Conducting Business in South Africa and the Rules of Business Etiquette

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
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Discuss Hofstede's dimensions of culture that influence business in your project country
The power distance score in South Africa is a low 49 which indicates that people are more likely to accept the hierarchy structure and uneven distribution of power (Hofstede, 2019).
Individualism measures the degree of interdependence in a society and the individualistic score for South Africa at 65 shows that people are expected to more independently as there are loose social networks (Hofstede, 2019). This is relevant in business since job promotions depends on individual merit and individual achievement is recognized.
The masculinity score is high at 63, suggesting that there is emphasis on assertiveness and material reward for success, but there is also focus on equity competitive (Hofstede, 2019). The implication of this is that South Africans prioritize to obtain higher achievement in the workplace, including promotions and higher pay.
Uncertainty score is the extent to which pope feel threatened by unknown situations and try to avoid them and the score is 49, which indicates that there is low preference for people preferring uncertainty (Hofstede, 2019). This is important as South Africans tend to avoid confrontations and High-pressure tactics during negotiations.
The long-term orientation score at 34 helps to show that the South Africa people are normative, where establishing the absolute truth is common (Hofstede, 2019).
Use The World Factbook and Commisceo Global Culture Guides to expand this further by identifying specific elements of communication, both verbal and non-verbal.
In South Africa, few women have managed to achieve senior level positions, while the people do not like being interrupted when talking. However, there is strong support for team work and managers need to consider the skills of each member and facilitate synergies (Commisceo, 2019a). This is also linked to preference for win-win situations and arriving at consensus. For cross-cultural managers, there are potential difficulties to ensure full commitment to meet deadlines and delivery times (Commisceo, 2019a). While people at the top mostly make decisions the process of making decisions can be lengthy because of consultations. When speaking South Africans tend to be direct and blunt ...