Reflective Exercise - Essay Example

In addition, the reflection would evaluate the emergence and improvement of new skills. Finally, the discourse would stipulate how this learning can be transferred into skills for one’s future including employability. The course on international marketing provided enriching theoretical perspectives affecting global organizations. The key players were clearly identified; the factors shaping the international business environment were highlighted; the risks and ethical issues were discussed; among a host of other relevant concerns.

I realized that managing corporate culture is a skill which every global corporation should learn since culture change is a complex and long process involving coordinated efforts by the head office which is very visible to host branches. While many practitioners and academicians aver that management theories and principles are similar throughout the world, their application varies from one country to another due to varied cultural systems. Others observe that cultural differences make it inappropriate to take management theories and practices from the cultures in which they were developed and apply them to another culture.

In addition, I was made more aware that managing diversity should incorporate variables which are critical in operating on a global scale. In designing the organizational structure for international operations, the structure should meet both the strategies of the home office and the requirements of the local market. As such, the structure should be contingency based, taking into account the variables of that particular system at that specific point in time. The most important variables to consider are the firm’s strategy, size, technology, and environment of those countries in which the country operates.

Further, I learned that other relevant variables that need to be considered when managing the team in the company’s operations are: geographic dispersion, time differences, language, culture and