Cultural Dimension Analysis Of Poland, Romania, And Indonesia

All three of the countries that I have previously chosen (Poland, Romania, and Indonesia) have varying levels of each cultural dimension. For this paper I must eliminate one of the three countries I have previously chosen. The cultural dimensions I thought would help most with my decision of which countries to eliminate are Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long term orientation, and Indulgence. There are also other things to consider when picking which countries to keep, such as how hard it is to set up a new company there or how long it would take to get electricity.

The first dimension that I analyzed between the three is Hofstede’s cultural dimension of Individualism. People in individualistic cultures like to think for themselves and do not look to a group for any sort of guidance with decisions. People in cultures that are low in the individualism scale see themselves as a collectivistic society. In a collectivistic society, the people tend to live in multigenerational homes and look to groups for guidance with decisions. Out of all three countries Indonesia had the lowest score for individualism at just 14. Selling a new video game counsel here would require marketing that is aimed at groups of people, such as families. The next lowest on the individualism scale is Romania with a score of 30. Even though this score is not as low as Indonesia’s 14, I believe the marketing required here would also have to be aimed at groups of people. Perhaps a campaign that suggests everyone is buying this product would be effective. In contrast, Poland scored high with a 60. This means that Poland is less of a collectivistic society and more of an individualistic one. However, since the score is 60, there is most likely still influences from groups. Trying to market a video game counsel here would require a campaign that states that the counsel can be tailored to an individual’s preferences.

Next, I analyzed Hofstede’s cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance. Uncertainty avoidance is a society’s tolerance for the unknown. Societies with high uncertainty avoidance tend to have many rules. This not only includes formal rules such as laws, but also rules that pertain to less formal situations. This can include things like how to properly pour drinks or how to properly greet guests. These societies tend to have low entrepreneurial acceptance. Low uncertainty avoidance societies tend to fewer rules and laws. Many entrepreneurs exist in this type of society. Both Poland and Romania scored very high in uncertainty avoidance. Each country has points in the 90s. This would mean that both Poland and Romania tend to avoid things that are unknown to them. They have strict rules and laws and they don’t have many entrepreneurial opportunities. There could potentially be some problems with importing a video game counsel into these countries because of the strict laws that cover importing and exporting. One way to get around this would be to establish a company within the country, but even that could be hard because there may be strict laws governing business practices. Any type of marketing here would have to convince the people of Poland and Romania that they need a video game counsel bad enough to get over their anxiety of buying something new. Comparatively to Poland and Romania, Indonesia has a lower uncertainty avoidance score at 48 points. This means that there are probably less barriers to entry here due to less rules and laws. Also, people here would be more inclined to buy something new like a video game counsel without having to be persuaded as much. Importing a video game counsel would be easier as well as starting a business here because there are less laws against it.

The next cultural dimension I used to compare the three countries was long term orientation. High long-term orientation indicates that societies tend to be thrifty, they put emphasis on persistence, deemphasis on leisure time, and they believe personal relationships and market positions are important. Short term orientation societies put weight on quick results, emphasis on leisure time, and they believe that the bottom line is more important than relationships. Indonesia has 62 points in this cultural dimension which indicates that it has long term orientation characteristics. Selling a video game counsel to the Indonesian people would be difficult. Somehow one would have to convince them that money they may have been saving for a long time will be worth spending on a new video game counsel. It would also be hard because they don’t participate in leisure time as much as the other two countries. Romania has a total of 52 points which indicates that half of its population has long term orientation characteristics and the other half has short term orientation characteristics. Again, marketing to the long-term oriented half of the population would be hard. However, marketing to the short-term oriented segment of the population would be much easier. Poland has a very low orientation at 38 points. Half of Romania and all of Poland wouldn’t have to be convinced very hard to spend their money on a new video game counsel. They also like leisure time and video games are a great way to spend leisure time.

Indulgence is the next of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions I chose to compare among the three countries. Indonesia, Poland, and Romania have relatively low indulgence rates. Indonesia is the highest at 38 points, next is Poland at 29 points, and lastly is Romania at 20. Indulgent societies are keener on being happy and there are not many strict social norms restricting that. In contrast, restrained societies suppress happiness and regulate it with strict social norms. Since all three of the countries are more restrained, Marketing to them will have to adhere to their strict social norms. Single player gaming should be emphasized since most people in restrained societies tend to be less social. Indonesia is in ASEAN- which means that it has free trade with other countries that are in ASEAN. This is beneficial because there are many countries that are part of ASEAN. If the company I am running is in Indonesia and I am exporting to the other countries of ASEAN there would be less cost. However, if I am exporting to other countries that are not part of ASEAN, the cost would be higher. As of 2016, Indonesia has an Average of AV Duties of 15. 0.

Indonesia has many barriers for companies trying to set up shop there. According to the World bank, Indonesia ranks 166th place for the ease of doing business. This is due to the number of days it takes to set up a company. The first step is to meet with the State Treasury, The ministry of human rights, the ministry of Manpower, and several other associations. The first process takes at least 47 days and could take longer. Acquiring construction permits is hell. To acquire these permits, one must go through 13 procedures which include debating with Zoning agencies and tax offices. This could take at least 160 days. Not only that, companies here must make 51 tax payments which take 260 hours of manpower to process. The good thing about setting up a company here is that Indonesia dabbles heavily in global trading so the cost of importing and exporting materials is relatively cheap.

Poland has a few affiliations with other countries. Poland has an Interim agreement on Trade and Trade related matters with certain European Communities. Poland is also a member of CEFTA, which is a free trade agreement between Poland, the Czech Republic, Republic of Hungary, and the Slovak Republic. Poland is in a free trade agreement with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. As of 2003 the Average of AV Duties is 12. 0. Doing business in Poland has its pros and cons. The best thing about doing business in Poland right now is that it currently is the most populous country in Central Europe. Due to this and other factors, they came out of the recent economic downturn relatively unscathed. This means that it has a stable economic environment, which is good for a business who wants to come in from a different country. However, starting a business in Poland can take at least a month due to the various procedures that must first be performed. Getting electricity here for the first time is no easy task as well. It takes many procedures, it can be quite expensive, and it requires electrical contractors which cost even more. This step takes at least 186 days. Trading across borders in Poland takes a relatively long time due to the number of documents that must be handed back and forth. This makes exporting materials take about 17 days, and 16 days to import materials.

Romania is currently a part of the European Union. Romania does not have its own free trade barriers however, they comply with whatever the European union decides. There is a free trade agreement between all the countries that are members of the EU. This is good because there are many countries that are included in the EU or associated with the EU which would make exporting products to those countries much cheaper.

Currently Romania is doing some overhaul regarding its legislations concerning foreign business investment. They are changing their legislations so often that many businesses are having a hard time getting a grasp on it. To keep themselves right with the law they must put in extra efforts to learn the ever-changing laws. However, the Romanian government is doing this to attract more foreign business so in the future the complexity of the changing laws may change for the better. As it is now a foreign company can start opening its doors after only 8 days. Another positive of opening a business here is that there is a vast, well educated work force with many of its people in the IT industry.

With all these facts to consider, I had a hard time choosing which country to eliminate. However, based on several facts, I chose to eliminate Indonesia from the list of three countries. I chose to eliminate Indonesia because its scores for individualism and long-term orientation are undesirable to a company trying to enter a new market with a video game counsel. I also had to consider its somewhat extreme procedures to set up a new company. The time and effort factors alone make it not worth setting up a new company there in my opinion.

So, to conclude, Indonesia is the company that I will no longer enter regarding a new video game counsel business. I will continue to research more elements concerning the countries of Poland and Romania.