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This paper discusses the concept of the ethics of guanxi within the Chinese business environment, as well as some of the drawbacks of Chinese business relationships. Guanxi, in the Chinese culture, demands long-term relationships and giving gifts. However, there exists a differentiation between types of guanxi. This paper distinguishes between working guanxi and backdoor guanxi. While the Economic Reforms of 1978 introduced new business practices in China, there remains an imbedded culture based on Confucian values. In addition, the paper explains some of the differences between the American and Chinese culture perceptions, as it relates to business relationships and power distances among leadership. Hofstede's (1983) theory of power distances pinpoints the differences between Chinese and American business culture. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Corporate Social Responsibility, and other forces shape American business ethical culture. The Chinese business culture relies on relationships and often have no code of ethics. Furthermore, it is important to understand the entry modes into the Chinese business culture. This paper discusses entry modes and recommends the preferred entry mode as permanent. It is beneficial to American businesses in China to understand the very different culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An advantage often cited in the literature regarding internal hiring or promotion is that current employees are known commodities regarding their "fit" with the organization's culture and work environment (Krell, 2015). The easily acquired intimate knowledge of current employees creates a strong incentive to emphasize promoting from within when the need arises. As organizations grow and labor markets become tighter, the lack of available promotable employees may dictate that the employer look to external job markets to fill positions. Assessment as to whether an external candidate's personality will be a good fit for the organization is often described as a key factor that influences the effectiveness of those individuals and also one of the most difficult elements to assess in the selection process (Krell, 2015). In recent years, technological advances in the nature of selection systems has enabled employers to increase their use of online technology to screen job applicants' personalities as to their potential fit with an organization's culture and work environment, and this increased use has not gone unnoticed by US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulators (EEOC) (Lundquist, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to examine legal and policy issues for employers when utilizing technology to assess an applicant's personality as part of the employers screening of external applicants for employment and policy and practice suggestions for employers to facilitate compliance with EEOC guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Americans with Disabilties Act (ADA) is 25 years old. The act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for disabled employees. The requirement for reasonable accommodations has remained the same and the law has not been changed significantly over the years. However the interpretation of the law, specifically what constitutes reasonable accommodations, has evolved. The requirements for small business were initially confusing and difficult to implement. Despite, or maybe because of, many lawsuits and state and local requirements, the requirements remain more muddled than ever. In this paper we will examine the relationship between small business and the ADA. We take a position that taking a proactive stance can give a small business a competitive advantage in two ways. It can open up a new labor pool and it can create a new customer base. The paper ends with some recommendations for practitioners and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income inequality has increased over the last years between the richer and the poorer, but in many countries, government transfers and social programs play an important role in reducing income inequality. In this paper, we will study health care financing in Canada as a social transfer to fight inequities. Our progressive tax rate system makes that the rich pay for the poor. Canadian families with the lowest income will pay an average total tax bill of $2,148 (16%) and an average health care insurance of $523. On the other side of the spectrum, the 10 percent of Canadian families with an average income of $278,012 will pay an average total tax bill $152,869 (55%) and health care insurance of $37,239. In addition, the Government of Canada provides significant support to provincial and territorial governments with transfers that enables less prosperous provincial governments to provide their residents with public services to support social programs, thus reducing inequities and subsidizing social programs that some Canadians could not afford, thus reducing inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the changing relationship between investors and people who advise them, be they brokers or other professional advisors. Specifically, we trace the degree to which the duties that the advisor owes to the client-investor have expanded to include fiduciary ones. Black's law dictionary defines fiduciary duty as: a duty of utmost good faith, trust, confidence, and candor owed by a fiduciary (such as a lawyer or corporate officer) to the beneficiary (such as a lawyer's client or a shareholder); a duty to act with the highest degree of honesty and loyalty toward another person and in the best interests of the other person (such as the duty that one partner owes to another). Historically in most jurisdictions, the relationship between a broker and an investor, without more extenuating circumstances, was not considered to be a fiduciary one. Rather, it was one of "suitability," that is the advisor should recommend or buy no investments that were inappropriate for the client's circumstances. However, due to headline business frauds, e.g. Bernie Madoff, investors have sought more protection. Should investors be able to hold brokers or others accountable for the risks in their investments? The Department of Labor recently issued a new rule under the Investor Protection Act of 2010 (now part of Dodd-Frank) that requires a stockbroker managing retirement accounts to act as a fiduciary and to serve the client's best interests. This paper looks at the protections that investors historically have had from violations of ordinary care and/or fiduciary duty in some circumstances and the effects of this new rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the impact of the conditions of employment of software employees, who are highly mobile. Their frequent mobility causes disruption of the commitment of the employer leading to structuring the stringent conditions to prevent mobility. The present task is how are the conditions are valid, legal and tenable on the touch stone of Constitutional philosophy and hardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fiscal year (FY) 2014, the United States (US) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) accepted 3,060 whistleblower cases for investigation. This marked the first time in its history that the agency had surpassed 3,000 cases (Maurer, 2015). The OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program enforces 22 federal statutes protecting employees that report violations of a wide variety of federal laws. From workplace safety to securities laws, the depth and breadth of the programs reach takes in a wide swath of the American economic landscape. The purpose of this paper is to briefly examine the reach of OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program, to examine where the agency's resources have been focused in recent years, and to identify policy and practice suggestions for employers to facilitate compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On April 8, 2014, President Obama issued an Executive Order amending Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against employees for disclosure of compensation information (Obama, 2014). Executive Order 11246 covers employees who work for service and supply contractors and construction companies covered by Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) regulations that apply to federal government contracts. The Executive Order was heralded by organizations like the National Women's Law Center as "an end to pay secrecy gag rules for employees of federal contractors" (Watson, 2014). It was characterized by others as "unnecessary" given long standing protection afforded to employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) (Smith, 2014). Pay secrecy has often been characterized as a "contentious" issue in many organizations and President Obama's recent executive order has rekindled the debate as to the utility of pay secrecy policies and rules in organizations. This paper examines recent legal, policy, and practice issues for employers covered by the National Labor Relations Act regarding the use of pay secrecy policies and, recommendations to reduce employer exposure to litigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines various attitudes and preferences regarding human disabilities types and categories as seen from three different viewpoints. We examine the social distance literature researching attitudes of the general public about a list of disabilities. We compare and contrast this with similar research of attitudes about disabilities collected from health care professions rather than the general public. Finally, we compare both of these views with the actual claims filed in recent years under that Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A few conclusions can be drawn from the comparison. First, observable mental disabilities are least favored in terms of social distance preferences, rated as least prestigious, and are subject of few claims. Second, unobserved conditions such as diabetes and heart conditions are most favored, most prestigious, and a subject of more claims. Third, there is remarkable stability of attitudes over time toward different disabilities. Finally, we observe that the diversity of disabilities makes the very large group of individuals with disabilities hard to group into a single class politically or sociologically. This study examines various attitudes and preferences regarding human disabilities types and categories as seen from three different viewpoints. We examine the social distance literature researching attitudes about disabilities of the general public. We compare and contrast this with similar research of opinions about disabilities collected from health care professions. Finally, we compare both of these views with the actual claims under that Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Earlier, we and others, examined attitudes from the viewpoint of Tringo's (1970) Disability Social Distance Scale which yielded a distribution of preferences across of list of specified disabilities (Hatfield & Turner, 2001). Studies found that the categorization by the general public of a list of disabilities was relatively stable across over 30 years (Thomas, 2000). A recent article by Grue et al. (2015) refers to such earlier work, such as Tringo's and Hatfield's perhaps, as creating a "vulgar hierarchy..." with those diseases at the top seen to be "more a disease" than those at the bottom. Grue's recent research collected the attitudes of health care professionals about diseases and disabilities. Rather than collecting the attitudes of people in the general population, Grue's study elicits attitudes from those who have more informed views about diseases and disabilities included in his questionnaire. These informed respondents were asked to rank 38 diseases and disabilities individually on a scale from 1 to 9 based upon whether the conditions is "seen by professionals in the disability field" as "low prestige" or "high prestige" respectively. This methodology of using the positive term "prestige" is interesting since much of the traditional literature in the area of disability is more likely to use terms with negative connotations like "stigma" and "discrimination (against)". Data from the Institute on Employment and Disability at Cornell University provides insight into an understanding of disability types and the attitudes around them by examining the bases or types cited in ADA charges during recent periods (von Schrader & Erickson, 2017). The most recent data is 2012-2014. Comparisons across the three viewpoints - general public, healthcare professionals, and ADA (and ADA Amendments Act of 2008 - ADAAA) charges, show that "mental retardation" is near the bottom of all three rankings while diabetes is found near the top across the rankings. While it is clear that disability type or category is important, discrimination potential toward or against a person with a disability is complex. Our prior research found an interaction between disability type and situational expectations. For instance, when screening for a job where the person would be in public view, a person with a viewable disability would be discriminated against in terms of obtaining a hiring recommendation. However, where the job was not be in the public view, a viewable disability worked in favor of obtaining a positive hiring recommendation when judged against someone not presenting such a disability (Hui & Hatfield, 1992). Recently there has been a great deal of discussion about discrimination, lawful or not, toward or away from certain groups. Categorization as to race, religion, sexual preference, national origin, and legal status have been news and political talking points in recent months. However, there has been little national discussion about discrimination against persons with disabilities although it is arguably one of the largest "protected classes" under the laws in the U.S. Some estimated, around the passage of the ADA in 1990, that one in seven Americans are disabled under the broad terms of the act (and as restored in the ADAAA). One problem in gaining a better understanding attitudes about persons with disabilities is their different categorization. "Persons with disabilities" are sometimes seen as another uniform "protected class." In some ways, race, gender, and age can be seen as binary in categorization: you are a member of a minority (non-white) race or not, male or female, old or not, etc. However, research has found that people view disability types very differently. All three comparisons in this paper demonstrate such perceived differences. This has meant that it is more complicated to have a political movement to gain any additional understanding or exposure. One author has said that disability is an authentic identify obscured by an inauthentic but more socially acceptable identity (non-disabled) - a phrased also used by the LGBT movement. An article discussing this asks for more thought and research because "the relationship between disability and specific types of illness and impairments, nor the way in which people identify with or identify other as member of one or the other category is sufficiently understood" (Grue, 2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting a new business venture and still being in operation after 5 years can be a significant challenge. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), half of all small businesses fail within the first five years and according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as many as 30% of small business failures can be attributed to crime. Today, small business owners are subject to assault by many different types of criminal activities ranging from shoplifting and vandalism, to fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and of course, cybercrime. Crimes committed against businesses fall into two broad categories internal and external. Internal crimes include crimes such as theft and embezzlement, while external crimes include activities such as robbery and cybercrime. Each category of crime has its own unique characteristics and each calls for a different approach to prevent and detect criminal activity, along with various remedies to criminal acts. Accountants can play a significant role in these activities including development of comprehensive audits, utilizing specialized computer software, and vigilance in looking for suspicious activity by employees, customers, suppliers and others. In this paper, the authors provide an introduction to business criminal activity and a variety of counter-measures businesses can employ to safeguard their profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost every day we see reports of cybercrimes, whether involving hacking into a company's data system and stealing millions of customer accounts or exposing yet another identity theft scheme. In 2013, there were 13.1 million victims of identity theft in the United States losing more than $18 billion, which was actually a decrease of $3 billion from the previous year (Javelin Strategy & Research, 2014)! Large and small businesses, as well as individuals can be attacked and those attacks are not always by the typical hackers. Lately, we have been besieged by ransomware, click-jacking, doxxing, phishing, pharming, and even mini-drones (Ikseu & Yongyun, 2015). The expansion around the world of these high-tech cyber-crimes call for new methods and new technologies to thwart these attacks and dismantle the criminal enterprises. In this paper, the authors examine some of the latest cybercrime threats and offer recommendations to thwart those crimes and stop cyber-criminals who use technology to steal from or cause harm to individuals and/or businesses alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Court decisions have established an individual's Constitutional right of privacy to choose or decline end-stage medical treatment. Further, courts have acknowledged that surrogates may make such decisions for an individual who has become incompetent provided the surrogates, appointed by the individual patients, can establish the intent of such individuals by subjective oral evidence. All states have legislatively established criteria for written Health Care Directives (HCDs) to evidence an individual's desires regarding end-stage medical treatment, which can be legally enforced. Since there has been some confusion by health care providers in interpreting the HCDs, this paper evaluates the ambiguity of the special language of HCDs and suggests provisions and examples to clarify the intent of individual patients and provide health care professionals nationwide access to HCDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial crimes are not new--they have been around for centuries. However, only in more recent times have we begun to explore and attempt to understand why they occur. We attempt to do this not simply for psychological understanding, but also to develop defensive strategies to prevent future financial crimes. In this paper, the authors discuss conditions typically present that allow persons within and outside the firm the opportunity to commit crimes. The authors then offer additional preventive measures and conclude with recommendations for management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a qualitative assessment of corporate wrongdoing at HealthSouth Corporation, using the Banality of Wrongdoing model. The interviewees were two of the CFOs involved in the HealthSouth scandal. Each CFO was independently asked fourteen structured interview questions that measured the following constructs: the culture of competition, ends-biased leadership, missionary zeal, legitimizing myth, the corporate cocoon, banality of wrongdoing and greed. Each CFO's responses were compared to measure the presence or the absence of the construct and the significance of its impact on the unethical behavior at HealthSouth in the period from its founding in 1984 until the fraud was exposed in 2003. The study found that the variables used to measure unethical behavior based on the Banality of Wrongdoing Model were an effective tool for performing a diagnostic mapping of an ethically troubled organization. The study also determined that the unethical activities undertaken by HealthSouth were not unthinking illicit behavior as originally expected but were intentional and calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious organizations receive the most charitable contributions of all public charities. However, unlike other public charities, they are automatically exempt from the annual IRS compliance reporting via Form 990. This is based on the protection of religious freedom which exempted such organizations from government scrutiny. Religious organizations are becoming more complex, and are growing exponentially especially in the 'mega church' sector. Perhaps it is time to re-examine the compliance reporting exemption. The paper discusses the positions of those who support and oppose this federal exemption and concludes with the authors' viewpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The meteoric rise of social media in recent years has radically altered the relationship between the personal and business spheres of American society. In light of the increased market presence shaped by the growing number of social media outlets, companies are recognizing the critical need to establish a solid social media presence. However, despite the benefits provided by social media, organizations and individuals alike are beginning to recognize the legal, business, and privacy risks. In response to these risks, organizations routinely monitor the social media activities of their employees. This paper will examine the costs and consequences of failing to effectively communicate expectations on acceptable social media conduct to new employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, the status of an economy has been measured in terms of its real output. The most popular yardstick for this figure is gross domestic product, or GDP. GDP, however, does not take into account many more complex elements of economic welfare - only market activities are included. At the heart of furthering economic sustainability is how to effectively and accurately measure the status of the economy and what to measure in the economy. This paper seeks to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of one such well-being measure, the Genuine Process Indicator (GPI) and traditional GDP as measures of economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 ("FERPA"), also known as the Buckley Amendment, is a statute enacted by Congress and intended to provide students with the right to access and amend their educational records, and to protect their privacy rights by preventing the disclosure of educational records without their written consent (FERPA, 2001). The statute, as originally intended by Senator Buckley, protects two broad rights: (1) the right for students to access their educational records, and (2) the right for students to prohibit the disclosure of their educational records to third parties without the student's consent. Students depend on the accuracy and integrity of universities in the maintenance of their educational records, and, as a result, it is paramount that universities and educators comply with this statute. Unfortunately, the language and application of FERPA has often proven complicated and ambiguous for universities, educators, and the courts. For decades, courts have struggled to define the scope, application, and enforcement of FERPA, which has led to many inconsistent court rulings. The Supreme Court's ruling in Gonzaga v. Doe (2002), for example, dramatically watered down the enforcement of FERPA (Bott, 2003) and deviated substantially from its original intent (Stuart 2006; Mitchell 2003). This article is designed to clarify business educators' duties under FERPA and to provide recommendations for how to improve compliance in order to achieve greater protection for students, educators, and universities. In particular, we trace the history of the enactment of FERPA and court challenges, and illustrate these issues by describing situations related to the business classroom. FERPA requires that universities allow students to inspect and amend their educational records, consent to disclosures of their educational records, and file complaints with the Department of Education if their FERPA rights have been violated. Because one of the most important mediums universities use to notify their students to the terms of FERPA is through the university website, we evaluated the websites of top-ranked national and regional universities for their FERPA reporting information. Of the findings, a shocking 40% of universities failed to define "educational record" despite the centrality of the phrase to the scope of FERPA. A third section of this paper focuses on adapting FERPA to changes in higher education. In particular, we emphasize issues related to online courses, so-called massive open online courses or MOOCs, and executive education as pertains to business schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is no surprise; ethical values differ from country to country in the global marketplace. What is a normal business practice in one country may be highly illegal and unethical in another, for example the bribing of officials for financial benefit or financial "off the books" kickbacks offered to a business in exchange for a large contract. France has had to make changes to its laws in recent years to punish/fine French companies engaging in unethical behavior. France has had multiple incidents of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in many cases inaction of French government has left no choice but for America to pursue prosecution, an example is the BNP Paribas fine for violating U.S. sanctions (there were other banks also involved). On Transparency International's public corruption index, The U.S. ranks number 16 while France at 23. French authorities seem to have a more hands off or lax attitude towards business ethics in comparison to U.S. Power distance in France could lead to a corporate strategy where delivery of customer service is impacted by decisions made by higher ups in the hierarchy of the company and little input from the people delivering customer service. In contrast, there is more input from the employees on delivering quality customer service in the U.S. Our individualism in the U.S. is a driver for our strong sense of going above and beyond delivering excellent service. We expect to be treated with respect and in turn offer customer the benefit of being right. Whereas in France customer is not always right. In fact calling customer service requires having to pay to talk to someone. Another example is tips are expected and added at café or restaurant. In U.S. the better the service received the better the tip OR no tip even if service was horrible! Regardless, in most cases a tip is not tacked on by default. High uncertainty avoidance can mean a lot of rules and inflexibility for customer service in France- for example businesses closing down during lunch. As opposed to the US where lunch is when many of us spend running errands rather than actually eating. Stopping by the post office and actually getting help is a way to make our lives easier versus if they were also closed for a 2-hour lunch. Also, easy acceptance of new ideas can lead to various customer service strategies getting a chance - in contrast rules and keeping things the way they are and for everyone to accept as-is in France does not seem a positive for strategic customer service improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Singapore, the power distance scores are quite high considering they have a syncretic approach to religion which is a dominant approach. The ideology of the religion teaches about stability of the society. Therefore, power is centralized and people believe and rely on their bosses and on rules. In addition, the Individualism score is a 20 meaning that the people belong in group and care after each other for loyalty. The idea is to be in harmony and which causes the communication to be indirect at time and open conflicts are avoided. One's face is always respected and being calm and respected is very important. The masculinity scale in Singapore is at a 48 meaning it's in the middle of the scale but more on the feminine side. They understand the softer aspects of the culture with others and value being modest and humble. Conflicts are avoided at all times and community support is very important. For uncertainty avoidance, Singapore scores an 8 where the people believe that the rules need to be followed. For long term orientation, Singapore scores high which shows that cultural qualities supporting long term investment. Finally, for indulgence, Singapore scores at a 46 and it is not possible to determine the preference. For Brazil, in the power distance scale, the region reflects a society that believes in hierarchy and also believing that it should be respected and inequalities among people are also acceptable. For individualism, people from birth are integrated into strong, cohesive groups. The communication style is context rich and people will often speak and write very elaborately. For masculinity, Brazil scores a 49. For long term orientation, brazil scores a 44, which is intermediate in the dimension. For indulgence, Brazil scores a 59 meaning that people exhibit a willingness to realize their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. Singapore and Brazil are quite similar in many ways such as in the dimension power distance, masculinity and indulgence. However, for uncertainty avoidance, Brazil scores a 76 where as Singapore scores an 8. For individualism, Singapore scores a 20 and Brazil scores a 38. Ethics are generally accepted customs of the culture in which they reside. They are moral concepts that apply to any group, set of people, or geographical area. For instance, in the United States, there are multiple different ethical backgrounds based on the ""mixing pot"" of cultures that it is famous for having. In Saudi Arabia, however, there are fewer groups of people and ethics accepted. The national religion for this country is Sunni-Islam compared to the United States which is for the most part, Christianity. For the most part, the moral systems in Business are the same except for the treatment of women. In the United States, women are beginning to have equal standing with men whereas in Saudi Arabia, because of the culture and theocratic society, women are viewed as less than men and are subjective. According to Hofstede's model, America far outmatches Saudi Arabia in terms of individualism. In contrast, Saudi Arabia far outweighs in Power Distance and moderately outweigh the U.S. in Uncertainty Avoidence. Their Indulgence is not as high as the U.S. and Masculinity is slightly higher in Saudi Arabia. In the United States, depending on the region, they are generally accepting of different cultures. Saudi Arabia is very untrustworthy of some cultures such as Christianity, as it is a Theocratic society. They are not as hostile towards this subject as Iran or Iraq and are still very relational when it comes to business strategy. In the U.S. it tends to be accepted to do business regardless of any personal relationship achieved with the partner while in Saudi Arabia, personal relationships are highly suggested. Ethics are moral principles that governs a person's behavior. The six dimensions of Hofstede's model each contribute to an individual's morals. Using the 6D model, I compared the behavior's of Japan and Taiwan. The 6D model consists of Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-Term Orientation, and Indulgence. In terms of Power Distance, the two countries are not far apart, but Taiwan's score is slightly higher. Both scores are both at a mid-level, meaning a hierarchical system is apparent, but not domineering. For individualism, Japan is also at a mid-level, but Taiwan is far lower with a score of 17 which means it values collectivism and teamwork far more. When it comes to Masculinity, the two countries are almost complete opposites, with Japan having a very high score in this area. Japan is also very high in Uncertainty Avoidance, meaning they do not like to take risks a vast majority of the time. Both countries are high in Long-Term orientation, much reflective of the Asian cultural values of working hard to achieve a successful life. Lastly in the Indulgence dimension, both countries have a lower mid-level score, meaning they do practice restraint most of the time. The extent of business ethics in the US far exceeds that in any other capitalist country including Russia. Americans have stricter guidelines when evaluating ethics. Americans are more concerned with equality. This can be shown in their low power distance. Russians find it unethical to deceive a friend or family member but not someone in a business deal. On the other hand, in the US it is considered unethical in both situations. Russia has an extremely high power distance scoring 93 on Hofstede's power distance scale. Status is very important and there is a large discrepancy between the haves and have nots. The United States only scored 40 on this dimension. Thus there is more equality in the US and less of a hierarchy. However, power distance is still important in the US with the top 1% owning 35.6% of all private wealth. Russia is a collectivist society scoring only 39 on the Individualism scale. This can be seen in even the language where "we" is more commonly used than "I". Relationships are crucial to success, especially in the business environment. The US is one of the most individualistic societies in the world scoring 91 on this dimension. In America, people look after themselves and their immediate family only. Surprisingly, Russia scores low on the masculinity scale with only 36. This means they are a more feminine culture concerned about others and the quality of life. This is demonstrated through the way people talk modestly about themselves and even how doctors and researchers live a modest life style. America scored fairly high on masculinity at 62. People are encouraged to strive to do their best and compete for what they want. Americans typically "live to work". Russia scored 95 in uncertainty avoidance meaning they are very wary of ambiguity. They have one of the most established bureaucracies in the world. Detailed planning and briefing are always given and when Russians interact with strangers they remain very formal and distant. The United States scored much lower on the uncertainty avoidance dimension at 46. This means they are more open to innovation and news ideas. They have fewer rules and are less emotionally expressive than Russia. Russia is very pragmatic scoring 81 on the long-distance orientation dimension. They have an ability to adapt traditions to changes in the situation and context. Additionally, they are thrifty and like to save and invest as well as showing perseverance in order to achieve their goals. The United States contrasted from Russia largely with a low score of 26. They prefer to keep time honored traditions and norms and are warier of change. They are much less logical than Russia. Russia scored only 20 on the indulgence dimension making them a very reserved country. They have a tendency for cynicism and pessimism and place little emphasis on leisure time. On the other hand, the United States scored 68 on this dimension. They believe in the philosophy of work hard play hard. They are much more indulgent of their desires and impulses. In the US strategic customer service is part of the marketing arm of companies. They try to manage customer service issues in order to improve word of mouth and brand strength. Service with a smile is stressed and the customer is always right. Though Russian consumerism is booming and Russians have embraced capitalism, businesses care little about keeping customers happy. Everything is growing so fast that supply can't keep up with demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When comparing Spain and the United States, the cultural differences are significant, although they are similar in some aspects. Although individualism is supported in Spain, unlike America, the Spanish tend to be relatively collectivist when compared to Europe and the United States. However, when compared to countries such as China and India, their cultural is far more individualistic. Collectivist cultures who usually view individualistic cultures as blunt and selfish, tend to relate better to the Spanish culture. Individualistic cultures tend to believe the Spanish are far more independent compared to collectivists. As a result, Spain reaches a balance on individualism. However, in terms of masculinity, Spain falls on the opposite side of the spectrum from the United States of America. The United States is considered a relatively masculine society because the competitive society is driven is rewards and success. However, the Spanish are considered as almost feminine because traits such as harmony and sympathy are valued. Moreover, the masculine trait to stand out from the crowd isn't as valued within the Spanish society. Consensus and agreement are what motivate Spanish society, allowing for the growth of stronger relationships. Lastly, Spain differs drastically from the United States when analyzing Long Term Orientation. Spain is a society that is relatively laid back without much concern for the future. With a love for both "siestas" and "fiestas," Spain is a fun-loving country. Although the United States is a country that embraces that fun-loving mindset, there are set clear rules and structures that run the society. The United States values development and progress, so the Long-Term Orientation is relatively high. As a masculine society, the United States values success and as a result, the future. Overall, both cultures are unique in their own way. Understanding these differences allows for better management skills through a sense of cultural awareness and empathy Spain and Lebanon are two very diverse countries that exhibit varying personalities, cultures and customer service strategies. Hofstede's cultural dimensions display an elaborate study of Spain and Lebanon. Spain demonstrates a high score (57) in the power distance dimension, which means that Spain has a hierarchical society. This means that people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organization is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat. Lebanon scores relatively higher in this dimension (score of 75), which means that people are more accustomed to hierarchical societies. Spain, in comparison with the rest of the European countries (except for Portugal) is Collectivist (because of its score in this dimension: 51). However, compared with other areas of the world it is seen as clearly individualist. This has made Spaniards quite easy to relate with certain cultures - mainly non-European- whereas other cultures can be perceived as aggressive and blunt. On the other hand, teamwork is considered as something totally natural, employees tend to work in this way with no need for strong motivation from Management. Lebanon, with a score of 40 is also considered a collectivistic society. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the member 'group', be that a family, extended family, or extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount, and over-rides most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters strong relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. In collectivist societies offence leads to shame and loss of face, employer/employee relationships are perceived in moral terms (like a family link), hiring and promotion decisions take account of the employee's in-group, management is the management of groups. Spain scores 42 in the Masculinity dimension and is a country where the key word is consensus. So polarization is not well considered or excessive competitiveness appreciated. Spanish children are educated in search of harmony, refusing to take sides or standing out. There is a concern for weak or needy people that generate a natural current of sympathy. Regarding management, managers like to consult their subordinates to know their opinions and, according to it, make their decisions. In politics, it is desirable to have participation of all the minorities, trying to avoid the dominant presence of just one winning party. It is the country opposite to 'the winner takes it all'. Lebanon scores 65 on this dimension and is thus a Masculine society. Managers are expected to be decisive and assertive, the emphasis is on equity, competition and performance and conflicts are resolved by fighting them out. If there is a dimension that defines Spain very clearly, it is Uncertainty Avoidance, as is reflected in a high score of 86. Spain is considered the second noisiest country in the world. People like to have rules for everything, changes cause stress, but, at the same time, they are obliged to avoid rules and laws that, in fact, make life more complex. Confrontation is avoided as it causes great stress and scales up to the personal level very quickly. There is great concern for changing, ambiguous and undefined situations. Thus, for example, in a very recent survey 75% of Spanish young people wanted to work in civil service (i.e. a job for life, no concerns about the future) whereas in the USA only 17% of young people would like it. On the other hand, Lebanon scores 50 on this dimension and there shows no clear preference. Despite an intermediate score of 48, Spain is a normative country. Spanish people like to live in the moment, without a great concern about the future. In fact, Spain is the country that has given the meaning of 'fiesta' to the world. In Spain, people look for quick results without delays. Moreover, there is a need for clear structures and well defined rules prevailing against more pragmatic and relaxed approaches to life, particularly, in the long term time. The very low score of 14 on this dimension shows that Lebanese culture is normative. People in such societies have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth; they are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results. With a low score of 44, Spain is not an Indulgent society. Societies with a low score in this dimension have a tendency to cynicism and pessimism. Also, in contrast to Indulgent societies, restrained societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong. The score for this dimension for Lebanon is 25 which means that the culture of Lebanon is one of Restraint. Societies with a low score in this dimension have a tendency to cynicism and pessimism. Also, in contrast to Indulgent societies, Restrained societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When compared to the USA, Japan's big five scores appear to be lower. According to a study by Robie, Brown, and Bly, US scores were significantly higher than those of the Japanese sample. The highest correlation appeared to be with extroversion when conscientiousness appeared to be the least important when looking at both samples. When comparing Geert Hofstede 6D scores using his website, Japan had scored tremendously higher in the power distance, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long term orientation. The scores were 54, 95, 92, and 88 respectively. The only scores that the USA seemed to be greater in would be Individualism with a sky rocketing 91 and indulgence with 68. The culture of Japan, when reading articles online during my personal time, seem to be about Japanese culture emphasizing a need to be great and to go to school and to study hard, which could lead to a lower mind set of individuality, however, as time goes by this trend could evidently dip. The website article did however say that compared to other Asian nations, Japan has one of the highest individualistic score. Americans on the other hand are brought into this world generally being emphasized to do what they want to do and be who they want to be. America had also scored higher in the area of indulgence; generally speaking, we drink more, do more drugs, and as the article pointed out, are a prudish society, yet some televangelist commit to immoral acts, like movie stars and famous modern day musicians. America itself came up with the saying, "work hard and play hard". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]