CASE STUDY:

Charles Martin in Uganda

GROUP #1:

Freire Gonzalo
Gonzlez Andrea
Ramos Julio
Zapata Alicia

QUESTIONS:
1. Describe Uganda cultural attributes that might affect the operations of a foreign
company doing business there.
One of many cultural attributes that affect the dam project in Uganda is the language, the
official language spoken is English but in reality many people speak only in an
indigenous language such as Bantu or Nilotic. Other attribute is the religion, most of the
Ugandans are Christians, and there is a large group of Muslims and adherents of various
animistic religions. Ugandans are very religious people, very superstitious, to the point
that they were claiming the HG project would make the spirits enraged thus making HG
consult some of the religious caretakers of the local tribes to appease the gods for the
right price. Ugandas government is one the most corrupt in the world, that fact leads to a
lot of bribes for each business in the country.

2. How would you describe the respective attitudes of Martin and Green: ethnocentric,
polycentric, or geocentric? What factors do you suspect of having influenced their
respective attitudes?
After weve read the text we concluded that James Greens attitude is polycentric,
because he didnt believe that all business no matter the stage must be done in the
Christian way as the CEO Lawrence Lovell strongly believed, furthermore Green
accepted that Martins methods in Uganda were highly satisfactory even when he was
concerned about what were his goals.
Obviously Charles Martins attitude is geocentric; he successfully adapted the HGs
business methods to the culture of Uganda, also he made the process of obtaining the

licenses more efficiently. But that is only if we analyze it in the terms of his development
in his work in Uganda, if we analyze it more we can see that his attitude is ethnocentric
because he intended to behave in the African way for full time, because of this he was not
friendly with his colleagues in Uganda who used to live in high class neighborhoods and
in five star hotels, also he was eager to participate in local rituals and become a member
of the group in charge of the dam project once he knew it would be in Uganda.

3. Who was right, Green or Martin, about Martins more controversial actions in
facilitating the project? How might things have turned out if Martin had not been a
member of the project team?
In our opinion Martin was right with his controversial actions although he was outside the
companys norms and the US law too. The project would have been difficult to progress
if Martin has not done these actions or if he had not been in the project team. One
example mentioned before is the language that became a big problem; the company HG
should hire a translator to make the communication work without problems. They need to
train staff that would probably take a long period of time to study and understand the
culture, belief and behavior of Uganda to be able to do the business project. It would be a
waste of time and money for HG.

4. In the next phase of the project constructing the dam itself should HG employ
someone whose main function is that of liaison between its corporate culture and the
culture of its host country? If so, is Martin the right person for the job?
Despite the apparent fanaticism that Charles Martin has for the African country we think
that he would be the right person for this job because he knows the culture and religion of
Africa, and mainly of Uganda where the project would be. The company dont need other
person because Martin already knows the country, he has lived there for a time now and
has experienced the lifestyles of African people way before becoming part of the Uganda
project. If the people in charge of HG hire other person theyll need to train him or her
and it will be a loss of time and money because they want to start immediately.

Bibliography:

Daniels, J., Radebaugh, L. & Sullivan, D. (2013). International Business.

(12th.Ed). Pearson Education