International Management Consultant Question #1

International Management Consultant

Question #1 asks: "Will the leadership style used in the United States be successful in Australia, or will the Australians respond better to another?"

The leadership styles used in the U.S. will most likely also be successful in Australia, given the high level of correlation to cultural values using the Hofstede Model of Cultural Dimensions (Hofstede, Minkov, 2010). Figure 1 is an analysis of the five cultural dimensions in the Hofstede Model comparing Australia and U.S.

Comparing Australian and U.S. Cultures using the Hofstede Model of Cultural Dimensions

Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Model website comparison

Both cultures also share a common set of core values from a political and socioeconomic standpoint as well, as evidenced by the CIA Fact Book. The management styles, approaches to communicating and expectations will therefore have a high congruence between both countries. All of these factors lead to the conclusion that leadership styles of U.S. companies will be successful in Australia.

Question #2 asks: "If the retailer goes into Europe, in which country will it have the least problem using its U.S.-based leadership style? Why?"

Using the Hofstede Model to evaluate all European countries for the best fit between American and a given nations' cultural values, the nation with the closest value congruence is the United Kingdom. Across all European nations, the UK was the best fit across all cultural dimensions with a slight increase in the Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) in the U.S. This equates to U.S. corporate and societal cultures putting a greater focus on laws, rules and regulations to enforce stability and consistency

(Venaik, Brewer, 2010). Outside of this one point, the U.S. And UK are so well aligned, the expansion would be easiest in this nation for any American-based business.

Source: Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Model website comparison

Question #3 asks: "If the company goes into Europe, what changes might it have to make in accommodating its leadership approach to the local environment? Use Germany as an example."

The net effect of leadership approaches in Germany for an American company would be having to deal with the much higher levels of UAI and lower levels of individualism (IDV). Higher levels of UAI would mean German workers would very much want to have rules, regulations and codes of conduct, even more than an American company, in order to reduce uncertainty. The German workers would also be accustomed to less Individualism, meaning they would expect to have opportunities to collaborate and communicate with each other. All of these factors would need to be taken into account when working with German employees. There is however strong congruence on PDI, MAS and LTO factors of the Hofstede Model, making the decision to open an office or facility in Germany less risky than other nations that don't have this level of alignment.

Source: Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Model website comparison

B2E Violations of Child Labor -- Making the Right Choice

Donna needs to stop the negotiations and write a code of conduct for all suppliers before proceeding with any further supplier or joint venture qualification in Asia. The code of conduct will be required for every supplier to sign, and any violation of them is grounds for immediate dismissal from the B2E supply chain and strategic sourcing strategies and initiatives. She also needs to report Chenggong Corporation to the local and national government and also make it very clear that B2E will not tolerate the exploitation of children in production centers -- ever. To just slough it off and still go forward is to contribute to many children's lives being irreparably damaged -- all due to a lack of ethics on managements' part.