Question

How does national culture affect the selection process? Give some examples of the different selection processes used in different countries and try to explain why these differences occur.

Answer discussion style.

Answer 1

Culture is basically the entity which makes a country unique. Culture defines the way in which a country believes, cherishes customs and traditions and behaves as a community. The culture of a country can be defined on 5 dimensions suggested by G. Hofstede – individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and long term orientation.

National culture plays a major role in the way business and trade is conducted in the country. The business processes and policies followed by a country is also governed by the national culture. Recruitment and selection is also aligned with the primary dimensions of the national culture of the country. For example: Japan is a highly uncertainty avoidance country. Japanese companies do not want to take risks. Hence the selection process is quite comprehensive and complex. The potential employee is judged on various criteria and then only the selection decision is made. We can consider another example of Argentina. Argentina is a highly collectivist country. They prefer community over talent and capabilities. Hence in the recruitment and selection process, preference is given to local candidates of Argentina over foreign nationals. Hence we can conclude that national culture has a big influence on the way, recruitment and selection strategy of a company is developed and implemented.