International Perspective in Organisation: Global Justice and International Business - Coursework Example

International Perspective in Organization Global Justice and International Business This section of this paper attempts to give in-depth analysis on the role of organizations and corporations in promoting global justice and human rights. Various scholars have various arguments on how corporations are regarded as global agents of justice. International business has been greatly concerned with the responsibility of alleviating poverty and making life better for the humankind. They have been able to accomplish this through focusing their attention on the base of pyramid strategies or rather business strategies which are intended to reduce poverty and increase profitability. Global justice has been regarded as an issue that has attracted concern among global justice scholars. One of the key concerns about this issue is the fair distribution of global resources and the role of global institutional order in light of global poverty. Corporations should be seen as agents of global justice and (David Held, 2002).A number of questions can be asked about this topic, have organization been successful in the promotion of global justice? What efforts are put by corporations to promote global justice? Some scholars regard corporations as secondary agents of justice in powerful states and can also act as the primary agents for states that are weak or that have failed. However, other scholars present different arguments about the issue of global justice with respect with corporations. Corporations and their business enterprises can bring benefits or can harm the BoP in different direct and indirect ways. For example, corporations bring direct and positive effects on the economies on nations that are developing by the transfer of both managerial and technical skills and knowledge ( Blake 2012). The Rawlsian theory also presents a different perspective on the role of corporations in the promotion of global justice called the dualism theory. This theory advocates for a social cooperation in which major institutions emerge into one system and the equality in the assignment of fundamental rights and duties. Firms can also contribute positively through the use of technology and also advancement of business infrastructure(Rugman and Doh 2008).Firms and corporations can also cause negative impacts on the BoP,for example this can happen directly when the members of the BoP are harmed by the corporation’s products or labour conditions.Indrect harm can occur when the operations and processes of a corporation cause harmful effects on the external environment such as air pollution, water table drainage or the negatively affect BoP populations(Arnold and Williams 2012). Another issue that affects corporations in the promotion of global justice is moral legitimacy in the business world. A number of scholars have been attracted by the question of institutional legitimacy. According to Palazzo and Schere argue that moral legitimacy cannot be dependent on universal moral or legal norms as there exist no widespread agreement on their legitimacy. According to various scholars the establishment of a moral legitimacy faces a number of challenges such as the conflicting perspectives that have been reflected in the corporate governance, difficulty in policy determination based unequal roles of corporate operations and services, incompatible multiple frameworks under which companies operate and the different paces of innovations with the dynamics of business competition in the global market place. Rawl presents an influential conception of justice which is an essential alternative for those who have a belief that political conception of CSR is viable. A number of arguments from different scholars have challenged Rawl’s theoretical framework thinking that it cannot provide an account that is satisfactory of the corporation’s obligations in regard with global justice. In regard with the CSR political conceptions, an ethical conception of CSR based on an appropriately modest set of duties tied to relationship with stakeholders in the corporation is defended. What is the Relationship between Global Justice and Human Rights? Global justice also involves the promotion and respect for human rights. Moral and political philosophers have defended a number of moral cosmopolitan perspectives to support this. The main argument presented in this issue is described within the literature of business ethics and human rights. According to Donald-son (1991) and Cragg (2002), argue that the main reason that corporations are allowed to exist is to enable to come together to productively and positively contribute to humanity. Corporations across the world have been granted the rights such as freedom and property in most countries. Therefore, the corporate rights holders have a responsibility to respect the rights of others (Amold, 2010). (Wettstein 2009) studies show that corporations have a great responsibility and obligation to contribute positively to human development and in consistence with their resources and expertise.Wettstein states that corporations are “quasi-governmental” institutions and should be able to meet the human obligations of a state. This is a much extensive view of the corporate human rights obligations that has been defended over a long time by scholars of business ethics. Business Downsizing, change management and still managing to come out With the growth of businesses that comes from emerging markets, many firms and corporations have been faced with the reality of not just downsizing but actually bringing to closure of manufacturing operations and reopening them somewhere else, where there are cheaper costs and to be still at the competitive edge. Downsizing can be a painful experience especially when it is the only remaining strategic option to save a business. A number of managers talk about change management though there are very few of them who devote much time to downsizing instead they prefer to talk about business re-engineering and restructuring (O’Neill 2001). The research to establish the right way of downsizing started almost a decade ago. An example of an organization that underwent through such situation is the motor industry in Europe. The industry reconsidered their manufacturing capacity for large cars which was dictated by demand thus led to its closure. The outline for the closure of the industry was that 1,000 employees were to be transferred to another GM van manufacturing industry that as next to the car plant. The remaining workforce as to be at the site to continue building cars till the final time of closing. Previous research findings on the consequences of downsizing have found that the performance of an organization deteriorated following the implementation of downsizing. According to Cascio (1993),the potential consequences of downsizing include the deteriorating of operational performance due to the following reasons There is lack of clear programmes and policies such as retraining of employees and redeployment of jobs The specialists who have left may be replaced by operating managers who need to develop new skills. Those who survive are overworked since they are left to manage more jobs and people and working for more hours There is prioritization of short-term decision making over the long-term decision making After a downsizing the employees who survive become narrow-minded, self-absorbed and consequently there is decrease in productivity, morale drops and there is a lot of distrust on the management by the survivors The process of downsizing can be addressed by the model of closure management that consist of five key stages Stage 1-Decision Making This stage involves decision making by the core management and the formulation of a communication strategy to protect the brand and the reputation of the corporation to allow business to continue running throughout the process of change. Stage 2-Managing communication This stage involves closure announcement planning process and this must be definite in terms of how information about the closure will be passed to the key stakeholders and the time the information should be relaeased.The closure also includes its vision or aim which could portray a positive image of the corporation. Clear communications should also be made to everyone so that they understand how the management and the closure process is being carried out ( Hofstede & Geert 1993)". Stage 3-Managing Closure This stage first involves the development of a production output plan that will define employment levels during run-down of operations. It also involves the recruitment of experts or professionals who are experienced with the knowledge of management of factory closure. Production capacities plan is also developed at this stage for the running down of operations from the time of closure announcement and the final closure. Stage 4-the issues that are of major concern in this stage are counselling of employees, training new managers to assume new responsibilities and training those that have remained in the organization Stage 5 This stage include various closure management tasks such development of multi-functional leadership team, agreement with the union and workforce to have the employee flexibility increased and lastly the active role of the employees and trade unions in the management of the closure from day to day. Cultural constrains in management theories The idea Management has had different global perspectives from different countries across the world. Theories about management have been greatly influenced by cultural factors. For example in countries with successful modern economies such as German, Holland, China management has been culturally viewed in different ways. The developing parts of the world such as South-east Asia and Africa Management take another perspective that is quite different from the other areas. For example in German Managers are not considered to have much importance in the organizations. They are not considered as hereoes.High skilled and responsible workers in German do not necessarily require a manager in order to perform in their jobs. The American type of management does not apply in German. Studies have shown that Germans lack a very strong management concept. The German’s economy has been seen to performing well as compared to that of USA which means that the management concept could have been a liability rather than asset. In the case of the Japanese culture, peer groups largely control the workers rather than managers. The Japanese management secrets of management are based on a social context with a leadership theory that stands for performance and maintenance “PM”.In France management seems to take a career perspective together with social classes. Management is thought in terms of cadres and noncadres.One could become a cadre by attending the proper schools and later could be accorded with privileges of a higher social class In the case of Holland the principle of management is based on exchanging views in an open way that shows balancing of interests. In terms of theories of management, both leadership and motivation appear to be different from what they seem to be in the US. Leadership in Holland is based on the values of modesty as opposed to assertiveness in the US. Overseas Chinese on the other hand lack a modern system of management. Business enterprises are owned by individuals thus there is no clear distinction between ownership and management. The Chinese society has no formal laws but consist of only a formal network of powerful people who are guided by general principles of Confucian virtue. Management in poor countries has had the least impact in terms of development and poverty reduction. The Latin America, South-East Asia and Africa are some of the parts in the world that have trailed behind in terms development. The industrialized western nations and the World Bank have made efforts to help the ex-Eastern bloc to develop this has proved unsuccessful due to the technocratic neglect and cultural factors Cross cultural lessons in leadership from Project Globe Leadership and Management in the United States portray quite distinct characteristics from those from other parts of the world. The high rate of globalization has a created has necessitated managers and leaders to think across borders and improvise new management ways that cater for the culture diversification in the world. Leaders and Managers in multinational organizations should be conscious of the cultural diversities that exist across the world and strategize the best way on how handle this challenge. There are different perceptions about American leadership and management when compared with other countries such as Brazil, France, Egypt and China. For example, in Brazil managers are expected not to be individualistic, independent and autonomous in their decision making process, they should engage the group in doing so.An American manager would also seek to ensure that his/her decision is not seen as individualistic but that which accommodates the opinions of the group. In Brazil the leader are treated with much respect with boundaries between the managers and the surbodinates.They prefer a formal relationship between the leader and the subjects. On the other hand American managers view formality as an obstacle to open debate thus does not regard status class factors. In France, the concepts of visionary and charismatic leadership is not recognized .There is high power distance that exists between different organizational levels. This is in contrast with culture of management in the US. The Egyptian culture of management is characterized by the values of individualism, power distance, male domination and humane orientation. The American managers do not desire leaders who are autocratic and who make individual decisions with micromanaging behaviours. Egyptian managers are seen as unique and distinct groups. The subjects expect their leaders to be class conscious with individualism and better than the other team members. This is in contrast with Americans who do regard their leader as superhuman or extraordinary but people who have been successful. Conclusion In Summary, the challenge of globalization poses a great challenge in terms of management of corporations across the world. Since this has become extremely inevitable, there is need to have global leaders who can be up to the task to deal with both the diversity in cultures that exists in corporations. This could be important to the new millennium of human resource management in order to enhance global justice and increase productivities in multinational corporations. i Read More