PEST Country Analysis: Cuba

pestilence Country Analysis Cuba recognitionFirst and foremost I thank my t from each one(a)er who has assigned this condition paper to make out my creative capabilities.I express my gratitude to my p arnts for organism continuous source of encour fes experimental conditionent and for all their financial aids give to me.I would like to acknow directge the assistance provided to me by the library cater of Lovely Professional University.At put up my heartfelt gratitude to my friends for helping me to fuck my influence in time. bloodline ENVIRONMENTCountry OriginCuba is sensation of the largest islands in the Caribbean which was once inhabited by tribal population when Christopher capital of Ohio visited the island during his first voyage. He discovered it and decl atomic number 18d it as a ground of Spain 1762 this country was briefly held by Britain before world returned in win over for Florida. A series of rebellions occurred during the 19th century which failed to e nd Spanish rule, solely increased tensions amongst Spain and the united States, resulted in the Spanish-Ameri jackpot War, finally led to Spanish withdrawal, and in 1902, Cuba gained formal independence.American trade dominated Cuba during the first half of the 20th century. It was helped by US government policy measures assuring sour over the island. In 1959, Dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown in a revolution led by Fidel Castro. Cuba-United States relations froze while the island showed its faith towards the Soviet alliance, which kept its economy running in spite of being US against Cuba. After the looseness of the east-west-confrontation Cuba re principal(prenominal)s as one of the only communist countries in the world. foregone line of descentCuban fear has master(prenominal)ly revolved around United States Soviet Union. Before 1958 everything was allright surrounded by US and Cuba and trade was carrying smoothly among them.In March 1958, when an armed con flict broke out in Cuba between rebels and the Fulgencio Batista government an arms embargo has been in effect. In July 1960, in repartee to Cubas bare-ass-fashioned revolutionary governments seizure of US properties, the United States reduced the Cuban import quota of brown sugar by 7,000,000 tons, at a lower place the Sugar border of 1948 the Soviet Union responded by agreeing to purchase the sugar instead, as Cubas raw(a) government continued to take further actions to confiscate American businesses and in camera owned property.In 1963, the 1963 U.S. embargo was rein rackd in October 1992 by the Cuban bring up Act (the Torricelli Law) and in 1996 by the Cuban Liberty and Democracy Solidarity Act (known as the Helms-Burton Act) which penalized foreign companies that did business in Cuba by preventing them from doing business in the US. The justification provided for these restrictions were that these companies were trafficking in stolen U.S. properties, and should, thus, be excluded from the United States.The European Union resented the Helms Burton Act because it felt that the US was dictating how former(a) nations ought to conduct their trade and challenged it on that basis. The EU eventually dropped its challenge in favor of negotiating a solution.PEST Analysis(P)olitical factorsCuba is a communist state. The departments of the state and the Cuban communistic ships confederation atomic number 18 closely connected and their power is mainly devolved from the Executive committal of the Council of Ministers.Their National Assembly which has legislative e powers consists of 614 members. Their next elections for the provinces and nation are due in January 2012, the municipal elections in April 2010, even though there is only one legal party which is namely the Cuban Communist Party (PCC). The head of state and government of Cuba is Ral Castro Ruz.(E)conomic factorsThe consumer prices, or inflation rate, rose by 3,4 % in 2008 which is, compared t o early(a) countries, an average figure, because they are number 47 on the world list.The Cuban labor force counts 4.962 million people of which 78% work in the state area and 22% in the non-state sector. This figure get ahead them number 74 in comparison to the labor forces around the world.The unemployment rate is low compared to former(a) countries as they only pass on 1,6 % callingless people and rank emerge 13 in the world. This rate even improved by 0,2 % from 2007 to 2008.The buying power, gross domestic product per capita, of each Cuban was $9,500 in the year 2008. Compared to other countries they rank place 108 in the worlds list, but seeing that the apprizes improved over the historic period from 2006 until 2008 by $1,000 per capita, their score is still positive.Cuba produces several agricultural products such as sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice,potatoes, beans and livestock. Main export goods are nickel, fish, citrus, coffee, tobacco products, sugar and its b y-products and medicines. A 2008 cypher for their export of goods is $3.78 billion which makes them number 119 on the list of countries by exports.Their main export partners are China, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands and Iran. Goods that film to be imported are petroleum, food, machinery and equipment and chemicals.Their main import partners are Venezuela, China, Spain, Canada and the USA.(S)ociological factorsCuba has a population of estimated 11,451,652 people. The population grows by 0.233 % each year.18,3 % of these people are between 0 and 14 days, 70,4 % are between 15 and 64 years old and 11,2 % are 65 years or older. Therefore the average age is 37,3 years. 65,1 % are white, 24,8 % are mulatto and ladino and 10,1 % are black (2002 census).The most dominant religions are Roman Catholics and Protestants. around the whole population is able to read and write (99,8 %) at the age of 15 which enables them to pursue a good education.The majority (76 %) of the population prefera bly lives in urban areas.(T)echnological factorsCuba is a recognized leading country in the field of bioengineering, but there are still sectors that lack development. mesh access is for example only provided by one provider at high costs which shows an inadequate telecommunications infrastructure.The information engineering system in Cuba still has to be improved, because the profitable sectors such as tourism and biotechnology require good and continuously updated communication structures and instruments which are not equal at the moment. Castro sees that modern communication and computer networks are obligatory for the economy and is willing to open new doors in order to make this possible. (Information technology in Cuba, 2009)Cuba World EconomyIn 2005 Cuba had exports of $2.4 billion, be 114 of 226 world countries, and imports of $6.9 billion, ranking 87 of 226 countries.Its major export partners are China 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, Netherlands 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007).Cubas maj or exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, and coffee imports include food, fuel, clothing, and machinery.Cuba positionly holds debt in an amount estimated to be $13 billion, approximately 38% of GDP.According to the Heritage Foundation, Cuba is dependent on credit accounts that rotate from country to country.Cuba holds 6.4% of the global market for nickel which constitutes approximately 25% of total Cuban exports. Recently, large reserves of oil have been found in the North Cuba Basin.BUSINESS CULTURE OF CUBADRESS dress is quite informal in for both men and women,For men Depending on the situation, a guayabera shirt with nice slacks may be as formal as it gets. Business casual for a warm modality should suffice.For women A pair of pants and nice shirt should do. Skirts are comely as well.Jeans and business casual attire are generally acceptable.TITLES AND BUSINESS CARDSTitles are very beta and it is best to address people directly by using their pro fessional title (or Mr., Mrs., or Miss) followed by the surname.It is advisable, although not required, to have one side of your business card translated into Spanish. set out your business card with the Spanish side facing the recipient.There is no specialized ritual surrounding the giving of business cards.MEETINGSArriving on time for a meeting is important even though you may have to wait 30 legal proceeding or more.There is usually 5-15 minutes of small talk before getting down to business. It is best to deliver your host to begin the business discussion.It is considered acceptable to interrupt someone who is oratory.NEGOTIATIONSCubans value relationship building and harmony so it is important to avoid unassailable selling, pressure tactics and any sort of conflict or confrontation.Decisions are made from the top down and can take sometime.GIFT freeGifts are not brought to a first meeting.When giving gifts it is best to bring something very modest as anything else could be misconstrued.COMMUNICATION STYLECubans feed to be direct and some what louder than what the norm is in North America.GESTURESCubans scarper to speak very quickly and loudly. They use their hands and bodies for emphasis when speaking and tend to be emotionally expressive.Cubans will point by puckering their lips in the direction or person they are referring to.Wrinkling or scrunching up of your poke usually means, huh or what?Geert Hofstedes ModelAfter seeing some of the business culture and countrys culture we can draw some conclusions based on the five dimensions of the above mentioned model.POWER DISTANCEAs Cuba is a Communist country, it is expected to have higher power distance than other capitalist countries. Geert Hofstede has not conducted his survey in Cuba so there arent any scores regarding it.INDIVIDUALISM Vs. COLLECTIVISMIn Private sector somebodyism is effective to achieve results with greater efficiency. While the majority of Cuba which is communist in nature has a greater faith in collectivism.LONG TERM tasteOn observing the past and future business culture of Cuba, we can easily comprehend that in past it was more of short term oriented. Now while the country is growing , it has become more of a long term oriented country.HALLS MODELHigh ContextCubans be to pretty much fall in this category. I would like to state that because they behave in the following mentioned way -Less verbally limpid communication, less written/formal informationMore innateized understandings of what is communicatedMultiple cross-cutting ties and intersections with others enormous term relationshipsStrong boundaries- who is accepted as belonging vs who is considered an outsidercognition is situational, relational.Decisions and activities focus around personal face-to-face relationships, often around a central person who has authority.HRM PRACTISES IN CUBAHuman imagery management (HRM) practices in Cuba are still incipient and close to what may be called the handed-down Soviet-style model. In other words, HRM in Cuba mainly comprises a set of practices that emphasise cost control and administrative concerns, resource allocation being controlled by the administrative hierarchy and not by the market characteristics.Additionally, gentle resource management is an undervalued function compared to other areas. Those who are not good plenteous for anything else, go to the HR function, as one manager noticed.Within the last few years, and in the context of perfeccionamiento empresarial, new concerns with the quality of human resource management have arisen. The new goals, in industries that aim to achieve a competitive position in the international arena, include the development of lag competencies.Capacitacion (qualification) became HRMs recent major buzzword in the country. Qualification is the major human resource management challenge for Cuban companies, and is viewed as a necessary means for achieving a series of new business goals, including quality, customer assistance and independence in the execution of work, all of which are new descriptors in the national business vocabulary.The new market-oriented logic, which is emerging particularly in the globally exposed tourism sector, is far from being the normal. That is possibly one of the reasons wherefore so many people try to work in tourism, the other being easier access to foreign currency. This has led to what is called the inverted pyramid a hotel waiter can earn more money (in tips) than the best university educated specialist or work hero.Macro-level administration of human resources is thus being challenged by micro motives and is forcing companies to develop and implement incentive systems that stimulate respective(prenominal) motivation, while trying to respect the ideological orientation towards a more altruistic and disinterested motivated behaviour, such as the one mentioned above.In fact, as a traditional rule of the Cuban enterprise, incentiv os (incentives) are non- real(a). They are called spiritual incentives, and may include a letter, a diploma, an appreciation from the company or, at a more material level, a dinner including lobster. Managers attitudes towards the enduringness of material rewards are highly ambivalent. On the one hand, they deny the greatness of material incentives. On the other hand, they enthusiastically refer to the possibility of obtaining material rewards in the more progressive firms.BUSINESS GROUPS OF CUBASHERRITT INTERNATIONALSherritt International is one of the biggest business giants of Cuba that operates in Cuba Canada. Sherritt International Corporation is a diversified lifelike resource company that produces nickel, cobalt, thermal coal, oil and gas, and electricity. It also licenses its proprietary technologies to other metals companies. Sherritts 293.1 million common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol S. The company also produces oil from assets in Cuba, S pain and Pakistan, and manages 376 megawatts of power times capacity in Cuba.HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTISESThe most important HRM practices practiced in Sherritt areHR planning (i.e. to forecast and envision the future business and employee needs and plan for them)Recruitment and selection job descriptions, selection tools, background checks, offersCompensation (i.e. methods, consistency, market)Employee relations (i.e. labor agreements, performance management, disciplinal procedures, employee recognition)Mandated benefits (i.e. social security, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, COBRA/HIPPA)Optional group benefits (i.e. insurance, time off benefits, flexible benefits, solitude plans, employee assistance programs, perks)Payroll (i.e. internal vs. external options, compliance)Recordkeeping (i.e. HRIS, personnel files, confidential records, I-9, other forms) discipline and development (i.e. new employee orientation, staff development, technical and safety, leadersh ip, tuition reimbursement, go planning)Employee communications (i.e. handbook, newsletter, recognition programs, announcements, electronic communication)RECRUITMENT SELECTIONThe treat of hiring begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted.The result is a pool of applications from which new employees are selected.CompensationCompensation is the remuneration provided to an employee in return for his/her function to the organization. It is an organized practice that involves balancing the work-employee relation by providing monetary and non-monetary benefits to employees.TrainingTraining is also provided for increasing the knowledge and skills of people for a specific purpose. It helps the trainees acquire new skills, technical knowledge, and problem-solving ability etc. It also gives an sentience of the rules and procedures to guide their behavior thereby improving the performance of employee on puzzle job and prepares them for taking up new assignments in future.Performance assessmentPerformance appraisal is a method of evaluating the behavior of employees in the work spot including both quantitative and qualitative aspects of job performance. A process in which employees strengths and weaknesses are identified to improve the performance on the present and future jobs. Performance appraisal is a systematic review of individual or a groups performance on the job.Pay curler characterAfter employee placement/joining the recruitment section handovers the details of the employees envelop in a file to the payroll department. Pay Roll process starts from 25th of every month. First part is attendance, which will be glide slope from last 26th to 25th of the month. Salary is paid for 1st to thirty-first but attendance is calculated from 25th to 26th of the month. The Pay Roll department then looks after the following aspect of the employees.HSEQHEALTH, SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT AND persona (HSEQ)Every job involves certain bumps . In order to provide a safer and healthy atmosphere at work place HSEQ is strengthened at all levels in the company.There is a possibility of occurrence of risk either from external and internal sources. External sources hear referred to infrastructure and internal sources referred to Behavior of employees. HSEQ is involved in regulation and controlling the risks involved in jobs.Bibliographyhttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_americahttp//www.mfat.govt.nz/Countries/Latin-America/Cuba.phphttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exportshttp//www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/cu.htmlhttp//www.cuba.com/index.php?catid=280cuba_info_record=Useful%20information%20of%20http//www.indexmundi.com/cuba/demographics_profile.htmlhttp//www1.american.edu/carmel/ms4917a/cuba.htmhttp//www.phpclasses.org/browse/country/cu/