Over the decades academics and practitioners have been intrigued by the idea of cultural barriers challenging the management practices of cross-national businesses. The globalization of the world economy, on one hand, has created tremendous opportunities for global collaboration among different countries; on the other hand, it has also created a unique set of problems and issues relating to the effective management of partnerships with different cultures.
China remains a hot topic for researchers over the past two decades, which is demonstrated by the substantial number of published articles focusing on doing business in China( Zhang 2004).
My paper will aim to test Hostede’s model using US firms that incorporate western cultures and norms in business strategies and practices as they enter the Chinese market. I hope to discover whether my findings are in line with literature or whether the disparities of the dimensions are out-dated due to China’s more open economy since Hofstede’s study was conducted.
Within China, rapidly changing demographics, rising incomes, increased consumer spending and an increasingly open business environment have all helped to make the Chinese market increasingly attractive to Western businesses across a variety of industries. Similarly, declining sales in their home markets has forced many US and European companies to relocate their businesses to China in order to implement their long-term global growth strategies. As companies grow and begin their expansion adventures they quickly realise the major rewards of entering an emerging market like China, whether it be for manufacturing purposes or selling products in this quasi market economy. A worthy example of this was the highly controversial relocation of manufacturing outlets of Pacific Brands to China in 2009 which ultimately lead to the success of the company. China has shone a light