NORTH AMERICA

In this class we talked about Canada, Mexico and United States.

United States consists of 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. The Government: The President and vice president are elected by the people, to a four-year term; limited to two terms and the presidential election is held every four years; members of the Senate are elected for six-year terms, members of the House of Representatives for two-year terms.
We also discuss some of their culture
•Food – Influenced by the European immigrants with for example fried chicken, pizza and hamburgers.
•Obesity – One of the largest health problems in the United States today
•Increasing the amount and quality of physical education and activity in schools and childcare programs
•Increasing access to safe, accessible places for physical
•Since 1900, USA has dominated the global film industry
•Work is success and with a high tempo
•The success of the individual is what counts
Hard work but with a sence of humor

Is the largest economiy of the world, is a very important nation for international trade and multinational. Their biggest export partners are Canada and Mexico and the main products are industrial supplies, production machinery and equipment.

Canada: Is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. The constitution is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. Their economy:
•Is one of the world's wealthiest nations.
•Since the early 1990s, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly, with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level.
As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians.

Canadians are more reserved and polite than Americans, and take matters of etiquette a little more seriously.
Business communication is quite direct in Canada, but more reserved than in the United States.

Mexico: Is located in middles America, their government is based on a congressional system, whereby the president of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party electoral system.
•Is 10th to 12th largest in the world.
•The economy contains rapidly developing modern industrial and service sectors, with increasing private ownership.
•Punctuality is expected of foreign businesspeople. Your Mexican counterpart may be late or keep you waiting.
•Spanish is the language of business. You may need to hire an interpreter (preferably a native speaker who understands the language as it is spoken in Mexico).

QUESTION:Compare the process of standardization across inter and intra cultural relationship in Canada, Mexico and United States?

Type 1 (United States and Canada)
"Intra-cultural research within a Type 1 culture indicates that trust relies on the formation of one partner's expectations about the motives and behaviours of another.
Within this cultural type, members do not inherently trust one another to behave non opportunistically. Within inter-cultural relationships, when an out-group member, or one who is not perceived to be part of an individual's relevant membership group, establishes a long-term relationship with a Type 2 culture member they may become accepted and treated as an in-group
Members in Intra-cultural relationships show that relationships between Type 1 culture partners demonstrates that commitment among members leads to greater satisfaction. They found that the stronger a partner's commitment to the relationship, the less likely he/she was to end the relationship.
The consequences of trust and commitment conceived in intra-cultural relationships, in this culture are transferable to other nations within a cultural type, but are not entirely appropriate in other cultural types.
The development of trust and commitment in inter-cultural channel relationships may create in-group status for Type 1 culture partners. Inter-cultural relationships have significantly stronger consequences for commitment, suggestive of a more intimate relationship, which in turn changes the responsibilities, and applicable influence strategies, of a participating channel member"

Type 2 (Mexico)
Inter-cultural: "Type 2 cultures, through their inherent interdependency, place a high degree of trust in, and are strongly committed to, other in-group members, are stronger and more intimate than relationships formed within Type 1 cultures. When an inter cultural relationship is formed, the Type 2 culture member will tend to view the relationship under the same commitment expectations with the new partner as with other in-group members, employ obliging, avoiding, integrating and compromising styles to resolve conflict and to preserve relationships. Intercultural relationships formed between members from a Type 1 culture and a Type 2 culture is more intimate than intra-cultural relationships formed in a Type 1 culture. When an inter-cultural relationship is formed, the Type 2 culture member may accept the out-group member into the in-group, they are strongly committed to other in-group members.
When relationships are formed in an inter-cultural level Type 2 culture partners are more tolerant of their partners"

Bibliography: Griffith, David A. 2000.Journal of International Business Studies, 2000 Vol. 31 Issue 2, p303-324

QUESTION: How does culture influence on managerial choice in United States?

It influences the firm's environment and human international relations. "Hofstede based on cultural means explains that a better understanding of cross-cultural business phenomena needs to include cultural heterogeneity, conceptualized as intra-cultural variation, as an important variable of study. The majority of business literature comes from the United States is well known, and ethnocentrism may pose some difficulties in applying this literature to other countries.
The development of constructs and concepts is highly influenced by the culture and the Language in which they are developed. The firm is the unit of analysis; specifically, firm ownership issued to extrapolate cross-cultural differences in managerial choice. This choice is based on the subject studied-employee benefit plans"

Bibliography: Oliver, Elizabeth Goad; Cravens, Karen S. 1999. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 30 Issue 4, p745-762,