charles martin case study
Charles Martin Case Study
February 7, 2014
The Charles Martin in Uganda case study shows where companies can have differing opinions with their manager who is managing operations in a distant land. The values and normal tendencies of a company can sometimes be interpreted much differently by the manager in the international country. In this example, we will look at how Charles Martin dealt with cultural differences of Uganda and the United States based Hydro Generation (HG) Company. On the surface, the diverse culture could be seen as a stumbling block for foreign companies, but HG, with the help of Charles Martin’s life experiences and scholastic knowledge of the foreign country, in which HG was expanding into, and saw an opportunity to grow in Uganda. This was HG’s first pursuit of business in Africa, so growing pains were almost certainly to be felt.
Like many African countries, Uganda has had a riotous history. From the start of the dictatorship of Idi Amin ruling with an iron fist, life in Uganda was difficult. “A diverse country in terms of religious sects, Christianity is the main religion, almost evenly split between Roman Catholics and Anglicans, though there is a large number of Muslims among many other religions. English is the official language, however many speak only an indigenous language such as Bantu or Nilotic” (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2013). In addition to the history, language, and religion, HG Company had to also take into consideration the tribal normalcies as well as the business normalcies of the Uganda culture.
With the pending displacement of seven hundred villagers for the dam project to be successful, HG was now faced with its first major hurdle that most companies will face when expanding globally, how to best blend in with the cultural norms of a foreign country. Instead of trying to simply enforce the will of HG Company, they created a package that they felt would benefit those being displaced. That feeling changed
February 7, 2014
The Charles Martin in Uganda case study shows where companies can have differing opinions with their manager who is managing operations in a distant land. The values and normal tendencies of a company can sometimes be interpreted much differently by the manager in the international country. In this example, we will look at how Charles Martin dealt with cultural differences of Uganda and the United States based Hydro Generation (HG) Company. On the surface, the diverse culture could be seen as a stumbling block for foreign companies, but HG, with the help of Charles Martin’s life experiences and scholastic knowledge of the foreign country, in which HG was expanding into, and saw an opportunity to grow in Uganda. This was HG’s first pursuit of business in Africa, so growing pains were almost certainly to be felt.
Like many African countries, Uganda has had a riotous history. From the start of the dictatorship of Idi Amin ruling with an iron fist, life in Uganda was difficult. “A diverse country in terms of religious sects, Christianity is the main religion, almost evenly split between Roman Catholics and Anglicans, though there is a large number of Muslims among many other religions. English is the official language, however many speak only an indigenous language such as Bantu or Nilotic” (Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan, 2013). In addition to the history, language, and religion, HG Company had to also take into consideration the tribal normalcies as well as the business normalcies of the Uganda culture.
With the pending displacement of seven hundred villagers for the dam project to be successful, HG was now faced with its first major hurdle that most companies will face when expanding globally, how to best blend in with the cultural norms of a foreign country. Instead of trying to simply enforce the will of HG Company, they created a package that they felt would benefit those being displaced. That feeling changed
References: Daniels, J., Radebaugh, L., & Sullivan, D. (2013). International business: Enviroments and Operation, Fourteenth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.