Spain & Cross Cultural Management

SPAIN: A REVIEW OF FACTORS AFFECTING CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT BY AMERICAN MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES

Spain occupies approximately fivesixths (84.7 Percent) of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Most of the remainder of the peninsula is occupied by Portugal, with a minuscule 6.5 square kilometers being occupied by Gibraltar. Spain is bounded on the north by the Bay of Biscay and the Pyrenees Mountains. The Pyrenees, for the most part, constitute the boundary between Spain and France, with a tiny interruption for Andorra, which lies between the two countries, and the sovereignty of which is exercised jointly by France and the Bishop of Urgel in Andorra (Paxton, 1991, p. 1116). On the west, Spain is bounded by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. The Straits of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean Sea bound Spain on the south, and the Mediterranean also provides the country's eastern boundary.

In addition to its core on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain also includes the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, and five North African towns (Paxton, 1991, p. 1117). The Balearic Islands are politically the Province of Baleares, while two provincesLas Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerifeoccupy the Canary Islands. The five North African towns under Spanish sovereignty are located in Morocco, and are governed by two autonomous municipalities, Ceuta and Medilla.

The climate in Spain is predominantly continental, with hot, dry summers and harsh, cold winters (Solsten

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able rate of growth, (3) reducing unemployment, and (4) generating investment capital (Euromoney, 1987b, p. 2; Euromoney, 1987a, pp. 3435). Spain is the largest relatively undeveloped consumer market in Europe, with a population of 40 million persons, who until the 1980s, for the most part, did not have the means to support a consumeroriented economy (Tully, 1986, pp. 106107). Compared to most of the other member countries of the EEC, Spain also has remarkably low labor costs, coupled with an intelligent and welltrained work force (Euromoney, 1987b, pp. 3435). Thus, firms in the other EEC countries can establish new production facilities in Spain, which will permit the community to become more competitive in trade external to the community. Spain was on the road to economic recovery from the Franco years, before its admission to the EEC. Subsequent to admission to the EEC, however, the country's economic recovery was accelerated. The country's membership in the EEC, together with the program implemented by the current Spanish government to attract foreign capital and industry should insure economic growth and stability for Spain well into the next century. Cross Cultural Management in Spain In the 1990s, the trend

Category: Foreign - S