Skills That Make International Business Managers Effective - Essay Example

Skills That Make International Business Managers Effective

Introduction

The work environment has dramatically transformed over the past decade as corporations have become more globalized, making their employees much diverse than they were in the past. In the current global business setting, managers probably have to manage teams, partners, suppliers, and clients who are from different nations. Due to the dealing in a multi-culturally diverse environment, the managerial skills for international enterprises enhance the competence of managers in this perspective (Johnson, Lenartowicz, and Apud, 2006, p. 525). Some of the qualities that may seem successful in the management of domestic businesses could perhaps cause a failure when applied to an international organization. Current global managers have to utilize a skill set based on his/ her understanding of the industry, sharp communication, negotiation skills outstanding multicultural understanding and diplomacy. Every international business manager needs skills to lead teams, partners, and the customers. Among other skills that these managers need include the stress management skills and giving and receiving feedback. The following section, therefore, provides a critical analysis of competencies that make international business managers effective, with a distinct focus on leadership and management, communication and negotiation and giving and receiving feedback.

Leadership and Management

Leadership refers to a practical skill that concerns the capacity of an individual to provide guidance others. Leading a diverse population in the case of an international business requires the manager to behave in some way (Dimmock and Walker, 2000, p. 143). In a case study of Carlos Ghosn, a CEO of Nissan Motor Company admitted that leading the organization to the international platform made him adjust his behaviours in a certain manner, aligning them to meet the requirements of the diverse cultures. Among the leadership qualities that he installed included the inclusion of diversity and inclusion measures, increasing the accountability of managers at regional levels, increase flexibility in work arrangements and recruiting a diverse pool of candidates (Groysberg & Konnolly, 2013, p. 1). Furthermore, he facilitated leadership education to the regional managers of the company, sponsored employee mentoring programs and led the Nissan Motor Company with an example so that the other employees could follow the same as he acted as their role model.

Leadership Competencies

Looking At the Bigger Picture

According to Hodgetts, Luthans and Doh (2006), global leaders need some specific skills. Among them include the skills to manage competitiveness through looking at the bigger picture. A cross-cultural leader has to think globally while leading locally. International leaders need not to microprint the global market while satisfying what already exists.

Managing Complexity

Next is developing of the self-awareness for the management of diversity (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 57). In the identification of the self-strengths and weaknesses, global leaders need to conduct an assessment of their capabilities to understand their extents of reaction to situations

Managing Alignment

It refers to the skills that the international manager needs so as to link the goals of the organisation to those of the employees, which requires a shared understanding of the institutional objectives. Due to managing diversity, global leaders need to be competent in the way they plan to break the cultural borders to align employee goals to those of the corporation (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 57).

Managing Change

It refers to the approach to bring transitions to people, teams or organisations through methods that re-direct resource utilisation, business processes, allocation of budgets alongside other operational modes that shape the enterprise shape significantly (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 58). An expansion from domestic operation to an international platform requires the competency of the leader to initiate change in the institution.

Managing Teams

Team management refers to the leader’s ability to administer and coordinate groups to perform their tasks. Managing teams require the leaders to ensure the handling of first things first, delegating, motivating them, developing the team members and communicating with members regularly, alongside managing their discipline.

Managing To Learn Through Openness

Openness regarding external linkages brings learning effects, enabling international organisations to produce more innovation yields from these links (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 59). International business leaders have to be open to learning from their experiences in other large global businesses, which act as benchmarks for their improvement.

Critical View of Leadership in Managing International Businesses

There lacks a particular leadership style that is best for leading all international businesses. The leadership styles are dependent on the people they work with and the work environment (Harzing and Pinnington, 2010, p. 54). Since people have different cultures, leaders have to apply different leadership styles to suit the followers’ behaviours. Due to various traditions, behaviours of societies differ.

Communication

Communication is the act of transmitting intended meanings from one entity to another, through using of mutually understood symbols and semiotic regulations (Beamer and Varner, 2001, p. 58). International managers have a role in ensuring that there is an efficient and effective flow of information across all the organisational branches in all the nations. It requires them to have a robust understanding of the necessary communication practices in the various regions that their businesses operate, since what constitutes a communication requirement in one country may translate out to be a communication barrier in another (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 63). For example, in the US, Western Europe such as Spain, Germany, and France, managers require that employees make direct eye contact with them while communicating, as it indicates a sign of interest in the discussion. In these countries, the act shows being bold and confident. However, the opposite applies to other nations, particularly in the Middle East, where the Muslims consider it less appropriate (Matveev and Nelson, 2004, p. 253). They have religious laws that prohibit such contacts, particularly between the opposite sexes. Therefore, it provides the international manager a challenge in understanding the right communication skills to manage internationally.

Cultural Approach to Organisations

Organisations have their cultures, which they share meanings of things. Culture is the web of shared meanings, understandings, and sense making. The corporate culture is the environment surrounding a company. The learning of this culture occurs through the use of metaphors or stories that the enterprise uses in sharing information to employees (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 65). The stories are in three categories:

Corporate Stories

It refers to the information that the management needs to share with its employees. International business managers need to ensure that they deliver regular information to the people of all the cultures in a way that they all understand the meaning as intended (Smith, 2009, p. 87).

Personal Stories

They are stories that employees make about themselves with each other, which helps in defining who they are in the corporation (Smith, 2009, p. 89). International managers encourage the personal stories through recognising the diversity of the employees in different work environments.

Collegial Stories

They are the positive and negative stories that employees in an enterprise tell about each other (Smith, 2009, p. 90). International business managers understand the effects of both, fostering the use of constructive criticisms and prevention of provocative arguments.

Criticism of the Cultural Approaches to Organisations

The international manager has a role in encouraging communications in the organisation branches. However, the aspects of communication culture that despite their adverse effects, the manager has limited control over them since they form the core interaction units (Sinclair, 1993, p. 121). For instance, employees have vineyard communications, where they build interpersonal relationships with positive and negative stories. Although the manager may advise on avoidance of negative once, it would impact on the overall relationships of the employees as they would subsequently fear the consequences of the negative stories.

Giving and Receiving Feedback

Feedback refers to the process in which the effect or the output of an action returns to the source so as to create the next action (Rue, Byars, and Ibrahim, 2012). When one gives out information, the other who receives uses that information to get back to the sender. When the recipient conveys some message back to the source, the feedback chain becomes complete. International managers need to be effective in the way they receive and also give feedback to the organisational members. Different ways of giving and receiving feedbacks apply only in their various cultural contexts (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 67). For instance, in the case of Jens, a German executive, under the authority of the German corporate headquarters to improve the company’s efficiency in Shanghai. However, the results were inversely unexpected. The employees lost efficiency and effectiveness, whereas he used the same performance feedback he employed in Germany. He critiqued the Chinese employees whenever they failed to produce the results he desired. In this case, what worked well in Germany as tough, to-the-point, critical and negative feedback demoralised the employees in China, who were used to gentle feedback styles. For the Germans, praises are only worth when the accomplishments are extraordinary (Molinsky, 2013, p. 1). However in China, due to the difference in culture, employees expect recognitions even for slight achievements.

Ways of Ensuring the Proper Feedback in Cross-Cultural Contexts

Learn the Cultural Rules

Learning of the international cultures assists the managers in getting the right feedbacks concerning the people’s cultures value and appropriate ways to meet their needs (Hodgetts, Luthans, and Doh, 2006, p. 71). Therefore, international managers need to read up on the cultures and observe them in action.

Identify a Cultural Mentor

A global business manager needs a cultural mentor in every operational state (Redpath and Cuomo, 1999, p. 1). A guide that appreciates the manager’s position and the prospects of the new culture assists in crafting a robust style that enables the manager to fit globally in all the cultures, feeling authentic.

Customising Behaviours

International managers do not need to go native so as to be successful in getting and receiving feedback (Redpath and Cuomo, 1999, p. 1). Although face to face communication enables the reception of adequate feedback, it is impractical for international managers to meet every employee in every country. Therefore, they need to have a blend of ways of attaining their feedbacks.

Criticisms of Feedback Skills

At times, organisations drive their businesses in very many countries. Subsequently, the cultural differences increase with the growth of nations. Therefore, the use of learning of the people’s culture becomes less active since the international manager cannot fully understand all the cultures and adapt to them, forcing the need for delegation of the management task to the regional level. Additionally, there is no specific recommended way of receiving and giving out feedback to employees in the international field, because what some view as accepted is unacceptable to others. Therefore, it becomes difficult to implement one feedback mechanism across all branches in different countries.

In conclusion, being a successful international manager requires several skills, since the manager deals with a culturally diverse population of employees, clients, and suppliers. Among the skills that these managers need include the communication, feedback handling, and leadership skills. For the latter, the manager has to have some leadership competencies, like learning to manage at a wider global picture, managing complexities, teams, change and openness. The communication skills require the leader to put a balance between the corporate stories, personal stories and collegial stories that facilitate organisational relationships. Finally, feedback reception and giving skills imply that the leader needs to learn the cultural rules of recognising employee efforts, identify a cultural mentor to assist align his visions to that of the people and also customise his behaviour to meet those of the locals without necessarily going native and micromanaging. Therefore, the three skills are just part of the wider requirements that an international business manager needs to be successful.