Latin America

Our classmates brought Andres Velez as a Speaker to start the presentation talking about Brazil. He explained why the country is different from Latin-America and its relation with it. Andres told as that one of the most multicultural cities is Sao Paulo and how it has products from Japan than expire in less than a week. The south part of Brazil is mostly inhabited by Europeans, the northwest by Indians and the northeast by Blacks.

The girls gave an explanation of the different races that subsist in the region. They told us that there are a lot of mixtures like mulattos –black and white mix-, mestizos –white and Indian mix- and zambos –black and Indian-. They also said that in Latin-American speaks mainly three languages like Spanish, Portuguese, French and Dutch.

As we can see there is a lot of diversity in Latin-America and that the region is not as isomorphic as we think. It is really important to understand the differences between countries in order to make more profitable businesses. Brazil is a strategic ally because it is one of the fast-growing economies and has one of the biggest populations which could be a great market to exploit. 

Latin-America is getting importance in the international arena, all the countries are focusing in the region due to the great natural resources that are located in the area and because the Latin-American market and labour force are spreading all over the world.

As we have the freedom to choose any topic that we want, I would like to talk about the diverse political ideology that he has to faces. The region has been passing through difficult situations of political instability because there are such as opposite parties and ideas. On one hand, some of the countries are rule by democratic and liberal government which promotes free speech and equality between citizens. On the other hand, there are some governments that called themselves as a socialist and are part of the left side groups. Those groups are the one that complicates the relation between all the states of Latin America because they do not agree to have United States near the area and they think that everyone is a slave of the empire

Those different political ideologies are confronting the countries and delaying the economic development due to the barriers that are being approved to stop the trade between countries that not share the same ideas.

In my opinion, we need to know how to separate businesses from political stuff in order to continue growing. Diversity as I said before contributes to the development of the region because it brings creativity and different ways of solving problems. 

References

• Photo taken from www.fayerwayer.com on May 19th, 2010

North America

The North American presentation consisted of several topics. They first compared the American and Canadian culture and how theses cultures influence the way they do business. They described Canada with the Canadian backpack flag metaphor and United States with the American football metaphor. They also talked about the different values that each country has and how they are reflect within society.

They brought the case of Disney which is an American company and how it has adopted the national culture of United States. One of the main similarities between the company and the country are that they identify with dreams. United States is famous because everybody wants to go there and achieve the American dream while Disney is well known because guest and employees live their dreams with the company.

Another similarity is that both of them always work to the continuous improvement, they learn through mistakes and they do not believe in perfection. They work not just for money, work recognition is very important for them, work defines who they are.

Last but not least, diversity plays a fundamental role in both parties. They say that managerial diversity brings innovation and creativity. Disney and Unites States also share the value of aggressiveness. They give a lot of importance to competition; they always want to be the best. Disney has a philosophy of “aggressively friendly” which means helping customer when they need it and always do more than what it is expected.

Questions:

List and explain 3 strategies used by HP in order to develop and sustain a strong organisational culture - "The HP Way".

The first strategy that I identify in the paper was used by HP in order to build and maintain a strong organizational. The stories are told during trainings, management meetings, speeches from company leaders and through all the global operations. The purpose of the stories was to make employees know more about HP and receive a message of how the company does things.

Another strategy is the open door theory, in which the company encourages employees to communicate and look for advises from any HP manager. The communication can be formal or informal, about a personal or work issue, and between the most new employees and the senior managers. For example the informal communication takes place during the coffee breaks and “beer bust”, where managers and employees talk, knowing more about each other. With this communication strategy, values can be communicated and the corporate culture is transmitted and maintained.

The last  strategy was implemented in order to assure that all the values are shared through the organization and preserve the strong corporate culture, giving to employees the same terms and conditions of employment and establishing flexible hours, casual outfits and first names. Hence, HP wants to reach close relations between managers and employees because they don’t want to create divisions among different sections that could damage the company’s culture.

 By 2001, Carly Fiorina was facing a huge dilemma in terms of organisational culture.   "Should Fiorina try to revitalize the HP way or attempt to replace it with a “better” culture than the one established by Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett in the 1940’s?" Explain your answer.

Replace the organisational culture won’t be a good idea because the one established by Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett brought a lot of benefits to the company and the employees, everybody interiorized the corporate culture and feel identify with it. So trying to replace it would be time costly and unnecessary. The culture was successful and has brand knowledge so she should continue with the same organizational culture.

References

• Forster, Nick. 2002. “Managing excellence through corporate culture: the HP way” The Management Case Study Journal 2(1): 13-25.
• Photo taken from http://www.census.gov/econ/www/natf/cover.gif May 12th 2010

Australia and Oceania

The presentation made in class was about Australia and Oceania. They gave a brief detail of both countries. Our classmates based their presentation in the concept of egalitarianism, openness and individualism. Egalitarianism refers to a society that avoids differentiation between individuals, openness is the way people think, they value directness and encourage lively discussions, and individualism is the importance of personal privacy.

The corporate culture was influenced by Europe. Australia has a decentralized and flexible management. All the employees has the right to express their creativity and are involve in the decision making process. Business in Australia has a high tolerance for risk, a high readiness for change, a post planning culture, and they value the hard work and the difficulties.

They also explained the concept of tall poppy syndrome which is a tendency used in Australia that tends people to be jealous about the success of others. This syndrome is seen as an obstacle for entrepreneurship. New government rules and globalization has led to some change with it.

Rabbit Proof Fence Film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB-jkydqADg

We watched a movie about the problem that Australian has with aborigines. It shows how half-caste children –Australian father and aborigine mother- have been taken away in order to gives what the government belief is a better future for them.

The movie shows how three girls were taken away from them mothers and sending a thousand of miles away to a boarding school which they supposed to have a better life.  After some days the girls escaped and began the walking to meet with their moms. The girls walked from several months and finally two of the three girls manage to get together with their mothers. These three girls are part of what is referred to today as the Stolen Generations.

The movie was based on a true story of a young black Australian girl who leads her younger sister and cousin in an escape from an official government camp, set up as component of an official government policy to train them as domestic workers and integrate them into white society.

Question:

When removed from their families, the children were prepared for “a better life”, how is that true or false when considering different perspectives?

In my opinion removed the children from their families is not a way to prepared them for a better life because the cultural values are not taking into account and they are violating the “free developing” of a person.  That kind of procedures will just only creates resentment and it does not assure a better quality life.

As we watched in the movie, there was a girl who was re-educated and she was the maid of an Australian family and she was being rape by an old man. Then, how this condition would be “a better life” for a girl? I think the concept of quality of live depends of the point of view of each person. The girls could be happier living with their moms, learning and practicing their costumes than living in an industrialized city with strangers. 

References

• Photo taken from http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/001-1013202344-Australia-logo.gif  may 12th 2010

Europe

Our classmates explained us the economic, social and political aspects of the European Union. They talked about the cultural similarities and differences that each country has and how they feel identify as an entire community. Although, there are some cultural clashes; like the cases of gypsies and Turkish.

Turkey has been a candidate to enter to the European Union since many years ago, but there are some issues that prevent the others members to include Turkey. First of all, the country has a big population which is a problem to the others members because the European parliament is occupied depending of each country population, meaning by that, Turkey could be a threat to the power of the biggest countries in Europe. Another issue is the borders, as Turkey is located between Europe and Asia, some its neighbours are considered as Islamic terrorist which is a big worry to the security of the union. Internal conflict is also a negative point because they do not want the violence to spread among the other members. And the last issue is regarding the culture, the major religion in Turkey is Islam whereas in Europe is Christianity. These form an invisible barrier that forbids people from the union to accept the inclusion of this state.

In the other hand, the problem with the gypsies consists in that they are judge by their culture. Europeans think that they do not like to follow the rules, they seen gypsies like lazy and dirty people, opportunist and thieves. However, the European Unions is implementing some laws to protect those people from xenophobic attacks.

To finalize, they showed us the case of Wal-Mart in Germany and The United Kingdom. How it has succeeded in England and failed in Germany and explained the possible causes of the outcome in both countries.

References

• Photo taken from http://www.ucc.ie/en/eurostudies/undergrad/  May 12th 2010

Middle East

Islamic banking is based on the principles of Sharia. The fundamental goal of Sharia is to establish an ethical social and economic order in which a pluralistic government can check the power of the ruling authority. It standards are communicated to Muslims through the Koran and are meant to serve as a source of guidance for the ummah as it strives to formulate the community’s fiscal and public policies (Askari et al, 2005).

Islamic Banking functions and has the same objective as any other financial entity except that it runs accordance with the law of Sharia. These philosophies are commonly accepted all over the world. The two key principle of the Sharia are: forbids the payment of interest charges for the lending and investment in activities that could be opposite to its principle.

So if they prohibit interest how they make profit?  They charge an operative fee and they do not act as lenders but they become shareholders of any project finance by them, meaning by that, they have the right to receive a percentage of the profit. Hence the revenue comes from the ethical investments and not from the interest.

An ethical investment does not go against the Sharia’s principles; those investments are harmonized with the Koran. The ones who decide whereas a investment is ethical or not is the Sharia Supervisory Board which is a committee of academic and religion advisers responsible for reviewing and approving the acceptability of an investment.

The Islamic Bank System influences the Middle East in the way that as they share almost the same religion, it is important for people from there to follow Muhammad rules. The Islamic banks are generally profitable as conventional banks. Therefore if they could make profit and please their religion at the same time, it will be perfect for them.

It is kind of hard to predict the future of Islamic banks, but in my opinion they would continue to be successful and they would gradually expand around the world. Because Muslims are too conservative and attached to their customs, as they are spread everywhere, the model would be also broad with them.

References

• Hossein Askari, Roshanak Taghavi. The principle foundations of an Islamic economy. Rome, 2005.
• Taufic Hassan et al. Efficiency of conventional versus Islamic banks: evidence from the Middle East. Bingley, 2009.
• Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance. www.islamic-banking.com
• Photo taken from  www.yahyasheikho786.wordpress.com May 12th 2010 

South Asia

Our classmates explained the general characteristics of the countries that composed South Asia. The nations located in this region are: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan. Islam and Hinduism are the dominant religion in the area. Their presentation was focused in India that is perhaps the most important country in the region.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and is consider to be one f the powerful nations of the earth in the near future. Its population has over 1 million people which make it the largest democracy in the world. The government has friendly relationships with the overseas companies; as a consequence it is one of the most attractive markets for outsourcing of products and services from other countries.

They also described the pharmaceutical industry which is one of the most important sector in India because the country has achieved great progress in science and technology. It is consider to be global powerhouse of generic drugs. However, the lack of protection for products patents has a significant impact on the Indian pharmaceutical industry.

To give a clear explanation, our classmates explicated a case about the Acquisition of Ganga by a foreign company. With that case they want to show how mergers and acquisitions are taking force in the country and how it has a direct impact on the culture.

In a nutshell, South Asia is gaining importance in the international arena. We have to acknowledge the cultural differences and the diverse managerial style in order to make successful negotiations. This region is now recognize due to the immense improvement in technology and services industry, every time more organizations are outsourcing its operations to countries like India.

Question:

What do you think are the reasons behind the fast-growth outsourcing industry in India?

India has become an outsourcing attraction because it is the second most populated country in the world and the advantage is that a big part of the population is young which translate in workforce. Also, India invests a great portion of the GDP in science and technology. The country counts with the most sophisticated software and infrastructure to provide services which allow them to offer low cost with high quality.

Indian Government has friendly relationships with companies overseas, so that encourages other companies to settle down its operation in the country. Another considerable advantage is that most of the population speaks English which is the universal language that make them lead comparing the others developing countries.

In a brief, Indian fast-growth outsourcing industry is due to these main factors: Low cost, language and workforce. Hence, India provides a great opportunity to companies to cut cost and maximize their profits.

References

• Photo taken from http://www.edupics.com/en-coloring-pictures-pages-photo-3-sadhus-hindu-holymen-in-nepal-i10944.html  May 12^th 2010
• Agarwal, Sanjeev, Thomas E DeCarlo, Shyam B. Vyas, & Source:. 1999. Leadership Behavior and Organizational Commitment: A Comparative Study of American and Indian Salespersons. Journal of International Business Studies, 30(4): 727-43

Africa

We explained how different Management styles have been implemented in Africa and the diverse consequences that those approaches generated in an organization. We also analyzed how the cultural environment affects the relations between managers and employees.

Management in Africa is a cross-cultural issue both internally and externally because of the existent multiethnic and socioeconomic differences, but also because of the great influence that foreigners had have on the continent. Since decades ago, Africa has been conquered by Europeans who imposed several values and practices that changed the culture.

To explain in a better way, we focused in two main countries (Nigeria and Kenya) in order to make clear how the western style has influenced the African style, affecting the way they behave and organize themselves. According to Georgie Tasie (2009) the problem in the managerial system of Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Kenya is deeply rooted and widespread; they share some characteristics in terms of cultures and have been affected by different management styles that have an effect on the way of managing resources.

Africa-style management has been influenced by many different theories from diverse parts of the globe. The problem with these theories is not the management procedures by themselves, it is a matter of adaptation to the internal culture of the specific country, which means, if a practice works in one country, you cannot implemented in another one without any modification because each place has different backgrounds.

In a nutshell, Africa-style management has been influenced by many different theories from diverse parts of the world. The problem with these theories is not the management procedures by themselves, it is a matter of adaptation to the internal culture of the specific country, which means, if a practice works in one country, you cannot implemented in another one without any modification because each place has different backgrounds.

Questions:

What is Ubuntu? How was it applied to support the merger process of the two companies?

According to Miles Recounts, the concept of Ubuntu is premised on the philosophy that one finds one’s own humanity in helping others to find theirs. In other words, I am a human because you are a human. They adopted the Ubuntu philosophy to serve as the foundation for their outgoing commitment to create a working environment that is beneficial to the company and the employee.

Within a Company, Ubuntu is used in the sense of unity concerning the well being of each other and when decision must be taken. The African Bank Miners Credit employed Ubuntu to harmonize the business and the work of employees due to the several internal and cultural differences that they had. Examples of the Ubuntu process applied inside the company:

• The tale of the bird and the badger was utilized to explain how teamwork would make growth the company; they stated that what is good for us is good for you and vice versa.
• The tale of the elephant became so big was used to clarify that the organization has a commitment with the community. Hence the company selects and train people from the area in order to improve the lifestyle standards.
• The tale of the bird that learnt to fly was used to give an explanation on social responsibility, how the organization helps the community through education and training to enhance the live of the village

Investor in People (IIP) is an international standard that aims at improving companies’ performance by investing in people. In the global business scenario, is this standard useful, relevant and likely to become as important as international quality standards?

As Miles said the IIP process has focused a lot of attention on the need to develop staff. “Investors in People has taught us that it is very important to ensure that employees at grass level understand what we are doing”. IIP make staff feel part of the organization and work with more enthusiasm because they are been treat more like a human being that like a worker.

References

·        Mangaliso, Mzamo. 2003. Building competitive advantage from Ubuntu. In Thomas, David Clinton, editor, Readings and cases in International Management:  A cross-cultural perspective.

·        African Bank Miners Credit – Case Study

·        Photo taken from  http://www.portalwallpaper.net on May 12^th 2010