Analysis of USA on Hofstede’s Cultural Model
Discuss about the Cross Cultural Management for Hofstede Cultural Model.
The Hofstede’s cultural model is one of the most popular tools which are used to analyze the national culture of a particular nation. The concept of national culture has indeed become very important in the present day business world in the light of the fact that the corporate houses are following the path of internationalization and thus are operational in many other nations of the world apart from their native one (Minkov and Hofstede 2012). It is a generally seen that the national culture of one nation is drastically different from another nations and many experts are of the viewpoint that the national culture of a particular nation wields a significant amount of influence on the way or the manner in which business is being conducted in that particular nation (Minkov and Hofstede 2012). Therefore, it would be apt to say that an analysis of the national culture of a particular nation has become very important for the corporate houses which are willing to expand their business in that particular nation and it is precisely here that the tool of Hofstede’s cultural model becomes important (Minkov and Hofstede 2012).
The nation of USA can be seen as a multicultural one with people from different parts of the world taking up residence in this nation (Halls 2014). Thus, the national culture of the nation USA represents the conglomeration of all these different cultures. An analysis of the national culture of the nation of Hofstede’s cultural model would reveal the following details-
Figure 1: USA on Hofstede’s Cultural Model
Source: Hofstede’s Insights 2018
The people of the nation under discussion here are more likely to indulge in individualistic kind of works rather than collaborative or group activities since the score of the nation on the quotient of individualism is very high (Hofstede Insights 2018). The people of the nation, on the other hand, are likely to get influenced by the concepts of achievement, success and competition which is indicated by the high masculinity score of the nation (Hofstede Insights 2018). The low score of the nation on the power distance section is a representative of the fact the people of the nation does not follow ardently the power divisions within the workplace and the seniors are always approachable (Hofstede Insights 2018). Moreover, the low score on the long term orientation quotient is a representative of the fact that the people of the nation measure the success of a particular corporate house on the basis of its recent performance rather than its overall performance since its initiation (Hofstede Insights 2018). Furthermore, the high score on the parameter of indulgence is a representative of the fact the people of the nation generally like to keep their work and personal lives separate (Hofstede Insights 2018). Finally, the average score on the uncertainty avoidance section is an indicative of the fact that the people of the nation of USA are generally comfortable with the recent innovations and technologies and generally like to use them for the process of their business (Hofstede Insights 2018).
Analysis of France on Hofstede’s Cultural Model
An analysis of the nation of France on the cultural framework of Hofstede’s cultural model would reveal the following facts-
Figure 2: France on Hofstede’s cultural model
Source: Hofstede’s Insights 2018
The people of the nation of France just like the people of the nation like to take part in individualistic kind of works rather than on group or collaborative kind of activities which is indicated by the high score on the individualism index (Hofstede Insights 2018). Furthermore, the people of the nation unlike the people of the USA score low on the masculinity quotient which means that the people of the nation are less likely to be influenced by the concepts of achievement, competition and success (Hofstede Insights 2018). The high score on the power distance quotient is a representative of the fact that in the nation of France and more specifically within the various workplaces people follow the various power divisions in an ardent manner (Hofstede Insights 2018). The extremely high score on the uncertainty avoidance quotient represents the fact that the people of the nation of France do not like to take the help of the recent technologies and innovations for the process of their business (Hofstede Insights 2018). The high score on the long term orientation index represents the fact that the people of the nation of France access the success or the failure of a particular corporate house on its overall history rather than its recent performance (Hofstede Insights 2018). Finally, the average score on the indulgence quotient is a representative of the fact that the French people generally like to keep their work and personal lives separated (Hofstede Insights 2018).
The above discussion clearly indicates both the people of the USA and France are alike in terms of the individualistic kind of work which they like to do whereas they are different from each other in all other six parameters of Hofstede’s cultural model. Thus, the corporate house EuroDisney needed to take these differences in culture between the two nations into effective consideration for the process of their business in the nation of France.
The research work of Trompenaar provides the same kind of information into the field of cross cultural communication just like the cross cultural communication theory of Hofstede’s cultural model (Kinloch and Metge 2014). An analysis of the two nations on this particular model of cross cultural communication would reveal the following facts-
Comparison of USA and France on Hofstede’s Cultural Model
The American people are very individualistic and do not generally like to indulge in collaborative or group activities and the people of France just like the people of USA generally like to indulge in individualistic kind of works (Thomas and Peterson 2017). However, the results of this particular research show at the same time that the people of America are more likely to not take into consideration the cultural factors of other nations in comparison to the people of France who are likely to take into consideration the cultural factors of other nations (Thomas and Peterson 2017). Thus, the failure of the American company Disney to take into consideration the cultural factors of the nation of France became the major cause of its failure in the nation of France.
The people of France as well as the people of USA generally like to display their emotions and do believe in keeping their emotions in checks. According to Trompenaar, this particular aspect of the cultures of the two countries is starkly different from the cultures of the other nations which generally like to suppress their emotions (France, del Carmen Rodríguez and Hett 2012).
The people of the nation of America are more likely to follow a specific kind of culture in which there is a distinction between the private as well as the professional lives of the individuals (Ferraro and Briody 2017). The people of France, on the other hand, are the followers of the concept of diffuse culture in which there is a close parallel between the professional as well as the personnel lives of the individuals (Ferraro and Briody 2017).
The nations of America and France differ from each other on the factor of time orientation as well. The people of the nation of America consider the entity of time to be of paramount importance and thus it is generally seen that they do not like to change the time of the meetings and other important official events once it had been scheduled by them (Thomas and Peterson 2017). This particular thing can be ascribed to the fact that the people of America generally like to do one thing at one time. The appointments or official events scheduled by the French people, on the other hand are subjected to change since the French people like to do multiple things at one time (Thomas and Peterson 2017).
The American company Disney for the process of its business operations in the nation of France committed many mistakes which indirectly as well as directly affected the prospects of the company in the nation of France and other European countries. Some of the major mistakes committed by the American company for the process of its business in the nation of France are as follows-
Trompenaar’s research
The Paris Disneyland was completely based on the model which was followed by the company for the process of its business in the nation of the USA (Disneylandparis.com 2018). It is significant to note that this particular model enabled the theme park to attain a significant amount of success in the nation of America (Disneylandparis.com 2018). Thus, it was with this particular objective that the company for the process of its business operations in the nation of France banned the use of wine and other alcoholic beverages, explicit display of emotions and other important factors that formed the key components of the culture of the nation of France (Disneylandparis.com 2018). Furthermore, the company served American food items to the people who visited the theme parks which were much in demand among its American customers (Disneylandparis.com 2018). It is significant to note that these food items were not much appreciated by the people of the nation of France. Thus, the lack of presence of these factors significantly hampered the prospects of the concerned corporate house in the nation of France. Therefore, the establishment of this particular theme at the city of Paris was called by the people of Paris as a form of “cultural imperialism” on the part of the American people (Halls 2014).
The American company Disney for the process of their business at the city of Paris also faced the problem of inadequate staffing. The corporate house failed to recruit adequate number of staffs and therefore it was generally seen that most of the time the theme park was unclean and the ground of the theme park was littered with food packets and other stuffs consumed by them.
The entire theme park established at Paris was modeled after the theme park of the same corporate in the nation of USA. Thus, it was generally seen that the organization followed the same kind of business strategies for the process of their business in the nation of France which have yielded success in the nation of USA (Disneylandparis.com 2018). It is a reflection of this particular fact that just like its theme park in the nation of USA the theme park of Paris as well had its major focus on the children. It was with this objective that the theme park banned the use of wine and other alcoholic beverages in the theme parks. This particular strategy along with the other ones followed by the corporate house for the process of their business in the city of Paris hurt the prospects of the corporate house in a negative manner.
Individualism and universalism
Although the business operations of Disney in the nation of France failed to yield the desired kind of results which the corporate house had expected yet the corporate house can take the experience as a learning one and try not to repeat them for the process of their business operations in the other nations of the world.
The corporate house for the process of its business operations in the future times should take into consideration the factor of adequate staffing. Adequate staffs are not only likely to keep the theme parks clean but at the same time are likely to help the concerned corporate house to serve its customers in a much effective manner. Therefore, it would be apt to say that the factor of adequate staffing is likely to significantly enhance the prospects of the corporate house in a significant manner.
Culture generally serves as a uniting entity within the framework of the society and thus the effective utilization of this particular factor by the various corporate houses becomes of paramount importance (Kinloch and Metge 2014). Thus, in future it becomes very important for the corporate house Disney to take into effective consideration the culture of Europe for the process of their business operations in the continent of Europe.
The setting up of realistic goals is another factor which is likely to help the corporate house in a significant manner. One of the major mistakes committed by Disney for its operations in the city of Paris was the fact that it established goals for itself on the basis of the success attained by it in the city of California and thus the venture was bound to fail. Therefore, in future setting up of realistic goals is likely to help the concerned corporate house in a significant manner.
References
Disneyland Resort. 2018. Disneyland® Official Site. [online] Available at: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Disneylandparis.com. 2018. Disneyland Paris. [online] Available at: https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Ferraro, G.P. and Briody, E.K., 2017. The cultural dimension of global business. Taylor & Francis.
Forbes, B.D., 2017. Religion and popular culture in America. Univ of California Press.
Forbes.com. 2018. Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2014/07/14/the-secrets-behind-disneys-2-2-billion-theme-park-profits/#961964e584fb [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
France, M.H., del Carmen Rodríguez, M. and Hett, G.G. eds., 2012. Diversity, Culture and Counselling: A Canadian Perspective, 2e. Brush Education.
Halls, W.D., 2014. Education, Culture and Politics in Modern France: Society, School, and Progress Series. Elsevier.
Hofstede Insights. 2018. Country Comparison – Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/the-usa/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Hofstede Insights. 2018. Country Comparison – Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/france/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Kinloch, P. and Metge, J., 2014. Talking past each other: problems of cross cultural communication. Victoria University Press.
Minkov, M. and Hofstede, G., 2012. Hofstede’s fifth dimension: New evidence from the World Values Survey. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 43(1), pp.3-14.
Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017. Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts. Sage Publications.
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