Discuss cultural dimensions – Macroeconomics
Culture defines the way of life of a particular people. Researchers state that culture does not exist where there is no comparison. The culture of any country is hence identified by comparing two or more cultures. There are various dimensions of culture. These dimensions vary from country to country organization to organization or even community to community. Culture differs in from one country to another in different intervals.
The various dimensions are elaborated as follows. The power distance index is the first national culture dimension. This aspect suggests the degree to which the less powerful people in the society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. It explains how the society handles the inequalities in the society (Ahern, et al. 2015). A country with low power distance index works hard to achieve the equalities they deserve. The countries with a high degree of power distance believe in the hierarchy of authority, and that everybody has a role to play, and nothing else remains for an explanation.
Individualism versus collectivism is the other dimension. This dimension defines how much one cares for himself and others. Individualism dictates and allows one to take care of himself only and the close family members. On the other side, collectivism requires one to take care of himself, family members as well as the entire society as a whole. Society’s image is defined by whether it looks its issues on an “I” or “we” perspective (Adger, et al. 2013).
The other dimension is masculinity versus femininity. Masculinity dimension defines a culture of heroism where everyone wants to shine irrespective of the consequences that will follow. On the other hand, femininity dimension requires the society to cooperate on the overall welfare of everyone, considering others in decisions one takes and taking care of the weak in the society.
The next dimension is that of uncertainty avoidance index. Uncertainty avoidance index expresses the degree to which the members of the society are comfortable or uncomfortable about the future. A country that portrays a high degree of UAI shows a lot of concern for the future and takes lots of caution in the decisions they take and implement. On the other hand, a country that portrays a small degree of uncertainty avoidance index shows a relaxed state of attitude and is concerned more with practice than the principles. This dimension is all about how people handle the occurrences of the future, which remain unknown at all times.
The other dimension is the longterm orientation versus the short term normative orientation. This is all about how the society links the past to its present and the future. Every society and country view this differently. The country that scores highly in this dimension maintains a culture that accommodates thrift and conscience with the current education as the tool for the future success. On the other hand, a country that scores low on this dimension is one that holds the future with lots of suspicions. This country holds and clings for long the traditions while remaining rigid about the changes that come with the growth of a country.
Indulgence versus Restraint is the other dimension. Different countries have different levels or perceptions of the much the gratification of human rights should be allowed. The countries that score highly in this dimension allow gratification of the human rights that are mostly related to the enjoyment and having fun. The countries that stand for restraint are known to restrict the gratification of the human rights. These countries are seen to have restrictive social norms that are highly upheld.
The country chosen in this case is the United States of America. Like other nations, its score for the various dimension is estimated. Its dimensions define its culture. On the dimension of power distance, the United States score 40 which is below average. This means that the people of the united states believe in the hierarchy of power and believe that everybody has a role well defined to play. Fewer power struggles are therefore expected in the country.
The United States scores very a mark of 91 in the individualism dimension. This is one a very high mark. This means that the culture of the United States is that of the high level of individualism. Competition is hence left to the forces of demand (Hofstede, 2013). Care among the weak is the responsibility of the affected and not that of the society. Communism is not a part of the lives of the united states.
The United States scores a mark of 62 in the masculinity dimension. This is still a high score compared to other countries. This portrays united states with the fairly desire to achieve something at all costs. This comes irrespective of the negative impact that may befall on others. This affects the economic growth rate of the United States by increasing the rate. This is because the growth of businesses is considered better than the comfort of some people.
The United States score a mark of 46 in the uncertainty avoidance dimension. This shows that the United States are halfway concerned about the future. This culture portrays the United States as a country that equally holds the traditions and do not take much caution about the future. This makes it different from countries like China that score highly under this dimension.
In the long-term orientation, the United States score a mark of 26. This is way a low score in this dimension. This portrays America as a country that is more concerned about the present than the future. This type of culture makes the United States to take part in a big way of businesses that yield quick results as opposed to the future results. Current profitability is preferred in the US as opposed to future growth and development.
Under the dimension of indulgence, the United States scores a mark of 68. This shows the United States as the country that upholds the gratification of human rights. The enjoyment and having the fun of the inhabitants is an issue that the people of the United States hold dear to them. Human rights are a primary objective of the government as well as individuals (Taras, et al. 2012). This type of culture then provides an environment with limited restrictions, where one is allowed to do what makes him happy provided it does not affect the other person detrimentally.
2. By the year 2013, the United States had a total of 13513 airports including those with paved runways as well as those without paved runways. The total number of those with paved runways was 5054. Those without paved runways added up to 8459.
The country had a total of 5287 heliports by the year 2013.
Natural gas pipelines were adding up to 1984321 km while the pipeline carrying petroleum products added up to 240711 km in the same year.
The total length of railways added up to 293564.2 km. The standard gauge railway added to the length of 1.435m in 2014.
The roadways added up to 6586610 km. The paved roadways added up to 4304715km while the unpaved added up to 2281895 km.
The waterways were 41009 km in which 19312km.
The fixed line telephones have a total subscription of 129.4 m people. Cellular mobile phones had a total subscription of 317.4 m. Radio broadcast stations were AM 4789, FM 8961, shortwave 19. Television broadcast stations 2218. Internet country code was .us.
The ethnic groups composed of 79.96% whites, 12.9% blacks, 4.43% Asian and Alaska native population of 0.9%. English is spoken in a percentage of 79.2%, 12.9% Spanish and Indo- European of 3.8%. The Protestants take a percentage of 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9, Mormon 1.7% and other Christians make 1.6%. The total population composed of 321368864 people by July 2015.Polution growth rate was estimated at 0.78%. The birth rate was estimated at 12.49 births for every 1000 births. Education expenditure was estimated at 5.2 % of the GDP. The school life expectancy from primary to tertiary level was 16 years for male students and 17 years for female students.
The resources of the United States are gotten from different parts of the world as well as internally. The labor force counted at 156.4million. The imported oil accounted for a 55% of the total oil consumed in the country. Agriculture accounted for 1.6%, industry 20.8% and services 77.6% in the overall economy.
The politics of the United States are guided by the constitutional based federal government. The government is divided into various arms of government. There is the national government lead by the president, state governments as well as councils. The country highly upholds the tradition of strong democracy. The emerging issues are the elections on the succession of the current president and his government. The rising level of inflation is an important issue that is emerging in the United States, with huge decisions being undertaken to curb the problem.
3. For the purpose of this study, the product selected is mango juice in the food processing industry. The resources to get the goods to the market are quite enough in the United States. The transport system is well maintained and inadequacy to reach the fruits of the processing plants in good time before they get bad. There is enough source of labor to tap. The industry is one in perfect competition. This means that there is a fair level of competition in the market as there are many suppliers. The product being introduced into the market is differentiated from other substitutes. This is the introduction of attractive packages that come with the new product. The product is intended for the general market. This is because food industry targets mostly the general public, food being a basic need. On would choose this country to conduct the business based on the earlier research (Vaara, et al. 2012). The United States of America provides a good number of customers due to the large population it carries. Also, the infrastructure provides a conducive environment to conduct business. The large population also offers a variety of labor to hire in the conduct of business. The United States of America provides the ideal environment for the introduction of the new product into the market.
