Objectives

The objective of this assignment is to analyze cross-cultural differences and their impact on international business. In the absence of opportunity to encounter issues arisen from cross cultural interactions firsthand, case studies provide students the opportunity to apply theory to practice by providing solutions to the problems and conflicts posed in these cases.

In this individual assignment, you are required to answer the four questions below based on the case: "IKEA - Managing Cultural Diversity" by P. Grol, C. Schoch and CPA. Taken from Oddou, G. and Mendenhall, M. (1998) (eds). Cases in International Organizational Behaviour. Blackwell Publishers, Malden Massachusetts.

Questions

1. Discuss how IKEA's mission statement, management style and practices may reflect cultural values attributed to the Nordic culture cluster.

2. Critically analyse whether issues encountered by IKEA in Germany, France and the United States reflect differences in cultural values.

3. Based on the descriptions of IKEA's Human Resource Management Philosophy, discuss what cultural values issues IKEA's expansion into a Confusian Asian culture cluster may encounter.

4. Examine IKEA's current website for job applicants in the Singapore stores.