The structural response of IBM Essay Example

of HR functions including training, retirement planning, relocation, counselling, and consultancy. Workforce Solutions was established in 1992 as a spin-off company by IBM.

Workforce Solutions was contracted by IBM to outsource its HR staff functions. However, Workforce Solutions can also offer its services to other clients. The following section explores IBM's national differences using Hofstede's four dimensions analysis. This analysis defines national culture as a collective mental programming, influenced by shared history and reinforced through cultural institutions in everyday life. The four dimensions were established through employee surveys conducted in the early 1970s across 40 countries, including IBM employees. Given IBM's strong corporate culture, any significant national variations would highlight the potential power of national culture as a contingency variable over variables proposed in the bold hypothesis (e.g.

Hofstede's approach was not the only one, but it was groundbreaking and has been widely discussed and disseminated. From Hofstede's interpretation of factor analysis come four dimensions. Firstly, power distance refers to the extent to which power in society is perceived to be unevenly distributed. Countries with large power distances espouse inequality; superiors may view subordinates as different types of people, and few individuals should have independence because power is an essential fact of life. Secondly, uncertainty avoidance indicates the degree to which national members feel threatened when confronted with indefinable and ambiguous situations that they try to avoid.

One way to avoid issues is by creating strict regulations and not accepting nonconformity. If a country's uncertainty avoidance level is low, they would opt for fewer rules that are adaptable, willing to take chances, accepting of opposing views, and believe the role of authority is to benefit everyone.