College of Administrative and Financial Sciences

Assignment 3
Principles of Management (MGT101)
Deadline: 11/04/2020 @ 23:59

Course Name: Principles of

Student’s Name:
Management
Course Code: MGT101 Student’s ID Number:
nd
Semester: 2 CRN:
Academic Year: 1440/1441 H, 2nd Term

For Instructor’s Use only

Instructor’s Name:
Students’ Grade: /10 Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low

Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY

 The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only)
via allocated folder.
 Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
 Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented, marks
may be reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling your
information on the cover page.
 Students must mention question number clearly in their answer.
 Late submission will NOT be accepted.
 Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from
students or other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO
marks. No exceptions.
  All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-
spaced) font. No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be
considered plagiarism).
 Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.
Assignment Workload:
 This Assignment comprise of a short Case.
 Assignment is to be submitted by each student individually.

Assignment Purposes/Learning Outcomes:

After completion of Assignment-3 students will able to understand the
LO 2. Recognize the functions of planning, organizing and controlling and how
they interrelate (Lo2.1)
LO 4. Apply knowledge and techniques of strategic planning and decision making.
(Lo2.1)

Assignment-3
Please read the Management in Action case “ Norwegian Air Shuttle Aspires to
Become the Cheapest Global Airline ” at the end of Chapter 4 “Global
Management” available in your textbook Management: A Practical Approach 7 th
edition by Kinicki, A., & Williams, B., and answer the following questions:

Assignment Question(s): (Marks 10)

1. What are the biggest challenges Norwegian experienced in trying to expand

its airline across the globe? (2.5 marks)

2. To what extent did you observe examples of ethnocentric, polycentric, or

geocentric attitudes in this case? Provide examples to support your
conclusions. (2.5 marks)

3. Use Table 4.4 (Given below) to identify cultural differences that are likely
to arise between Norwegian employees working in Denmark and Sweden and
Thailand. How might these differences affect interpersonal interactions, and
what can the company do to reduce any unintended conflict from these
differences? (3 marks)

4. What are the most important lessons to be learned about global

management from this case? Discuss.(2 marks)
TABLE 4.4 Countries Ranking Highest and Lowest on the Globe Cultural Dimensions

DIMENSION HIGHEST LOWEST

Power Morocco, Argentina, Thailand, Denmark, Netherlands, South

distance Spain, Russia Africa (black sample), Israel,
Costa Rica

Uncertainty Switzerland, Sweden, Germany Russia, Hungary, Bolivia,

avoidance (former West), Denmark, Austria Greece, Venezuela

Institutional Sweden, South Korea, Japan, Greece, Hungary, Germany

collectivism Singapore, Denmark (former East), Argentina, Italy

In-group Iran, India, Morocco, China, Denmark, Sweden, New

collectivism Egypt Zealand, Netherlands, Finland

Gender Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, South Korea, Egypt, Morocco,

egalitarianism Denmark, Sweden India, China

Assertiveness Germany (former East), Austria, Sweden, New Zealand,

Greece, United States, Spain Switzerland, Japan, Kuwait

Future Singapore, Switzerland, Russia, Argentina, Poland,

orientation Netherlands, Canada (English Italy, Kuwait
speaking), Denmark

Performance Singapore, Hong Kong, New Russia, Argentina, Greece,

orientation Zealand, Taiwan, United States Venezuela, Italy

Human Philippines, Ireland, Malaysia, Germany (former West), Spain,

orientation Egypt, Indonesia France, Singapore, Brazil

5. Source: Adapted from M. Javidan and R. J. House, “Cultural Acumen for the Global
Manager: Lessons from Project GLOBE,” Organizational Dynamics, Spring 2001, pp. 289–
305.

Answers:
1. The global expansion of Norwegian Air Shuttle faced a lot of problems. He

wanted to expand his business with the key strength being cheap and covering a

lot of areas. However it was thwarted by its three major competitors which were

Berlin’s German Air, Ireland’s Ryanair and Britian’s EasyJet who were already

providing discounted and decreased ticket fare.

 Another challenge was that some countries did not allow Norwegian flights to

cross their borders such as United States of America. It was a big obstruction in

the way of global expansion especially if other countries also issue such a

prohibition.

Another major challenge was employer dissatisfaction who were already daunted

by the technical issues that were being faced by their jets and their reduced pay.

For expansion, the cooperation and devotion of employees is a must which was

being threatened.

The major issue that the Norwegian Air shuttle faced was the unknown and

faltering oil prices that ranged from 25$ - 75$ a barrel and had to be kept strictly

under check as to avoid volatile fluctuation of company’s stocks.

2. Ethnocentric: A person who judges and compares his own culture with the other

based on his own views is an ethnocentric, for example the United States of

America who did not allow the Norwegian planes to enter their borders to stop

new cultured people entering their country.

Polycentric: People who try to enhance their business to international borders to

get a mixture of resources and personnel are polycentric such as Norwegian who

are trying to expand their business internationally.

Geocentric: People who try to expand their business globally and try to find

unique characteristics or market for their business are geocentric. For example

Norwegian was trying to enter Indian and Chinese market since low plane fare

was in need there.

3. Sweden and Denmark:

 They are culturally similar to the people of Norwegian, so interpersonal

interactions would be pleasant.

 They have a structured working environment which means that people of

Norwegian do not need to take risks or make decisions on their own in these

countries.

 Countries’ power is equally distributed between all the citizens of Denmark and

Sweden similar to the Norwegian people which makes it easier for them to settle

in.

 Institutional collectivism is highly encouraged in these countries similar to

Norwegian as they support group work and also to take pride and be loyal to their

institute.

 Gender equality is also supported in these countries. Meaning females will have

equal job and promotion opportunities as that of men.

Thailand:

In Thailand, power distribution is unequal and power struggle between different

groups is evident as oppose to the ideals of Norwegian people.

4. One of the important lessons learnt from this case is that personnel should be

given proper training and prior education regarding culture of different countries

before sending them there.

 Global expansion should not be completely dependant on the employees on the

cost of their salaries and comfort. Proper facilities should be provided to them.

Also, that if you want global expansion, you should look into opportunities and

also create them whenever the chance comes just as Kjos did when he decided to

provide low plane fare in the Chinese and Indian market.

References

Cynthia, E., Florence, L. D., & Deanne, N. D. (2004). Cross-cultural differences

in gender egalitarianism: Implications for societies, organizations, and leaders.

Research Gate, 343-394.

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