Collectivism and Japanese Workplace - Example

University UNIT NAME UNIT CODE TOPIC : Portfolio STUDENT : LECTURER : ADMISSION NO. : DUE DATE : September 15, 2015 Week3 Collectivism and Japanese workplace The Japanese people think about important ideas in a collective sense often times considering how an individual action impacts on the neighbors, friends and colleagues with whom an individual works with. In Japanese workplace employees will make decisions while considering the greater good of the firm as opposed to personal gain1. Collectivism in Japan is encouraged by a feeling of external threats, a feeling that every one has a common fate and increasing competition with other groups. Cultural homogeneity promotes tightness in workplace and friendship links. These form the social behavior of individuals. In essence, workplace culture propagates the notion that individual success is a reflection of company efforts2. Islam and cross-cultural relations in business management Islam has been important in shaping the dynamics of business operations which have been defined historically by cultural traditional over years. Both Islam and business operations operate through each other in order to foreground the changing dynamics of interactions between people of Islam faith and others. For example Islamic Banking has different ways of doing business as compared to conventional banking. Islamic banking is founded on the sharia law called Fiqh al-Muamalat governing all transactions3. People of different culture doing business with Muslim or operating Islamic should find ways to adapt and acclimatize themselves with the social and cultural norms and traditions of the culture of Islam. As for instance, such significant proportions of foreign businesses in Islamic countries have to face cultural differences and then the differences in their own and local culture. This leads to the local business owners and workers to confusing situation in their own countries where expatriate workers are in majority4. Cultural differences among your classmates an effect on the class environment There are various cultural differences among my classmates because each classmate possesses unique backgrounds and life experiences. This cultural difference plays an important role in informing behavior. There are also socio cultural norms that dictate the way an individual student will behave in a given situation. Failure to learn the culturally informed behaviors may result in discrimination5 . This may be in the form of devaluation, punishment and censure of habits that are not of the mainstream groups. This affects the way we relate in the class as some may feel not loved and always wary to get personal with others. Week4 The role of social media in global business communication Intense competition in the world markets, and the recent experience of economic disruptions, has created a massive disruption in the global markets. Added to this is the rapid strides made in the development of information and communications technologies and the advent of social media as a platform on which people share their experiences and ideas. Social Media are “all about participation, sharing, and collaboration, rather than straightforward advertising and selling” making it important to “engage in discussions with your customers”6. Social media comes with lot of positive difference if a company decides to use it in strengthening customer relations and highlighting product strengths. Therefore, the use of social media is a way of enhancing communication with customers7. language and culture and differences in interpretation by people from the same language It has now become a more or less established fact that a culture’s particular language structures the way in which that culture thinks and acts. This obviously implies that language functions as the base upon which cognitive processes and behavioral tendencies hover as the superstructure. However there are times people of the same language miscommunicate that is when there is differential nonverbal communication. Again with globalization objective is to establish a universal language with which to explain every cultural articulation it is for indigenous language users to miscommunicate with non indigenous language user. The question of language becomes crucial because the choice between a global/ hybrid language and the local language also reflects the choice between tradition and modernity8. Cultural differences in the interpretation of body language the role of nonverbal communication in business relationships Culture acts as a framework through which people are able to understand each other in all spheres of communication. It involves the attitudes, values, and ways of doing things within a group of people who share the same identity9 . Usually, such attitudes and values may be considered the norms for the particular culture, and they differ from one culture to the other. People of different can interpret differently body language due to their attitudes. Through behavior, people are able to relay messages and deductions can be made from such communication channels. Behavior is attached to culture, and analysts say that all behavior communicates. Culture is drilled in people and that is why even with similar languages being spoken, it is still essential to relate culture to communication. In the American and Japanese ads, it was evident that the way language is used is very different. This is based on the way the two cultures operate 10. Week5 styles and tactics communication of task-related information. The task-related information is exchanged through meeting, emails or other agreed forms by the project managers. Communication is so important that project managers are indeed advised to set up a plan beforehand to manage this key factor. The larger the project and the number of stakeholders, the more information will need to be recorded and disseminated. As with any other type of work, project managers need to take individuals' experience and skills into account when giving them the different type of communications responsibilities11. Furthermore, it is also important to note that sparing up the sufficient amount of time is also significant as there many steps involved in the process of developing and approving communications for a large project. This is to ensure that communication is accurate, effective and sensitive to the needs of the project and its members12 Objective versus subjective perspectives influence the decision-making process. Objective perspectives influences are superior and fair in decision-making process. It is a checklist approach where decision making is based on checking off the most appropriate performance categories of the person being evaluated. Decision-making process by objective is an approach that requires the manager to adopt and implement performance goals in collaboration with the subordinates that are aimed at monitoring their progress. Subjective perspectives influences tend to take personal turns as decision makers used the process to settle personal scores. They are at times too lenient or too critical toward specific issues. Most of the decision makers may have little or no training on the tools and methodologies to be used during the process. The negotiations and decisions between Iraq and the United Nations tended to be more subjective than objective. If subjective perspectives were discounted, proper decision could have been made to better understand and predict the performance of the current product. Negotiations with Chinese and how you would handle that situation When negotiating with Chinese there will be no substantive demands and their negotiation is very much easier. The most effective way of building trust in this incident is to negotiate about and if possible, give up peripheral demands13. As excellent negotiator I will be able to walk away from a deal in which the net value and the long-term gains are in doubt. The failed negotiations require some mechanism where risks are mitigated through renegotiation to ensure success. It is my duty to ensure that the project is negotiated once they have failed in orders the risks and benefits to be mitigated. I should be able to understand the project and at what times should negotiations start. This is done thorough clearly defining the role to be played by each party. Week6 The impact of the Internet on small business Small businesses have formed an authentic emotional and personal connection with its customers. This is achieved by attachments with the customers through Facebook open graph, which allows customers to view its products. They also use social media sites such as Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and others to support their businesses. In addition, some have websites with clear messages concerning the key products14. It also helps them create a large customer base because businesses that are quick to provide customers with larger variety of products will stand to gain in the long term15. Assessment the potential relative competitive position of a firm in order to decide on new strategic directions Managers assess the potential relative competitive position of their firm in order to decide on new strategic directions by scanning the environment. This is necessary for the organization to identify opportunities that exist in the external environment and align the development of resources and competencies to exploit these opportunities. Managers need to assess distinctive resources and competencies and matching them against environmental opportunities. A deep analysis would also reveal that a firm has to ensure that it focuses on the customer and their needs and wants. Hence, any strategy that a firm follows must have the customer as the centre of focus16. No matter what type of strategy a firm follows, it must be responsive to customer preferences. This has meant that firms no longer afford to rely neither on market positioning and differentiation alone nor on cost cutting or business process reengineering. The process of environmental assessment and the major international variables to consider in the scanning process Tools suggested for an integrated approach to strategic management include the Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) and its combination into a SWOT-TOWS grid to determine strategy through matching strengths against weaknesses, weaknesses against opportunities. Another tool is the analysis of the Political, Economic, Social, and Environmental (PEST) situation and weighing this against internal capabilities. Other methods include the Value Chain Analysis, the Boston Matrix for market analysis, Application Portfolio Management for IT applications etc. The point is that firms can no longer exist in a rigid and fixed notion of strategy and structure and only those firms that are able to be flexible and adaptable to changes in the external environment would succeed17. Week7 Problems inherent in developing a cooperative alliance Problems of forming a cooperative alliance can emerge from the acquisition of new skills by one of firms within the alliance18. In development of a cooperative alliance partners may find it necessary to learn from each other thus increasing knowledge. Thus the increase in knowledge by one of the partner firm can force the other partner to pull out. The other partner may also come from different culture where values differ. This creates conflict because of cultural difference. Failure by the partners to learn management styles will need the solution of the alliance. Mismanagement of corporate strategies and their implementation is another factor that can cause the failure to strategic alliance. One party may help to establish the brand in the market but the other may never take serious measures in that regard. On the other hand, other management may be misjudged and feel that corporate marriage is being deceived. This is made possible when the parties do no agree and are impatient to each other. The other factor is lack of commitment from other factors involved in the alliance19. Successfully implementing a global sourcing strategy For successful implementation of a global sourcing strategy there were a number of micro and macro environmental as well as social issue that the company needs to assess. The effects of globalizations can be countered through the following steps. The cost should be at the lowest level because most of the people can many similar products. In order to have a competitive edge, organizations have to open offices in countries they market they operate in because they cannot do all the marketing from their headquarters. This becomes expensive for an organization because it needs resources to operate in several countries. Organizations should employ local people in the countries they invest in instead of sending expatriates because they understand their countries legislation better20 The host government and affect strategic implementation Any organization in today’s business world ought to understand the importance of adhering to all laid down legislations. This reduces conflicts between the organization and the government. In addition, each organization should ensure that its processes do not compromise on the safety of the environment. Satisfying consumers is the key to the success of any organization. The government undertook adjustment policies including deregulating some industries. This has improved the overall output in the industry hence boosting the overall economy through increased revenues, job creation and improved taxes it yields to the government21. When economic conditions deteriorate, some businesses are forced out of business. When the economic status of the nation adjusts upwards, most business enters into business. Week8 Variables in designing the organizational structure MNC Every organist ion has an entity of its own, be it its logo, work ethics, product or service, and motto. They all work with a varying level of professionalism. This comes about through the level of expertise and experience shown by the people who matter; the people in power. The ability to cause something to happen is in the realms of these men. It is these men who form the organizational structure. Apart from this international organizations consider culture of the country of operation22 Implications of the relative centralization of authority The relative centralization of authority ensures operational, the existing level of integration needs consolidation and centralization. It goes without saying that the decision making capabilities in the organization are greatly enhanced because of integration of the decision making. This is the main benefit centralization brings to the table. However, decentralization of the company is accompanied with decentralization of decision making. The culture of making decision onsite is dealt away with and information is to be relayed to the management for the management make decision and relay them back to those on the site to act on them23. MNC to “be global and act local Since there is increased competition, organizations should be but have to adjusted their practices to cater for distinctive cultures. In operating countries, the culture may be distinctly different, as well as laws, needs and performance indicators or workers. Because of these, MNC need to develop the necessary communication skills to be able to understand current issues plaguing their foreign subsidiaries. They also need to undergo continuing education in order to learn relevant cultural practices, laws and regulations and cultural practices. Doing this will enhance their responsiveness, insight and empathy24. MNC intending to operate in country need to implement “those country policies” at the managerial level, who in turn, can facilitate adaptations according to regional differences. Hence, global managers need to reintroduce and emphasize the value of certain traditional sources of information such to reinforce any material that have been gathered over the Internet. A global manager should have the initiative to learn global laws – including governing Internet usage – as well as take steps to enhance their cultural sensitivity through continuing education, particularly on cultural training and cultural business practices. This way, they will develop the needed responsiveness, insight and empathy25. Bibliography Danaher, P.J., Wilson, I.W. and Davis, R.A. (2003). A comparison of online and offline consumer brand loyalty, Marketing Science, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 461-76 Deresky, Helen. International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, Text and Cases. New York: Prentice Hall Eid, R. & Trueman, M. (2004). Factors affecting the success of business-to-business international internet marketing: An empirical study of UK companies. Industrial management and Data Javalgi, Cutler and Malhotra. "Print Advertising at the Component Level: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of USA and Japan." International Journal of Business Research (1995): 117-124. Lunnan, R., & Mercer Traavik, L.E. (2009). Is the standardization of human resource practices perceived as fair across national cultures? Baltic Journal of Management, 4 (2) Kaplan A.M., and Haenlein, M. 2010. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media, Business Horizons 53(1), 59—68 Read More