RELIGION AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

In international business religion take an important place since almost every country in the world has one. The society has rules and certain guidelines to live following a stipulate order. So, the negotiation take the form of what society think is good or bad and the words and attitude of the negotiators will determine the outcome.
Managers all over the world should learn of different cultures and know how to act in front of people that think different, to obtain good outcomes and create a superior relation.

·         How can we create an ethical relationship between religion and business so that they may cooperate towards a more sustainable and respectful development of life?

The best way to create an ethical relationship between religion and business is making negotiators accept ethic principles in their negotiation processes and implementing strategies where the fair play and honesty become the most important values in debates.

·         Can you imagine a world without religion where everyone would be trying to get immediate satisfaction to their individual needs?

 I think that religion has been throughout history, the best way to manipulate the people and put him on a few guidelines provided, so I think that a world without religion in terms of economic and business, would be a major accessibility world, because people are not governed by specific behaviors but by their own tastes and desires, and so, the multinationals could be well positioned more easily and quickly anywhere and without much need for adaptation, but governed by a global taste.

·         Religion can create networks of trust and familiarity that facilitates economic transactions. Can you name other positive aspects of this relationship?

With religion you can find things in common with other regions or countries that share the same beliefs, but if not, also there is a challenge to negotiators and companies to know how to reach certain markets and built the confidence and familiarity required to be accepted by the other one.

·         Do you think that stereotyping based on religion has been influenced by economical or political interests, why, whose? What is the role of The Media in this issue?

The media has the power to manage the reputation of people and complete communities all over the world and the media has been manipulated by gubernators and politicians that want money and power.  With stereotyping, entire communities has been affected and cataloged as undeveloped, terrorists, corrupts, among others and these types of judgments affect the lives of all the people and its normal development.

References:
www.martin-pacheco.com

 

MANAGING DIVERSITY

Organizations should focus on its human capital and the qualified workforce, managing diversity appears because with the globalization process companies are competing and are looking for being recognized by the consumers. The most important competitive advantages that companies could use are the human capital, low cost production, great business processes, etc.

With high diversity, competitors find a lot of difficulties, trying to be like the other company, and the organization can take advantage of what they know and the procedures. So, nowadays companies are looking for expertise, scholars, and people well qualified to do different king of jobs.


References:

www.managingdiversity.co.uk

www.jml-training.com

VIRTUAL TEAMS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNmTu4nG2Nk&feature=related

The emergence of effective and relatively cheap information and communications technology, particularly web-based techniques, has led to the increased use of so-called “virtual teams”.

The main challenges of this type of teams are the communication, leadership skills and the avoidance of conflict, because it is evident that there are lack of community among participants, there is no face to face communication, lack of immediate managerial oversight and it is really difficult to find harmony between members, since most of the times, they don’t know each other and everything depends of words that are said by technological means.

Every virtual team has to make at least 2 face to face meetings where the members should make a realistic agenda, and planning all the project, giving the respective task for everyone.  





INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

As globalization is taking place in the world, managers should know the importance of being understood in different cultures and contexts, communication is the key to succeed and achieve a lot of goals that with misunderstandings could destroy the appropriate organization’s performance.

Communication could be a barrier if the people in charge don’t know the other culture and the ways of thinking, so the most important research that should be done has to do with slangs, salutations, gestures, what is good or bad, etc.

Look for examples of alternative communications approaches in multinationals corporations. Explain how do they implement it?

In this globalization era, the world is giving a new twist, in which time is the most important issue and for this reason, both personal communications as multinational companies’ communication become more effective trough rapid and mass media such as internet, since it facilitates the interactions between the parties.

Multinational companies implement video conferencing, internet meetings, e-mails, blogs, etc.

References: espanol.istockphoto.com

MIGRANT WORKERS AND EXPATRIATES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzAgLwGliBo&feature=related

What can governments and the private sectors do to improve migrants’ conditions.

To accomplish improve migrant conditions first it is useful to change the native’s ways of thinking, since the discrimination conditions for the immigrants comes from the racism and xenophobia that is so evident in these people, who feel that  because of the afraid of losing their jobs or worsen their living conditions. For this, the government of countries all over the world should implement policies in which immigrants were not rejected and had, according to their conditions, opportunities for access to decent jobs, that’s when intervenes the private sector, providing opportunities and creating campaigns to make native people realize on the fact that immigrants are not a threat and they also help develop the economy and the country.

MERGING AND ACQUISITION

An acquisition is when one company buys another one, it is a benefit for the purchaser because it can increase its market power buying competitors and doing vertical integration the company becomes to be a big part of the market. By an acquisition, companies can control the distribution network and are able to overcome entry barriers. For companies from certain countries is easier than to other ones, because of the capital and the legislation.

Look for different real case examples of forced growth strategies and describe what happened afterwards?

A real case example of forced growth strategies comes from Microsoft Corporation that  is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions.

The first acquisition was Forethought on June 29, 1987, but then Microsoft acquire a lot of companies as Hotmail in December of 1997, HOB Business Solutions in November of 2007, and the most recent and important one Skype Communications in May of 2011, among others.

Afterwards the company has consolidated its name and products as an important brand all over the world.

references: medios.batiburrillo.net

MANAGING CHANGE AND CONFLICT

There are a lot of factors that enterprises have to face every day, including change, that a lot of times cause misunderstandings and instability between the employees. It is important that companies learn how to manage the conflict and how to front the challenges that emerge nowadays.

Companies must be prepared for unplanned changes, that a lot of times are forced or imposed because of the market, environment, etc and causes alterations in the normal processes. In terms of the planned changes is easier to the companies because they are able to take the decision if they want to do something or not.

For the other hand, conflict can arise easily in organizations, but it could be well manage by different ways as problems solving, compromising, yielding, among others, it depends of the nature of the problem and the impact that would have inside the organization.

Ubuntu is an important philosophical thought system in South Africa. It has been used by managers as a way to solve conflicts and negotiate differences. Look for and describe other similar system of thoughts in other cultures that might be also useful in managing change or conflicts.

To manage change or conflicts there are different approaches as:

·         Realist paradigm: that is a political approach based on scarcity of resources, flawed nature of human kind and tend to enforce the need for strong actions to generate sense of stability

·         Medical Paradigm: that is a medical approach based on predisposition, neglect or exposure and justified the use of diagnosis, dialogue and cure to solve the problems.

·         Post modern Paradigm: that is a communications approach and tells that conflict is caused by subjective definitions, perceptions, assumptions, interpretations. It is important the reflection and confrontation.

·         Systems Paradigm: that is a biological approach and is says that conflicts are living entities made up of connected elements. It is important the harmonization of interaction.

·         Human Relations Paradigm: that is a social approach and an alternative to realist paradigm; it believes in the mixed nature of human kind and highlights the importance of human interaction and the many variables that influence it.

references: http://careerchoicecoach.com/tag/managing-change-in-the-workplace/

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

In the organizations is very important to have well learning processes that lead the company to reach different markets and satisfied different consumer’s needs. The learning comes from the interactions between cognitive, behavioral and environmental influences from every employee.

The process and progress of new forms of trade have made that the organization’s know-how is increasing its importance and competitiveness as part of the differentiation, thus ensuring that these organizations acquire more and better benefits. important to have a work environment where people feel comfortable and satisfied, thereby achieving a continuous learning which they can acquire new skills and share it with their coworkers, creating a well organizational learning process.

it is important to have a work environment where people feel comfortable and satisfied, thereby achieving a continuous learning which they can acquire new skills and share it with their coworkers, creating a well organizational learning process.

¿What is the relationship between organizational learning and individual satisfaction?

Relationship between these would lie in the learning of each individual and the skills that will adopt, thus becoming an employee with greater competitive advantages and creating a professional-level differentiation that led him to succeed in the workplace, with the well learning process that individuals have they can get satisfaction in terms of acquiring knowledge and to escalate in the workplace.

references: innovativegrowthsolutions.com

The corporation Movie (WORKSHOP)

The Corporation

1.    How can we ensure corporations are held accountable for their actions “ethically” and “legally”?

 There are many ways we can ensure Corporations accountable for their ''ethically and legally actions'', but it is still very difficult to watch them. Most of the responsibility lies on the government. If the Government makes different methods to watch the corporations the ethically and legally actions will be seen as an obligation and not as an option. I think this is the way to educate the Corporations.

2.    Should individuals (directors, employees, shareholders) bear any responsibility for the actions of a corporation? If so, to what degree?

 Everyone on the Corporation is responsible of any responsibility actions. A corporation is an organization that creates a common goal which every person working inside it must try to achieve it the best way possible. When the corporation goal is unethically or illegal everyone in the inside must be aware and as they choose to achieve that common goal they must assume any kind of responsibility.

 3.    What are the benefits of the corporate form? Could an alternative model offer these as well?

      The benefits of the Corporate are a lot. The Corporate form allows to take decisions based on different arguments and points of view. The Corporation works as a team aiming towards the same goal, this means everyone in the inside is giving their best to achieve one common goal. The size means more work but also more employees and at the same time more employees means more opinions, more ideas ect.

4.    Search for a foreign multinational corporation that has operations in Colombia. Research if they are run under Colombian rules or regulations or if they have special regulations?

 

CasaLuker is an multinational Corporation operating in Colombia run under the Colombian regulations. Their web page says that according to this Century of life they have constructed a tradition that transmit the best values of being Colombian. In this values they reflect the hard work and the good job that has characterized their human group.

5.    Should economic efficiency (Main argument for privatization) be the primary concern for commons and public services? Are there other criteria to determine who should own or operate them?

 Economic Efficiency must be the primary concern of a corporation in my opinion. A corporation must always satisfy the needs and wants of the society but always making profits. Without profits the market can be destroyed and a company may not work. The profit is the motor of  company is what motivated every worker to make part of it.

Economic efficiency in my opinion must be the most important aspect in a corporation. As the market is full of global companies, customers are always looking for low prices and good quality, so it is important that a corporation focus on having good efficiency but never forgetting about values and ethics.

MULTINACIONALS (MNC’S)

MNC’S enterprises operating in many different countries but with one central in which everything is manage. They have a lot of political and economical power, this is why they can often be criticize. They often look for increasing their profits. When they enter a new country they analyze how to increase their profits.

MOTIVATION

This is the process in which people encourage them self to sustain a goal. This have external and internal factors that motivate people to be interested in achieving a goal.


DISCUSSION:
 Is economic retribution enough to motivate employees?

I think economic retribution is not enough to motivate employees. People often work hard to achieve a goal that not always end up in a money reward. They look for their superiors satisfaction of knowing they where able to teach them the correct ideas to the correct person.

ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitude: Is compose of many factors. Emotions, beliefs ect. It infuelce us to make choises, respond or take iniative in many situations.

Values: Are beliefs of what is wrong and what is right.


DISCUSSION:
How can values be a source of conflict in multicultural context?
Values are never the same for everyone. Some times the values of one person are the contrary of the values of another. Their are many values that are the same and that the society have in charged of making them for everyone. Values can get to a conflict when the way I act goes against your values, but i still think your values are the ones wrong. This can start a conflict.

PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION, AND ATTRIBUTION

• Personality: There are many factors that make up the personality. Some often are physical environments, heredity, culture, and particularly experiences
• Perception: Is the way we see the world by gathering information with our 5 senses. And there is also social perception that is how we see another person.
• Attribution: We often try to have two kinds of attribution. The one we accuse the other person and the one we called self security.

DISCUSSION:

Why is important for managers and employees to be able to understand different types of personalities?
This is very important because if you as a manager can get to understand different personalities you can be able to choose where in the structure of a company to put which one of the personalities you have known.
  

NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Each person has different indentities with the ones they identify:

• Cultural Identity: Is where In the geographic place we are from and cultural expansions. Usually is influenced with political differentiation of gender, sex, class, religions, race, ethnicity ect.
• National Identity: Helps construct and maintain the cultural construction by different regulatory institutions such as law, education system, and the media discourse.
• Corporate Culture: All the things as norms, values, ect. That people collect over time in an organization. Some aspects may be symbols, language, slogans ect.

DISCUSSION:

HOW DOES NATIONAL CULTURE CAN INFLUENCE CORPORATIVE CULTURE

I think companies create their own corporate culture in order to maintain their essences. Many times this culture starts to interfere with the birth culture this people have and the corporate culture starts to get into their life's as if it was their only or most important culture.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

 Organizational behavior studies how individuals, groups, and structures impact on the behaviors of the organizations. The goal of this study is to improve effectiveness on the organization. An organization can be private or public, formal or informal, religious, military, political or scientific. The organizational behavior aim to understand and predict the human behavior in the organizational environment. This organization gets to interpret people and organization as a hole social system.

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