RELIGION AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Source: 6 Responses to Religious Diversity. (2009, October 5). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Common Sense Atheism: http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=3245

WORKSHOP

1.       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?

Religion guides behavior of people, and therefore it can be used at every level of society, including organizations, to build positive relationship within it. The real complication arises when dealing with a multicultural environment, in which different cultures and religions have to find place as a common unit in order to work properly. Under these conditions, religious differences can pose a major challenge to the way in which an organization works. Therefore the better way to create an ethical relationship between religion and business is to promote tolerance and understanding of the different religions, in a way that different religions and a common business goal find an ethical balance that allows the organization to work properly.   

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

Absolutely not. Religion is implies different behavior regarding for example economic issues and in this way we can state that religion plays a very important role in determining the diversity of cultures including the nature of the needs of people and the way the achieve them. In a world without religion where everyone would be trying to get immediate satisfaction of their individual needs, meaning that all cultures would be individualist as they measure success in terms of their job and wealth and they are always aiming for a higher salary and position in the organizational hierarchy as a reward for their performance. The world would be selfish and the diversity at a cultural and business level wouldn’t exist as it does today providing a world balance; diversity is important because it allows learning from others.

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

Another positive aspect of the networks of trust and familiarity created by religion is that it facilitates cooperation as religion provides the bases for ethical behavior. Therefore governments and organizations can trust others whose religious bases are strong, which means that they are ethical and are appropriate partners for business relations.

4.       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?

I believe that stereotypes based on religion have indeed been influenced by economical or political interests because religious differences have posed difficulties and limitations to governmental and business relationships given that each religion and culture has different perceptions regarding economic and political relations. From this impeded relationships surge stereotypes that spread thanks to the media.

An example of this is that eastern cultures and religions have been more reluctant to the western capitalism leaded by the USA, by standing up to their beliefs and defending their way of carrying relationships with other cultures at the social, political and economic level. One may say that the economic and political interests of the USA haven’t been fully achieved because of the opposition of other cultures and religions, and the American opinions and judgments regarding those religions based on political and economic matters have spread widely thanks to the media.

VIRTUAL TEAMS

VIRTUAL TEAMS are a group of people that work together to reach an objective and whose mean for communicating is mainly electronically given that they are either in different countries or organizations. They use information and communication technologies, but can have occasional face to face meetings.

They have become necessary nowadays because of the emergence of markets in different geographic locations, the wide projects or initiatives of organizations, and the nature of the new organizations that can be in the form of alliances, mergers, and acquisitions with different organizations, some of which may be in other countries. For this reason, there is a desire for telecommunicating by governments, organizations and people, in a way that they are able to share and be part of a common community.

Some elements that support the nature of the new organizations are:

Some challenges for virtual teams are face to face communication, the lack of community among participants, the lack of immediate managerial oversight, the need for leadership skills, conflict resolution strategies and responsibility skills. The lack of community leads to mistrust and this poses a great difficulty for virtual communication. This is why intercultural virtual teams must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound. As well, virtual teams present pull and push factors such as the following that make promote and facilitate their applicability in today’s global business environment in spite of the complications that may arise.

During the meetings efficient monitoring and controlling strategies are important, there must be clear goals, and focusing on simplicity and accurate communication is an efficient strategy. As well, two important elements are to build trust and to take into account different time zones. A written planning tool specifying the audience, purpose, deadlines, content, evaluation and resources can be of great use in order to have control over the process and guarantee better virtual team outcomes regarding the stated goal.

To further understand VIRTUAL TEAMS watch the following video, this explains Virtual Teams, the reason of their appearance and application.

Source: Virtual Team. (2008, April 25). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1NyIBiYuFQ

COMMUNICATION

Source: Communiation. (2008, September 17). Retrieved May 25, 2011, from Comunicación Cultural para Artistas: http://seminariocomunicacioncultural.blogspot.com/

COMMUNICATION can be defined in many ways. - Link to exchange messages

- Verbal or non verbal expressions

- Method to express an idea; implies that someone is expected to capture the idea

- Social process to relate with others 

It has been subject to many gradual changes in recent times due to new trends imposed by globalization. Example of this are the emoticons, which appeared to provide expressions to virtual communication, they were born from the need of including expressions to written communication through the internet and technological devices.

The use of metaphors has proven to be an effective method for improving communication as shown in the article IF InterContinental WERE A SOUND…WHAT WOULD IT BE? By: Michael Spencer - Managing director of Sound Strategies Ltd. London, UK., where the use of metaphors was effective to transmit an idea regarding the corporate sound idea that Sound Strategies Ltd. wanted to propose to InterContinental. Metaphors make communication more creative, it implies more attention and even relating emotions. This type of communication goes beyond words to a more analytical and comprehensive process.

Also, reflexive listening is effective because it makes the other one feel comfortable and understood. Verbal response is done in four stages:

1.       Affirming contact

2.       Paraphrasing the expressed – summary

3.       Clarifying implicit thoughts and feeling

4.       Reflecting core feelings not fully expressed – hearing themselves

Regarding INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION, the encoding and decoding has to be made in the same system in order for the message to be decoded by the receiver. The source and the receiver share the same channel of communication, but have different fields of experience. Those differences in the fields of experiences between the source and the receiver constitute the barriers that affect communication. Barriers to communication are the following:

COMMUNICATION is the most important skill when dealing with intercultural communication. Cultural awareness, flexibility and patience are other important skills that should be taken into account to manage intercultural communication effectively.

DISCUSSION: New communication methods are taking over from more traditional approaches, resulting in a reduction in face-to-face meetings. How can you improve this situation?

As it was previously mentioned, new communication methods have appeared due to globalization and advances in technology that allow overcoming physical barriers such as time and distance. In the business environment this evolution of communication means have facilitated business making in different parts of the world, with the counter back that it means as well the reduction of face-to-face meetings. This issue is very relevant when evaluating the effectiveness of this type of communication channels given that dealing with intercultural communication becomes even trickier when all the senses are not involved in the communication as it goes down to writing/reading and speaking/hearing. In this way, other elements of the communication are lost such as the physical behavior of the people involved in the conversation which reflect much of the person’s emotions.

To improve this situation elements such as the previously mentioned emoticons appear in order to add an emotional background to the written conversations. Additionally, emoticons add information regarding physical expressions that can very much help decipher if communication is being effective or not. One can identify the other person’s mood and response to the conversation and therefore have clearer indices of how to manage it from there on.

In this context the power of words become important as languages and its extensive vocabulary provide elements that allow people to express their selves fully. For example poets are able to transmit in words the most complex and interesting feelings and in this way words can become a very successful communication strategy when one wants to express an idea. The use of metaphors to illustrate ideas and transmit messages are a creative means for improving communication as it is creative and implies deeper thought and analysis. This solution to the presented situation has a major setback imposed by the difficulty of having a thorough understanding of a common universal language that in the current business world is English.

Teleconferences have surged as a more comprehensive answer to this reduction in face-to-face meeting caused by the internet’s boom worldwide. In teleconferences people set a time to connect through the net in a visual contact provided by webcams. In this context, emoticons are no longer necessary as one is able to see the other’s facial expressions, reactions, and behavior at real time. This is why I believe that the most suitable way to improve the situation caused by the reduction of face-to-face meetings is developing communications means that even if they don’t occur in the same physical space, allow to integrate at the highest possible the eye contact with the writing/reading and speaking/hearing modes very common today. 

MIGRANT WORKERS AND EXPATRIATES

Source: Global Responses to Eco-Migration and Environmental Disasters. (2009, February 23). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from Equator Initiative: http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=423%3Aecomigration&catid=110%3A09events&Itemid=546&lang=en

MIGRATION has been a constant in human kind. Due to the difference in the development of northern economies in the west and those of developing countries, huge disparities in wages and opportunities have appeared as well as new kinds of migration flows that have become an important topic on the international agenda.

Due to globalization capital and goods can move freely, but labor can’t. In recent years political resistance to migration has stifled this process and it will continue this way given that as long as people don’t have the same opportunities, there will be migration no matter what. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration.

The long term effects of immigration can be: a) OPENNESS TO SETTLEMENT which includes granting citizenship, gradual acceptance of cultural differences, formation of ethnic communities and creation of a multicultural society; or b) DENIAL TO SETTLENT that means the refusal of citizenship, rejection of cultural diversity and marginalization of immigrants and their descendants.

In recent years environmental changes worldwide have created a new concept regarding migration, this is ENVIRONMENTAL MIGRANTS, also known as climate or environmental refugees. This is due mainly to global warming because it produces changes that make that people can no longer harvest their lands. They leave their homes temporally or permanently and within their own territory or abroad, due to both gradual environmental change and extreme environmental events.

Women tend to be much more vulnerable in relation to male migrants, because due to discrimination, sexual exploitation and other kinds of gender based violence women that are forced to flee their countries of origin often do so for different reasons from male refugees.

Migration has effects for the implied countries as a whole:

EXPATRIATES

Expatriates are those people who are sent abroad by companies to reach a certain objective such as opening a new market. Cultural crash is an important issue, for which companies don’t necessarily choose its most prepared employees, but the most receptive and able to confront a new culture. Difficulties for companies regarding expatriate assignments include that the income resulting from the assignment may seem less than the cost of having an expatriate as it is hard to put them in a balance. For the expatriate, it includes having to give up many things in the home country and facing uncertainty when coming back. Expatriate assignments differ from overseas experiences as the later pursue their own goals and assume their own expenses.

DISCUSSION: How can Brain Drain be stopped and change into something beneficial for developing countries?

Brain drain, as described previously is the negative effect suffered by the home country as it loses highly trained and skilled manpower through migration. It’s a negative and cyclical process that worsens the conditions of the developing countries which are the ones that suffer the most from this phenomenon. The cyclical process can be explained through the following diagram:

As shown, the poor living condition and the absence of opportunities for the development of its people causes its skilled and trained manpower to leave the country in order to look for alternative ways of living. At the same time, the brain drain leaves the country in a worse position given that its skilled manpower are the ones that can help developing strategies for the growth of the country. Without these people the country’s chance of generating knowledge for its development decreases, which at the same time worsens the living conditions even more.

In this way, it’s beneficial for countries to prevent and stop BRAIN DRAIN as the skilled people are the ones that constitute opportunities for the country to develop growth and competition strategies in order for it to offer better living conditions to its people. This means that the cyclical process can be reverted as shown in the following diagram:

The sole solution for preventing and stopping BRAIN DRAIN is to provide better living conditions and opportunities for its highly trained and skilled manpower. This can be done in the following ways:

-          Guarantee quality education for their children

-          Guarantee working opportunities

-          Political stability

-          Security

-          Investment in infrastructure

If these basic aspects of life are not guaranteed to the people that can work in benefit of the country there’s no way those people will stay in a country when they acknowledge that other countries can offer greater opportunities for them given their capabilities.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING & MANAGING CHANGE

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

In the past, there were three elements necessary for a business to exist and these were:

1.       Capital

2.       Land

3.       People

Nowadays, the first two elements can be eliminated given that land is not necessary as one has access to technology and capital can be significantly reduced when starting up a business. People, with their knowledge, constitute then the most important asset within enterprises.

In this way, ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING refers to how a group can gain knowledge, to how companies can improve, reduce costs and develop new techniques. LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS are then those that reinvent themselves as a whole by adapting to the environment and being able to sell new ideas and products. In relation to this topic, Peter Senge in his book The Fifth Discipline mentions that companies need to be creative, innovative and be able to implement ideas in an efficient way in order to gain profits. All in all, ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING allow to do things better.

To learn more about Organizational Learning watch the following video which is a conference by Peter Senge, an organizational learning expert.

Source: Peter Senge – Organizational Learning Expert. (2010, August 25). Retrieved May 15, 2011, from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLFCrv7-XlI&feature=related

MANAGING CHANGE

Globalization and the homogenization of cultures have been the source to many changes in today’s world and organizations find no escape in facing them. Even if change has been a constant in the story of human kind, the characteristic of change in recent times is its increased speed. MANAGING CHANGE refers to how organizations adapt and face the fast speed changing global business environment. The competitive environment (see diagram of Porter’s Five Forces), and the whole system around an organizations (its customers, owners, etc) is changing, as well elements like technology and the organization itself. MANAGING CHANGE implies how the organization and its inner structure respond to modifications in the environment due to globalization.

However, the RESISTANCE TO CHANGE phenomenon poses a serious problem to management. It results from the fear to change and management has to help the organization as a whole to go beyond resistance. Change and conflict go together because conflict arises when change is not managed and handled properly. 

DISCUSSION: What would be the relationship between cross cultural environments and organizational learning strategies?

Cross cultural environments are those composed of people belonging to different cultural backgrounds. In other words, it’s an environment that gathers the knowledge of different countries and cultures. The relationship that can be established between cross cultural environments and organizational learning strategies is that the later can benefit from the variety of knowledge provided by cross cultural environments, which are rich from various points if one considers that no individual culture has been entirely successful, and mixing different cultures and getting out and profiting from the best of each one can be a very good strategy to face today’s globalized world. The interaction between cultures is creating a completely different world dynamic that can only be understood and profited from a cross-cultural context. Furthermore, if the world as a whole is developing and growing (some regions more than others) under these new dynamics, then companies can also profit from it as cross-cultural environments trigger the development of more effective and comprehensive learning strategies within enterprises.

To explain this, I believe that organizational learning strategies can be dramatically improved if organizations look towards other fronts in search of new techniques that allow them to gain knowledge, improve and reduce costs, all in all to do things better. Looking at the ones that have achieved greater things and replicating things that are useful for a specific organization is always a good idea to set the pace for greater development. The knowledge acquired by other countries are represented by its people in a cross cultural environment and with their input companies can learn from the positive aspects of each culture and replicate them, at the same time as learn from the ones that have had negative impacts.

All in all, in cross-cultural environment knowledge of different parts of the world are present, providing ideas, opinions, points of view and feedback that differ in contents, but that as a whole are a richer source of information regarding how the organization can do things better. In this way organizations become more receptive and open to global trends as their learning strategies grow in size and scope.