The Hettigoda Industries Manufactures Business Essay

Hettigoda Industries manufactures Siddhalepa Balm, Oil & inhaler, Sumudu Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Toothpaste, Supirivicky Ayurvedic Toothpaste, Ayurvedic Herbal Toilet Soap, Sumudu, Visaka, Kekulu Ayurvedic Baby Soap, Herbal Tonics, Threepala Herbal Dietary Supplement, and Garlic – in – Bee Honey, Siddhalepa Massage Oils, Ayurvedic Herbal Teas and a host of Ayurvedic Oils This is the first Ayurvedic Manufacturing Company in East Asia to have been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001 Quality Standards Certification The vision of the Company is to strengthen its reputation and success and is seeking every endeavor to fully comply with customer demands with its great efforts concerning the quality of its products Objectives of the company’s are, Promote and enhance the Company’s image in the market Make full use of the company resources to achieve a competitive advantage Sustain profitability Continue to provide all its employees with the resources necessary to ensure the success of the Company Maintain its reputation for quality products, service and social responsibility Expanding the operations of a Siddhalepa company to another country might have positive influences or negative influences over the business. This could be mainly due to the cultural differences and the behavior and beliefs of the people in both countries. Culture is a complex tool which every individual has to learn to survive in a society. It is the means through which people interact with others in the society. We must remember that every society has a distinct culture that forms the backbone of the society. Every society has a different culture, where people share a specific language, traditions, behaviors, perception & beliefs. Culture gives them an identity which makes them unique & different from people of other culture. When people of different cultures expand their business operations to another country or society, the culture of that country became the dominant culture, and usually they need to absorb the new culture which at the same time strives to protect their own. It is not only a means of communication between people, but also creates a feeling of belonging and togetherness among people in the society.

Changing how people act must be reinforced by changing the organization policies and processes which define how people operate. According to Hofstede, there is a no thing as a universal management method or management theory across the globe. Even the world ‘management’ has different origins and meanings in countries throughout the world. The cultural dimension model of Hofstede is a framework that describes five dimensions of difference, value perspectives between national cultures such as, Individualism Vs Collectivism Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Masculinity Vs Feminity Long term Vs Short term This model should make everybody aware that people in other countries may think, feel & act very differently from others, even when confronted with basic problems of society. Since Siddhalepa Company is planning to expand their business to UK, they need to consider the cultural issues, different social group behavior patterns in UK and change according to that or take relevant decisions. These different social behaviors will definitely have positive or negative influences on business decision making process. By applying Hofstede Model to Siddhalepa company in Sri Lanka and also to UK, it will help to identify the different social group behavior patterns. Sri Lankan culture and the UK culture are two different cultures when looking at the belief system, language, Interactions, religions, relationships, structures etc. Therefore when conducting business in UK, lot of changes need to be done according to the culture of UK. Individualism Vs Collectivism is the extend to which people feel they are supposed to taken care of or to be cared for by themselves, their families or organizations they belong to. In Sri Lanka we can see a collectivism culture where people are sharing the responsibility, respect for members of the group, thinks in terms of ‘WE’ rather than ‘I’, consumption patterns show dependence on others, Employer & employee relationship is basically moral like a family link, Management is management of group and not individual, resources should be shared with relatives. But in UK, they have individualism culture which values and promotes individuality. On a macro level we see that the nuclear family is the more predominant form of basic social structure. On a micro level, in the business environment the individual may be more concerned with themselves rather than the team. Also consumption patterns show self supporting life styles, employed persons are expected to act according to their own interest & work should be organized in such a way that this self interest & employees interest coincide and workers are supposed to act as ‘Economic Persons’ Hiring & promotion decisions are supposed to be based on skills & rules only Power Distance is the degree of inequality among people which the population of a country considers as normal. In Sri Lanka this is reasonably high where inequalities among people are expected and desired, and also less powerful people should be dependent, Hierarchy in organization reflects existential inequality between higher and lower levels, more supervisory personal, there is a wide salary range between top and the bottom of the organization, managers rely on supervisors and on rules. Whereas in UK, status and inequalities between people are reasonably low. Macro level this manifests in a number of ways, such as legislation protecting ethnic minorities. On a micro level this is witnessed in the office where the relationship between superiors and subordinates is relatively casual and incorporates little ceremony. Uncertainty Avoidance is the degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations. In Sri Lanka this is quiet high since fewer changes of employer, longer service, more difficult work life balance, there is an emotional need for rules even if they will not work, time is money, belief in experts and technical solutions. But in UK, relatively open to take risks and dealing with change. On a macro level this can be seen in the constant revision of laws and government structures. On a micro level, conflict or disagreement in the workplace, even with superiors, is considered healthy Masculinity Vs Feminity is the extent to which a culture is conductive to dominance, assertiveness and acquisition of things versus a culture which is more conductive to people, feelings and the quality of life. In UK, society and culture aims for equality between the sexes, yet a certain amount of gender bias still exists underneath the surface. The issues related to the mascunity and Feminity dimension are central to any religion. Here the rewards are based on equality, resolution of conflicts by compromise and negotiation, people work in order to live, and careers are optional for both genders In Sri Lanka there is lower share of working women in professional jobs, more money is preferred over more leisure time, people live in order to work Long term Vs Short term – Values oriented towards the future, like saving and persistence is short term and Values oriented towards the past and present, like respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations is long term According to Hofstede analysis, people in the USA and UK have low scores for long term orientation.

This suggests that you can pretty much expect anything in this culture in terms of creative expression and novel ideas .The model implies that people in the US and UK don’t value tradition as much as many others, and are therefore likely to be willing to help you execute the most innovative plans as long as they get to participate fully. This may be surprising to people in the UK, with its associations of tradition. But in Sri Lanka main work values include learning, honesty, adaptiveness, accountability and self discipline, leisure time is not important, focus is on market position, what is good and evil is depends on circumstances. Therefore when expanding the business to another country, there are lot more things to consider as shown above and these things will influence the business when decision making. In fact, when it comes to business, promoting cultural sensitivity will help people work more effectively when interacting with people from other countries, and will participate to make transactions are successful. Also there will be negative things such as poor time management, lack of decision making, poor infrastructure, High attrition, increased resistance, might not understand each other because you have different values.

Those differences can hamper the progress of the new expansion. Also there are universal laws to ensure conformity in each culture because of complexities in continually learning the cultures of your client’s organization. The other negative factor will be the International communication. This is one of the main concerns, therefore for professional who work internationally, interact daily with other people from different countries within their company or not, need to know the language well in order to communicate and especially when making decisions both party should understand the language. All the levels in communication are affected by cultural dimensions such as verbal (words and language itself),A non verbal (body language, gestures) andA etiquetteA do’s and don’ts (clothing, gift-giving, dining, customs and protocol). And this is also valid for written communication as explained in William Wardrobe’s essay “Beyond Hofstede: Cultural applications for communication with Latin American Businesses International negotiation is also one of the main factors which need to consider. Style of the communication, expectation, goals, issue ranking will change according to the negotiators’ countries of origin.

This should be able to reduce the frustration and conflicts. For example, in a negotiation between Chinese and Canadian, Canadian negotiators may want to reach an agreement and sign a contract, whereas Chinese negotiators may want to spend more time for non business activities,A such as small talks andA hospitality with preferences forA protocol and form in order to first establish the relationship. When negotiating in Western countries, the objective is to work toward a target of mutual understanding and agreement. Once they done, ‘shake-hands’ when that agreement is reached, and this is a cultural signal of the end of negotiations and the start of working together. In Middle Eastern countries much negotiation takes place leading into the ‘agreement’, signified by shaking hands. However, the deal is not complete in the Middle Eastern culture. In fact, it is a cultural sign that ‘serious’ negotiations are just beginning International management also will influence on the decision making. Decisions need to be taking based on the country’s customs and values, therefore when working in international companies, managers nee to provide training for their employees in order to make them sensitive for cultural differences. International marketing is also more important as same as communication, negotiation and management.

Hofstede model describe this too because it defines national values not only in business context but in general. The branding, advertising strategies, consumer behavior all of them are important when it comes to decision making. As companies try to adapt their products and services to local habits and preferences they have to understand the specificity of their market For example, if you want to market cars in a country where the uncertainty avoidance is high, you should emphasize on their safety, whereas in other countries you may base your advertisement on the social image they give you. Cell phone marketing is another interesting example of the application of Hofstede model for cultural differences. If you want to advertise cell phones in China, you may show a collective experience whereas in the United States you may show how an individual uses it to save time and money. The variety of application of Hofstede abstract theory is so wide that it has even been translated in the field ofA web designingA in which you have to adapt to national preferences according to cultures’ value Therefore there are lots of positive and negative influences when expanding the business to another country or when conducting in the home country. One of the positive factors when conducting the business in another country with the local employee is that, cheap labour.

The amount which UK pays for Sri Lankans will be very cheap when you compared to their local employees. Also as discussed earlier, the language, religions, behavior, attitude, belief systems will have negative influence over the decisions that company makes. But there are lots of expertises where you can learn and share the knowledge and these things will have a positive influence over the decision making At the end, it is important to see the cultural differences before expand the business to another country and also consider the positive and negative factors which can affect the business specially when decision making.

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