Globalization Background Readings These readings are short, but informative, and offer the necessary background for success with all of the communication assignments in this course. • • • Fryzel, B. (2009). Globalization. In C. Wankel (Ed.) Encyclopedia of business in today’s world, (pp. 770776). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. doi : 10.4135/9781412964289.n444 [in course reserves on this classes Canvas menu] Open for business: These market-oriented countries are a haven for capitalists and corporations. (n.d.) US News and World Report: Civic – Best Countries. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/bestcountries/open-for-business-rankings (Links to an external site.) Soltani, E. (2009). Facilities location decision. In C. Wankel (Ed.) Encyclopedia of business in today’s world, (pp. 726-728). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. doi : 10.4135/9781412964289.n377 [in course reserves on this classes Canvas menu] Problem Description Your client, Heidari, Incorporated, is going to build a new wind turbine manufacturing facility. Heidari, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Des Moines, Iowa United States. The budget for completing the facility and purchasing and installing the machinery is estimated to be $3.9 million (assume $3 million for the facility and $900,000 for machinery). It will have a net annual income cash flow of $850,000 for the next 10 years (gross income before taxes). Initially, they were planning to locate the facility near their US headquarters location where their total incremental tax rate would be 33% (21% Federal and 12% State). However, they have been approached by the Danish government and want to evaluate the option of building the facility in Denmark against their original plan of building in the US. Assume that the interest rate is 8% per year (or MARR for both countries). You will need to research tax methods and depreciation rules in Denmark and compare with those of the US. Your consulting firm, [Your name] Consulting, has been hired to complete an evaluation and make a recommendation for where to build the plant. As part of your initial engineering economic analysis for this problem, you must examine global political, environmental, and social considerations that contribute to responsible and ethical engineering problem-solving, and that might affect Heidari's reputation and the operation and profitability of the plant. Additionally, you will complete a financial analysis using a calculation of the after-tax present worth of adding the new manufacturing facility in each of the two countries (Denmark and the United States). You will need to research tax methods and depreciation rules in Denmark and compare what you find with those of the US. Use these results to recommend where to make the investment. The final step of your project will be to write an Executive Summary. You will make a recommendation for plant location, and you will justify your recommendation using the cultural/social, political, environmental, and economic research and analysis that you conducted throughout the semester. Engineering Economics With Global Implications Assignment: Cultural Dimensions of Business Location Decisions Instructions: There are three tasks you must complete for this assignment. Each task builds on the last. Complete all three tasks within this document, and then save and submit this completed document to the appropriate assignment on Canvas. Task 1: First, look up the Hofstede Cultural Dimensions for Denmark and the United States in the “Compare Countries” section of the Hofstede Insights website (a link is provided on Canvas, but this can also be found quickly through a search). After you have located the information, complete the table below. Be sure to: • Replace the [score] value with each country’s actual score from the comparison (do not leave the brackets) • Use your own words to summarize each dimension for each country. • Maintain the integrity of the formatting (unless you feel like making the table extra super pretty and clear, in which case, you’re improving the integrity of the formatting!) Table 1: Culture Dimensions Summary and Comparison for Denmark and United States Hofstede Cultural Dimension Country Comparison Dimension: Power Distance Denmark: [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] United States [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] Dimension: Individualism Denmark: [score] United States [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] dimension for this country] Dimension: Masculinity Denmark: [score] United States [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] dimension for this country] Dimension: Uncertainty Avoidance Denmark: [score] United States [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] dimension for this country] Dimension: Long Term Orientation Engineering Economics With Global Implications Denmark: [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] United States [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] Dimension: Indulgence Denmark: [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] United States [score] [Write a 2-3 sentence summary of this dimension for this country] Task 2: In one paragraph, name the two dimensions that are the most different between the two countries and describe how these differences in cultural attitudes might affect policy. (~75-100 words) [your response goes here] Task 3: Using the parental leave related readings provided for you, you will write a short essay that addresses the prompts/questions below (minimum 200 words, ~2-3 paragraphs). You will need to organize your work. Be sure to include in-text citations (you may use APA or MLA style citations), and list your sources at the end under the “Works Cited” heading provided for you. Remember: This is not an exercise in value judgments or opinion. Your feelings about a country don’t matter for this assignment. Prompts/Questions: • Offer a description of the cultural dimension differences between the two countries that could help explain why Denmark and the US have different parental leave policies • Briefly explain each country’s parental leave policy • Discuss the benefits and/or costs of parental leave policies to organizations/businesses • Based only on this single analysis of parental leave, which country would you recommend for plant location, and why? (Note: In practice you will probably never be asked to make a decision based on such a narrow and singular metric, but for the purposes of these assignments, you will be asked to make a recommendation based on narrow dimensions throughout the semester. You will be asked to engage in deeper synthesis and analysis as the semester goes on.) Short Essay Response [your response goes here] Engineering Economics With Global Implications Works Cited Preparation To prepare for this assignment, students must: • read the document1 • read the problem description in the document2 (bottom) • read the resources listed below • use the "Compare Countries" (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external • site.) tool on the Hofstede Insights website to compare the listed Cultural Dimensions of Denmark and the United States download and save document3 that has been prepared for you (you will complete the three tasks in this document, save it, and upload it to this assignment as a doc, docx, or PDF) Purpose The communication assignments in this course aim to develop communication skills that students will need in their professional lives. Students will study, analyze, and synthesize information and research through independent and group learning contexts, and will use both oral and written communication to do this work. Through these assignments, students will develop skills that will help them excel in their professional endeavors. Targeted skills include: argumentation; analysis; organization; presentation skills; and small group and interpersonal communication skills. Goals This assignment has two goals: 1 to begin understanding and synthesizing the cultural/social aspects that must be considered as part of engineering economic analysis 2 to make an argument regarding a plant location recommendation based only on your cultural/social analysis and the specific policy of parental leave Objectives The objectives of this assignment include: summary; research; making a case; interpersonal communication Overview The first chapter of your economics textbook (the big book) contextualizes engineering economic analysis and decision making within the Code of Ethics of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). In the first item on this list, the NSPE states that "Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall: Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public." As an ethically inclined engineer, you will first want to consider the people impacted by the decisions you are considering, and how your work and vision will fit into the lives and cultures of those people. For this assignment, you will examine the cultural dimensions of Denmark and the United States as laid out on the Hoftede Insights website. You will summarize the information you find into the form attached to this assignment, compare two specific dimensions of each country, and conduct a mini analysis regarding the socio-political policy of parental leave. You will complete this assignment using this pre-formatted document: Cultural Comparison.docx Resources Some resources have been provided for you below. Use these resources to complete Task 3. You must cite the resources below using in-text citations, and in the "Works Cited" section provided to you at the end of the document3 Parental Leave • Parental Leave When Working in Denmark, (Government-related webpage) • The world’s richest countries guarantee mothers more than a year of paid maternity leave. The U.S. guarantees them nothing (There is no government-related webpage for the U.S., but this article provides an overview) • Key Characteristics of Parental leave systems , OCED, Social Policy Division(especially see the table) • Why Paid Family Leave is Good Business , (Boston Consulting Group, 2017) (pgs. 13-18) • "Family provisions at the workplace and relationship to absenteeism, retention, and productivity of workers: Timely evidence from prior data" (Brandon & Temple, 2006) (read at least the abstract, skim the rest for comprehension (or even interest!)
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