The first country that I choose is Malaysia.

Malaysia consists of 2 parts with 13 states in it

namely Peninsular Malaysia and West Malaysia of Sabah and Sarawak. Malaysia is located at
the north of Equator of Southeast Asia. The capital city of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur which lies
in the western part of the peninsula and the administrative centre of Malaysia is Putrajaya,
located about 25km south of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The national anthem for Malaysia
is known as Negaraku and the national flag of Malaysia is known as Jalur Gemilang or ‘Stripes
of Glory’. The monetary unit is Ringgit Malaysia (RM). With one of the oldest monarchy system
in the world, Malaysia is ruled by two legislative house; House of Senate and House of
Representative. The current ruler of Malaysia is Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Abdullah.

Figure 1: Map of Malaysia

Figure 2: Malaysia’s Flag

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For Peninsular Malaysia, it reside in most of the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. To the
north it is delimited by Thailand, with which it segments a land boundary of some 480 km. To
the south, at the slope of the peninsula, is the island Republic of Singapore, with which
Malaysia is linked by a road and also by a split bridge. To the southwest, past the Strait of
Malacca, is the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. East Malaysia comprises of two largest
states, Sarawak and Sabah, and is separated from Peninsular Malaysia by some 640 km of
the South China Sea. These two states dominate about the northern fourth of the large island
of Borneo and part a land border with the Indonesian part (Kalimantan) of the island to the
south. Surrounded by Sarawak is a small shoreline region encompassing the sultanate
of Brunei. Of Malaysia total area, which includes about 690 square km of inland water,
Peninsular Malaysia forms about 40 percent and East Malaysia about 60 percent.

The people of Malaysia are unequally distributed between Peninsular and East Malaysia, with

the vast mass living in Peninsular Malaysia. The population displays great racial, dialectal,
social, and thorough multiplicity. Within this multiplicity, a meaningful characteristic is made for
organizational purposes between local peoples (including Malays), in a group called bumiputra,
and immigrant residents (primarily Chinese and South Asians), called non-bumiputra. For
religion, Islam Malaysia’s official religion, is comprehend by about three-fifths of the population.
Islam is one of the crucial factors characterizing a Malay from a non-Malay, and, by law, all
Malays are Muslim. The Chinese do not have an official religion; many, while hold to
the moral teachings of Confucianism, follow Buddhism or Daoism; a small minority follows to
various values of Christianity. Most of the Indians and Sri Lankans exercise Hinduism, while the
Pakistanis are mainly Muslim. Some Indians are Christian. The Sikhs, formerly from the Indian
state of Punjab, largely follow to their own religion, Sikhism.

Among the non-Malay native, many of the peninsula’s Orang Asli have accepted Islam, but
some communities keep their local beliefs. In Sarawak, the Iban, the Bidayuh, and most others
tend to follow Anglicanism, several other Protestant Christian denominations, or Roman
Catholicism. The Melanau, however, are mostly Muslim, with a Christian minority. Local religions
have been preserved by only small segments of Sarawak’s population. Local religions also are
adept by a minority of the non-Malay native populations of Sabah. The Kadazan and Murut are
mainly Christian, although there is also a significant Muslim community. Most Bajau follow
Islam.

Before World War II, there was a free flow of people to and from both Peninsular and East
Malaysia, and the rate of population growth was greatly influenced by a net surplus from
immigration. However, a series of laws approved since 1945, specifically after the political split
of Singapore in 1963, limited the entrance of immigrants from all states. Thus, legal
immigration has long ended to be a major reason of population advance. The main area of
population focus in Peninsular Malaysia is a bloc of economic growth on the west part of the
peninsula. Smaller focuses are found in the Kelantan and Terengganu river deltas in the
northeast. Most of the residue of the peninsula which is the interior highlands and most of the
east, is sporadically inhabited. The mass population of the peninsula’s urban centres is Chinese
and Malay, with Indians and Pakistanis establishing a small but noticeable minority. The
population density of East Malaysia is substantially less than that of the rest of the country. As
on the peninsula, towns are focused along the coasts and rivers. In Sarawak the density of

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people in the southwest makes this region the most important in East Malaysia. In Sabah the
population is likewise come together on the coast, but riverine towns are less important there
than they are in Sarawak. Malays are less prominent in Sabah’s cities than on the peninsula;
Chinese, various non-Malay native peoples, and, in some areas, Indonesians bill for the
extensive majority of the town population.

Malaysia’s economy has been changed since 1970 from one centered mainly on the export of
raw materials such as rubber and tin to one that is amid the solidest, most expanded, and
fastest-growing economy activity in Southeast Asia. The country main production remains
significant which is the major producer of rubber and palm oil, exports significant amount of
petroleum and natural gas, and is one of the world’s largest supplies of marketable hardwoods.
Increasingly, however, Malaysia has highlighted export-oriented manufacturing to fuel the
economic development. Using the fair advantages of a rather cheap but knowledgeable labour
force, good infrastructure, political constancy, and an underrated currency, Malaysia has enticed
significant foreign financing, especially from Japan and Taiwan. Since the early 1970s the
government has campaigned a social and economic reform plan, first known as the New
Economic Policy (NEP) and later as the New Development Policy (NDP) which has pursued to
foray a balance between the goals of economic development and the relocation of capital. The
Malaysian economy has long been governed by Chinese and South Asian subgroups. The goal
of the NEP and the NDP has been to give the Malays and other native groups with greater
economic chances and to grow their administration and business skills. Official economic
policy also has fostered the private sector to undertake a greater role in the reformation
process. A major element of this policy has been the denationalization of many public-sector
events, including the national railway, airline, automobile company, broadcastings, and power
corporations.

The second country that I choose is United States of America. United States, or known
officially United States of America, abridged U.S. or U.S.A., byname America, country in North
America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that inhabit the
central latitudes of the mainland, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the
northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the mid-Pacific
Ocean. The conterminous states are bordered on the north by Canada, on the east by
the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and on the west by
the Pacific Ocean. The United States is the fourth largest state in the world, after Russia,
Canada, and China. The national capital is Washington, which is parallel with the District of
Columbia, the central capital region created in 1790. The major characteristic of the United
States is possibly its great diversity. Its physical background runs from the Arctic to the
subtropical, from the humid rain forest to the dry desert, from the rocky mountain peak to the
flat steppe. Although the total residents of the United States is large by world criteria, its total
population density is rather low. The country holds some of the world’s largest urban
concentrations as well as some of the most extensive areas that are almost barren of residence.

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 Figure 3: Map of USA

Figure 4: Flag of USA

United States covers approvingly various residents. Unlike China that mainly

assimilated native immigrates, the United States has a mixture that to a great degree has come
from an immeasurable and continued international settlement. To date, probably no other state
has an extensive range of cultural, indigenous, and traditional types than does the United
States. In addition to the current of remaining Native Americans which include American
Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos; and the lineages of Africans taken as slaves to the New World,

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the state personality has been developed, seasoned, and always redefined by the tens of
millions of refugees who by and large have come to America expecting for better shared,
dogmatic, and financial chances than they had in the states they departed.

United States is the world’s biggest monetary authority, reasonable in terms of  gross domestic
product (GDP). The nation’s capital is somewhat an echo of its rich inherent reserves and its
massive cultivated productivity, but it be indebted more to the nation’s extremely industrial
production. Despite its relative profitable independence in many areas, the United States is the
most significant sole factor in world trade by feature of the absolute size of its finance. Its
exports and imports embody major scopes of the world entirely. The United States also imposes
on the global financial as a foundation of and as an end point for financing investment. The
country remains to endure a profitable life that is more varied than any other country, as long
as its people with one of the world’s highest measures of life. The United States is rather young
by world criteria, being less than 250 years old yet it attained its current size only in the mid-
20th century. America was the first of the European settlements to split well from its homeland,
and it was the first nation to be well-known on the idea that independence lies with its people
and not with the authority. In its first century and a half, the State was mostly absentminded
with its own defensive growth and financial development and with collective arguments that
eventually led to civil war and a restorative period that is still not done. The United States still
offers its citizenships chances for unmatched personal development and capital. However, the
reduction of its assets, the pollution of its ecosystem, and the ongoing public and  financial
discrimination that prolongs areas of privation and damage all pressure the framework of the
country.

MALAYSIA CULTURAL VALUE

Malaysian cultural value can be explained through the four dimensions of Hofstede Cultural
dimensions. First dimension is power distance. Malaysia grades very high on this dimension out
of 100, which means that societies assent a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place
and which needs no further explanation. Grouping in a corporation is seen as echoing innate
differences, centralism is common, colleagues believe to be told what to do and the perfect
manager is a benign tyrant. Confronts to the management are not well-received. For example,
the employee does not questions their manager of their decisions; whether it’s bad or good.
The employee will follow the instruction and will try their best to settle the given task. Another
example would be that senior-level manager get no information and feedback, and believe that
they have nothing to improve upon, and junior-level staff do not bring ideas forward. It’s a bit
hard to transform under these conditions.

Second dimension would be individualism. Malaysia scored 26 which shown a collectivistic social
order. This is observable in a close long-term commitment to the “member” set, be that a
family, stretched family or extended relationships. Faithfulness in a socialist culture is dominate
and predominates most other social rules and systems. Such a society nurtures strong bonds,
where everyone takes accountability for fellow members of their group. In collectivistic cultures,
wrongdoing leads to disgrace and loss of face. Employer-employee relationships are seen in
moral terms like a family relationship, employing and advancement take account of the
employee’s in-group. Organization is the controlling of groups. For instance, the incessant fear

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of questioning what is felt as wrong, the tendency of conforming to public opinion, the
apprehension felt from the mere thought of challenging societal norms, all came flooding back.

Third dimension is masculinity. Masculinity according to Hofstede deal with what stimulates
people, desiring to be the best (Masculine) or fancy what the individual do (Feminine). Malaysia
score 50, which result of this dimension cannot be determined. In other words, there is a
balance of masculinity and feminism among Malaysian. Although with a score of 50 out of 120,
Malaysian still can be measured a masculine society which is extremely success-oriented and
driven. This can been seen in their people whom ‘live in order to work’, superior are expected to
be critical, and the highlighting is on equity, competition and implementation in any
organization.

Last dimension for Malaysia is uncertainty avoidance (UAI). Malaysia scores 36 on this
dimension and thus has a low preferences for avoiding uncertainty. Low UAI cultures uphold a
calmer attitude in which habit counts more than values and eccentricity from the rule is more
definitely stood. In cultures displaying low UAI, societies consider there should be no more laws
than are required and if they are uncertain or do not work, they should be stopped or altered.
Schedules are adaptable, hard work is started when required but not for its own sake. Accuracy
and promptness do not come naturally, improvement is not seen as intimidating.

AMERICA CULTURE VALUE

For America, power distance score is a low 40. American value the concept of “liberty and
justice for all.” This is also shown through the significance of equal rights in every aspect of the
United States government and society. Within American company, the concept of power
distance that they practice are “hierarchy is founded for suitability, managers are always
reachable and superiors rely on different staffs and teams for their skill.” Superiors and workers
expect to be debated with during decision-making, and knowledge is shared between the
different levels of leadership and power. Along with this, communication is “casual, straight and
participative”.

For individualism, America score 91. American can undeniably individualistic. The “American
dream” is frankly a proof of this. This is the Americans’ hope for a better significance of life and
a higher standard of living’. This principle is that anyone, in spite of their position can ‘pull up
their boot straps’ and develop themselves from hardship.

The score of the US on Masculinity is high which is at 62, and this can be seen in the normal
American social arrangements. This can be clarified by the mixture of a high Masculinity come
together with the most Individualist drive in the world. In other words, Americans, so to speak,
all show their Masculine drive separately. Manners in school, job, and fun are based on the
shared ethics that people should “try to be the finest they can be” and that “the winner shots it
all”. As a result, Americans will tend to show and communicate spontaneously about their
“accomplishments” and successes in life. Being lucrative per se is not the eminent stimulus in
American culture, but being able to display one’s victory.

The US counts below average, with a low score of 46, on the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension.
As a result, the identified context in which Americans find themselves will affect their behavior
more than if the values would have either scored higher or lower. A client from a high

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uncertainty avoidance culture may presume a project to need more proper papers and more
arrangement than an agent from a low uncertainty avoidance belief can offer.

COMPARISON OF MALAYSIAN AND AMERICAN

Figure 5: Comparison of Malaysia and America

Dimensions Malaysia America

Power Distance High Low
Individualism Low High
Masculinity Average High
Uncertainty Avoidance Low Average

Table 1: Comparison of Malaysia and America

Based on Figure 5 and Table 1, a comparison of both culture values can be made. In term of
power distance, Malaysian has high power distance as compared to American. For individualism,
Malaysia scored low as compared to American. For masculinity, Malaysian has low masculinity
value as compared to American. For uncertainty avoidance, Malaysia can be perceived as low
uncertainty avoidance while America scored average uncertainty avoidance.

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The score obtained by Malaysia on each dimension of Hofstede’s national culture values is
discussed in this paragraph. Based on Figure 5, Malaysia scores very high on the power
distance dimension which means that Malaysian consents a ranked order in which everyone has
a place and it requires no further defense. An order within an institution means that attendants
believe to be told what to do, and the perfect boss is a kind absolute right. Malaysia, with a
score of 26 out of 120 is a collectivistic people. Devotion in a collectivist nation is important and
dominates most other societal community. Such culture promotes strong associations where
everyone takes charge for partner of their group. Although with a score of 50 out of 120, they
still can be regard as a masculine culture that highly look into success and achievement.
Malaysia scores 36 out of 120 in uncertainty avoidance dimension and thus, has a low
preference for avoiding uncertainty. In a country where low uncertainty avoidance, change is
not something that they like. They will accept change for example in a rules for quite a time as
they already familiar with the previous systems that has been practice for long time.

For America, their culture is initiated on individualism. The common tradition would be that
American heroes are the self-made guy whom the sole cowboy that doing the do-it-yourselfer
belief. American have a high approach of “do-it-yourself”, which is great if one’s alone on a
Texas ranch, but might also occasionally block some Americans from being accepted team
player. This is part of the cause why “team-building training” is such a big thing in the US that
is to impart individualistic American society how to make a team spirit. For most of the
Americans, they especially do not like a superior who states them how to do their thing. They
want to have some autonomy to take their own way of doing details, and they think to be paid
individually for the outcomes. That’s why all those “Employee of the Month” rewards are so
normal in American corporation. American people tend to describe themselves by their
profession, and that might be a big cultural difference with newcomers. They always come out
with “What do you do?” with foreigners. The limits between the trained and specialists also
mean that it’s not rare to work on holidays or at home. Even in weekends when they can.
Organizations are not even obligated to give their employees paid leave. American tends to be
much more outgoing from the start.  For instance, they’ll share a lot of personal information
with someone, just to start a talk. That might seem odd to someone if the culture emphasize
personal privacy where relationship is more revered, and careful. America also tend to look less
provocative, and to look for mutual ground. They might feel “petrified” or uncomfortable I
someone tries to get into an intense debate about the slightest thing.

CONCLUSION

Cultural diversities do impact companies ensuing in cross-cultural dimensions. A lot of

difficulties arise in themes of contribution, interaction and other interpersonal matters.
However, if managers or even the employee recognizes problems with regard to Hofstede’s four
cultural dimensions, these difficulties can be examined through a different view, and required
steps to address these struggles can be taken.

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