Intercultural management: Sweden

Résumé du document

With the globalization and our studies in international management, we are more and more faced to different cultures. That is why it is important to be interested and open minded to other culture if you want to succeed at an international level. Often, businessmen from other culture don't expect businessmen to act in a different way from themselves in management, behavior, clothing… Most of them would be surprised if they were told that their business culture differs from the international norm.

so it shows how important it is to be aware of cultural differences and be able to apply an intercultural management in some case. For this case study, I have chosen the Sweden because I have always been interested by this Nordic country. Actually, you have a lot of international companies established in this country, such as H&M, Ikea, SEB, Volvo… The Sweden with its capital Stockholm has a population of around 9,100,000 inhabitants. This country has one of the highest standards of living in the world.Sweden became a great power of Europe in front of Finland, Norway and Denmark.

Extraits

[...] Its population is really trained and skilles. Swedish people familiarize themselves rapidly to a changing environment and have the capability for high levels of technological adoption and innovation. It is a real training pillar workforce. It is one of their competitive advantage and it attracts a lot of investor for that reason. IV- ENVIRONMENT The environment seems to be an important variable because Swedes love the nature and the Swedish landscape. They bring a lot of importance to the environment. [...]

[...] Actually, the country scores in the top of the Human Development Index (HDI). So, Sweden seems to have one of the best environments to do business thanks to their safety and to their political situation. Healthcare As Sweden has one of the highest living standards, the healthcare service is very well developed. There is no major health risk in this developed Nordic country. Urbanization You will find a vast majority of the Swedish population living in urban centers.Actually, Sweden enjoys a very low population density outside of themajor cities. [...]

[...] In that way we will get a better understanding of the Swedish culture and be able to work with them more easily. Understanding Scandinavian mentality and more especially Swedish society and culture is essential to successfully do business in Sweden. PEOPLE One of the most important variables is to know the people, the Swedish. Their culture will be different from ours so you have to be aware of it in order to adapt yourself to them. Ethnic groups Sweden has always been a neutral country so it has made a popular location for immigrants while the northern part is still home to a minority of indigenous Sami people. [...]

[...] Environmentally friendly One of their major issues is the global warming and the environment in general. Sweden is considered as a “green nation” thanks to their effort for their love of nature. Actually, they apply an environmental policy in order to solve all the current problems for the next generation. The Riksdag has already adopted 16 environmental objectives relating to the Swedish environment to be achieved in 2020. They signed and they are at the initiative of diverse international agreement for the environment. [...]

[...] The environment, as it is an important issue for Swedes, is trying to be regulated or controlled by the government through the environmental protection agency and their objectives to reduce their impact on earth by 2020. The environment has impact also on the mentality of the people, so Swedes are more respectful for the environment than most of other countries. To conclude, we have seen all the variables of Sweden that you will have to face and be aware in your intercultural management if you want to enter this market or simply work with Swedish colleagues. REFERENCES "Sweden." Sweden Country Profile (2011): Business Source Complete. [...]