BBA 2551 Unit 8 Assignment

Unit 8 Assignment

1. What does effective global leadership achieve? What are the different roles that managers on international assignment often assume to enhance leadership effectiveness? Choose one country in South America and one country in Europe to describe some of the differences. 

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

A global leader is more than someone who can take control and make a business successful in their own culture and country. Like Deresky has stated, the book states, “People tend to rise to leadership positions by proving themselves able to lead in their home-country corporate culture and meeting the generally accepted behaviors of that national culture. However, global leaders must broaden their horizons, both strategically and cross-culturally, and develop a more flexible model of leadership that can be applied anywhere – one that is adaptable to locational situations around the world.” (Deresky, 2017). Global leaders’ intent is to be a well-rounded individual that can take anyone under their wing and lead them. Take any business, no matter what country, culture, location, ethics, etc. and be able to teach them and guide them in a direction of success without having to struggle. Having a leadership foundation that is one sided is also a way to fail when challenged in a new environment. When placed outside of a comfort zone, one can fall far below their standards when they are faced with adversity. So, having the leadership qualities of a global leader and the facets of many leadership qualities, will make you someone that can be easily followed and a successful manager. Management on international assignment often take the roles of a representative of the parent firm, manager of the local firm, resident of the local community, a citizen if either the host country or of another country, a member of a profession, and a member of a family. (Deresky, 2017). According to an article by Scherly, they stated, “Brazil, the business is hierarchical. People there prefer to have an authoritarian leader or manager. The leadership style is related with the Hofstede’s Theory on power distance level, which is Brazil, is medium to high. This power distance is characterized by the downward communication style. However, Brazilians also expect a paternalistic manager, because the subordinates are more likely to be more loyal and commit to the manager than the organization itself.” (Scherly, 2017). Brazilians like to be stern and be friendly. Knowing when to use what style will help assist a manager in becoming more well-rounded. When looking into Italy, I have found that a lot of the country is multi-culturally diverse. An article states, “Because Italy’s immigration rate has risen dramatically in recent years, there’s a good chance that you’ll work with a diverse team” (Emerald Works, n.d.). Knowing how to work amongst different cultures will benefit management globally in Italy and allow you to lead many people without accidently offending a certain group of people while trying to please another.

References

Deresky, H. (2017). International management: Managing across borders and cultures (9th ed.).

Hoboken, NJ: Pearson.

Emerald Works. (n.d.). Managing in Italy. Working in a Culturally Rich Country. Retrieved from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/managing-in-italy.htm

Scherly, N. (2017). Leadership style in Brazil. Binus University Business School. Retrieved from http://bbs.binus.ac.id/ibm/2017/06/leadership-style-in-brazil/

2. Technology is one of the methods used in business overseas. Describe the impact of e-business on leadership. What differences would a manager have to be aware of if doing business in Africa, Australia, or South America? 

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

The internet is a constant changing platform that management must take seriously in order to be successful. Having infinite access to resources, materials, and information on nearly every subject has made deadlines for projects almost immediate. This allows decision making times to me cut in half or less. The book references “Internet Time” which is the rapid speeding up timeline of data. There is literally nothing an employee cannot do or research to get their job done. And with executives knowing this, management get placed with immense stresses and anxiety to get already demanding jobs done faster and better. With e-business leaders must maintain flexible to constant changes. Always changing and adapting to new leadership styles and techniques to keep up with the new age technology. It seems as if when you finally get comfortable and find a flow and process that works for your company and business, via internet, there is a change that occurs and you have to re-visit the process and re-develop a new strategy to accomplish the mission. When working in countries such as Africa, Australia, or South America, there may be many locations with lack of internet access or availability. They strive on the original leadership and marketing styles of face-to-face contact and business dealings. So, when the world and global market is changing to the e-business side works via internet means, they are now left out of the loop. Or, let’s take another approach to the issue. Sometimes, with limited network capabilities, some locations may take longer to “catch up” to other fast growing business concepts. Once Africa sets a system in place, America may have updated and moved on from that process ten times since then. With the e-business aspect of leadership, there will always be fallout and setbacks. Stress will be built up and changes will always have to be made.

3. Describe positive and negative outcomes that can result from societal, political, and cultural differences when managing a corporation in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. 

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

When you manage a corporation in different countries such as North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, there can be both positive and negative outcomes and experiences. Every company that would like to move to a different country to grow their main corporation should not be scared to do so. Everything can be successful as long as research and statistics are conducted before hand. With success, comes time and experience, as well as research. When you look at a countries society, and how they function, communicate with one another, you can understand how to layout policies and change how the business is run for that location. Looking into how the foreign government is run, how much hold they have on the economy, the businesses, the crimes, will assist you in seeing how much business freedom you will have when you manage your business abroad. Knowing the culture of your destined country is highly important. You cannot force one way of work, when all their life, a country has been taught and raised another way. When you have conflicts in work ethics and rhythms, you end up having a failed business and unhappy workers. When that happens work quality declines. Those are also the setbacks. Being in a management position, you must be open to change and diversity. Knowing that you will have to change policies to fit into different societies and changing management qualities in order to successfully motivate employees will help negate the effect of a failed business overseas.

4. Different cultures value personal, face-to-face contact and relationships with different levels of reverence. What are some cultures around the world where you might want to utilize more one-on-one contact rather than sole use of technology to motivate employees? 

Your response must be at least 200 words in length.

China is a culture in the world that has a vast amount of technology at their fingertips. They are one of the great leaders of technology and have found innovative ways to better social networking and business to make them more effective. Even with this advancement, China is one of the countries that still prefer the face-to-face relationships and communications when holding meetings, communicating with staff, business deals, etc. An article, published by a man named Sean Upton-McLaughlin, stated “Despite the advances in telecommunications which allows calls and video chats from half the world away, the Chinese continue to prefer face-to-face conversations.” (Upton-McLaughlin, 2013). Also, having the face-to-face contact, allows the Chinese to be a little more personable. They feel a little friendlier and feel more of A connection with the other person, as opposed to a distant, non-relationship connection when the use of technology is used in its place. Sean also stated, “Chinese business people when meeting in person enjoy a more amiable atmosphere which allow for the gift giving and compliments that facilitate the building and maintenance of personal relationships. For a Western business person, avoiding face-to-face meetings in the interest of saving time can result in some negative outcomes. At best a Chinese worker or business person will be unable to develop a closer working relationship with a Westerner and as a result remain more at a distance from their needs and concerns. At worst, a Chinese person may feel insulted or annoyed which can damage the potential for future cooperation.” (Upton-McLaughlin, 2013). The Asian culture in general are very friendly and love to communicate one on one. I have found this in Korea as well. When my family and I go out in the city, we always see businessmen all around a table eating, laughing, and talking to one another. This is done over dinners and lunches. At the end, handshakes are made, bows are conducted between the group in a specific order, and then they part ways. Everything can be done over some form of technology. Having the personal connection with someone can set the tone of a relationship and define how business is to be conducted on future dealings. That is why Asian cultures still prefer the face-to-face communication rather than the technology based form of communications.

Reference

Upton-McLaughlin, S. (2013). Tips For Communicating With The Chinese, Part 2. The China Culture Corner. Retrieved from https://chinaculturecorner.com/2013/10/20/tips-for-communicating-with-the-chinese-part-2/