ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the case of an Australian woman, Roz, who succeeded her father as the CEO of a large fourth generation family business, Hawkins Family Group, in the traditionally male-dominated transport industry. It outlines Australian culture and how it influences business life, including the position of women in the Australian workforce especially as managers and entrepreneurs. The chapter describes the history of the Hawkins Family Group and how Roz eventually came to lead it. It returns to aspects of Australian values and culture and other literature to draw conclusions about the case. The well-known theorist of international workplace culture, Geert Hofstede, places Australia high on the dimension of Individuality, or the extent to which people are expected to look after themselves and their own families as opposed to being integrated into groups. Australia is almost as strongly Individualist (IDV) as the United States of America (USA), the highest-ranking country on this dimension.
