4. Cultural Values for your specific country, using the values in the charts below. If your country is not listed in the charts, you will have to act as an expert on your country and present your best opinion.
1. According to Dimensions, Exhibit 3-6, p 82 Deresky
2. According to Hofstede’s Value Dimensions, beginning on p. 73, Deresky
3. According to Trompenaar’s Findings beginning on p. 78, Deresky
4. Other values which seem important for your unique country
5. How religion affects business operations (10 points)
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Hi everyone, I'll be posting Hw #4 soon, if you have any suggestions or comments be sure to contact me.
ReplyDelete4. Cultural Values for your specific country, using the values in the charts below. If your country is not listed in the charts, you will have to act as an expert on your country and present your best opinion.
ReplyDelete1. According to Dimensions, Exhibit 3-6, p 82 Deresky
Hierarchal Nature - South Africa is a hierarchical country. The racial aspect of the social hierarchy was encoded into law during apartheid, and today things are less formal but the Hierarchy still exists. Hierarchical structures exist in government, business and many other organizations. Despite being a somewhat egalitarian society, business people in South Africa have a lot of respect for senior executives and colleagues who have obtained their position through diligence and perseverance. South Africans are very individualistic. Individualism is encouraged and individual achievement is more important than family in determining status. Drive and
Attitudes towards work – South Africans work hard and are rewarded for their achievements in their workplace. Although they strive to do well in their job executives are not expected to be cutthroat. A win-win situation is ideal in a business partnership and gloating over crushing competitors in not appreciated. South Africans also take long vacations and rarely work weekends.
Time - The concept of time and the approach taken towards it differs between the white and
black cultures living in South Africa. For the majority of white South Africans, time is viewed in a more formal manner. However, conversely, you can expect black South Africans to do things at a slower pace.
Approach to problem solving - Generally when faced with problem South African businesspeople will make decisions based on fact but they will also somewhat consider their subjective feelings. In South African companies, decision-making power typically lies with the most senior person at the top of the company. However, in accordance with African culture, final decisions are often made following consultation with subordinates. Individual thinking is encouraged.
Fatalism- People in South Africa struggle with issues such as rape, murder, malnutrition, poverty, diseases, and sanitation. Middle-class South Africans seek security in gated communities. Many emigrants from South Africa also state that crime was a big motivator for them to leave. Unfortunately these serious issues do not receive the attention they deserve due to insufficient funding and corruption, people living under such conditions must believe in persevering and must hope for a better tomorrow. South Africans do not fold under inevitable results; instead they continue to persist on creating better living conditions. The result of this perseverance has resulted in the end of apartheid and many equal right movements.
View of human nature - South Africans believe in equality for all people. Since is such a varied country many religious beliefs and cultural factors may influence varied views in certain groups of people.
2. According to Hofstede’s Value Dimensions, beginning on p. 73, Deresky
ReplyDeleteAccording to Hofstede’s South Africa’s power distance index is 49. South Africans stress equality and opportunity for everyone but the differences between the races, as well the divide between classes of the wealthy and powerful and the poor still exists. South Africa is also characterized by weak uncertainty avoidance index of 49.South Africa’s are fairly risk accepting when it comes to investments based on the fact that they have the 17th largest stock exchange in the world. South Africa has been seeking innovative ideas from its trading partners, which expresses their willingness to take risks in the market in order to gain rewards. South Africans are highly individualistic with an index of 65. Goals are individual and employees expect chance to work independently. One reason the score is much higher than that of most African nations is the high level of European influence in the country. Because of this diversity, South Africa's score of 65 is moderately high, yet European influence continues to drive this index up. South Africa is still very individualistic when compared to every other African country.
South Africa has a fairly high Masculinity index of 63. It is a patriarchal country and in the majority of ethnics groups the husband is the head of the household and many refuse to do what they consider women’s work. Women have legal equality with men but their treatment varies widely between racial groups, in general women have more opportunities for advancement amongst English-speaking whites. South African society’s individualistic approach lends itself towards its high tendency towards masculinity. Although South Africans tend to be in favor of an individual approach, they can be seen as more collective than other nations, even with the lean to masculinity. Society in general in South African heavily favors the males, which defiantly translates to the business world. Masculinity vs. femininity in South African society demonstrates a strong inequality amongst the genders, where race also plays a factor. While masculinity remains the more dominant way of life in the business world, South Africans are working towards bringing more femininity to the workforce. Hoftede’s provides no ranking for Long-term Orientation. Being the Individualist that the South Africans are, they may shy away from Long-term relationships
3. According to Trompenaar’s Findings beginning on p. 78, Deresky
Using Trompenaar’s findings as a guide, my conclusions are that South Africans tend towards the more Particularistic end of the spectrum, they may place more value on relationships than obedience to abstract rules of behavior. They may also be inclined towards the Neutral end of the spectrum. South Africa is still a puritanical country. Brief physical contact and other displays may be accepted amongst friends or family but in public or business situations is frowned upon. South Africans also tends towards the more Specific dimension, managers separate work, personal issues and relationships; they are more open and direct and separate their work and private life. South African society gears towards Achievement, individuals are rewarded for their work and accomplishments, there are opportunities for women growing everyday especially amongst white South Africans and although class and race divide still exist, new opportunities are arising.
4. Other values which seem important for your unique country
ReplyDeleteFamily - As in many cultures, the family forms the central unit of this country’s society. In South Africa, the nuclear family together with the extended family or tribe, are vital to an
individual’s existence in shaping their values and influencing their behavior. The family or tribe also serves as a community of support both emotionally and financially. The importance of these units varies according to the background of the South African. For instance, the black and more
traditional Afrikaans cultures place as much emphasis on the extended family, or the tribe, as they do the nuclear family. The English-speaking white community, on the other hand, considers the nuclear family to be the primary focus.
5. How religion affects business operations (10 points)
There is no official religion in South Africa, the country’s diverse population follows many belief and most religions are represented .The predominant religion in South Africa is Christianity. The Constitution of South Africa allows for the freedom of religious practice, and laws at all level of government protect this freedom against abuses both on a personal and governmental level. Holy days are reserved and respected, altering business hours on Saturdays and Sundays to allow for service attendance. For example blue laws long restricted shopping to weekends and Saturday morning until shopping hours were extended, therefore workers had to do all their shopping between8:00 an and1:00pm on Saturday.