Each culture looks at things from its own perspective. There are those cultures that are protective and insular and then there are cultures that are open and willing to listen to all issues. Of course one must never forget that each company, let alone each geographical area, has its own culture and each one of these cultures can affect how a company can move forward in light of the dramatic changes any company might face depending on where they are and the type of business they conduct. Thus if you are in the train industry, the chances that a changing environment will be a driving force is less the case than if one was in the telecom industry. Then again, it would also matter even if one was in the telecom industry, where they are located as some governments are particularly protective of them thus not needing them to address change and thus their culture can be less competition driven and more protective of its people.

Another factor in this is the issue of whether the culture is that of collectivism or that of the importance of an individual. Thus in the former, management might be reticent to keeping people on who could hurt the group performance while in the case of the latter, you live and die by how good you are versus the rest.

Handling Different Age Groups:
Age also plays an important role in how companies react to progress. If a company is made up of senior citizens, then they are looking for security and stability. If a company is made up of young people, they are more likely to take those risks that could propel them to the unknown and thus reap those rewards. The problems that companies can encounter with this issue are great.

Age can affect whether a person can learn or get fired. The older a person gets, the less likely he or she might be willing to learn. The younger the person is, the more likely to think that he or she knows best and is willing to prove their point even if it means losing their jobs if it goes pear shaped.

Local V Expatriate:
The main problem with this issue is understanding that this question in its nature is a racist one. Once we have accepted this notion, then we must see how to best deal with a situation that is presented to us.

Are all expatriates qualified? Are all locals a tax?

Can we harness the local population to get the best out of them and thus benefit the company or are we just going to accept them as a tax burden?

Having locals working for us is it harmful or dangerous or can they be that unique factor that makes us more successful than others?

Do we, as a company, train them or do we educate them? Are we socially obligated to do so? Should we care that they succeed or not?

How about the expatriate staff? Should we bring them in because we covertly believe that they are less of a burden or that we are hidden racists as well? Does white equate to better or is that something we act upon but never say?
What about the women versus men issue? DO all of the above apply?

Governance Considerations:
When changes occur do we still take into consideration governance or should that not be considered?

Governance is what sets the policies and procedures for a company. But what should matter being pragmatic and getting things done or should we be sticklers to rules because that what we believe separates us from the unruly?
Understanding the importance in ensuring proper governance versus understanding the importance of understanding why we have governance are two different things? The first is blindly following rules while the other is the understanding as to why the rules are there in the first place.

This affects transformation in many ways because if rules are made specifically to keep things stable, then they will automatically hinder any change and vice versa.

Family V Non-Family:
This is too long an issue to be discussed in a few paragraphs but the easiest consideration in this issue is that of nepotism and favoritism. While many are quick to dismiss them as relics of the past with no good feature, consider this—what could be more supportive and beneficial to a person who is trying to move in a certain direction than having support from someone who will always have your back no matter what your decision might be?