IBE Final Exam
expatriate selection
-Adaptability to cultural change, Cultural "toughness", Relationships with HCNs important -Physical and emotional health -Age, experience and education, Balance between age and experience -Language training, Job-related importance of language varies, US expatriates less likely to master foreign language -Motivation for foreign assignment -Work-family issues, Spouse/family adjustment is crucial
enlightened self-interest
-After weighing costs/benefits, ethical decisions are those that result in most favorable outcomes for the decision maker -Example? Padding expense report because DM needs money to buy food -If it is beneficial to you as a decision maker then you should do it
light-of-day
-After weighing costs/benefits, ethical decisions depend on the consequences if decision becomes public knowledge --"Would I make the decision if it were printed on the front page of the newspaper?" -Example? Refusing to take a bribe out of concern that you might lose customers, if they found out. How is this going to be perceived outwardly How are other people going to perceive this decision
Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions
-Conducted large-scale study to examine differences in work-related attitudes -Found that national culture explained more of the differences in work-related values and attitudes than did position within the organization, profession, age or gender Conducted surveys of 40-60 countries Surveyed people working at IMB They can control for employment, wage earning critisisms: 1.Methodology: do these attitudes actually allude to anything? 2.IBM employees not a representative sample 3.Culturally biased 4.Outdated: 60s-80s when research was conducted BUT great foundation for future research
are stereotypes useful?
-Consciously held. -Limited to description (not evaluation) -Provide accurate description of behavior norm. -Used as a first best guess about the behavior of the cultural group -Modified based on additional information gained via observation or experience. -->We need to be aware of the stereotypes that are held but do not limit your perceptions to those stereotypes
utilitarianism
-Consequential model of decision-making -After weighing costs/benefits, ethical decisions are those that result in most favorable outcomes for others -Example? Letting highly compensated employees go to maximize shareholder wealth -The most beneficial decision is who it is most beneficial for the greatest number of people
Plight of an Expat Spouse - article
-Difficult for spouses to find work abroad -Risks their future earning potential and career development -Due to rise in dual career couples is why this is a trending decrease -Companies are now being more proactive in finding spouse work -Major cultural differences and adjustment for both parties -Adjustment is critical for couples relocating -Spousal dissatisfaction is the biggest reason that assignments fail -This can cost a lot like $1 million #1 predictor of someone returning from an assignment early is because of a spouse
cultural relativism
-Ethical decisions are based on operating cultural norms, not on absolute truth -Example? "When in Rome...do as the Romans do." -If people are engaging in this behavior there then it is ethical
Legalism
-Ethical decisions are based on society's laws or policies -Example? UI employee refusing gift of more than $3 because of state-wide gift laws for state employees What laws might govern this in whatever society you are working in Legal=ethical illegal=unethical
nonverbal communication
-Kinesic behavior: body movements, while actions may be universal the meanings behind them may not be, eye contact -Proxemics: proximity and space, personal space, how office space is constructed -Paralanguage: how something is said (or not said), rate of speech, inflection, using silence -Object language: communicating via material artifacts, using color to communicate example: JCPenney logo resembling the American flag, conveys to consumer what they value in org 65% of communication in nonverbal
masculinity
-MAS: success, money achievement, challenge, independent, decision makers, Japan, assertive -FEM: caring for others, quality of life, cooperation, low stress, more corporate social responsibility <-- who is this for? Emp, society, sweden, relational
communication process
-Process of transferring meanings from sender to receiver -Culturally different individuals share less common information Grounding: shortcuts with people because of shared understanding, people who share a lot of common information can communicate very effectively Noise influences every component of the communication process language is a big part of cultural identity
Categorical Imperative
-Rule-based model of decision-making -Relies on absolute rules and universal laws that must be followed, regardless of the situation -Example?Salesperson refusing to be dishonest with customer because of Ten Commandments ("Thou shalt not bear false witness...")
The challenge of international assignments
-The average 3 year expatriate assignment costs $1 million. -Approximately 40% of assignments fail to meet company/employee objectives And 20% fail outright. -Increase in short-term expatriate assignments (3 to 12 months) as compared to the long-term assignments ranging from 3 to 5 years assume success in home country will translate to success in host country - overemphasis on technical skills
The problem with being a long term expat - article
-Very hard to come back to home country for some -The profile for expats are changing -They are taking on a string of shorter back to back assignments or longer term deployments -Struggle to reverse culture shock -The longer they are gone the less attached they feel nationally -After returning many leave their company -It can happen though when they settle down and start a family -When leaving and coming back and things are very different - like britan with Brexit -Many who come home want to leave again -Worse, employees may have taken an international assignment thinking it would fast-track their career back home, only to find themselves in a role that makes little use of the skills they acquired abroad. -The term Third Culture Kids describes children who've spent much of their formative years outside their own country
individualism
-this depends for a lot of people -family vs nation as a whole vs work -this is shaped highly by the context -initiative -promotion based on merit vs seniority US highly ind collectivist: italy and korea
Meaning of Work (MOW)
1. Work centrality: lThe importance of work relative to other interests at a given point in time, 2. Societal norms about working: Entitlement norm: Individuals entitled to meaningful and interesting work, proper training to obtain and continue in such work, and the right to participate in work decisions Obligation norm: Individuals have an obligation (duty) to contribute to society by working, a duty to save for their own future and to value one's work, if you like your job great if not oh well -->Balance between the two norms 3. Importance of work goals
selective perception
1. certain category indicators like race and gender are universial indicators of group memebership 2. distinctiveness of the category indicator against the soical field may be a primary categorization factor like if the number of distinctively different others is small, like the number of african americans in rural iowa - they really stand out 3. deviations from normal speech in terms of accent, syntax or grammar are salient cues for group membership - foreign lang is a huge one 4. the history of interactions with another group will enhance the ability to categorize them - groups who have had a history of conflict
trends in migration
1. the greatest immigration in 2014 is of war refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia 2. the number of women migrants has expanded and contracted 1976 at 15%, 2005 at 70% were women, and 2015 at 48%
Negotiation
A process of reciprocal influence that occurs between two or more individuals who seek to reach an agreement as to the resources or behaviors each will provide or receive from the other -Are rarely pure win-lose or win-win, Most are Mixed Motive -Take place under conditions of ambiguity and uncertainty -Usually involve existing or potential sources of conflict -Can be chaotic and don't always occur sequentially through distinct phases -Often involve multiple parties and multiple issues -Are often linked to other negotiations -Are sometimes done by agents or teams
BATNA
Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement
Sue Taylor - speaker
CIO of Gate foundation -zero poverty -zero hunger -medical services they can take on larger riskier ventures because of not needing to worry about profits. they want big news worthy innovation the mosquito nets - there was a problem with them but then they solved a different problem then they were initially supposed to solve 1. Careers don't always progress "up." You can learn a lot from lateral movement. 2. You will interact in the international environment in some way during your career. 3. Importance of lifelong learning and it's relationship to career success (curiosity!) 4. Advice? Consider the strengths that others see in you.
CQ Assessment 4 Capabilities
CQ Drive: level of interest, persistence, and confidence during multicultural interactions CQ Knowledge: understanding about how cultures are similar and different CQ Action: your ability to adapt when relating and working in multicultural contexts CQ Strategy: awareness and ability to plan for multicultural interactions
Third-country nationals (TCNs)
Citizens of countries other than the one in which the MNC is headquartered or the one in which the managers are assigned to work by the MNC Advantages: Good working knowledge of region, Require less compensation than expatriates Example: An American MNC hires a British manager to fill a key position in Kenya.
stereotypes
Cognitive beliefs that associate groups of people with certain types of characteristics -Social categorization: cognitively sorting others into groups based on social categories (e.g., age, gender, nationality) we can form impressions quickly, •Drawbacks? Categorizing people leads us to overestimate the differences between groups and similarities within groups -Outgroup homogeneity bias: tendency to assume there is greater similarity among members of out-groups, people really tend to see outgroups as alike but when we are ingroup we see the differences because everyone
Evaluating Cross-Cultural Management Studies
Conceptually what is the idea of equivalence? -challenges that can occur when directly translating something -these problemes can occur with surveys - "my work is my life" what does this mean in other cultures -we understand it as an American concept but it may not be that way in other cultures -is a direct translation the right way? sampling -need to have a random sample of countries and cultures -who are you going to ask? And who you ask can limit the conclusions you can draw data collection -most common internationally are interviews and surveys -very low response rate - a 30% response rate is high -there is still a large group of people that didn't resond - there's a chance that you can't make conclusions you want if you cannot reach everyone in your population
The Role of the Global Manager?
Convergence/Divergence
What is culture?
Culture consists of systems of values, attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral meanings that are shared by members of a social group (society) and that are learned from previous generations (Thomas, p. 29).
scripts
Describe appropriate sequences of events in well-known situations -Influenced by cultural norms and expectations -Ex. Typical job interview, what happens on first day of class, eating at a restaurant, buying fruit at the grocery store -Scripts may be similar across cultures...or different -Ex. Scripts for enrolling kids in school Make sense of things Allow us to run on autopilot When thrown into a new environment can disrupt the script
Managing cross-cultural communication
Developing cultural sensitivity -Provide language training, English has become the international language of business, but... Provide cultural training, Example: WSJ article "Learning to Speak Iowan" -positive to provide the materials for employees to do the training whether or not they have a desire to pursue the training Careful encoding: what is the right mode for which to communicate with one another Selective transmission - do not underestimate importance of relationships Careful decoding Follow-up actions - importance of openness and resilience, if something has gone wrong in the communication process it is our responsibility to clear it up or clarify message
Persuasion at a distance
Effective persuasion depends on: -Focus and repetition of important communication -Ability to simplify difficult concepts in accurate ways, While avoiding oversimplification -Build personal credibility and trust
Legal Environment
Factors that influence the legal environment: -Prevailing international laws -Role of contracts -Protection for proprietary property EX. Trademarks, "100 million dollar bribe to mexican president: Mexico shrugs"
How did we as a class describe American business culture?
Fast-paced Competitive Individualistic Innovative; dynamic Straight-forward Motivated by profit High stress Masculine Limited work-life balance
On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B article
Fouled Up Systems In politics: Americans usually reward politicians with vote who only speak about official goals, withhold support when they speak operatively about where the money will come from in war: 1) primary goal is to win, 2) get home alive, conflict with these two goals, really depend on how reward system is set up in medicine: doctors can make two types of errors 1) misdiagnosing someone sick who is actually well, causing them anxiety 2) labeling a sick person well, not getting the help they need -->what has actually been happening is doctors are now afflicting people with illnesses by over diagnosing people, people will also be putting more money into the system trying to fix with ailments in universities: they hope professors will not neglect their teaching but they are rewarded for research and publications, rare to be punished for poor teaching but common to be punished for little accomplishments publicly causes: overemphasis on highly visible behaviors
Drivers of Globalization
Growing economic interdependence among world's economies Impact on organizational boundaries Work environment complexity More and different players on the global stage Increased use of technology, particularly social media 1.EU, NAFTA, APEC - trading 2.Entering the global marketplace is so much easier with technology 3.Service sector is also exploding - travel, trans, 4.Social media is also strongly effecting how we conduct business and how we connect with people
power distance
HIGH Lot's of hierarchy Top makes most of the decisions Lower level jobs have lower skills orientation toward authority willingness to accept unequal distribution of power in society
verbal communication styles
High-context cultures -Implicit -Much of message's meaning is implicit and words spoken convey only part of message Low-context cultures -Explicit -Message primarily conveyed by words spoken
Job design, rewards and incentives
Higher incentives lead to worse performance For simple straight forward tasks -if you do this then you get that If is it really complicated then it does not work Pay people enough so that they are not worry about money If you want engagement and high quality performance these lead to good results -autonomy: for the next 24 hours you can work on whatever you want and all you have to do is present it afterwards, you want to do something interesting but let me get out of your way -mastery: people want to get good at something, getting better at something is satisfying, challenge and mastery go along with making a contribution -purpose: if profit is over purpose then bad products/services and unethical behaviors happen, people need to be inspired by the work they do, "make the world a better place"
Social cognition
How people make sense of other people and themselves -Concerned with "mental representations" that help us process information type 1: happens spontaneously with little or no conscious thought, as an American automatically shaking hands with someone when you meet them - this is most of our behavior type 2: less automatic and requires more conscious thought, if you have a tense relationship and need to think about whether or not the shake hands with that person - very limited and tiring
Why care about scripts and schemas?
Impact what we attend to -Helps us to remember consistent information EX. "waitress" vs. "librarian" 88% accurate at remembering the characteristics that align with the consistent schemas - when we are not sure of our memories we guess and those guesses go along with schema Sometimes help us to remember inconsistent information - this stands out and broadens our schemas EX. "new" experiences in a foreign country Sept. 26 slide 13***
Why care about culture?
It forms values. It creates attitudes. It influences behavior. And...shapes the political, legal and economic environment within which firms must operate.
interesting work
Job rotation -Periodically moving workers from one specialized job to another to give them more variety of and the opportunity to use different skills Job enlargement -Increasing the number of different tasks in a given job by changing the division of labor Job enrichment -Increasing the degree of responsibility a worker has over his or her job, more meaningful work
Economic Environment
Level of economic development impacts amount of risk incurred by a foreign firm Examples: US financial crisis, exchange rate changes, "China's Looming Crisis: a shrinking population" this started really growing in 1990s with increased number of trade agreements
Host-country nationals (HCNs)
Local managers hired by the MNC to fill key positions Advantages: Familiarity with local culture, business customs, and have contacts in host country, Usually less expensive than expatriates Disadvantages: Potential challenges coordinating between subsidiary & parent company
Home-country nationals HCNs
Managers who are citizens of the country where the MNC is headquartered aka expatriates advantages: Expats familiar with MNC goals, policies, procedures, Can provide technical expertise disadvantages: Research suggests that many expats return home prematurely, Expensive to relocate expats and families
schemas
Mental categories, presumably based on experience, used to perceive and remember information Types of schemas: -Self-schemas: believes we hold about ourselves, shows which areas are personally important to you -Person schemas: certain traits and behaviors go together for people, people who are religious behave this way... -Role schemas: how people with certain roles normally act. How a doctor should behave when going to a routine check up warm and professional. These are really powerful and when these ideas are gone against then it can be really foreign New information can be consistent with your schema, irrelevant to your schema, or contradictory/inconsistent to your schema Person schema: -intelligent -skillful -industrious -warm -determined -practical -cautious Showed college students the list above and asked them what their impressions of this person would be - they said happy, generous, friendly Another group came in and they just changed one trait - warm to cold and they assumed the person was unhappy, not generous etc Warm and cold are dominant traits that can really change the perception of a person
What is Walmarts global plan?
On Wednesday, Walmart announced it would pay around $16 billion for a majority stake in Flipkart, India's largest online retailer. just pulled back and sold shares of UK Walmart 6,300 stores in 27 countries but But international sales have dropped 12% over the past five years. big box retailers heavily rely on economies of scale to sell at low prices The middle class is wonderfully unique nation by nation. Retail as a whole has not been an internationally scalable business india is the next china? have 500 stores in china and they are well penetrated walmart and amazon are fighting over India's online market share
How do we learn about and organization's culture?
Organizational language -Ex. Airbnb: "hosts" and "guests" Rituals and ceremonies -Ex. "On Iowa: Class of 2019" Organizational stories and legends -Ex. John Pappajohn and Samuel Becker Physical structures/symbols -Ex. Facebook: office space, social space -CPH: Staircase as a prominent center piece so encourage people to take the stair - public health How they set up the bike racks to encourage people to bike How the way they set up the building changed how faculty and faculty, and faculty and students interact Matching organizational and societal culture can result in positive outcomes (for employees and organizations) -Important, but often overlooked, consideration in mergers and acquisitions
uncertainty avoidance
People actively try to avoid uncertainty HIGH -expert knowledge -rules written down -less employee turnover LOW -more willing to take risks -employees take initiative
Indulgence vs. Restraint
Perception of personal life control Freedom of speech is deemed important Higher importance placed on leisure In countries with educated populations, high birthrates -freedom to satify need or wants in the moment Perception that what happens to me is not my own doing Freedom of speech not a primary concern Less importance placed on leisure In countries with educated populations, lower birthrates -social norms to regulate behaviors and actions
Political Environment
Political risk -Governmental actions or politically motivated events that could adversely affect the long-run profitability or value of a firm Two types: 1. Macropolitical risk event: Impacts all foreign firms doing business in a country or region (Ex. terrorism) 2. Micropolitical risk events: Impacts one or a few industries doing business in a country or region (Ex. product safety laws) BREXIT
The Negotiation Process
Preparation relationship building exchange of task-related information persuasion concessions and agreement -Bringing more options to the tables increases your chance of successful and making a deal -American negotiators do not give a lot of time and emphasis in the relationship building stage much to our disadvantage
reverse culture shock
Repatriation: The return to one's home country from an overseas management assignment Home sweet home? Not always... -Felt position at home was a demotion (75%) -Lacked opportunities to put international experience to use (60%) -Believed company had not communicated clearly about what would happen to them when they returned (60%) Within one year of returning home, 25% of managers had left the company! Feeling a disconnect with company back home and then having to continue to manage those relationships when abroad so that when you return you are not completely lost - oftentimes companies do not support you in maintaining that connection Repatriation becomes more difficult as length of time on assignment increases 1."Out of sight, out of mind" syndrome 2.Changes made while individual was abroad may make his/her position at HQ peripheral 3.Technological advances at HQ may render individual's skills and knowledge obsolete
Burned bridge bias
Tendency to engage in riskier behaviors than would select if negotiation was face-to-face People are willing to say things because they are behind a screen that they would not say face to face
squeaky wheel bias
Tendency to use "aversive emotional style" over e-mail when positive emotional style might be preferred in face-to-face negotiations
culture shock
The frustration and confusion that result from being bombarded by too many new and uninterpretable cues General thought that culture shock only happens to people who are culturally inexperienced but this is a misconception Research shows that people who experience the greatest culture shock are the most successful
reservation price/bottom line
The most you are willing to pay (if you are the buyer) The least you are willing to accept (if you are the seller)
Deborah Eicher: Speaker
Themes -hard work -curiosity -connections -open to opportunities she's had a lot of interesting experiences working all over the world. she has communicated and worked with people from a whole bunch of different countries and cultures.
long/short term orientation aka pragmatism
Thinking about the future, how current actions will effect the long term goals China - high UK - low
McDonald's Case
To what would you attribute McDonalds' success in the US? they focus on convenience and fast what about their success globally? because they are able to localize and adapt to preferences, taste, marketing, prices, health and quality First to adapt the assembly line into food industry In lower 48 states the farthest you can get from McDonalds is 107 miles. core menu wherever anyone goes in the world but tweaking areas for areas taste preferences they also market globally and pair with other global companies like Disney and Coke, Olympics/World Cup Think about McDonalds in France and how they adapted their image to the French consumer - this is called localization -tailored menu to French pallet, French care about where their ingredients come from, customers staying in the restaurant for at least an hour 1. its franchise bus model allows all of this franchise members, mgmt, and stakeholders to share risks/rewards with exploring new business opportunities 2. they understand the demo, econ viability, and local factors around the world to innovate and adapt in diverse mkt 3. standardizes training for franch and employees while also formatiing it for diff cultures
Trompenaar's Value Dimensions
Universalism vs. Particularism -Universalism: belief that ideas and practices can be applied everywhere in the world without modification -Particularism: belief that circumstances dictate how ideas and practices should be applied What right has your firend to expect you to protect them? -my friend has a definite right ot expect me to testify to the lower figure -has some right to expect me to testify to the lower figure Can't trust them if they are not willing to protect their friend Can't trust them since they are protecting their friend Diffuse vs. Specific -Specific: A culture in which individuals typically have large public spaces and relatively smaller private spaces -Diffuse: A culture in which the private and public spaces of individuals are similar in size Individualism vs. Collectivism -Individualism: refers to people regarding themselves as individuals -Collectivism: refers to people regarding themselves as part of group Neutral vs. Affective -Neutral: A culture in which emotions are held in check -Affective: A culture in which emotions are expressed openly and naturally Achievement vs. Ascription -Achievement: A culture in which people are accorded status based on how well they perform, Extent to which a country/culture gives higher status to those who have achieved greater -Ascription: A culture in which status is attributed based on who or what a person is, status is based on age, class, education Time -Sequential: A culture in which individuals tend to do one thing at a time, make appointments, and stick to schedules, Time is money -Synchronic: A culture in which individuals do several activities simultaneously, the time for appointments is approximate, and interpersonal relationships are more important than schedules, other cultural values are more important than time Environment -Inner-directed: Can and should attempt to control nature -Outer-directed: Man is part of nature and should peacefully coexist with nature -->extent to which we can control things in our life
communicating via technology
We overestimate our ability to effectively communicate our message We underestimate how much we rely on paralinguistic cues (e.g., gestures, emphasis, intonation) -->tapping study where someone was given a song and needed to tap it out. They assumed 50% of people would be able to guess the song but it was actually something like 2% -->same with sarcasm activity, not as good at communicating sarcasm via written word as we expected
What is motivation?
Willingness of individuals to exert effort toward a goal -Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation is important/universal. -It explains why people behave the way they do. l12-14 theories of motivation - too many, not very useful -Motivation to pursue goals that they value is universal -How to motivate and where these goal come from is not universal
Levels of culture
artifacts: easy to observe, can see with our eyes, only provides us with a partial understanding of culture •Food •Art •Clothes •Behaviors norms and values: •What is the expected behavior •How a culture would describe itself •How do they explain the various artifacts we see basic assumptions: hard to observe •These are the foundations of the culture •They are so deeply embedded •Hard for people within the culture to be able to explain •Like why is freedom of speech so important in the united states •When you question basic assumptions that have never been asked before it can be really hard to articulate --> image in book of a glacier: artifacts are what we can see but there is also a lot of underlying things like norms/values and assumptions
learning to speak iowan
class on how to communicate with Iowan better "Topics for Small Talk With Iowans." Some Iowans question the qualifications of foreign-trained doctors who they don't always understand and who don't always understand them Iowans are used to knowing their doctor on a personal level Thus, Dr. Little worried there might be "no social or emotional connection" between patients and international physicians at a time when the hospital was increasingly recruiting foreign doctors can never go wrong with talking about the weather
types of international management research
domestic: management studies in a single country, culture is ignored, assume universality replication: mgmt study repeated in another country, question universality, no theories about predicting culture indigenous: ind mgmt studies conceived and executed in one or many cultures, assume cultural differences, theory is needed, single country but take culture into consideration comparative: mgmt study conducted in two or more countries, similarities and differences exist international: studies of multinational orgs, similarities and differences exist or culture is ignored intercultural: studies of intercultural interaction in orgs, specific aspects of culture are studied and part of theory
Global Business Speaks English article
english as the global language of business according to article it is a must if you are a global business to know english not easy and some employees will not be happy about it it's english because it is the fastest spreading language 1/4 speak english in the world 1. competitive pressure, need to directly communicate with customers, suppliers, and other business partners - cannot count on them sharing your native language 2. globalization of tasks and resources: communication/lang can become the bottleneck and reduce efficiency 3. M&A integration across national boundaries: mergers are complicated enough without having a language barrier costs associated 1. change always comes a shock 2. compliance is spotty 3. self-confidence erodes: diminishing employees self worth in the company 4. job security falters 5. performance suffers
Ethical Decision Making
ethical decisions involve a conflict -generally between the needs of the part and the whole -largely shaped by culture ethics: Moral principles of right and wrong that guide a group of people and affect individual behavior, right vs wrong
Read: NY Times - "Wal-Mart Finds that Its Culture Doesn't Fit Every Culture"
food is cheaper at German discount chains store at edge of town and does not own a car changing the name required sales clerks to smile at employees which just doesnt happen in Germany --> customers found mannerisms strange and employees did not want to do it also not unionizing employees in Germany - this is a big thing Aldi undercutting walmart on prices all the time in germany sold golf clubs in Brazil in which they do not play or selling ice skates in Mexico
food as a cultural artifact
fridge photos: what can this say about the "college student culture" -Time is at a premium -High value placed on convenience -Tendency to overbuy food -Independent, responsible for own meals (vs. meals as shared experience with roommates) -Dietary restrictions How do our attitudes toward food reflect our culture? How does culture shape our attitudes toward food? Example: school lunch looking at French school lunch -Also consider our rituals about food? (e.g., meals, manners, sharing food, splitting check) -Can we draw conclusions about the values that underlie American culture? Japanese culture? Russian culture? Other cultures?
Shifts in work environment
globalization causing downsizing, privatization, and movement toward team based management moving factories where their is cheaper labor privitization: governments in developed and developing countries have been selling public state owned business to private inverstors
rational decision making: chapter 5
goal: to make an optimal choice between specific, clearly defined alternatives 1. problem definition: recognizing that a decision is needed and identify the problem 2. identify decision criteria: considering all the objectives 3. weight the criteria: the criteria may not all be of equal importance so prioritize and assign weights 4. generate the alternatives: identify all possible alternatives that will satisfy decision criteria 5. evaluate the alternatives: most difficult part because they need to predict the future outcomes of each choice 6. select the optimal solution: generate the scores
Global Teams that Work - article
greatest difference between successful vs unsuccessful global teams is SOCIAL DISTANCE - the degree of emotional connection among team members, easy to mitigate this when you are working in the same geographic location but not so much with a great amount of distance how to successfully manage social distance 1. structure, sense of power, if there are 10 people from Germany on the team and 2 from US, Germany people seem to have more power, if power is imbalanced then people feel a sense of in/out group, leader needs to get three things across 1)who we are, being a single unified entity 2)what we do, all trying to get the same task complete 3)I am there for you 2. process: empathy, feedback on routine interactions, unstructured time and small talk scheduled in to meetings, encouraging disagreement 3. language: the more fluent the more you contribute to the team having more influence, dial down dominance, slow down speaking, dial up engagement, balance participation 4. identity: understanding where your colleagues are coming from, stating your norms to team members, 5. technology: can reduce and increase social distance, which method of communication to use
George Williams in Thailand mini-case
he needed product to get manufactured and distributed on that day distributors claimed that they had too many shipments to be able to ship the products by that day. BUT they would be able to do it if he were to pay them a certain amount of money... what does he do in this situation? --> it depends considerations: -What is ethical vs. what is legal? -Amount ($300 is relatively small amount) -Could go to other supplier but...likely to find similar issue with other suppliers in Thailand -GM is largest client and there are risks associated with not delivering parts on time
CQ Assessment Cultural Values
individualism vs collectivism low power distance vs high power distance low uncertainty avoidance vs high: flexability/adaptability and planning/predicability cooperative vs competitive: murturing/collaberating and achievement short vs long term: immediate outcomes and success later low context/direct vs high context being vs doing: quality of life and productive/goal setting universalism vs particularism: rules/strandards apply to everyone and unique standards based on relationship neutral/non-expressive vs affective/expressive monochronic/linear vs polychronic/non-linear: one thing at a time/punctuality and multitasking/interruptions okay
Ecological fallacy
making conclusions about individuals based on group data
How Ikea Took Over the World
more stores around the world than walmart 10 of their biggest stores are in china gotten away with mastering one of the hardest challenges in the retail universe: selling high volumes of inventory at a consistently low price in vastly difference marketplaces, lang and cult volume, producing same stuff over and over they are guided by a vision to create a better everyday life for the many people do a bunch of research in order to not have to adapt the product per culture very good at showing how the same product can mesh with different regional habits skipping that extra coat of lacquer on the underside of the table that no one sees wasted space is wasted money "I hate air"
Kosovo & Speakers
offering tax breaks and free land to Iowa businesses to build operations in that southeastern European country. growing their economy and building companies and providing jobs. But with roughly half of the population under age 25,a growing group of young Kosovars is pushing to fight corruption, fix the justice system and stem Islamic extremism. beneficial for Kosovo because of Iowa's relationship with agriculture get youth interested in agriculture Iowa Sister States is allotted $19,000 of state money a year to maintain and grow the Kosovo partnership. The Iowa National Guard doesn't use any state money, but spends an estimated $300,000 of federal funding annually to conduct about 15 exchanges per year. What is Iowa getting out of this deal? Legacy and being able to spread state heritage across the world
Evaluation of management research
parochialism: lack of awareness of alternative contexts, models, research and values, not considering culture when conducting research 1. what time periods were these studies conducted in? cross cultural EQUIVALENCE cannot be assumed at any stage of a study conceptual/construct equivalence relates to the extent to which concepts have the same meaning in different countries method equivalence: relates to the sim and diff in the way to which the cultural groups being studied respond to the measurement instruments in general metric equivalence: refers to the extent that questions have similar measurement properties across diff groups like "my work is my life"
Components of the External Environment
political economic legal cultural: particularly important to international management
heuristics
rules of thumb (cognitive tools) that simplify decision making can result in biases in decision making increase speed of decision making usually managers are unaware that they are choosing between speed and quality in decision making and do not know they are using a heuristic availability: extent to which instances or occurrences of an event are readily brought to mind, based on life experiences, cultural differences in judgements representativeness: people not getting prenups because they do not believe the high divorce rate applies to them, overruling logic and probability in favoring themselves Availability: Availability is the extent to which instances or occurrences of an event are readily brought to mind Representativeness: the likelihood that an event will occur is influenced by how similar the occurrence is to their mental representation (stereotype) of similar experiences Anchoring & adjustment: make a judgment by starting from some initial point and then adjusting to yield a final decision, as often occurs in intercultural negotiation
characteristics of culture
shared: there are norms to society and society shares those norms learned: transmitted through interaction, what you should and should not do systematic and organized: -System of values, beliefs, and behavioral meanings related to each other and to the environmental context -Educational system, legal system all impact culture parents telling their children what to do very blatantly
why are cultures different?
survival: norms began to occur in order for groups of people to survive in their environment, ways for dealing with societal problems are called institutions ex: fam, edu, econ, poli language: it impacts how we communicate religion: strong influence as to what we value environmental conditions: impacts what society needs to survice and how society meets those needs
temporal synchrony bias
tendency to behave as if communicating in real time lack of predictability in response time; uneven flow of communication
Globalization
the close integration of countries and peoples of the world Globalization of markets: merging of national markets into one huge global marketplace Globalization of production: sourcing good and services from around the world very few products are solely produced in one part of the world
five tricks - card game
there was no verbal communication everyone was playing by different rules you kind of just went along with it. once you moved and realized the rules were changing you abided by the rules of the "leader" of the group, usually the person that has been their the longest
What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team - article
two different team experiences 1) one felt as if they could not share their ideas and there was competition within the team, they got along well individually and were all bight and nice people 2) they felt comfortable sharing their ideas, got along better as a group than individuals studies show that groups tend to innovate faster, see mistakes more quickly and find better solutions to problems there have been lots of theories about creating the best teams -group similar people together (all introverts) -group the best people together -group people together that are friends outside of work almost impossible to find patterns NORMS: these can be in any form but if groups have norms then it can improve their team, can be spoken or unspoken, just consistent also important as to how teams treat each other 1) everyone in the team speaks in the same proportion 2) high average social sensitivity - all skilled in intuiting how other felt
aspiration level/target point
what one would ideally like to achieve
Encouraging ethical behaviors
why is Sweden one of the top most ethical countries? it is part of their culture government initiatives: foreign corrupt practices act -Promote the importance of sustainability and CSR initiatives -Consider: Volvo, Electrolux, H&M, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), IKEA Institute ethics training program Purpose: -Develop employee awareness -Achieve credibility with employees -Teach employees a practical model of ethical decision making
