Individual Cultural Case Study. Management Case Study

Individual Cultural Case Study
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Individual Cultural Case Study
Based on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, cultural differences between the United States (US) and France are evident. The first cultural difference relates to Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance between the two countries. Uncertainty avoidance refers to how society views and embraces risk (Lovelock and Patterson 2015, p.36). From the case study, it is evident that the U.S. has a very low uncertainty avoidance score. Disney was not deterred from continuing their operation in France despite the resistance that came from the French intellects and other stakeholders (p.267). This represents the culture of people in the U.S. who are not held down by fear and uncertainty. The reaction from the French stakeholders tells a different story. Instead of focusing on the benefits that Disney would bring, they were filled with fear of uncertainty, which can explain why they had such a negative reaction towards Disney. As revealed by Samaha et al. (2014, p.80), high uncertainty avoidance is associated with high resistance to change because such cultures want to maintain stability.
Regarding masculinity, the U.S. has high masculinity than France because French people were concerned that Disney was intent on converting their children into consumers (p. 267), which is a protective nature associated with low masculinity cultures (Lovelock and Patterson 2015, p. 36). The other difference involves privacy and personal space. According to Lutz (2017, p. 14), a society that values privacy and personal space is highly individualistic. The individualism dimension addresses the reliance and ties that exist between members of society (Lovelock and Patterson 2015, p.36). France is highly individualistic. The French were not very receptive of the queuing system in that park because they wanted to create some personal space and the queues stood in the way of that (p. 270). Given that Disney has used the queuing system in the U.S. without similar problems, it indicates that the U.S. has a low individualism in comparison to France. The US has a lower power distance than France, which refers to the degree of inequality that is acceptable within a community (Lovelock and Patterson 2015, p.36), because it is clear that when leaders do not listen and respect the ideas of followers, the company’s performance is affected, case in point Walt Disney under the leadership of Walker (p.262).
In response to question two, Trompenaars’ research has been very instrumental in the explanation of cultural differences between the US and France. First, his research added other dimensions (Zein 2016, p. 41). For instance, his research addresses the concept of time in the sequential versus synchronous approach. Sequential cultures follow a timeline and rarely deviate from it while synchronous cultures can easily change their timeline (Information Resources Management Association 2016, p.1123). Based on this approach, the cultural differences between France and the U.S. can be explained better in that the Americans use the sequential approach while the French use a synchronous approach. This is evidenced by how Disney thought that the negotiations with the French government had gone beyond their schedule. Also, Trompenaars’ research also focuses on the dimension of Universalism versus particularism. Universalism places a higher importance on the laws and rules than on relationships while particularism focuses more on relationships than the rules (Information Resources Management Association 2016, p.1122). The case study reveals that the French had a problem with the dressing code that was expected for all employees working at Euro Disney. They believed that they should not be dictated what to wear, which is different from Americans who follow the rules despite the situation. As such, the U.S. is universal than France.
In order to effectively deal with diversity, Walt Disney should have learned three important lessons. The first lesson involves the use of a language that is uncommon in a host country. Companies should use a language that allows them to stay connected with the local environment to ensure that members of the host country are not locked out of the communication system (Brannen and Mughan, ...