Business (Activity 2)
What does the KOF index measure?
The KOF Index of Globalization is used in measuring 3 major components of globalization which include the social, economic and the political dimensions.
What are the KOF factors?
The chief factors affecting KOF include the examination and determination of the information flows, personal contact, cultural proximity and economic flows in the global market.
What are your countries rankings?
My country, Spain’s, KOF index of Globalization is graded at 84.36, ranking her at 16 with a ranking 24 on the economic globalization index. The Social and Political Globalization rank 18th and 5th respectively.
How does your country compare to the US?
The United States rank at 35th on the KOF index of Globalization, with their economic, social and political ranking at 79th, 29th and 22nd correspondingly. This is relatively lower on the KOF table.
What does this mean?
This means that Spain’s economic, social and political are more stable than that of the US.
Country Info-CIA, Global Edge, EIU
Where is the country located? The country, Spain, is a member of the European Union, and is located in Southwestern Europe.
What is the capital? Spain’s capital is Madrid.
What is the language?
The main language spoken is Spanish i.e. Castilian Spanish, making it the official language used by 74% of the population. Others include: Catalan used by 17%, Basque used by 2%, and Galician used by 7%.
What is the history of the country?
Spain began in the 19th century BC, invented by the Celts who entered the Iberian Peninsula, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Carthaginians. The Romans later on laid groundwork for the Spain present language, religion and laws during the second century AD.
What are major cities?
The major cities in Spain include Madrid, the capital, Barcelona Valencia and Seville. Among other major cities there are Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, Palma, Las Palmas and Bilbao.
What is the weather all year long, seasons?
Spain has got all the seasons in the weather pattern, that is, summer, which takes place during June to September. During December, into January through to March, Spain experiences winter.
What is the population? Spain has an approximated population of about 46,235,000, as per the year 2011.
What is the breakdown of the population?
The ages between 0 to 14 years occupy 14.4% of the population i.e. male approximate 3,423,861 and female approximate at 3,232,028. The ages between 15years to 64 years inhabit about 69.1% where the male approximate is 16,185,575 and that of the female 15,683,433. The remaining portion is for the ages 65 and above respectfully estimated at 16.5% represented by male population of 3,238,301 and female population of 4,394,624.
What are the demographics, Income, Male to Female, Age break down etc.?
The demographics involve the urbanized areas of the major cities occupied by the metropolitan areas. The people generate an average stable income for its working population. The infamous economic meltdown in the previous saw a decline in the employment rate. The ratio of male to female is 1.07 male(s)/female at birth, and those under the ages of 15 years ratio at 1.06 males to females, while those in the age bracket of 15 to 64 years fraction at 1.01 males to female. The years 65 age bracket and above are exemplified by the ratio 0.72 male to female whereas the entire populace have an estimated calculated ratio of 0.96 male to female as established in the year 2006.
What is the literacy rate? Spain literacy rate is averagely 97.7%; 98.5% for the male and 97% for the female where the ages of 15 and over can read and write.
What is the religious break down? Roman Catholic makes up 94% of the religious population while the other makes up 6%.
Government- CIA, Global Edge, EIU
What is the political structure?
The political structure entails a Parliamentary system, unitary state, Multi-party political system, and Constitutional monarchy.
What is the government set up?
The government set up has a head of state also known as the King and Chief of State (King Juan Carlos I). There is also the Prime minister who is head of the popular party (Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy). They are all responsible in ensuring that democracy prevails.
Is it a religious country? The religion is mainly composed of the Roman Catholic with that making up 71% of the population.
Hofstede
What does Hofstede measure? The Hofstede measures the events and courses, the national culture, and the organizational culture of a country.
What are Hofstede’s Factors? Explain each. Factors affecting Hofstede are:
Power: High power cultures tend to have a centralized top down control.
Gender: Men are considered competitive aggressive, while women are expected to be more gentle and concerned with family issues.
Self: individual rights are more essential than groups that one might belong to.
Predictability: The extent to which a culture values predictability.
What are your countries rankings? The country is ranked at the 57th position.
How does your country compare to the US? US ranks at 42th place in the Hofstede rankings which makes Spain relatively lower.
What does this mean?
It means that Spain’s Hofstede ranking is relatively lower compared to the US.
Culture- Global Edge, Country Website
What is the business etiquette/address in meetings? The business language is formal.
What is the business dress? The dress code is official for office work and varies for casual work.
What is the music like? The music varies between the different cultures from the urban set up to the low development areas. The taste in music majorly revolves around Spanish music.
What is the food like? The food is good categorized in traditional food and staple foods of origin.
What are major sports? The major sports are soccer and basketball.
What is dress like? The public dress code varies between individuals, majorly casual.
What are societal norms? These are the social prospects and behavioral indications within a culture or group.
The societal norms involve? The norms entail average working hours of 9am- 5pm in offices and even late for tourist attraction sites and restaurants.
How do you exchange greetings? Via handshakes and saying hola, which means hello or hi and ¡Buenos Dias, which inquires for a good Morning. Others include: ‘¡Buenas noches!’- Which means good evening or good night?
What is some symbolism? The symbolism is majorly on the national flag representation.
Is the country monochromic/polychromic? Spain is polychromic.
Is the country hi context/ low context? Spain is a high context culture.
Are they a deal vs. Relationship? There is an essential importance in deals and relationships since they treasure family ties extensively.
Are their gender issues? The issues are very minimal since the country highly promotes gender equality.
References
GlobalEDGE Insights and Research, Last retrieved from global edge website: http://globaledge.msu.edu/
The Hofstede Centre, Insights on Hofstede's research into national and organizational culture, last retrieved from the Hofstede Centre website: http://geert-hofstede.com/
