With Reference to Bp Plc’s (British Petroleum’s) Strategies Analyse the Possibility That It Is Old Fashioned to Consider the Influence of the Firm’s Home Country’s Institutions and Culture.
Globalisation is supposed to make national cultures and institutions more homogenous. With reference to BP plc’s (British Petroleum’s) strategies analyse the possibility that it is old fashioned to consider the influence of the firm’s home country’s institutions and culture.
Introduction
In this assignment I will attempt to explore the concept that despite the spread and influence of the globalization of business and industries on our world’s economies and cultures, a large multinational firm is still influenced in a fundamental way by its home country’s institutions and culture. I will illustrate this discussion with an analysis of the strategies employed by the multinational energy company BP plc (formally British Petroleum). Firstly I shall introduce a tool by which cultural attributes and values pertinent to business can be measured and compared through the study of Geert Hofstede. Then I will introduce the firm BP plc, discussing the firm’s history and current competitive environment. BP plc’s recent and current strategic management actions will be outlined and I will analyse any correspondence between the firm’s strategy and cultural biases as revealed by Hofstede.
When considering the effect a firm’s home culture may have upon those firms’ operations we must first find a standard methodology that can be applied to measure the value of said culture or indeed all cultures because without comparison with another culture’s values then our measure becomes arbitrary.
Measuring Cultural Values
Fortunately the work of Hofstede has provided us with such a measure. He drew on analysis of data gathered from employees of one of the largest multinational companies at the time, IBM (1967 to 1973) these results have since been supported by several more independent studies. Hofstede produced results that showed different culture’s values in the workplace in terms of four (initially) ‘cultural dimensions’ which was extended to five after a further study
Introduction
In this assignment I will attempt to explore the concept that despite the spread and influence of the globalization of business and industries on our world’s economies and cultures, a large multinational firm is still influenced in a fundamental way by its home country’s institutions and culture. I will illustrate this discussion with an analysis of the strategies employed by the multinational energy company BP plc (formally British Petroleum). Firstly I shall introduce a tool by which cultural attributes and values pertinent to business can be measured and compared through the study of Geert Hofstede. Then I will introduce the firm BP plc, discussing the firm’s history and current competitive environment. BP plc’s recent and current strategic management actions will be outlined and I will analyse any correspondence between the firm’s strategy and cultural biases as revealed by Hofstede.
When considering the effect a firm’s home culture may have upon those firms’ operations we must first find a standard methodology that can be applied to measure the value of said culture or indeed all cultures because without comparison with another culture’s values then our measure becomes arbitrary.
Measuring Cultural Values
Fortunately the work of Hofstede has provided us with such a measure. He drew on analysis of data gathered from employees of one of the largest multinational companies at the time, IBM (1967 to 1973) these results have since been supported by several more independent studies. Hofstede produced results that showed different culture’s values in the workplace in terms of four (initially) ‘cultural dimensions’ which was extended to five after a further study
Bibliography: Hofstede, G. H., Cultures Consequences Comparing Values, Behaviours, Institutions, and Organisations Across Nations, 2001. Sage Publications Inc. (Second Edition). Hofstede, G. H., Cultures And Organisations, Software Of The Mind, Intercultural Cooperation And Its Importance For Survival, 2003. Profile Books Ltd. Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Sexty, W., Exploring Strategic Management, 1989. Prentice Hall. Porter, M. E., Competitive Strategy, Techniques For Analysing Industries and Competitors, 2004. Free Press. Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D., Strategic Management And Business Policy, 2002 (Eighth Edition). Pearson Education Ltd. Anon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP Accessed 30/04/08 BP Company Website, www.bt.com. Accessed 30/04/08. Geert Hofstede, Cultural Dimensions http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ Accessed 30/04/08.