

This report delves into the international management challenges faced by Lee, a Korean individual who spent 15 years in Australia before joining a Korean food and beverage company. It utilizes Hofstede's framework to analyze the cultural differences contributing to Lee's workplace issues, focusing on dimensions such as power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance. The report offers practical strategies for Lee to navigate these cultural disparities, including adapting his work habits and appearance, and suggests approaches for the Korean manager to foster a more inclusive and adaptable work environment. The analysis underscores the importance of understanding and addressing cultural differences in international business settings to promote effective communication, collaboration, and employee integration. The report emphasizes the need for managers to create flexible and innovative workplaces, especially in the context of globalization, to maximize the potential of diverse workforces.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT
International Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
Cultural differences tend to distinct one ethnic or geographical group from another.
However, migrating workers often face troubles in adjusting in one type of cultural set up,
coming from another. The problem is even more intensified in their professional environment, as
much of their image, reputation and perception about them are determined by their professional
code of conduct, which varies widely from region to region. The report discussed the problems
faced by Lee, a Korean by birth, who has joined a food and beverage company in Korea, after
staying for fifteen years in Australia. The discussion tries to analyze and explain the problems
faced by Lee in his new Korean work place using Hofstede’s Framework. It also suggests several
simple steps, which Lee can take to ease his workplace relationships, and also several strategies
which the Korean manager can implement to integrate the employees accustomed to different
cultural environments.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions:.....................................................................................................4
Situational Analysis using Hofstede’s Framework:........................................................................5
Lee’s Potential Strategies:...............................................................................................................6
Managers’ Potential Strategies:.......................................................................................................8
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction:
Culture, though a broad multi-dimensional term, is in general a collective phenomenon.
Culture can be defined as a collection of several norms, which are unwritten but are present
invisibly in an individual’s life and which shapes up the lifestyle of individuals, both in personal
and professional domains and determines the code of conduct of individuals belonging to a
specific group. In other words, culture is one of those yardsticks, which separate one ethnic or
geographical group from another (Moran, Abramson and Moran 2014). Many a times, stiff
differences in cultural patterns between two geographical locations create difficulties especially
for those who try to move from one of these locations to another. The problems, though appear
to be non-significant in personal domain, are more apparent in professional set up of an
individual as these can leave negative implications on his or her career. This assignment deals
with the issues faced by Lee (Barak 2016). A Korean by birth, Lee has been in Australia for one
and a half decade for higher studies and MBA. Lee has also bagged an internship here, before
moving to Korea, to join an international food and beverage enterprise (Yang et al. 2012).
Accustomed to Australian culture and way of living, Lee faces several issues in the Korean
company. The problems faced by Lee are mostly due to the differences in the cultural patterns of
the two countries. This situation is analyzed in this report, with the help of Hofstede’s
Framework, which deals with several cultural dimensions (Hofstede, Jonker and Verwaart 2012).

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Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions:
The Framework designed by Hofstede, analyzes the cross-cultural differences in
communications and behaviors of different countries with respect to the following indices of
measuring cultural dimensions (Geert-hofstede.com, 2017):
a) Collectivism and Individualism- The societies, where, in general people prefer working
together in a collective and integrated framework and aim towards fulfilling community goals
over individual interests, usually score more in collectivism criteria. On the contrary,
individualistic societies consist of majority of such people who puts achievement of personal
targets and gaining personal material satisfaction over welfare of the society as a whole
(Gorodnichenko and Roland 2012).
b) Index of Power Distance- Power distance refers to the presence of hierarchy in a society and
the stiffness of the relationships between an individual and his or her superiors. High scorers in
this index are those societies where there are existences of stiff hierarchical constructs and the
juniors have to maintain strict code of conduct to approach their superiors. On the other hand,
societies with comparatively flatter dynamics score low in this index (Hofstede 2013).
c) Masculine and Feminine-Heroism, personal accolades and material achievements are linked
with success in masculine societies, whereas, those scoring low in masculinity, gives more
emphasis on cooperation, modesty and collective, non-materialistic achievements and cares for
the ones with lesser capabilities (Hofstede, Jonker and Verwaart 2012).
d) Indulgence- Indulgence means fulfilling ones’ personal desires and living the life one wants
to live. A society allowing these activities and putting lesser restraints on how an individual

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should express his desires and emotions scores more in this index than those imposing greater
restrictive norms on lifestyles of its members (Kohun, Burčik and Skovira 2012).
e) Index of Uncertainty Avoidance- Generally, greater rigidity and lesser acceptance of new
and innovative ideas fetch more score in this index and a more flexible and accepting society,
which accepts non-conventional ideas and implements, changes more easily, scores less in this
dimension (Geert-hofstede.com, 2017).
[f) Long Term Orientation (Alternatively Confucian Dynamics) – This is the sixth dimension
in this framework. Higher ranks in this index signify that the particular community is more
inclined towards practicality and applicability than following of traditional norms only
(Fitzgerald 2013).]
Situational Analysis using Hofstede’s Framework:
The situation faced by Lee in the Korean company, can be explained with the help of the
above framework. Lee’s habit of leaving early after completion of his tasks can create a negative
perception about his professional conduct in the Korean company (Barak 2016). This may be
because Korea, in general is a high scorer in the Power Distance Index, implying that a rigid
hierarchical construct is present in the society as a whole and several norms are abided by the
juniors to not appear rude or non-accepting the superiority of their seniors. Accustomed to
Australian way of living, coloring his hair or wearing casual clothes in workplace may not seem
to be anything unnatural to Lee. However, in his Korean work environment, these simple
behaviors may have significant implications; mostly negative (Bae, Rowley and Sohn 2012).
Scoring low in Indulgence Index in the Hofstede’s Framework, the company may perceive these

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behaviors of Lee as an indicator of non-acceptance of Korean work culture, thereby, creating
difficulties for Lee to blend in the new work environment (Kohun, Burčik and Skovira 2012).
Lee has an individualistic approach in general, living mostly in Australia. He targets to
attain personal appreciations and tries to stick out of the crowd by giving efforts to gain personal
attention of his superiors. This may however, appear inappropriate to his coworkers as they are
more accustomed to collective way of working and aim towards achievement of team goals and
group appreciations over personal accolades. Korea is also a high scoring country in the
Uncertainty Avoidance Indicator (Rinne, Steel and Fairweather 2013). This may imply that the
Korean company, which Lee works, may not be very accepting to new and innovative ideas and
prefer to go on working following the traditional norms. In this set up, Lee’s approach of coming
up with new and innovative suggestions for the company may not be seen as an appropriate
formal behavior and though his seniors may hear to his suggestions, they are less likely to be
implemented for real. These factors in a cumulative manner may have attributed in the creation
of an environment, hostile and unfavorable for Lee in his new workplace (Warner 2014).
Lee’s Potential Strategies:
Most of the issues faced by Lee, in his new Korean work environment, are due to the
differences in the work cultures of Australia, where he has stayed for long and from where his
lifestyle has shaped up and Korea, where he has come to work recently. Many of his trivial
habits and not so significant behaviors in the new Korean workplace, has led his coworkers to
create non-favorable perceptions about Lee’s professional attitude, thereby creating a hostile and
non-welcoming environment for Lee in his new professional domain (Warner 2014). However,

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the situation can be handles and improved if Lee implements several small changes in his
appearance and behavior in the workplace. Not only this can help in easing the work
environment and relationships of Lee with his colleagues, it will also help in his image building
which can have long term benefits (Bae, Rowley and Sohn 2012). Few recommendations
regarding such changes are as follows:
a) Instead of leaving his work place early (though he might have finished all his works), waiting
for his superiors to leave fast may be seen as a good professional conduct on part of Lee. This
may be seen as a way of paying respect to his seniors, which will be welcomed by his superiors
as Korea in general has a rigid hierarchical construct (Warner 2014).
b) Lee may start coming to his office in simple and decent formals instead of casual clothing.
Avoiding loud hair dyes may be a simple and easy step that Lee can take. Although this may
appear apparently non-significant and may not have any effect on Lee’s lifestyle at all, this may
have substantial positive implication in his work life, as he will not stick out of the crowd. This
will make it easy for him to mix well with his co-workers thereby decreasing the hostility in his
job environment (Holmes and Stubbe 2015).
c) Individualistic approach of Lee is one of the primary reasons for the non-friendly job
environment he gets in his work place. To create a positive image for himself, Lee can replace
his efforts to gain personal appreciations by sticking out from others with a collective approach.
He can try to work together with his team and target team achievements. This may help in taking
his team forward on one hand and help him in gaining confidence of his co-workers, which in
turn may have positive effects on his career graph (Moran, Abramson and Moran 2014).

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d) Lee can also create a favorable place for himself in his Korean work set up by maintaining a
more introverted and reserved approach as a part of his formal code of conduct. This will most
likely be perceived as a symbol of his wisdom and control over his emotions and will fetch him
respect as well as cooperation from his co-workers in the Korean company (Holmes and Stubbe
2015).
Managers’ Potential Strategies:
With the advent of new-age business framework, post globalization, creation of an
integrated, flexible and change-accepting work environment is mandatory on part of the Korean
Manager of the concerned company (Buja 2016). He can integrate the individualistic but talented
employees in his office in the following ways, without sacrificing the competitive edge:
a) Individualistic employees work for personal accolades and appreciations more than company
targets. Therefore, to keep them motivated, without gaining negative attentions of the
collectivistic ones, the Manager can use verbal appreciations and little non-verbal expressions,
which may act as boost ups for the former ones (Holmes and Stubbe 2015).
b) To stay ahead of competition, innovation is an absolute necessity for any firm in any corner of
the world. The restrictive and non-welcoming nature of the Korean company, to new ideas and
innovations need to be rectified. By incorporating the potential and innovative concepts taken
from the employees, not only the Korean Manager cannot only encourage his employees to take
interest in their work but also can create future prospects for his company in the global business
environment (Warner 2014).

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c) To motivate the employees, especially those who are not accustomed to an introverted and
reserved working environment and feels uncomfortable in working in a stiff hierarchical
framework, the manager can create a more amiable and approachable work environment where
the employees feel less restraints in approaching their seniors with new ideas, questions as well
as work related problems. These simple strategies may prove beneficial for both the ends in the
long run (Buja 2016).
Conclusion:
In the above discussion, the problems faced by Lee in his new work environment,
situated in Korea are analyzed in details. Much of these problems are found to be having their
roots in the cultural differences between Lee, who is more accustomed to Australian lifestyle and
his Korean workplace. The discussion tries to recommend several simple to implement strategies
for Lee, which can solve his problems to considerable extent, without changing his lifestyle as
such. The report, in the later parts, also discusses about the potential strategies that the Korean
Manager can take to keep his employees, especially those individualistic but talented ones, who
can be valuable assets for the company.

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References
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culture, human resources and change. Routledge.
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Buja, E., 2016. Hofstede’s Dimensions of National Cultures Revisited: A Case Study of South
Korea’s Culture. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, 8(1), pp.169-182.
Fitzgerald, A., 2013. Long Term Orientation. Month.
Geert-hofstede.com (2017). [online] Geert-hofstede.com. Available at: https://geert-
hofstede.com/ [Accessed 17 Aug. 2017].
Gorodnichenko, Y. and Roland, G., 2012. Understanding the individualism-collectivism
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economic development (pp. 213-236). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
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Holmes, J. and Stubbe, M., 2015. Power and politeness in the workplace: A sociolinguistic
analysis of talk at work. Routledge.

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and Learning: Global Empowerment. Proceedings of the Management, Knowledge and Learning
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national-level creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 25(1), pp.129-136.
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