Case Study of Franklin Equipment Ltd

Competing in global markets entail many factors and centralization of its human resource practices is certainly vital to improve global competitiveness and empower employees for global assignments. To achieve success in global marketplace, the challenge of all businesses regardless of their size is to understand global corporate cultural differences and invest in human resources which includes selecting and retaining talented employee, training and development whilst encouraging employees to be innovative and creative. Employees selected to work in foreign locations should be prepared beforehand with adequate cross-cultural training. For an organization to be successful in the international marketplace, it must be concerned with this fit from both an internal and

Every country differs in culture which has been there for centuries. The international market is growing rapidly, with more and more multinational organisations entering new markets each day. In this assignment I will evaluate how the difference in cultures affects the performance of international businesses.

Expansion of a company is never easy, especially if the company were to expand overseas to a foreign country. The products or service the company offers or sells must fit into the culture and environment of the country. Ignorance to these factors can lead to a major downfall

Making business abroad can be risky, but it can also be profitable for a company as well; thus the necessity to study in deep the country where the company will bring the business to. International companies are faced with many cultural challenges, when doing business across and inside of different borders. Identifying the significant cultural issues involved when evaluating the attractiveness of a particular location as a place for doing business can be crucial for a business. Aspects to consider when studying culture in a new place

FEL utilizes locals to assemble and operate the equipment so having someone with knowledge about local labor laws will be important, thus incorporating someone from human resources is important. By building a team of managers from each of the major departments responsible for fulfilling the project, the company can ensure that the knowledge is there to successfully tackle the job. However, because FEL assigns roles on the team based not just on knowledge, but on availability, they stand the risk of not having the best individuals assigned to the team. Larson & Gray, identify that there are key factors to successful project teams (2014). These factors include having team members that are available for the entire project, are co-located, and represent all functional areas in the project. The FEL project team selection system does fulfill these factors however, additional factors to a successful team include utilizing people who volunteer for the project and who report solely to the project manager. The process utilized by FEL does not allow for people to volunteer for a project and also limits the authority that the project manager has on the team members. This increases the risk of poor team dynamics and individual buy in on the project.

Finally, it is interesting to see how a multinational company which is present in many countries could adapt to local culture despite its differences with it. This point is important to do business in

Considerable time is wasted by employees who find themselves in new environments where they work out in determining the interworking of different cultures. Different employees also depict different abilities and degrees to which they will adapt to the new culture, and this plays a huge role in hindering performance levels of the individual employee and hence the level of performance for the overall organization (Handin & Steinwedel, 2006). The low-performance levels will also lead to wastage of the organizational resources leading to the overall decline in the competitive advantage that is enjoyed by any firm in the business world. Different norms and expectations are brought to the front by any culture under study

We are living in a period were trade is becoming more global by the day. Taxes and economic barriers seem to be like symptoms - from a disease - that fade away, as time goes by. The ability of fast communication between people and places has boosted many companies to expand in other countries. Yet, cultural and linguistic differentiations are the most sustainable features companies need to take under consideration, in a strategic planning of setting up abroad. A firm needs to become progressively more aware of the foreign cultures when aiming in a successful future in an international business environment. Attitudes towards work and material possessions, entrepreneurship, willingness to accept risk, politics, religion, customs, the role of

1. Our business name is Noel Electrical Supply Company and my partners a Van Edwards and my parents. To start our business, we would need $70 580. The start up costs include rent, insurance, permits, supplies, systems, and inventory.

The escalation of globalization in recent times has brought a phenomenal change in the market and business. The argument that arises is how and where the firm should enter the comprehensive arcade. The research into international business has become an active area of study over the last four decades and is likely to become even more so, as the procedure of economic globalization accelerates into the future. The most fascinating and current are the issues relating to national culture and its outcomes on business process (Venaik and Brewer, 2008).

Cultural difference between countries raises many issues for firms entering foreign markets. Understanding the local culture is the initial step in helping firms better understand the

Franklin Equipment Ltd. (FEL) was established 75 years ago in Maritime Provinces, having headquarters in Saint John, producing large machines for construction business. FEL’s main focus is on manufacturing of rock-crushing equipment for construction of Dam and highway construction. At present, FEL designs, produces and assembles both stationary and portable rock-crushing plants.

The home country effects can be separated into two categories, effects in cultural level and institutional level. As it was mentioned earlier, the culture of a country, meaning the norms, values and customs, is one of the main obstacle for an international company to overcome. Especially, when there is a great cultural difference between the country from where MNC originates and the host country, as it becomes challenging for a MNC to apply their HR practices and policies. A theory of Hofstede (1980), “dimensions of national cultures” argues about the difference in culture between countries, and as mentioned in the first dimension called “Power Distance” the more unequal the culture of countries the harder to implement the

Effective cross-cultural management has to be grounded in a detailed knowledge of individual cultures. Discuss using examples from two multinational companies.

The most challenging decision that a company may face in internationalization is the degree of standardization or adaptation in its operations. The question of standardization or adaptation affects all avenues of a business’ operations, such as R&D, finance, production, organizational structure, procurement, and the marketing mix. Whether a company chooses to standardize or adapt its operations depends on its attitudes toward different cultures. These attitudes are defined by three orientations toward foreign culture: ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric.