Culture plays a key role in international business environment. It affects communication and could also limit manager’s ability to motivate people and build connections. Understanding cultural differences in these countries is necessary in effective management of workforce and meeting the needs of customers. The cultural differences in these countries can be explained in Hofstede six dimensions of culture namely power distance individualism versus collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity, long term versus short term orientation and long term orientation ( Hofstede, 2011) . These are critical elements influencing the behavior of consumers and employees in these countries.
Generally, Middle East, Asia and Latin America are characterized by collectivism as opposed to individualism, high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance and masculinity as opposed to femininity. These are important cultural aspect that must be understood from the business point of view before expanding into these countries. Generally, the management will have one way of doing business in these countries due to cultural similarities. The culture of these countries has strong similarities, but is quite different from that of United States.
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In high power distance society, members accept unequal and hierarchical distribution of power. This is contrary to low power distance society such as the U.S where power is widely distributed and shared among members of the society. Hofstede (2011) asserts that m embers of these countries are unlikely to initiate and action but will instead wait to by directed and guided on their task. Masculinity society is typically a patriarchal society. Members of these society value achievements, assertiveness and power as opposed to compassion and quality of life as exhibited in feminine society. Gender role are quite distinct in these society and complementary, with men and women playing separate roles in the society. Culture of these countries require business ethos that attach high value of gender roles as shown by masculinity.
The collectivist culture means that every person takes responsibility for members of their group. It is therefore important for manager to recognize the risk and opportunities offered by long working hours. As collectivist society, people are loyal to their groups and have strong sense of belong to these groups. The long term orientation that characterizes these countries indicates preservation of culture and a society that attach high value of education and training ( Hofstede, 2011). Respect for elders and senior members of the society are necessary in these cultures.
There is greater need for structures, standards and rules in culture with high uncertainty avoidance index. Deviating from established rules and structures is considered undesirable and disruptive. They also avoid conflicts, take fewer risks and seeks consensus. Generally, people in these countries are intolerant to with uncertainty hence behavioral norms, laws, regulations and controls are necessary in reducing and managing ambiguity and uncertainty ( Hofstede, 2011) . People in this society tend to make more conservative and safest decisions even in emotional outbursts. This is contrary to certainty avoidance countries such U.S where people are more open, inclusive and relaxed and ambiguity and uncertainty are natural and necessary.
Appropriate supervisory skills
Most countries of Middle East, Asia and Latin America exhibit high power distance. High power distance demands for directive and authoritative style of management in these countries. Managers are required to make decision on behalf of the group rather than delegation of instructions. The chain of command is followed from senior management downwards to their junior ( Hofstede, 2011) . Decision making should be based on hierarchy, evasiveness and discipline.These countries are considered masculinity as opposed to femininity. Manager should attach high emphasis on gender roles and accord female employee the flexibility to attend to family obligations.
As a collectivist society, team work is critical in improving productivity. People have strong commitment to their group and this can be effectively utilized to increased productivity of workers since group success is highly emphasized. Furthermore, m arketing campaign in these countries should focus on benefits of the business or product to the community ( De Mooij & Hofstede, 2010) . Being a long term oriented countries; managers should place strong emphasis on the family and social obligations. Finally, as a high uncertainty avoidance society, managers should come up with organization structure with proper rules and standards to guide employees. The focus of managers in high uncertainty countries of Asia, Latin America and middle East should be on encouraging members to be open to different ideas and providing a relatively structure solutions.
Management Style
The U.S style of management cannot be applied in these countries due to significant differences in culture for the following reasons. First, uncertainty avoidance and power distance is relatively moderate in the United States. Therefore, U.S management style is geared towards promoting shared power and delegation of responsibility. This is contrary to Middle, East, Latin America and Asia where members accept unequal and hierarchical distribution of power. Therefore, the interactions across power levels are generally collaborative rather than authoritative. Furthermore, the U.S society has fewer values for rules compared to Latin America, Asia and Middles which are characterized by structures, standards and rules.
The U.S has lower long term orientation index hence it does not recognize the concept of traditional orientation. In this regard, change can occur rapidly contrary in this society. This is contrary to Asian, Middle East and Latin American society that emphasize preservation of tradition. Therefore, U.S management style cannot be applied in these countries. United States is an individualist society where emphasis is placed on individualism as opposed to groups of belonging such as family in the of target countries. The Unites States society attaches high value on people’s time and freedom. For instance, marketing strategy in the U.S is targeted to individuals rather than community benefits of the business or product.
When it comes to contract signing, the U.S managers consider this agreement as an official business accord while this agreement is seen as the beginning of a relationship in Asian, Latin and Middle East societies. In addition, contrary to U.S dinners, gift giving and doing favors is a common practice of doing business in the target countries of Asia, Middle East and Latin America. On the contrary, these practices are wrong and unethical in the United Sates. Therefore, on this basis, it impossible to apply the U.S management style in target countries.
Classification of Economic Systems
Countries of Asia, Latin America and Middle East are economically classified as Emerging economies. These economies have the characteristics of developed market, but they are yet to achieve the status of developed markets ( Ahmed & Zlate, 2014). They classified because they are moving away from traditional agricultural economies and exportation of raw material into more productive or industrial economies.
Conclusion
Based on discussions above, expanding into these economies is highly recommended. As emerging economies, these countries have expanding middle income population that will drive for goods and services of the company. In addition to large market, countries of Asia, Latin America and Middle East have low labor cost that will enable the company to produce at lower cost and gain competitive advantage in global market. Furthermore, the target countries have also opened up their market for foreign investment. However, due to cultural differences, a suitable management style for the target countries is recommended to avoid cultural conflicts.
References
Ahmed, S., & Zlate, A. (2014). Capital flows to emerging market economies: A brave new world?. Journal of International Money and Finance , 48 , 221-248.
De Mooij, M., & Hofstede, G. (2010). The Hofstede model: Applications to global branding and advertising strategy and research. International Journal of Advertising , 29 (1), 85-110.
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online readings in psychology and culture , 2 (1), 8.
