Case Study $1$: Long$-$term development plans of a German Multinational in the USAA German firm had developed its activities in the electrical industry in the USA for two years and the CEO Peter Hansenwas happy with their current performance: market share for important products had increased significantly and progresswas better than expected. The number of employees had increased, including quite a few local American managers inhigh$-$level management positions a situation which was rather unusual for a subsidiary of a German multinational in itsearly stage of development. The CEOs goal from the beginning was to avoid an ethnocentric approach to the Americanactivities of his firm and to take a polycentric approach that supported recruitment of local managers. One of these USlocal managers was John Miller, the marketing director of the company. During the last two years, he has been thoroughlyprepared for his job. The company had sent him to various high$-$level training programs at top business schools and hadprovided him with a long$-$term career plan, which included short$-$term vertical career advancement. While Peter Hansenwanted to support the development of an American management style he nevertheless tried to transfer some HR practiceswhich are highly valued in Germany particularly investing in training and taking a long$-$term intra$-$organizational careerperspective. While some US firms took this approach, these ideas were not as widely accepted in the US as in Germany.However, Peter Hansen assumed that these policies would be valued by the new US employees of the firm and wouldprovide an important incentive for employee retention. One morning, Peter Hansen was shocked to learn that John Millerwas about to quit his job. A competitor had offered John a challenging position in large part because he had systematicallybuilt up his knowledge and experience base supported by his German employer. How can you interpret Peter Hansenssurprise from a cultural point of view?Discussion Questions:$1.$ Relate the described situation to one of the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede. Can you explain PeterHansens surprise using this theory?$2.$ How does this situation compare to comparable situations in your home country? What are the limits of a culturalexplanation?Case Study $2$: Female Careers in Various EnvironmentsElisabeth Harstad was employed as a trainee at the Norwegian risk management consultancy DNV when she realized thatbeing a woman was a barrier. Although trainees were supposed to go abroad the company had problems finding a job forElisabeth in a foreign subsidiary: I wanted to go to London, Houston, or Singapore. At the end I managed to get aninternational assignment from Oslo to Copenhagen. This was in the $1980$s$.$ However, Harstad did not give up and pursuedher career intensively. Today she is the manager of the research & innovation unit at DNV and since $2006$ member of theboard of directors of the large Norwegian chemical company Yara. When the new members of the board of directors wereelected, for the first time it was an advantage for Elisabeth to be a woman. Since $2008,$ Norwegian companies are requiredby law to have $40$ per cent female members of their board of directors. Thus, Elizabeth is part of an experiment if womendo not make it to the top on their own, politics support this process in Norway.Discussion Questions:$1.$ Relate the situation in Norway to one of the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede. How can you explain it$?2.$ Can the rules for quotas of female managers be applied in other countries as well? What are the advantages anddisadvantages?