LEADERSHIP

Source: Programa #12: Liderazo. (2009, September 14). Retrieved February 24, 2011, from Hillson United-Revolución: http://www.revolucion7.com/2009/09/

1. How should organizational leaders behave in cross cultural environments?

In cross cultural environments organizational leaders have an important and challenging task similar to those of managers when motivating employees in such business environments. In fact, the motivation and leading tasks complement each other, so a leader is also expected to have motivational skills. For a leader working under such conditions it is important to have knowledge of the cultural background of the people he’s working with given that cultural traits influence the behavior of people and their perception. In this way, traits such as a charismatic leader may be too annoying for people belonging to a given culture; each culture not only influences motivational factors, but also the kind of leaders they respond to.

Tolerant, respectful, creative, charismatic, outgoing, dynamic, optimism and originality are some traits that are thought, in occidental cultures, to describe leaders in today’s business environment. For people who are leaders it’s important to have in mind both the objectives of the company in order to lead the employees towards the company’s goals, and also understand the wants and needs of the people he works with.  

2. Do you think the power of vision has been overestimated or underestimated in giving direction to business?

I believe the power of vision has indeed been underestimated in given direction to business. In fact, products that today we consider basic didn’t exist many years ago and were possible thanks to visionary people. Having a vision is thus a gift not everyone posses and those who throughout the history have made their vision true regardless of all the inconvenient changed the world in a positive way. I believe it just takes to take a look to the incredible inventions and projects of human kind to recognize the importance of visions in the development of projects and development of business activities.

Many years ago a vision was a passion and a way of living; today it’s not more than a business issue and it has even been implemented as a concept within the organizational culture. Stating the organization’s vision allows identifying goals and clear objectives that the company aims to achieve and therefore establishes a path to be followed. Without a vision the people working for the company won’t understand what it that they are working for is, and this in fact has a lot to do with motivation.

3. How should followers react when they do not agree with their managers’ directions?

When followers do not agree with the manager’s directions there are two possible situations depending if the manager’s directions are directly linked to reaching companies objectives or not. In the case that the managers’ directions are not directly linked to the companies’ goals there is always the possibility to express one’s ideas and try to reach a consensus. In this way, employees should have a range of action to be creative in their job and develop new ways and opportunities for the company. Input from part of the employees provides companies with new ideas that maybe they hadn’t considered and therefore they can profit from feedback given by people that know the business thoroughly. If the case is the opposite, in which de managers’ directions are linked directly with the organizational goals the problem is deeper as it makes no sense for a person to work for a company whose goal’s and vision he doesn’t not support. In this case, there is not much that can be done. 

ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

1. What does the statement “all capitalism is crony capitalism” is referring to? Do you agree with this statement or not? Give an example.

To identify what the statement “all capitalism is crony capitalism” we first have to understand the word crony. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines it as “a close friend especially from long lasting”. When stating that “all capitalism is crony capitalism” the legendary Indian reformer that said so was describing the Indian capitalism as one that benefits those long lasting friends and implies favoritism; in other words, corruption. In this way, I believe this is true in modern capitalism as independent wealth is the main goal and one has on the side only those who regardless of sharing my ideas are willing to support my ways, without considering other elements such as abilities.  

An example of this is the concentration of wealth perceived in modern economies and the widening gap between rich and poor as the concentration of wealth is a result of stronger and narrower relations between the powerful institutions of society such as media, the government and corporations. Crony capitalism can be described as the kind of capitalism that is regulated by the strategic alliance of powerful institutions to dominate the market and take advantage of their shared resources to control aspects such as the publication of news when a company is involved in a conflictive situation.

2. What is a Banana Republic? Why the author is comparing India with a Banana Republic?

A Banana Republic is a country that works under cronyism. Cronyism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is “partiality to cronies especially as evidenced in the appointment of political hangers-on to office without regard to their qualifications”. In this order of ideas, a Banana Republic is corrupted, it’s a country in which power is delegated to people based on favoritism and not on people’s knowledge and abilities. Under a crony capitalist economic regime, the people that are in the powerful lane delegate power only to those friends from whom they can benefit; being on the right end of the banana.

The author compares India with a Banana Republic because of the consolidation of corporate power that has been occurring during the last 20 years in independent India with the media on the right end of the banana because of its incredible power to influence the market, to the point that the dominant media is now corporate and big businesses ranging in industries beyond their own and with incredible margins of profit.  

3. Why is it problematic that in the business world “The Media” becomes a corporation?

The problem with media becoming a corporation is that the objectivity of the reports and their credibility is lost as they control how the news is told.  In this way, the honesty of journalist is almost lost as they can be influenced on how to tell the story and journalist who are honest find it hard to work in the complex media- corporate business field. The quality of the job of the media stumbles as sources are not taken care of and ethical standards let a lot to wish for. The interests of the media shifts from a veridical source of information to monetary benefits and growth and in this way the liberty of press is questioned as the media becomes a source of corporate control.

4. In this situation, what behaviors are considered unethical for corporations, journalist and the state?

What is considered unethical for corporations, journalists and the state is to merge strategically in order to take advantage of each other’s power and influence in the market. While doing this, they jeopardize the credibility of the media and the liberty of press. By merging, corporations have the access to control what is published about them in the media and have influence in the political arena, leading to corruption. Corporations are not supposed to use unethical competition techniques in the market like controlling the media, journalists are supposed to be honest and tell the stories as they are and not let themselves be corrupted by power, and the state is supposed to be the guardian and its agents may not use their political influence and power to benefit from any business opportunity regardless of its effects on society.

5. What can The Media, Corporations and the States do in order to behave ethically and in the benefit of the people and not their own interest? Give at least 5 good ideas.

      - Corporations should develop a strong Public Relations department to deal with any eventuality that may arise in a legal, structured and ethical way.

<!   - The state should prohibit media-corporate mergers and reinforce the controls on unfair competition.

 

<!   - Implement legal control on state agents so that they won’t benefit from business opportunities because of their political power and influence.

<!   - The media is to remain independent in order to assure transparency, honesty and veridical information.

<!    - The media should implement rigorous controls to guarantee trustworthy sources and transparency of the information, as well as establish severe sanctions (firing) to those journalists who, as the document says, choose to become stenographers.

THE CORPORATION

Source: The Corporation. (2005, May 10). Retrieved February 24, 2011, from Film Forum: http://www.filmforum.org/films/corporation.html

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

It’s not an easy task to make sure that corporations are held accountable for the harm they cause in a society or in a given environment. This is especially evident in poor countries where the government is absent and people, and even the government itself welcome multinational corporations as if they were the means to end the suffering. MNCs take advantage of that situation and can even challenge the sovereignty of a given country. In exchange of very basic needs (food and shelter) a MNC can have at its disposition a very strong labor force. But who can stop them if the government itself is absent and being threatened? CSR, ethical behavior and international law should be able to do the job, but ethical behavior has been lost to ambition and international law has proved itself inefficient. CSR should be enforced, but in the case of multinational companies harming other nations the last resource is for them to be held accountable ethically and legally by their HOME government via control of CSR. In this way, the industrialized nations from where most of the MNC’s come from, must stand up to the responsibility of watching the steps their companies take internationally.

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

Individuals working in a corporation that harms societies and the environment should bear with the responsibility of the effects of corporate decisions. Corporations are legal entities and even if they are legal persons, they don’t think and therefore don’t have the ability to make decisions. It’s peoples’ decisions which set the path for corporate activity and they should be held accountable for the effects that those decisions have at every level. CEOs are there to give impressive reports on profits and benefit from their status, profits that result from their decision making, so in this same way, negative aspects should also be awarded to those so called wise decision makers. A strategy to determine the degree to which decision makers are to held accountable is to determine levels or corporate violations and according to the level sanctions will be set upon the company in monetary forms or upon the decision makers.

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

The main benefit of the corporate form is that they are legally perceived as a person and in this way a corporation has is now entitled to have private property and make decisions; they are also responsible for their decisions and actions. In this way, the company becomes a person that interacts with customers in the market, but always with the sole objective of their own personal growth, which implies that might allow companies to become more strong and competitive.

Alternative models would be those that create a legal personality for the company different from its members and allows the company to act as a whole in the competitive market. The difference is mainly in the size, as the corporate form is the biggest of the existing models and others that imply limited responsibility like the LLC imply a smaller company size and thus less power in the market and business environment.

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?

AVON is a multinational corporation with operations in Colombia. It’s penetration in the market has been significant due to the quality of its products, the brand recognition, and because of their effective marketing strategies and distribution channels. AVON has been recognized in the market because of its important work in social matters as they have given women around the country an option to work and be independent by selling AVON products. Additionaly, Avon and Prebel (Colombian company) have worked close in the manufacturing of beauty products. However, the company is ruled under the Colombian regulation, for which they have adapted their activities to the country’s political and economical environment even if the business model resembles the one that operates under the AVON brand worldwide.

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?

Regarding public services I believe economic efficiency is important, but should not prevail over common welfare. Public services are supposed to reach the whole society because they constitute basic needs such as water and electricity. In this way, the primary goal of such companies should be to reach everyone. Nonetheless, economic efficiency in order to cut costs and be able to provide those basic services at lower prices is very important as it guarantees that everyone will be able to pay for such services and therefore have access to the service. Privatization, in order to reach economic efficiency, is a valid argument, but in the case of public services special follow-up should be performed in order to guarantee that the company’s efforts are going to still be focused on the common welfare over profit.  

Other criteria to determine who should own or operate companies that provide public services is the level to commitment to society, accomplishment of social goal, satisfaction of community needs, level of CSR and quality of the service provided. 

MOTIVATION

MOTIVATION: comes from the Latin word movere which means to move. Over the years, many theories have surged to try to explain what encourages people to move and much effort has been destined to the motivation of employees within organization given that motivation and performance are deeply related. International employee motivational theories can be divided in two groups:

  - CONTENT THEORIES: focus on specific elements that motivate the employees and that deal with their need and wants.

      The most influent theory is MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS which classifies people’s need in Physiological-Security and safety-Social -Self esteem-Self actualization. When an inferior rank need is satisfied the next level need becomes dominant and it becomes the most important motivational factor.

Source: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2011, from Abraham Maslow: http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs.asp

      Alderferer developed de ERG THEORY, which in opposition to Maslow’s hierarchy stated that the classification wasn’t progressive and that all the needs had to be accomplished at the same time.

<!   FREDERICK HERZBERG’S TWO FACTORS THEORY: The theory considers that motivation and the increase of work performance can only be obtained through the action of the motivational factors, while the contextual factors only represent necessary conditions of the workplace. 

<!   THEORY X AND THEORY Y (DOUGLAS McGREGOR): Separates employees in two categories. Theory X: employees that must be forced and penalized in order to receive the expected performance. Theory Y: perceive effort at work at something natural and don’t have to be pushed because obtains motivation by the content of his work. 

Source: Las 8 teorías más importantes sobre la motivación . (2009, July 6). Retrieved February 24, 2011, from Pensamiento Imaginactivo: http://manuelgross.bligoo.com/content/view/554740/Las-8-teorias-mas-importantes-sobre-la-motivacion.html

   - PROCESS THEORIES: focus on the psychological forces that affect motivation. These are more useful to managers because they offer more realistic principles on motivation techniques.

<!   THE EXPECTANCY THEORY: motivation is only possible when there is a clear relation btw the work performance and its results, and between the results and an unsatisfied need.

<!   THE GOAL SETTING THEORY (LOTHAM and LOCKE): motivation and performance is higher when employees participate in goal setting and when there are specific objectives that even if difficult are accepted and receive feedback.

<!   THE EQUITY THEORY: refers to people’s perception on the way they are treated in comparison with others.

<!   THORY OF GROUP PERSONALITY AND GROUP NEEDS: ADAIR developed the idea that working groups resemble individuals in that even if they are unique, they also have common needs. He identified three areas of needs that interact and influence one another: Task, team and individual.

<!   Adair also developed THE FIFTY –FIFTY RULE which implies that an important part of motivation lays within a person, but that there is also a substantial that they can’t control.

     Ed Muzio, president and CEO of Group Harmonics explains six drivers of motivation within organizations and makes emphasis on the importance of motivation in improving communication and trust between employees. The reason I include this in my blog is that in my opinion motivation is everything but a well-defined managerial area given that it allows as much diversity as there can be. Even of Ed Muzio is not a recognized theorist, the six factors he mentions (trust, results, power, assistance, form, structure) gives a clear vision of how motivation may work.

Source: Six Hidden Factors of Motivation. (2010, August 8). Retrieved March 2, 2011, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ_VuA_noYk

 DISCUSSION: What is the role of culture in all this motivation theories?

As it was said before, throughout the years many theories have surged to try to explain how employees found themselves motivated and have a better performance within organizations, but globalization is posing bigger challenges to managers around the world in the task of motivating employees given that most of the well known theories fail to adapt themselves to a multicultural environment in today’s international business scenario. This assumption takes into account that no motivation strategy works for all individuals, not even those belonging to the same culture. In this way, managers are finding harder to motivate groups of employees from different backgrounds, this meaning that they belong to different cultures, have a different history, and come from different economic and political systems in their home country. In this context, cross-cultural management appears as an alternative to adapt traditional theories to nowadays cross-cultural business scenario.

When I think about motivation Nelson Mandela and Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus jump into my head. For those who haven’t seen it, it is about a South African man who spent many years in jail and afterwards became president of his racially and economically divided country, called his people to unity and succeeded. Watch the official trailer to see how he fulfilled this epic task. 

Source: Invictus Official Trailer HD. (2010, July 7). Retrieved March 2, 2011, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gfROs1ZtsA

NATIONAL & ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

It is important to make a distinction between cultural identity and national identity. Cultural identity refers to the relationship between a given geographical area and the cultural expressions associated with it; it provides bases for differentiation. On the other hand national identity is composed by cultural components that are intentionally established and maintained by state institutions.

National culture involves the systems of values that characterize a culture and that allows to distinguish members different groups. Corporate culture can be seen as the national culture within organizations given that it refers to the systems of values and rules that people that work in a given organization adopt while working there. The elements that constitute corporate culture shape employee’s behavior to what is expected in the organization.  Corporate culture establishes a guide for expected behavior within the organization and in difficult situations; it provides employees with a sense of identity and establishes a set of organizational values that often begin with the founder of the company. This knowledge about an organization is passed down through generations of hires.

Corporate culture takes different aspects (symbols, slogan, and ceremonies) and includes corporate symbols that can be visible or tangible and felt experiences. To analyze the corporate culture of an organization one has to pay attention to elements such as organizational structure, communication, rewards and promotion, dress code and relationships.

The following image summarizes the main characteristics of organizational culture:

Source: Organizational Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2011, from New Horizons: http://www.nhorizons.ca/en-change-culture-change.asp

DISCUSSION: How can national culture influence corporate culture?

Corporate culture can definitely be influenced by national culture because the later is a much broader concept that the first one and therefore corporate culture is implied in the national culture. In this order of ideas, as national culture represents the values that characterize a given society and their members, the companies that work in an environment where a given national culture prevails will be part of that group and share the same general set of values.

Even if a multinational company establishes in a host country, they will have to hire local employees and this will impregnate the organizational culture with the values of the local community. National culture can be perceived then as one of those elements that pull companies towards localization instead of globalization, because no matter where they go adapting to the local culture and its national values can make the difference between failure and success. As national culture implies all the aspects that differentiate a group of people from another, it is nearly impossible for an organization to work outside of those boundaries. 

…SOME BLOGS I LIKE

As a beginner in the blogging world I adventured myself into the BOB’s website searching for an answer to my question: what is it with blogs that became so famous all of a sudden? After a few minutes of glaring at some pages I found the answer: DIVERSITY. DIVERSITY implies that there is a blog that suits the interests of every person and indeed I found a couple that called my attention.

<!   1. BEAUTIFUL PLACES: this blog is the perfect tourist guide for travelers in Europe. The guy that blogs presents various country destinations such as Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Monaco, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland, and for each of them he includes a series of places than one ought to visit when visiting one, some or all of these countries. Additionaly, each beautiful place includes pictures and a short description and/or history behind it, which gives tourists the perfect background information before adventuring in the European continent. Nonetheless, this blog is also available for those of us who are not planning to travel to Europe, but that simply enjoy getting to know a little bit more about the cities and cultural sites that makes the world itself a very beautiful place.

What I like the most about this blog are its pictures, which complemented by a short description can transport one’s mind to the places like the Medieval Castle De Haar in Utretch, Netherlands.

Link: http://www.seebeautifulplaces.com/

 

Source: De Haar Castle. (27 de August de 2010). Recuperado el 24 de February de 2011, de Beautiful Places: http://www.seebeautifulplaces.com/2010/08/de-haar-castle.html

<!   2. COLOURING A CORNER: the blogger’s name is Alison Bourke and she is a media professional based in London. For one year now she has been blogging about stories, projects and ideas that she encounters in the streets of London and that and that leave a mark somewhere or in someone. Art projects, people, street ideas, internet, photography, London culture, environment and community are topics that arise in this blog and that are kind of a social approach to everyday life in London. I found in this blog a social conscience and a profound appreciation towards society. Many times we do not realize that there are people who work in small projects and have ideas that might not change the world as it is, but that that send small messages that build on and on towards a better society. About this blog I especially like its name, which it’s sort of a metaphor to those small changing ideas or distinctive projects that take place every days and in every community. I can even use it to pose a question to you all: How have you colored a corner in your own community?

Link: http://colouringacorner.tumblr.com/

<!   3. NEO QUIZ SPOT: this blog belongs to an organization from India that uploads quizzes based on MBA preparing students with the intention of making learning easier. Personally, I found the quizzes so difficult that it was kind of frustrating and I don’t really see how that will make my learning process easier. However, as diversity rocks in the blogging world, there are quizzes on any topic you can possibly imagine so I’ll keep looking and hopefully I’ll find something that will make me feel smart again. Despite my negative experience with this blog I think it’s very interesting because of the previously mentioned diversity and because learning is a never stopping process. I wish you better luck than I had.

Link: http://neoquizspot.blogspot.com/search/label/School%20Quiz