Intercultural Communication Report

Overview

This assignment allows you to explore the issues surrounding intercultural
communication. In most businesses, you often have to ensure that your
documentation is designed with sensitivity to multicultural or intercultural
audiences. You should know how to conduct research and adjust your
content accordingly.
For this assignment, you are working as a consultant for McDonald’s
franchise owners, who have asked you for feedback on their international
web presence. Specifically, they want to know if their website content and
images reflect the norms and traditions of their global customers.
I have already assigned you a country, and you will explore the McDonald’s
website for this country (see your assigned country at the end of this
description).
To guide your analysis, consult the data collected by Geert Hofstede, who
conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the
workplace are influenced by culture.
Your analysis should provide examples of how Hofstede’s six cultural
dimensions either reflect or contradict the content, organization, and design
of the website. Offer recommendations for improvements accordingly.
Research
Begin this assignment by collecting and analyzing secondary research on
your country. Specifically, you will explore the six dimensions that Hofstede
identified:
1. Power distance
2. Individualism (collectivism)
3. Masculine (feminine)
4. Uncertainty avoidance
5. Long-term orientation
6. Indulgence
The below resources will help with your analysis:
CultureGrams provides background on your country, including its history,
people, and lifestyle. These concise handouts provide sufficient background
for this assignment. Access CultureGrams handout from the UNT Library
website. (Links to an external site.) From the main page, type
“CultureGrams” into the Databases search engine. This will direct you to the

CultureGrams database. From here, select the World Edition option and
locate the handout for your assigned country.
Hofstede’s Country Comparison provides country-specific research on
Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions https://www.hofstede-
insights.com/country-comparison) (Links to an external site.).
Application
Use the secondary research findings to analyze the McDonald’s website for
your assigned country. Organize your analysis around Hofstede’s six
cultural dimensions.
After completing the evaluation, consider what you’ve seen on the website
and apply the Country Comparison data to evaluate how you might alter the
information or site design to better suit the target consumers. Consider
both customers and employees.
Additional Analysis (optional, for additional credit)
The COVID-19 global pandemic has changed the behaviors of all consumers.
Social distancing practices and state- and country-specific laws mandate
how people can eat in a physical building/structure. In the United States,
we now rely on contactless pick up or delivery to get our McDonald’s, but
not every country can accommodate this or they have their own practices.
For this additional analysis, (a) identify the COVID-specific restrictions for
your country as related to dine-in eating, (b) investigate what alternative
food delivery methods your country’s McDonald’s offers its customers (i.e.,
pick up, home delivery), and (c) evaluate how your country’s six cultural
dimensions have likely changed because of these COVID-specific practices.
For example, if your country is more Collectivist (as opposed to
Individualist), how do you think the dining experience has changed the
lifestyle of these citizens? I recommend you identify 1-2 secondary sources
to help you research and analyze this section.
If you conduct this additional analysis, I will award you up to 100
percentage points under the “Professionalism, Drafts, Peer Reviews and
Critical Thinking” grade category of this course, which is worth 15% of your
final grade. If you’ve missed one of these assignments, these additional
points would replace that 0. But, if you’ve submitted all of your
assignments, these additional points will increase your overall grade in this
category. It also gives you some cushion for later in the semester when you
might miss a deadline (it happens).
Organically organize this additional analysis into your final report. Don’t
just label it, “Extra Credit.” In the comments section of the Canvas
assignment, write me a note that you completed the additional analysis.

Length
900-1400 words not including Works Cited (plus 250-500 words for the
“Additional Analysis”)
Structure
Synthesize your findings from the above stages in a 2-3-page report (single
spaced). Your report should be addressed to a prospective franchise owner,
who is considering opening a McDonald’s in your assigned country. Use the
below structure for your report.
Introduction
 Purpose statement.
 General information on your country.
 Statement that announces of the organization of the report.
Methods
 (brief) Summary of Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions and explanation of how
they can help assess intercultural awareness.
 Description of your analysis process. For example, how many web pages did
you analyze? How did you determine how the website conformed to the cultural
dimensions?
Results
 Report of findings of your website analysis, organizing the results around
Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions.
 Include 1-2 examples that show how the McDonald’s website either reflects or
conflicts with typical societal norms.
Discussion
 Summary of overall findings.
 Comparison of your findings to the cultural dimensions—e.g., does the website
align with what you learned about your country?
 Recommendations for improving or maintaining the website’s current cultural
awareness.
References
 Use any style you want, just be consistent with the application

Format
Create the report in Word. Do not use templates, which makes your work
look generic and unprofessional. The body text will be a readable size.
Headings, sub-headings, figure captions, bullets, tables, etc., should ensure
a readable and professional design. Properly format the Works
Cited/References using any citation style you prefer.