Dr. Habte G.

Woldu
IMS 3310- Case #3- 9/21/15
Group 3: William Clarke, Nhan Ha, Mohammad Khan
Jasma Jones, Guadalupe Garcia

Case 3: Who Gets the Assignment?

The best way to determine who would get the assignment would be to use Hofstedes
Five Dimensional Values to determine which of the three applicants would be the best fit in
China. Hofstedes Five Dimensions is the best tool to use because it is easily applicable and also
allows valuable insight into how the society will work, increasing potential business. The five
different categories in Hofstedes Dimensions are the Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism
(IDV), Masculinity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) and Long-Term Orientation
(LTO, also known as Confucian Dynamism). Each of the categories is as defined, which will be
later elaborated on in the next section:

Power Distance Index measures how power is distributed across an organization.

Individualism measures if people loosely knit social framework or a tight social

framework.
Masculinity measures whether stereotypically male traits such as assertiveness or

stereotypically female traits such as caring for others are valued more.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index measures whether the culture tolerates uncertain and

ambigious situations / ideas or if it prefer more formal rules for stability.

Long-Term Orientation / Confucian Dynamism measures if traditional values are
stressed or future oriented values are preferred.

The Power Distance Index is used to determine of how power is distributed amongst
individuals in a society. The main focus is that this is measure is similar to inequality, or how

unequal the power distribution is. One of the main focuses is that a societys level of unequal
power distribution is endorsed and promoted by its leaders as much as its followers. In a culture
with a larger power distance, things such as seniority, rank, age, and title are very important. The
people in that culture want directions and the formality is highly emphasized. The leader in this
category acts more like a manager. Countries with a high power distance are Malaysia,
Guatemala, Panama, Philippines, Arab countries, India, West African countries, and Singapore.
Conversely, in a culture with a smaller power distance, leadership is in more of a consultative
position where it is normal for the code of conduct to be informal and there is more of an equal
power distance amongst the people. In this category the leader acts more like a leader and less
like a manager. Countries with a low power distance are Austria, Israel, Denmark, New Zealand,
the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Canada, the United States, and Germany.
Individualism is a measure of how people in a culture react to one another. The best way
to describe this is through the we mindset or the I mindset. Organizations that lean towards
being individualistic are in the I mindset where the culture is loosely knit and people prioritize
themselves and their immediate family. This culture rewards independence, such as how the top
performers are usually singled out for being outstanding. This culture also cultivates employee
motivation and decision making, as people have less constraints on what they need to do to make
a choice. Countries that follow this individualistic mindset are the United States, Canada, the
United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, France, and Germany. On
the other end, organizations that lean towards being collectivistic follow the we mindset and
are more tightly knit. The best way to sum up this example would be to follow the Japanese
saying, the nail that sticks up gets hammered down. This means that individualism is frowned
upon, as it is custom and socially accepted to belong to a tight-knit group with high degrees of

loyalty. The countries that follow this collectivistic mindset are Guatemala, Ecuador, Panama,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Taiwan, China, Japan, and West and East African countries. Note: This
category can broadly be divided into Europe (Individualistic) and Asia (Collectivistic.)
The Masculinity index is a measure of the standard distribution of roles between the two
genders in different cultures. In essence, it checks the gap between the two roles, with one end of
the spectrum labeled as assertive (stereotypically masculine) and the other end labeled as caring
(stereotypically feminine). Male cultures were found to be task-focused, with the desire to finish
the job and achieve a set goal. Such examples of this masculine culture can be found in Japan,
Austria, Venezuela, Italy, Mexico, and the Philippines. Female cultures were found to be
relationship focused, essentially caring about everyone along the way as business was performed.
Examples of this type of culture can be found in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark,
Costa Rica, and Finland.
The Uncertainty-Avoidance Index is a measure of a societys comfort with uncertainty
and uncertain situations. A key thing to remember is that Hofstede described this dimension as a
persons search for truth because it describes how a society promotes its members to feel
comfortable in an unfamiliar situation. Societies with high uncertainty avoidance try to minimize
uncertain situations by creating and enforcing stricter laws and rules, safety, and security
measures. They try to resist any type of change, even changes that could pertain to a career or to
an organization itself. They have clear procedures and expect the status quo to be maintained at
all times. Countries that have higher uncertainty avoidance are Greece, Portugal, Guatemala,
Uruguay, Japan, France, Spain, and South Korea. On the other hand, societies with lower
uncertainty avoidance see conflict and uncertainty in a more positive light, as uncertain situations
have the ability to bring innovations which ultimately helps the society grow and prevent it from

being stale and stagnating. Countries with lower uncertainty avoidance are Singapore, Jamaica,
Denmark, Sweden, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Norway, and Australia.
The final dimension to be analyzed is the Long-Term Orientation (which is also known as
Confucian Dynamism.) It can be best described (by Hofstede himself) as dealing with Virtue
regardless of Truth, which is the level to which people in the culture will persevere and endure to
overcome obstacles that cannot be overcome with will or strength. In this dimension, societies
can either be long-term oriented or short-term oriented. In a long-term oriented society, people
value actions and attitudes that have an effect on the future (such as persistence / perseverance,
thrift, saving face at group level, and shame. This type of society plans to stay in the game for the
long haul. Countries that are long-term oriented are China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South
Korea, India, Brazil, and Singapore. On the other end of the spectrum are societies that are shortterm oriented where values that are connected to the past and present (such as respect for
tradition, fulfilling social obligations, high consumption patterns, and saving face at the
individual level) are stronger than the ones that are future oriented. Countries that are short-term
oriented are Pakistan, Nigeria, Philippines, Canada, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, the United
States, and Germany.
Now onto the questions that were asked in the beginning. Based on the five dimensional
values provided above, the best choice would be to pick Firdaus. Firdaus is the perfect choice
because of her background as she is from Yemen. The main Chinese customers are using
products in their Middle-Eastern and North African operations, which mean that her knowledge
of that region will be extremely valuable to the Chinese. Her career is that of deputy VP of HR at
corporate but she has a Ph.D. in engineering, which is another way she can be proven valuable to
the Chinese. Finally, using Hofstedes Five Dimensions it can be seen that her heritage and

upbringing will influence her decision making, and oddly enough it is similar enough to China in
the majority of categories. It can also be seen that in making this decision it wasnt who would be
the best fit but instead we had to take out those who wouldnt be the best fit. Although Tom is an
excellent employee, his lack of foreign experience was what severely hampered him receiving
the assignment. Gunther was a very good choice as he essentially turned his EU division from a
small company to the sector leader in seven years. However, the reason he didnt receive the
assignment was because his background was very European oriented. His entire career is based
on his work in Germany, and he would not be as valuable in the new branch that is opening up in
China that has operations in the Middle East and North Africa.