Universiteit Gent Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte Intercultural marketing communication A comparative study Belgium-Germany Internship at Hudson - Talent Management Europe Valerie De Clercq Promotor: Prof. dr. G. Jacobs Scriptie ter verkrijging van het diploma Ma-na-Ma MTB Academiejaar 2009-2010 TABEL MET BESCHRIJVING VAN DE STAGE : Bedrijf Stagebegeleider Afdeling Taken Talen tijdens Stageperiode de stage Hudson Natalya Berdikyan Talent Management Marktonderzoek naar de Duitse markt: Engels 26/04/2010 – Moutstraat 56 Europe Potentiële Duitse partners Duits 09/07/2010 9000 Gent Data verzamelen en integreren + 32 9 222 26 95 Communicatie Vertaling van ondersteunend materiaal Table of contents Table of contents................................................................................................................................ 3 List of figures and tables..................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Preface and acknowledgement .......................................................................................................... 7 1. Presenting Hudson Belgium ........................................................................................................... 8 1.1 History ..................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Organizational structure .......................................................................................................... 9 1.3 Corporate Identity................................................................................................................... 10 1.3.1 Mission ............................................................................................................................. 10 1.3.2 Vision ............................................................................................................................... 10 1.3.3 Values .............................................................................................................................. 10 1.4 Services .................................................................................................................................. 10 1.4.1 Recruitment & Selection .................................................................................................. 11 1.4.2 Talent Management ........................................................................................................ 14 1.4.3 Contracting ...................................................................................................................... 16 1.5 Marketing Tools ...................................................................................................................... 16 1.6 Clients .................................................................................................................................... 17 1.7 Competition ............................................................................................................................ 17 1.8 SWOT-analysis ....................................................................................................................... 19 1.8.1 Strengths ......................................................................................................................... 19 1.8.2 Weaknesses .....................................................................................................................20 1.8.3 Opportunities ..................................................................................................................20 1.8.4 Threats ............................................................................................................................ 21 2. Theoretical framework: Intercultural communication and marketing ...........................................22 2.1 Link with the internship ..........................................................................................................22 2.2 Intercultural communication ..................................................................................................22 2.3 Dimensions of cultural differences ..........................................................................................26 2.3.1 Hofstede model ...............................................................................................................26 Power Distance .................................................................................................................... 27 Individualism versus collectivism ......................................................................................... 27 Masculinity versus femininity ...............................................................................................29 Uncertainty avoidance ......................................................................................................... 30 3 Long-term orientation versus short-term orientation .......................................................... 30 2.3.2 The Schwartz value system ............................................................................................. 31 2.3.3 Hall .................................................................................................................................. 32 2.3.4 Criticism against the cultural models ............................................................................... 32 2.3.5 Conclusion: Belgian and German values .......................................................................... 34 Belgium ............................................................................................................................... 35 Germany .............................................................................................................................. 36 2.4 Intercultural marketing communication ................................................................................. 37 2.4.1 Global strategy ................................................................................................................ 38 2.4.2 Local strategy .................................................................................................................. 39 2.4.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................40 3. Internship at Hudson Belgium - Talent Management Europe ........................................................42 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................42 3.2 Market research in the German market ..................................................................................42 3.2.1 Briefing ............................................................................................................................42 3.2.2 Market research ...............................................................................................................42 Getting to know Hudson ......................................................................................................42 Drawing up the list of German HR companies ...................................................................... 43 Identifying key potential companies ....................................................................................44 3.2.3 Secondary tasks .............................................................................................................. 46 List of tools and tool developing companies ....................................................................... 46 List of most popular employment websites ......................................................................... 47 Overview of German business schools and universities ........................................................ 47 Project graduate recruitment BAT ....................................................................................... 47 3.3 Link with theoretical framework and evaluation internship ....................................................48 4. Evaluation MTB program .............................................................................................................. 50 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Appendix: Documents and presentations 4 List of figures and tables Figure 1: Structure of Hudson Belgium .............................................................................................. 9 Figure 2: Overview Selection Procedure ........................................................................................... 12 Figure 3: Overview Assessment Methodology .................................................................................. 12 Figure 4: Overview of blue chip clients ............................................................................................. 17 Figure 5: Maslow's hierarchy of needs .............................................................................................. 33 Figure 6: Comparison cultural dimensions: Belgium-Germany ......................................................... 33 Table 1: Overview PDI scores ...........................................................................................................