Steve Global Busisness

Introduction

Steve has decided to move onto greener grass for his franchise! He realizes that he can add on to his franchise globally in Prague, Czech Republic. He takes his time on doing this big move by having a meeting with family and friends in the Czech Republic. Dealing with the pizza industry in America is different from how the Czechs eat. “Czechs eat with the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right” (Culture Grams). “They keep their hands, but not elbows, above the table” (Culture Grams). “Americans eat foods such as french fries, fried chicken, hamburgers, pizza, and tacos with the hands” (Culture Grams). They generally place napkins in the lap” The majority of Czechs eat a lot of bread at pubs. What Steve can do is show a variety of different breads with different flavors to entice them to come to his franchise. The Czechs language is different from Americans. “Czech is a Slavic language; it is similar to Slovak but also related to Polish, Croatian, and Russian (Culture Grams)”. The newer generations also speak English as secondary language in the Republic which is good for Steve franchise. He would also have to change the franchise in Czech Republic language just to keep the tradition for families that go out to eat at his restaurant.

The business risk may be with the quality of the bread. Since that’s one of there main foods they eat on the go. They should have women cook there food since the woman mainly cooks at home. In order to make a successful pizza business in Prague, Steve has to make it into a traditional family business. Since the citizens of Prague are people that eat with forks Steve can serve his table with the correct silverware. Comparative advantages do exist for Steve in the wheat, and onion department. He will get them at lower prices to be competitive with his competitors. The country is self-sufficient in wheat, barley, vegetables, potatoes and fruit.

Hofstede's Four Primary Dimensions Model

The elements of Hofstede's four primary dimensions modes are:

Power distance

Uncertainty avoidance

Individualism

Masculinity

Recently Hofstede added a fifth dimension to his model named Long Term Orientation. The following chart compares the models of the United States with the Czech Republic.

PDI Power Distance Index

IDV Individualism

MAS Masculinity

UAI Uncertainty Avoidance

LTO Long Term Orientation

“Power Distance Index is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society's level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international experience will be aware that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others'(Hofstede)”.

Individualism on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. The word 'collectivism' in this sense has no political meaning: it refers to the group, not to the state. Again, the issue addressed by this dimension is an extremely fundamental one, regarding all societies in the world (Hofstede).

Masculinity versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and maximally different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to women's values on the other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the modest, caring pole 'feminine'. The women in feminine countries have the same modest, caring values as the men; in the masculine countries they are somewhat assertive and competitive, but not as much as the men, so that these countries show a gap between men's values and women's values (Hofstede).

Uncertainty Avoidance deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel, unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and we have it'. People in uncertainty avoiding countries are also more emotional, and motivated by inner nervous energy. The opposite type, uncertainty accepting cultures, are more tolerant of opinions different from what they are used to; they try to have as few rules as possible, and on the philosophical and religious level they are relativist