International management - Essay Example

Multinationals corporations should impose their corporate culture wherever they operate”. Critically examine this ment illustrating your analysis with examples [Student Name] [Student ID] [Lecturer] [Submission Date] [University] The organizations worldwide face a number of challenges when they decide to go global. This is a common problem that they face since they do not have any prior knowledge or understanding of the new territory that they will do their business from. However what best they can do is to find out and research the strengths and weaknesses of this area and hence upon getting the much needed knowledge, base their theories and strategies in a much more effective and efficient manner. This will help one and all to better understand what the new territory, region or country offers the business and the people associated with it. The best thing is that the benefits and disadvantages are determined even before the organization goes the global way and thus it saves itself from embarrassment which it might face without having proper knowledge and adequate research within it. The ways and means that are usually taken care of whilst managing a business are aplenty and it is only up to the top management within a company that the same can be handled in a several different methods. They are the ones to decide as to what is the real manner in which the firm’s operations would be handled as well as who will head the respective departments, lead the business strategic units and act as legal and media representatives of the said business. International businesses get introduced in different nations due to a number of reasons. This could be due to their interest and potential in the growth environment of the new country which could have a good impression on the target audiences of the new country. This increases the sales potential of the organization’s products and/or services and in the end everyone is a winner. However the local organizations face a lot of problems in the whole setting since they are the ones who have a cut down on their share of spending and revenue coming from the similar set of target audiences. Furthermore, there is a race to cut through the clutter and make the organization heard amongst the different firms which are present with respect to their own respective offerings, services and products. The mergers and alliances are made with different companies and hence they are forced to come into a region where they never thought of even entering in the past. This is made more discouraging by the fact that this new company which is entering an alien market has to face challenges much like the companies which are already in the business and are facing problems on a regular basis. Therefore it would not be wrong here to state that the initial basis is wrong for these new entrants and hence they have to face pressure right from the very beginning which is a serious concern for them. Thus it is very pertinent need to have the multinational corporate culture existent within the office locations wherever they operate so that the sole possession of the multinational corporation remains throughout the distant locations, no matter where they are situated. With the introduction of a new business within a country, many new and unseen things start to take place. People have a chance to interact with this new business and earn innovative and stable yet better means of livelihood. The growth is there for each and everyone to see for themselves, be that in the field of research, jobs, better services in the respective fields (of business) and not to forget the overall well-being of the society which is in direct proportion with the smooth functioning of the business. Foreign presence brings about new and unknown delegates to the country who impart their style of working and knowledge prevalent abroad. It would not be wrong here to suggest that this change is a sign in the right direction, at least for a country, which is not so developed. However what must not be hidden in the corporate culture and ethical domains of the multinational corporation so that it can set its basis within the realms of any office location around the world. No matter how strong the opposition is within a region or how violent the rivalry is amongst the competitors, the company can only make it big if it sticks with its pre-set objectives of serving the region and its customers with all its might and not gaining profits and sums at their expense. It is very easy to get new customers and clients but indeed a very difficult suggestion to sustain with those people, for good. Growth takes place indefinitely within a company but it is up to the people who carry out this process of growing to check and see how this procedure is coming along lately and how it would turn out to be in the future, with more and new competitors at the end of the road. Another internal growth priority, which can be written at the top is to seek newer and newer markets and hence gain a vital share of profits from the very same. These profits form the backbone of any company in the shorter duration as well as in the long run and thus form the only reason why a company is investing huge sums in different nook and corners of the world by going intercontinental. Within the corporate culture and its spread discussions, one must understand that formulating organizational strategies in a manner that it boosts the corporate domains everywhere is an important basis within the multinational culture and it must be stuck on to no matter how trying the circumstances are, with respect to the changing environmental and industrial regimes in the wake of the political and economic systems in place. Global organizations need to evolve over a period of time to remain one step ahead of where they are presently and for doing the same, there is a need to do what has been the norm, however creativity is one such aspect that must be considered in the whole scheme of thing too. However they must not forget their roots and remain glued to the way the corporate outlook has been developed with the passage of time. The hierarchical systems of these organizations are something that must be understood in the proper perspectives before one move on further towards the relevant understanding criterion, which sadly has been different in differing circumstances, times and regimes. The decentralized and centralized approaches have not helped the whole discussion and there is a lot of room for improving the present day inefficiencies that have risen out of nowhere. A serious effort is needed by people who are at the top positions to give in their best and all said and done, it is the duty of these very people to bring about a change when the going has got real tough. The firms have to understand their limitations which they have and keep exploiting the huge possibilities which are knocking on their doors, on a regular basis. Moving on with the same topic, the different companies tend to go on the international map in order to seek for larger and much bigger businesses than they had when they were confined in a local region or sometimes at a national level. Globalization also thus became a way for the hotel companies to take up their growth at a rate which not only satisfied their shareholders but also avoided the possible problems that were attached with this very new happening of business world. Everyone related with business tries to make an effort at gaining possible new markets internationally but at a risk worth taking. No company would like to grow beyond means and afford losses be it for a single month, no matter. However remaining attached to the corporate vision is one significant aspect that has a lot of bearing for the organization at hand. Trying to go global and market at the international level is one risk which has to be taken with the bosses and shareholders being very calculated as there is a potential chance of falling back to the old ways the business carried out before it went global. Globalization is not that different from international marketing because both lead to newer and trendier markets aiming at attracting people who did not have the know-how about the business before. It can be a sudden bang of business or can give the same set of individuals’ sleepless nights. It is a risk but the company trying to go international has to take it once in its lifetime so that it could know about its international market position as well as the status it can achieve by going worldwide. The goal of international marketing of a particular company is basically to create important value by taking care of its brands or other items in a hard line approach whereby the business attached with it continuously prospers and grows beyond means for the better. No company can afford a business doing the opposite of it, extracting losses for all and sundry and thus pushing the business to the wall. The international marketing of the particular brand or company will then remain only a dream and the shareholders will hardly hope for a miracle to change their business. Then there are the problems which organizations face in the wake of business entities at different locations and the same are addressed with a strong sense of purpose behind the veil of corporate culture and the related undertakings of the multinationals. Problems stumbled upon by the business at one region or at a local franchise would mean that the multinational should be ready to bear losses of an unimaginable cost. More than that, the multinational will lose its self-won respect and dignity around which shareholders and owners, etc are revolving around. The big multinationals that are internationally marketed cannot compete with everyone. They have to set their own competitors in the particular field and then go about competing with each other. Negative diplomacy and marketing should in no way create upheaval and turbulence for the people to raise fingers upon. Rather the multinational company should find out and select certain businesses, which will help it in its smooth running (of business). There can be a number of factors, which can bring about globalization within a multinational company’s business and also some others, which can push it towards a state of total deadlock and in some cases isolation as well. The external factors, which affect the success of the particular business, have to be kept in mind under all conditions whereby opposing the proposals given by one can easily mean the avoidance of the same shareholder or proposed party to stay away from the business which can be a huge setback. Change has to be a constant dynamic in the international arena of management but it has to be brought about in a cordial manner, both for the shareholders, investors, owners and the like as well as the ones for whom the business is serving, i.e., its customers and clients. A multinational company with a sound corporate vision and strategy needs to keep abreast of the comparisons, which it has to do with its competitors every now and then. In fact it’s an on going continuous process, which has no certain time frames to look at. Competition in the world of today is increasing and a multinational company cannot afford to fall way back when compared with its competitors. One of the major issues that are faced by firms when they decide to go the global way is to understand the culture and language of the place they have invested their money and resources in. This is essentially different from the corporate culture which is being focused upon here. This means that the new alien land becomes a problematic equation for the people who took the decision to move to that city or region initially. Every country has its own unique set of principles and rules which need to be followed and in this case the firm which has opened up its offshore offices needs to make sure that it complies and agrees with these rules and procedures even before it decides to open these new offices. The legislation of the region or country might be so hard to understand that the organization even before entering into this new territory can simply run away. This suggests that the organizations must be ready always to keep away the problems that might arise at some point in time within the new operational territory of the already existing business. Firms have to predict what will actually happen with them in the future and this is not an easy process, in fact it is easier said than done. They must be open to a number of challenges and potential problems that can come their way every now and then and for this not to happen, they must make sure that their research according to the market dynamics and cultural representations is up to date and current. The cultural differences that arise due to the various issues including the misunderstandings of the language that is commonly spoken of is something that the organizations must take care of before they decide to venture into a new country or region. If they could back up their research with the initiatives then it would be easier for them to draft the strategy of the particular region or country and hence their operations would be carried out in a very easy and hassle free manner. However all this requires serious planning and control at all possible levels so that the activities and related processes take care of their own selves, as and when time arrives. The ethical boundaries are also something that must be discussed much before an organization decides to go overseas since the moral rights and wrongs are very significant to understand in the context of the country where the operations are going to get started in a short period of time. Universally, the ethics and morals are similar no matter whatever the changes are in terms of territories. It is a fact the world over that the principles coming under the ethics bracket are the same and the rights are never seen in the same light as the wrongs. Thus the cultural aspect is a significant factor to understand when the organizations are thinking to move towards different regions and countries. An example of a multinational organization that has been particularly successful at implementing its corporate culture worldwide is McDonald’s which has lived up to its global image, mission and vision. Its objectives and goals as well as working methodologies and strategies have not changed no matter whichever country McDonald’s operations have been launched with the passage of time. This means that the company in essence remains a US entity even though it has opened its offices in India as well as UK, Thailand and even Zimbabwe. The basic philosophy within the working domains has not changed even an iota of the organization’s most fundamental premise as taught by the multinational’s objectives and charter to make it big worldwide. A single and cohesive corporate culture is significant so that pressures in the form of bureaucracy and red tape are cast off right from the very beginning. Multinationals are having a hard time understanding the bureaucratic language which is conveyed within the different channels of a country. This suggests that the hard line policies do not bend backwards for a major corporate player which is entering into the market. The policies are either too strong to be changed or just not given the permission to be made amendable at some point in time. The problems could be endless in the whole discussion, however the significant thing is to understand what is applied where and which kind of meaning is related with the different activities and tasks. The bureaucracy of a particular nation does not allow the big multinational companies and organizations from entering within it since it fears that people would easily go for them and hence forget the public sector. The attraction that the private multinationals and indeed the whole of the private sector bring with it is something of a confusing situation. This situation is made understandable by the presence of private multinational organizations within the public sector domain. If the government with the help of its different institutions and multinational corporations does not allow the private multinationals and the conglomerates to have their say within the different matters of the country, it is very important that the whole infrastructure of the nation would be brought to a standstill and people would have negative feelings about the private sector and/or the public sector. The situation is made more alarming and distressing since the interaction between the players of the government and the private sector keeps on increasing with each passing day with red tape doing its bit at creating hurdles for not only the dialogues which are held between the two sectors but also the eventual users of the products and services brought to this new country by the private multinational organizations. Multinational institutions around the world have devised peculiar strategies so that they can cope up with the ever-rising pressure that they face from their direct as well as the indirect competitors. The direct competitors could be in the form of the partners who are strategically or at times tactically coming up with their customer-tailored products whilst being on the same end of some other strategic unit with the said multinational. The changing global environment demands that the multinational organizations are ready to have a solid corporate culture within their domains so that the same is implemented across the board. They have to be on their toes all the time as well as carry out activities; both tactically and from the long term perspective that satisfies all the stakeholders and not just the consumers who receive their products and/or services. The corporate changes in terms of their strategies need to be chalked out with the facilitation of both the top management as well as the knowledge organization as they are the ones who actually have the much needed solid knowledge and information as to how the relevant strategies can be incorporated into the system of the organizations in the first place. The corporate persona always remains the same and it is drawn in line whilst keeping the future in perspective. Hence it is the need of the hour to ascertain the corporate culture once and for all and go ahead with the very same in a head-on fashion. Bibliography Arce, Daniel G. (2006). Taking Corporate Culture Seriously: Group Effects in the Trust Game. Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 73 Erickson, Judith A. (2000). Corporate Culture: The Key to Safety Performance. Occupational Hazards, Vol. 62 Fairfield-Sonn, James W. (2001). Corporate Culture and the Quality Organization. Quorum Books Nash, James L. (2005). Managing Global Safety: The Power of One; Why Are a Growing Number of Companies with International Operations Adopting Corporate-Wide Global Health and Safety Management Systems? Occupational Hazards, Vol. 67, September Issue Ngo, Hang-Yue. (2001). Organization Development and Firm Performance: A Comparison of Multinational and Local Firms. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 32 Oden, Howard. (1997). Managing Corporate Culture, Innovation, and Intrapreneurship. Quorum Books Soenen, Guillaume. (2002). Corporate and Organizational Identities: Integrating Strategy, Marketing, Communication, and Organizational Perspectives. Routledge Sorensen, Jesper B. (2002). The Strength of Corporate Culture and the Reliability of Firm Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 47 Word Count: 3,135 Read More