The impact of cultural variables on the effectiveness of international business strategies

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would first like to express my gratitude for my research supervisor, colleagues, and peers and family whose immense and constant support has been a source of continuous guidance and inspiration.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names & surname here], declare that the following dissertation/thesis and its entire content has been an individual, unaided effort and has not been submitted or published before. Furthermore, it reflects my opinion and take on the topic and is does not represent the opinion of the University.

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ABSTRACT

The international perception and how the culture values affect the business strategies of an international business organisation were explored by focusing of the following research issues: (a) whether there were national differences in how workers perceive their real and expected business strategies, (b) whether the employees and supervisors of an international business organisations perceived real and expected business strategies differently, and (c) whether the national culture values affected business strategies of international business organisations. The first chapter presents introduction to the topic along with purpose, aims, and significance of the study. The second chapter covers the literature review, providing relative theoretical research on the topic of cultural factors and their impact on business strategy in the international business context. The third chapter deals with the methodology. In this chapter, the researcher has outlined research design and approach used to collect data. The fourth chapter presents findings and analysis of data, while the fifth chapter concludes the dissertation, providing implications and suggestions for future research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTI

DECLARATIONII

ABSTRACTIII

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION2

Background of the study2

Problem Statement2

Purpose of the Study3

Rationale of the Study3

Aims and Objectives4

Research Questions4

Scope and Significance of the Study5

Reliability and Validity5

Ethical Concerns6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW7

Business Strategy in Cultural Context8

Hofstede's dimension of culture9

Hall's perspective of cultural differences11

Tesco's Business Strategy12

Importance of Organisational Culture14

Measurement of Business Settings in Organisations16

Business Performance Scale16

System Maintenance and System Change Domain (SMSC)16

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY25

Research Design25

Sampling27

Sample of Participants27

Instrument28

Data Collection29

Data Analysis29

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS31

Introduction31

Demographics31

Measurement of Organisational Culture Dimensions (NCD)32

Business Organisations and Cultural Dimensions34

Business Performance Scales35

Employee Perception of the Real and Expected Business Strategies40

Supervisor's and Employees' Work Setting Perception44

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENT ATIONS57

Summary57

Limitations of the Study59

Future Research60

Conclusions61

REFERENCES66

APPENDIX A71

APPENDIX B73

APPENDIX C74

APPENDIX D75

APPENDIX E76

APPENDIX F77

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In this contemporary age, international business paradigm has taken a new turn. Globalisation and information technology has had a tremendous impact on the global business sector. This study is meant to explore the importance of business strategy and how perceptual and cultural differences affected management of an international business organisation. This study also explores to what degree the business strategies can be changed to fulfill the achievement of goals. These challenges have a special impact if they do not have previous experiences on how to interact with co-workers from culturally different backgrounds. This may result in difficulty in communication due to cultural differences. Many frustrations may result from the realisation that personnel of the other culture consider the behaviour they thought was correct in the organisational setting to be ...