Global Theroy and Plan - Essay Example

Global Theory and Plan. The purpose of this paper is to first outline a personal theory of global executive development and manager development and back it up with examples of existing theories on which it is based. Next, this paper will outline a personal development plan that that is based on the aforementioned theory.There is little question that globalization and electronic commerce has had a significant effect on strategic management and management development (Hunger et al. 2005). One feature of any management development program is that it should recognize the importance of strategic flexibility in an increasingly competitive global environment.

Furthermore the impact that this would have on other dimensions such as human resource management planning would be vast.The Personal TheoryThe first and foremost element of my personal theory of global executive management development is centered around three principles which are aligning the needs of employees with the organizational objectives of the company, ensuring regular cross-cultural communication training takes place and finally putting in place policies that ensure positive relationship building.

Aligning the needs of employees with the objectives of the organization is important to personal management development. It can be the case that in many organizations there is disequilibrium between these two parties. For example an organization may stress the importance of business ethics, but in some circumstances there may be pressure on employees to act in an ethically questionable way. These policies could theoretically result in employees feeling frustrated or isolated. According to Connors & Smith (1999) having a common goal and sharing accountability is an important element to an organization staying united and productive.

When addressing the importance of regular cross-cultural communication training it is important to consider that an increasing number of employees are taking international assignments particularly people working for multinational corporations. A study conducted by Liu and Lee (2008) concluded that cross-cultural training had a significant impact on the overall expatriate adjustment in a host country. By preparing a manager to meet the needs of an expatriate position there would be a reduced risk of employee turnover as well as better overall employee job satisfaction.

Even if an employee does not take an overseas position the benefit from a cross-cultural training could theoretically be very important to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse workforce and client base in a home country. In regards to putting into place policies that ensure positive relationship building it may be the case that extensive diversity management training would be an effective method to achieve this. There is very little question that there is a business case for diversity. Kerr (2008) presented the theory that although internal training may be an invaluable tool for promoting diversity the most important factor in improving cultural sensitivity and diversity in a workplace comes from the top leadership.

It could be said that in an increasingly globalized world wherein many people from many cultures are active participants in the economy, a diverse and culturally sensitive workforce might be better at recognizing trends and addressing the needs of consumers in traditional and emerging economies. It is this for these reasons that having diversity training for global managers is essential in the new world economy.It is important to highlight that any management development plan should be designed to disregard two of the foremost theories in management training first of which is that people are exclusively motivated by self interest and secondly that all decision making is conducted rationally.

As Kiel (2008) argued that although these two fundamental theories have been embraced by private and public institutions they have led to several unproductive management practices, such as keeping information on a need-to-know basis, lack of transparency and general distrust.The PlanThe actual personal development plan that aligns with the proposed global executive and manager development theory is as follows.In order to align the needs of the organization with that of the management and employees it is important to first identify what exactly are the objectives of the organization.

Next identify any potential conflicts that might arise between these two parties. It is important for people to announce any and all conflicts that they experience to management in order to ensure modifications can be made and future conflicts can be avoided.There are a number of important elements to a cross-cultural communication training plan. Firstly many different communication styles should be identified such as verbal vs. non-verbal, exacting vs. succinct, personal vs. contextual etc. Next identify different cultures and how these communication styles may be used.

By having constant exposure to people of different cultures, an individual would have plenty of opportunity to practice these styles.Diversity training should begin with identifying and embracing a number of different elements such as age, race, gender, sexual orientation etc. Theoretically this training can easily be implemented by ensuring constant exposure to a diverse base of people and by frequently engaging different groups in a teamwork model. It could also be reinforced through observation training.

Lastly it is important to highlight that all of these elements should be put into context of topics such as negotiation, stress management, and business ethics to list a few.References:Connors, R., Smith, T. (1999, May). Align Your Team. Executive Excellence, 16(5), 12.  Retrieved December 4, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 41232574).Hunger, J., Wheelan, T., Wicks, D. (2005) Concepts in Strategic Management. Peason University Press.Kerr, S. (2008, August). The Business Case for Diversity is No Longer in Question.

 Personnel Today,18.  Kiel, F. (2008). Flaws in the Selfish-Worker Theory Business Week,(4102), 78Liu, C.H., Lee, H.W. (2008). A Proposed Model of Expatriates in Multinational Corporations. Cross Cultural Management, 15(2), 176-193.