We commonly view the Eastern culture to be homogenous and collective, and the Western culture to be heterogeneous and individualistic. Such cultural differences influence how people establish relationships. This study searches the factors of the conflicts and problems generated when a company achieves overseas expansion from the misreading and prejudice formed by cultural differences to emphasize the need for intercultural understanding and education in achieving smooth intercultural communication. Thus, this study examined the correlation with the internal communication of HMC foreign branches based on the four cultural dimensions of Hofstede(Power Distance, Individualism versus Collectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity, and Uncertainty Avoidance), who theorized cultural dimensions according to nation.
The nations that HMC has expanded to have been classified into six groups to be analyzed based on Hofstede Cultural Dimension and the data gained from the Employment Satisfaction Index annually conducted on employees in foreign branches. The variables gained from the survey content of HMC were related with communication and classified into four parts: empowerment, supervision, work & life balance, and operating efficiency. This study proposed the research problem 'what correlation exists between Hofstede Cultural Dimension and the survey content on internal communication of HMC?' and analyzed correlation according to each variable.
According to analysis results, similar results were observed between the HMC communication variables according to nation and the variables of Hofstede Cultural Dimension. The connectivity between the variables was also presented to be high. When observing the correlation according to each variable, it can be known that lower satisfaction for empowerment was presented with larger Power Distance, thus requesting superiors to provide subordinates with sufficient decision making authority. Satisfaction level for supervision was lower with higher Masculinity, thus requesting superiors to acknowledge performance of subordinates and to provide accurate rewards and punishments. Lower satisfaction for work & life balance was presented with stronger Individualism, thus requesting the protection of individual life from the company. Lastly, the satisfaction level for operating efficiency was decreased with stronger Uncertainty Avoidance, thus requesting accuracy and immediacy of decision making by the superior or company. Through these research results, this study presented the need for minimizing problems that can be generated due to cultural differences in foreign branches of Korean companies, applying a differentiated approach according to the cultural dimension and strengthening selection of sojourning employees to achieve smooth internal communication, providing thorough education on culture difference and language, and clarifying role and responsibilities of employees.