Assignmnet for marketing - Essay Example

Outsourced Teacher’s ID The movie has emphasized greatly the value of customs, traditions and respect for foreign cultures. Todd, the main character who was initially reluctant to even come to India, later on began to understand its cultural values, which made his stay in India easier for him after his encounter with another American in a restaurant. Simple gestures such as call center employees helping Todd to overcome his initial problems, and a landlady ironing his clothes were some of the examples of cultural acceptance and its importance (Jeffcoat, 2007).

In the first few scenes, Todd found it difficult to define the purposes of products to his employees; however, once he understood the basic traditions, e.g., the cow being a sacred animal, he began to communicate well with them. 2. Todd could not adjust into the Indian environment initially, so he could not bring the success rate of the call center, i.e., minutes per incident rate, to the desired standard. However, the incident of Holi helped him understand Indian values (Jeffcoat, 2007). Once he stopped resisting Indian norms and values, provided appropriate rewards to his employees, and shared his success with others, things became easier for him.

The movie also managed to illustrate that respect helped Todd gain support of his team members as well as of other people that he encountered during his stay in India. For example, Todd confronted a difficult situation when his supervisor came to assess the performance, and due to poor infrastructure, the whole building was flooded (Jeffcoat, 2007). With the help of his staff, he managed to demonstrate exceptional managerial skills. The children on the streets decorating his cell phone also showed that mutual respect is important for people to have a strengthen relationship. 3. Todd tried to correct Puru several times; however, he later on realized that Puru was not much aware of American accent and correcting him every time would not help him.

Furthermore, he was very reluctant to be part of this new change that was imposed on him, and wanted to invest little effort in every aspect of this new life. That is why he did not even attempt to correct his landlady when she called him “Toad” (Jeffcoat, 2007). 4. The movie projects an idea that all human beings have basic needs and motivations despite belonging to different cultures. This notion was supported by the scene where the call center staff shared their queries with Todd whether they could purchase some of the products that they had been selling to American consumers.

Knowing that, Todd was amazed at how similar Indians are to Americans, and he arranged an incentive program to reduce the MPI rate as well. Another example was the next scene in which Puru shared his interest in and knowledge about plasma TVs when Todd mentioned it during his conversation, which further surprised Todd. 5. If I were sent to this call center instead of Todd, I would step in with an open mind. Being culturally competitive is one of the basic managerial skills that are required in this global market environment.

Also, before introducing a change, it is important to analyze the root cause behind problems. Therefore, I might step in with a little more motivation considering this job to be a challenge rather than an imposition. Todd initially faced problems because he was not aware of Indian culture, customs and norms, and was also less motivated to do his job. Perhaps, doing a little more homework before entering a foreign country would be more helpful. 6. The movie has very well presented the idea of cultural tolerance.

Although I have seen quite a few movies such as this before, the scenes were rather harmonious and showed a logical explanation of Todd accepting a culture that he initially despised. The direction and script were relatively simple and it was a fairly light comedy. I also liked the idea of people from different cultures having similar basic motivations. However, the idea of Indians or Asians always being supportive was a little difficult to embrace. There was a child who kept on stealing things from Todd, and a local man who was actually stealing electricity to run his house.

Some of the things were ethically not right. I have also seen Indians that are quite familiar with American accent and lifestyle, therefore showing all Indians as “rednecks” did not appear reasonable. The movie also projected Americans as materialistic people, i.e., Todd coming to India to save his job and Todd’s company continuously outsourcing its operations to cheaper countries, which raised questions about American culture. 7. Some of the key lessons from the movie are applicable to global business management.

There are humanistic theories that have supported cultural competence to be a major requirement for successful management, and the same is supported by the movie. In addition, the idea of embracing other cultural values or at least showing respect for and tolerance of their norms and values applies not only in international business management but also in every organization since business enterprises are trying to be more culturally diverse in the current global environment. References Jeffcoat, J.

(Director). (2007). Outsourced [Motion picture]. United States: Ocean Park Home Entertainment.