Global sociocultural environments (Connect, Perform)
Complete the following sentences about sociocultural differences with the correct term.
The historical tendency in Canada for English speakers to be impatient with French speakers and vice versa is an example of , or people’s natural (but avoidable) tendency to feel their culture is superior to others.
When a company does business in a country like China with a , managers should expect people there to prioritize the future over the present and value thriftiness and persistence. However, when doing business in a country with a , such as Russia, managers need to recognize that people there will value tradition and prioritize social obligations.
Which of the following companies has high power distance?
a) At Sabine Industries, the CEO is seen as the undisputed leader of the office. People are afraid to correct him when he is wrong, and he is always addressed as Mr. CEO, while the people who report to him are addressed by their first names.
b) At Jupiter Jumpers, teams make decisions together, and everyone in the company is called an associate. The employees and managers often get together to socialize outside of work, and they can be heard laughing and talking over each other while they have drinks together.
c) At Sollient, managers listen carefully to employees when they raise concerns or questions, and employees are not afraid to speak up. Employees expect to be treated equally and fairly.
Which of the following companies has high femininity?
a) Quality of life is important at Social Science Systems. All employees are eligible for child care, elder care, or pet care services, and employees can take as many vacation days as they need, as long as they get their work done. Employees regularly cooperate with each other to cover difficult or undesirable work shifts.
b) Pomdel Media is the place to go if you want professional film editing, fast and error-free. Everyone at Pomdel has heard about Hal, an almost mythical figure, who once stayed up for 3 days straight to get a job finished before the deadline. At Pomdel, you had better know how to do your job and do it well. There’s a lot of autonomy but a lot of responsibility, too.
c) At Acme Accounting, performance comes first. Don’t bother showing up for work if you are in the bottom 10% of the sales force at the end of the year. Frank Fitzgerald, the CEO of Acme, makes sure that only the best salespeople stay with the company from one year to the next.
Which of the following companies has long-term orientation?
a) Riesa Corporation is focused on making a profit quickly. Sales results are reviewed weekly, and if a new product doesn’t turn a profit in 6 months, production is stopped and resources are moved to a different product.
b) Petrov is a farmer in Russia. He often thinks of the good old days when his neighbors gathered together to help each other, and the old traditions were upheld. Today, it seems like everything is changing, but as long as this year’s wheat crop is good, things will be okay.
c) Hikooki Flight is a Japanese plane manufacturing company. Mr. Hikooki is a planner, and he knows what the company will be doing 25 years from now. He is constantly reminding his employees about the importance of creating efficient and reliable products so that the company does not need to do rework.