USA AN ANALYSIS

Abimanyu N N Jeremiah Meenakshi Santra H R Surya Hannah Gracelyn

US HISTORY
12,000 B.C. Reliable evidence of early life in North America 3,000 B.C. Primitive type of corn grown 600 B.C. Adenans First Native American Mounds Various shapes 500 B.C. Hopewellians disappeared Great Traders Complex hierarchical societies Human sacrifice Population of Native Americans at the time of European arrival 2 to 18 million

US HISTORY
Native American Culture Extraordinarily diverse Hunting, gathering and cultivation of maize Men Hunting and warring Women Farming and food distribution Children More freedom and tolerance Native American culture primarily oral Value for tales and dreams

US HISTORY
Arrival of Europeans 985 Norse people from Greenland 1497 Christopher Columbus landed 1502 John Cabot British claims 1522 Spain conquer Mexico 1585 Raleigh established first British colony But abandoned 1607 Successful colony at Jamestown 1609 Dutchmens presence DEIC 1624 Jacques Cartier French claims 1630 Massachusetts Bay Colony

US HISTORY
1619 First African Slaves 1660s Demand for more slaves due to plantations 1689 English Bill of Rights & Toleration Act 1730 Great Awakening 1745 22 newspapers in British NA 1775 American population more than 2.5 million

US HISTORY
Stamp Act Revenue stamps on all kinds of documents. E.g. Newspapers, pamphlets 1765 Townshend Act Taxes imposed on goods legal 1773 Boston Tea Party July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence April 15, 1783 Congress approved final treaty September 3 Treaty of Paris

US HISTORY
March 4, 1789 Formation of new government April 30, 1789 George Washington took the oath of office 1797 John Adams succeeded Washington 1798 Jeffersons first term 1805 Jeffersons second term 1809 James Madison succeeded Jefferson 1817-1825 Monroes Presidency Era of good feelings 1840s American womens rights movement

US HISTORY
1850 Territory comprised of 31 states 1860 4 million slaves in 15 states 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin Cruelty of slavery November 1860 Lincoln as President April 12,1861 American Civil War Confederates (North) vs. Union (South) April 9,1865 Civil War over April 15,1865 Lincoln assassinated

US HISTORY
Technology 1844 Morse Electrical telegraphy 1867 Typewriter 1876 Graham Bell Telephone 1886 Linotype composing machine 1888 Adding Machine 1897 Cash Register 1901 United States Steel Corporation Standard Oil Company John D. Rockfeller

US HISTORY
April 2,1917 World War I - Declaration of war Nov 11,1918 German surrender Oct 1929 Great Depression Stock Market Crash 1932 Herbert Hoover dilemma 1933 F.D. Roosevelt New Deal

US HISTORY
New Deal I Banking & Finance FDIC Unemployment Tennessee Valley Authority Agriculture Agriculture Adjustment Act Industry & Labor National Recovery Administration 1933 New Deal II The Works Progress Administration (WPA) Social Security Act of 1935 National Labor Relations Act, Wealth Tax Act Public Utility Holding Company Act and Banking Act

US HISTORY
August 1941 Atlantic Charter Aug 6,1945 Hiroshima Bomb Aug 9,1945 Nagasaki Bomb Sept 2,1945 Japan surrendered Cold War Issues 1953 Eisenhower First Republican President 1955 Rosa Parks issue Rise of Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Act 1957 Voting Civil Rights Movement 1960-1980

US HISTORY
1960 President John F. Kennedy Ending recession Cuban Missile Crisis 1942 Limited Test Ban Treaty 1943 Space Program Explorer I 1958 July 20,1969 Neil Armstrong First Human on moon Nov 22,1963 JFK Assassination War in Vietnam Invasion of Cambodia 1970 End of Vietnam war - 1975

US HISTORY
1976 President Jimmy Carter Inflation 10% Lack of effective energy policy 1980 President Ronald Reagan Recession of 1980s 1989 President George H.W. Bush 1990 End of Cold War Gulf War Iraqs Invasion of Kuwait Nov 3 Bill Clinton President September 11,2001 Terror Attack on WTC

National Flag

President

Barack Obama

Vice President

Joe Biden

DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS
Capital-Washington, D.C. Largest city -New York City No. of states-50 Federal District-1 National language -English Government-Federal presidential constitutional republic

 Total resident population of 314,440,000. Third most populous country Urbanized population, with 82% residing in cities California and Texas are the most populous states New York City is the most populous city in the United States.

MAJOR CITIES Rank Core city 1 2 3 4 New York City Los Angeles Chicago Dallas Metro area population 19,015,900 12,944,801 9,504,753 6,526,548

5 6
7 8 9

Houston Philadelphia
Washington, D.C. Miami Atlanta

6,086,538 5,992,414
5,703,948 5,670,125 5,359,205 4,591,112

10 Boston

POPULATION
Females -155.6 million Males -151.4 million People under 20 years of age made up over a quarter of the U.S. population (27.3%) People age 65 and over made up oneeighth (12.8%) The national median age was 36.8 years Population growth rate-0.963%

 Whites constitute the majority of the U.S. population. The most densely populated state is New Jersey United States had 51 metropolitan 250 million Americans live in or around urban areas

RELIGION

LANGUAGES
Main languages
Main Language English Spanish Percentage 82.1 10.7 S.No.

Immigrant languages
Main immigrant language Spanish

Other IndoEuropean
Asian and Pacific island Other languages

3.8
2.7 0.7

2
3 4 5 6 7

Chinese
French German Tagalog Vietnamese Italian

INCOME

Region

Median Household Income $50,054

U.S. Northeast Midwest South West

$53,864 $48,722 $46,899 $52,376

GEERT HOFSTEDEs CULTURAL DIMENSIONS FOR USA

POWER DISTANCE
Score 40 - Emphasizing American premise of liberty and justice for all Hierarchy is established for convenience Superiors are always accessible Communication is informal, direct and participative

INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM
Score 91 loosely-knit society High degree of geographical mobility Accustomed to doing business with strangers Employees are expected to be self-reliant and display initiative Hiring & Promotion - Based on merit or evidence of what one has done or can do

MASCULINITY VS FEMININITY
Score 62 - Masculine society Behavior is based on the shared values strive to be the best they can be & the winner takes all Americans freely talk about their successes and achievements in life Live to work Focus on monetary rewards and high status

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
Score 46 - uncertainty accepting Larger degree of acceptance for new ideas, innovative products and a willingness to try something new Americans tend to be more tolerant of ideas or opinions from anyone Allow the freedom of expression Dont require a lot of rules Less emotionally expressive

LONG-TERM VS SHORT-TERM ORIENTATION

Score 29 short-term oriented culture Culture focused on traditions and fulfilling social obligations They measure their performance on a short-term basis Profit and loss statements are issued on a quarterly basis Strive for quick results within the work place

COMPARISON BETWEEN US AND MEXICO

AMERICAN BEHAVIOUR
Generally, Americans are very polite, friendly
and helpful, but have no patience with interference in their private lives. You may find it difficult to discuss everything with an American friend, at least, when you

are getting to know each other.

AMERICAN BEHAVIOUR
Exercising is important, and they usually go for aerobics, swimming, tennis or a jog a few times during the week. Dont be surprised if complete strangers greet you. Be polite and greet them back.

They are particular about their leisure time, health

and hygiene.

US FESTIVALS AND HOLIDAYS

List of US holidays Date 1st January Holiday Name New Year's Day

20th January
3rd Monday in January 3rd Monday in February

Inauguration Day
Martin Luther King Jr Day Presidents' Day/Washington's Birthday

Last Monday in May

4th July 1st Monday in September 2nd Monday in October

Memorial Day
Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day

11th November
4th Thursday in November 25 December

Veterans' Day
Thanksgiving Christmas Day

SPORTS AND GAMES

POPULAR AMERICAN PHRASES

I hate that show-off, always shooting her mouth off - Shes talking too much
After dinner the old man would just hit the sack - Go to sleep I think I goofed it up again!! - Embarrassing mistake

Act your age - Behave maturely

Aint that the truth - I agree, Aint means it is not

POPULAR AMERICAN PHRASES

Beats me - I cannot figure out
Cut it out - Stop doing that Dont beat around the bush - Get to the important matter Dig up - Listen carefully Hang in there - Have patience things will work out

POPULAR AMERICAN PHRASES

Im all ears - You have my attention
Its on me - I will pay the bill Lets talk turkey - Lets get down to business Just give me the bottom line - Dont bother me with lot of details Thats it, in a nutshell - Thats all there is to tell about something

Its walk in the park - Its something thats easy to accomplish

PARTIES IN AMERICA
Formal dinner party: The host prepares everything.
Casual get-together: The host prepares some food and the guests can bring some too. Potluck dinner/lunch/picnic: All the invited guests bring one dish

HALLOWEEN (OCTOBER 31ST)

This is the holiday that children like the most. Children carve

out the pumpkin and make scary faces. They also dress up in
costumes and walk around the neighbourhood asking for candy. They first knock on the door and say Trick or Treat!

GARAGE SALE
People in America dont throw out old things. Either give to others or sell them at a cheap price. Neighbours can look at the sign and stop by the garage sale to buy things they need at a cheap price.

IM SORRY
When do you say Im sorry? Americans say Im sorry in 2 situations. First is when they do something wrong. Second is when they hear a bad news from others.

ORDERING FOOD
When you order food at the restaurant it is okay to give detail

description of what you want to order. You can ask the

waiter/waitress to cook your food in any way you want. Its not rude. When you are calling the waiter, you should make an eye

contact.

TIME MANAGEMENT
Americans are very particular about time-management. They come to office early and leave on time. We will rarely find them working late hours, or on weekends. They have their weekends pre-planned, and value their privacy.

BUSINESS IN AMERICA

 The U. S. was founded on the work ethic that good, honest, hard work is rewarded Because of this work ethic, time is money and punctuality is highly regarded The culture and geographic location of an area will influence how business is done Traditionally, the East Coast is more conservative and formal in their dress and manners than the West Coast The climate and lifestyle are more relaxed, which is reflected in the pace and informality.

ETIQUETTE FOR BUSINESS LUNCHES, DINNERS PLACE SETTING

SALARY PLANS
Paid vacations are usually two weeks.

Other company benefits

include sick days and personal days.

RETIREMENT AGE
Americans usually retire at the age of 65, but

may retire earlier if their

pension plans permit it.

WORKING HOURS
Normal office timings go from 8 AM to 5 PM. You do need to maintain a minimum of 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. Results matter more

than anything; you must be

able to deliver on demand.

DOs & DONTs

At work or elsewhere while talking, if you want to say Yes, just say "YES". Don't nod your head up and down. Moving your head side to side is found to be very confusing, and its mostly taken as NO. Never, ever talk in your native language in presence of Americans during a gathering.

DOs & DONTs

When you are going to smoke, don't say "I am going out for a fag". Never ever ask for a rubber when you need an eraser. Here a rubber means a "condom" !! Don't call a black person a "Negro" or any thing else , it is always good to call them "African Americans". Also never call an "American Indian" as a "Red Indian", they get very offended. You may call them as Native Americans or American Indians.

DOs & DONTs

Don't say "The Phone was engaged", as engaged means getting engaged. Instead say "There was a busy tone".

Don't say "I'll ring you back." or "I'll give you a ring later".
Here ring is the engagement ring, rather say "I'll call you, or buzz you".

Don't offer chewing gum, or a breath freshener to others. It

gives them a message that they have a bad breath. Your intention may not be but it is easily mistaken.

BUSINESS APPEARANCE
Business suit and tie are appropriate in all major cities. Wear dark colored business suits. For an important formal meeting, choose a white dress shirt, for less formal a light blue shirt will do Women should wear a suit or dress with jacket in major cities. Wearing classic clothing and classic colors of navy, gray, ivory, and white will ensure you give a confident and conservative appearance.

BUSINESS APPEARANCE
Rural areas and areas with extremely warm summers have more informal wardrobe requirements. Women may wear a business dress, or skirt and blouse, in rural areas. Men may conduct business without wearing a jacket and/or tie in rural areas.

BUSINESS APPEARANCE
Casual clothing is appropriate when not attending a work related meeting/dinner. Clothing, whether formal or casual, should be clean and neat in appearance. Men may generally wear jeans or khaki pants with a shirt for casual attire. Women may wear comfortably fitting slacks with a casual shirt. Wearing jeans or shorts, even in a casual setting, may be inappropriate for the city.

BUSINESS BEHAVIOR
Business conversation may take place during meals. However, many times you will find more social conversation taking place during the actual meal. Business meetings may be arranged as breakfast meetings, luncheon meetings, or dinner meetings depending on time schedules and necessity. Generally a dinner, even though for business purposes, is treated as a social meal and a time to build rapport.

BUSINESS BEHAVIOR
Gift giving is discouraged or limited by many US companies. A gracious written note is always appropriate and acceptable. If you do give a gift, it should not appear to be a bribe. An invitation for a meal or a modest gift is usually acceptable

BUSINESS BEHAVIOR
If you are someplace with a line or queue, go to the end and wait your turn. Do not use or chew on a toothpick in public. Many public places and private homes do not allow smoking. In some areas laws have been passed to prevent smoking in public places.

COMMUNICATION
Offer a firm handshake, lasting 3-5 seconds, upon greeting and leaving. Maintain good eye contact during your handshake. If you are meeting several people at once, maintain eye contact with the person you are shaking hands with, until you are moving on the next person. Good eye contact during business and social conversations shows interest, sincerity and confidence.

COMMUNICATION
Business cards are generally exchanged during introductions. However, they may be exchanged when one party is leaving. A smile is a sign of friendliness, and in rural areas you may be greeted with a "hello" rather than a handshake. Ask permission to smoke before lighting a cigarette or cigar. Due to health concerns, you may or may not be given permission

National Context NATIONAL & BUSINESS CULTURE

INSTITUTIONS

KEY BUSINESS PRACTICES AND INDUCED FACTOR CONDITIONS

NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN HRM POLICIES

Recruitment Selection Training and Development Performance Appraisal Compensation Labor Relations

Staffing & Selection Legal Environment Compensation & Benefits

HR Trends and Practices in the USA

THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

Employment relationship

Discrimination legislation

LEGAL CONDITIONS IN THE U.S.

The Employment Relationship Equitable Exchange Employment Contract

Formal agreement, voluntary: Defines and

governs the terms and conditions of the employment relationship; promises and expectations change with time Written or oral, both are legally enforceable

STATUTORY LAWS
Civil Rights Act 1866 Right to make and enforce contracts for employment for all citizens as enjoyed by white citizens. Civil Rights Act of 1871 Right to sue if deprived of any rights or privileges guaranteed by the Constitution and laws for ALL citizens. Must show intention. Equal Pay Act 1963 Equal pay for equal work regardless of SEX (female employees only);

AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT 1967

Amended 1986. Protects Employees and applicants who are 40 years old and above (no upper limit) No mandatory retirement age (except law enforcement officers, firefighters, tenured

professors, executive under certain conditions,

top policy makers)

US RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES
Open and public
Private Employment Service State Employment Service Universities Promotion from Within Employee Referrals Walk-ins Newspapers

10

20

30

40

50

Percent Recruited

Office/Clerical

Production/Service

Professional/Technical

Sales

THE US APPROACH TO SELECTION

APPLICATION

Match skills and job requirements Universalistic criteria

INITIAL INTERVIEWS

EMPLOYMENT TESTS

REFERENCES CHECKS PRELIMINARY SELECT OR REJECT FINAL INTERVIEWS

HIRING DECISION

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Type Company-Based Voluntarism/ high labor mobility

Countries

Features and Sources of Institutional Pressures Lack of institutional pressures to provide training. Companies provide training based on own cost-benefits.

USA and the UK

SKILLS IMPARTED IN THE USA

Remedial/Basic

Sales Clerical Procedures Technical Computer Management

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT: U.S.A

Senior level managers often identify managerial potential Appraisals of managerial readiness Assessment centers Mentoring

U.S. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM

Performance standards

Performance measures
Performance feedback Human resources decisions Must meet legal requirements

FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT 1938

Minimum Wage $7.25/ hour
Lower for tipped employees (A tipped employee
engages in an occupation in which he or she customarily and regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips.

An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay

$2.13 per hour in direct wages)

Child Labor
Age 16 no restrictions
Age 18 hazardous occupations Age 14-15 limitations on hours

FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT 1938

Exempt vs Non-exempt Employees
Exempt executive, administrative, professional, outside sales;
Employer does not have to pay overtime Non-exempt must be paid overtime

Overtime
Hours worked in excess of 40 hours must be compensated 1.5 times the regular rate of pay

Compensatory time off

Illegal in private sector unless given at 1.5 rate

FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT 1993

Employers with more than 50 employees have to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family or medical emergencies. Employer must guarantee the employee the same or a comparable job. The employer must also pay the health-care coverage for the EE --which the EE has to be back if he/she fails to return to work. ERs are allowed to exempt key employees defined as the highest paid 10% of their work force whose leave would cause substantial economic harm to the employer. Also exempt are EEs who have not worked at least 1,250 hours (25 hrs a week) in the previous 12 months.

 High-energy, fast paced work

environment Known for its informal culture Favors ability over experience Break rooms with free food & beverages

Sports, games, employee groups/clubs

Diversity of cultures at Google Freedom to start individual projects

 Values
IBM Equal Opportunity Diversity

Flexibility
Healthcare Culture Compensation & Benefits

 Innovation Localization

Developing Global Talent

Leadership & Training Working Environment Nurturing Diversity Volunteerism

 Move faster and take risks Lead in advanced technologies and quality in creating the worlds best vehicles Give employees more responsibility and authority

Create positive, lasting relations with

customers, dealers, communities, union partners and suppliers