Sunday, January 26, 2020

Strategies for Managing Diversity and Cross-Cultural Issues

Strategies for Managing Diversity and Cross-Cultural Issues In the current business world, where time and distance are not barriers, organizations run their operations across the globe crossing the boundaries by bypassing the limitations. The working environment of such organization is diversified, filled with people of different skill sets, culture, religion, language, ethnic, mentality etc. As this diversified team needs to work closer and as it needs collaboration for the smooth operation of business, it is critical to manage efficiently the cross cultural environment in an organization. In this essay we critically analyze how diversity helps an organization to be competitive in the global market, the cross cultural issues and the importance and how to manage diversity efficiently in an organization. 1. Introduction Industries and organizations are fast growing with the help of innovative technologies. In the current business world, these technologies, the enablers, are helping the organization to expand the business across the globe crossing the boundaries of limits. As a result of this, the organizations environment is very much diversified with people from different countries, language and culture and so on. Organizations need to deal with people from this diversified environment. In the new generation business or service industry, even in a single project people from different culture or countries works together for the project completion. A close relationship between these people is very much essential for the uninterrupted continuation of the operations and for the successful completion of these projects. A small issue or fault in these relations could make a sever problem and the impact of the same on the organizations operations will be very high. So a cross cultural environment should b e carefully handled for not breaking the thread of operation of an organization. The truth is that, there could be several cross cultural issues arising in an organization due to several reasons. So, in such situations a manager should need skills for managing the diversity in an organization as well. This skill is very much important as globalization has become more and more relevant than the past. 2. Diversity An enabler for globalization As the business is becoming more and more globalize, diversity in an organization is a competitive advantage for leveraging the opportunity of business globally (Zainuba 1998). A good management of such diversity can help in enormous improvement of team work and also helps in improving the productivity of an organization. Zainuba (1998) points out that multinational companies like GE, Honeywell, BankAmerica and lot more has kept diversity leaders as their senior level employees in their organization. Diversity also has huge importance as it helps in satisfying multi cultural clients of an organization and also helps to handle the diversified market place in the globalize environment. Companies who run their business in multiple companies face competitive issues. For understanding those markets and competitive issue, a cross cultural collaboration and understanding is very much important. Due to this reason many companies has kept their managerial level employees or top level executiv es in foreign countries to be from a different country or culture to understand the global business and to pursue the advantage of the market. For example, Colgate Company has kept an Australian as the top level executive for their European division operations. By doing like this these companies get a better chance to be competitive in the global market and helps globalization effectively. 3. Cross cultural issues: It is obvious that when a diversified team work together, due to many reasons like language barriers, cultural difference etc, many issues may occur. But in any organization it is critical to analyze the cause of these issues and is necessary to find out what hinders the team work in such situations. Cultural difference is the major cause of the cross cultural issues in most cases in an organization. Hofstede (cited in Higgs 1993: 37) has identified four different dimensions which cause cultural difference or the factors which cause impact on the national cultural difference in an organization. Hofstede (1993) broadly classifies these dimensions as Individualism / collectivism, power-distance, uncertainty avoidance and Masculinity / femininity. The dimension individualism / collectivism represent the extent to which individuals are valuing their self determination which is as opposed to their behaviour, determined by collective will of organization. The next dimension which is power- distance also causes huge impact on cross cultural environment. Employee shows involvement in and also has a participative style of management in the low power-distance culture. The other side of this is that the employees always tend to accept and behave in certain ways as directed by the higher management hierarchy. Masculinity / femininity are considered to be one of the most difficult dimensions. There is always a high conflict between highly masculine cultural values and highly feminine cultural values in an organization. It is considered that the masculine culture values mostly related to material acquisition and assertiveness where as feminine culture values relates to the relationship and person and the quality of life (Higgs 1996). So these cross-cultural conflicts always tend to be high in a multinational organization. Uncertainty avoidance domain represents the employee tolerance of uncertainty in the work place. A research done by Higgs Phelps (1990) on Japanese organiz ations operating in United Kingdom also proves the practical evidences of these dimensions. Magdaleno Kleiner (1996) also points out that organizations behaviour and working environment is tightly coupled with the countries culture. They assert this point by giving examples of different organizations based in different countries like UK, Japan and Mexico. Magdaleno Kleiner (1996) demonstrate that the cultural trend of United States organization is to become a part of melting pot, Mexican organizations always filters ascription and tradition into the work place, UK organizations are characterised by homogeneity and Japanese organizations promotes work opportunities for the women. So taking these cultural difference into consideration, when a company is operating in a global market across the globe where different people across the globe work together in an organization as a team, the chance of occurrence of cultural conflict is quite natural, but systematic and efficient management of this issue could be very helpful to increase the productivity as well as for innovation in the global market by leveraging the competitive advantage of diverse team in an organization. 4. Managing Diversity And Cross Cultural Issues: Managing diversity in an organization has become the at most importance in this era of globalization. As we discussed earlier this efficient management is very much necessary to leverage the competitive advantage of the diversified team in an organization for achieving success and for the expansion of business through innovation. A study done by Aoun (2007) on international forum on managing the diversity revels the findings that diversity management has become the priority in most of the countries especially in work place and in institutions of higher education. A discussion between Lloyd Trompenaars (1993) suggests that riding waves of culture is becoming extremely important in the corporate world and day to day lives as well. Kandola Fullerton (cited in Maxwell et al. 2001: 468) says that managing diversity has its origin in United States of America. Maxwell et al. (2001) explains that this emerging importance of managing diversity was not only because of the widely spread demog raphic changes but also it offers equal opportunity approach. A research done by Schwabenland Tomlinson (2008) revels that managing diversity could become inherently problematic when it comes to some organizations like non profitable organizations when involving the process of undermining and when organizations efforts to organize and manage by themselves. But as diversity gives sustainable advantages, it is necessary to manage it efficiently through different ways by adopting new strategies in the organizations. Friday Friday (2003) points out that most of the current organizations implemented corporate diversity strategy but have not used planned change-corporate diversity. This could cause diversity initiatives to be ineffective. So a planned strategic management is necessary for efficiently managing diversity in an organization. Friday Friday (2003) also asserts that planned change-diversity strategy will also help in long term effectiveness and this is extremely important fo r managing human resource in organizations with highly diversified work force. Friday Friday (2003) also give systematic strategic management approach starting from strategic formulation, implementation and strategic evaluation. In strategic formulation we develop the mission, vision and the goal, conduct the SWOT analysis and also set the criteria for selection and then select the strategy. Then in strategic implementation phase we allocate appropriate resources and execute the strategy. In the evaluation process of managing the diversity, we set the control process, review and access the strategic execution and takes corrective actions when ever it is necessary. So this type of strategic management of diversity is very much important for ideally dealing with the cross cultural issues in an organization proactively. In general, in this strategic management for managing diversity, we are going through the process of Acknowledging diversity, valuing diversity and managing diversity. Friday Friday (2003) also projects eight steps which contribute to the efficient diversity management. These are exposure, experience, understanding, respect, knowledge, appreciate, modifying attitudes and the behaviours and finally healthy interaction. These could help in maintaining a healthy diversified team in an organization. Exposure, experience, understanding and knowledge broadly come under acknowledging diversity. Under exposure we promote the practice of acknowledging a person to know who he is, where he is from, promoting to receive others culture, unmasking and public noticing. Under experience, we insist personal involvement, information gathering, living through, encountering and doing. Knowledge phase is almost similar to this. In understanding, it tends to grasp the reality, share unique insights and share perception. Now in valuating the diversity we go through two phases that is, Appreciating and giving respect. By appreciating we give high regards to others opin ion, welcoming them and accepting the worth of their value and culture. By giving respect we need to give personal considerations, pay tribute to the value of culture, pay difference to persons culture, Pay attention as well to the persons culture and finally regarding a persons value. Higgs (1994) suggest certain tips for the efficient management of diversity in an organization. He suggests to built a strong corporate culture in the organization, adapt a strong human resource strategy and policy and then empower the subsidiaries of its own to adapt these strategies and implement it locally so that it cam meet the national cultural difference. He also suggests involving all locations globally for the formulation of such policies so that it supports corporate goals in a diversified environment. Higgs (1994) also suggests that for better management of diversity, it is necessary to identify the national cultural differences and its impact on a particular organization and the also necessary to develop an understanding of potential strength which influences corporate and the national culture with in an organization. Choy et al. (2010) stress the need of differentiated management approach which involves changing current management process. In differentiated management ap proach managers need to take a different managerial style which adapts to the business environment and the characteristics of multinational staffs. Choy et al. (2010) proves this with the example of established trade relation between China and Singapore where they needed to use differentiated management technique as these countries had different philosophies, political and cultural view for doing the trade. Also Janssens et al. (2004) points out the importance of diversity of languages and the importance of managing it by stressing the point that international organizations are multilingual organizations where language diversity needs to be organized for the effective diversity management. A case study on Siemens by Fredriksson et al. (2006) also proves the importance of managing diversified languages in a multilingual organization. In this case, Siemens subsidiaries in Germany and France preferred their native languages but managing those conflicts and promoting English as common l anguage needed diversified management skills and was successful evidence of efficient diversity and cross cultural management. Diversity management becomes much more important in these situations as we cannot avoid these situations because it occurs frequently in globalization era. As we discussed earlier, managerial skills need to be shifted from an organization level to a global thinking, by practicing to deal with the multicultural and multilingual environment. This also includes the need of practicing the equal opportunity theory and to be implemented by the organizations. Many studies also proves that managing diversity is not only for diversified recruitment of staffs, but also giving equal opportunity for everyone globally by accepting and welcoming different culture and by rewarding for different successful aspects of different talents. These kinds of effective diversity management in an organization reduces the friction of national, cultural and even mental differences as w ell thus by giving way to a smooth operation of the business and by giving competitive edge for innovation and success. 5. Conclusion In the present business world, due to the technology developments and innovation organizations and industries are fast growing. As a part of globalization, companies operate their business across the globe for expanding the business as well as to pursue the opportunity available in the world market. Such a working environment will be diversified with people from different countries with different philosophies, culture, language, gender, mentality, thoughts and lot more. For the successful operation of a firm globally, it requires a tight coupling between these people in an organization. For this tight coupling, a good relationship as well as trust is required. But chances of causing conflict in such multinational organizations are high. Instead of finding these conflicts as a negative impact on organization, we need to use the new trend of finding and utilizing opportunity from the conflict and need to leverage the competitive advantage of diversity which helps organization to expand business in the global market and to pursue success. For doing this an efficient management of diversity is required in an organization. Managers need to think about the diversified management of the diversity rather than the old management styles followed in the organizations. This diversified management should focus on the principle of giving equal opportunity to everybody. This should also involve the process of understanding, accepting and respecting everybody thoughts and aspects. Companies should hire diversified team for higher as well as middle level management to understand and leverage the opportunities in the market by using the experience and knowledge of these diversities. This could help organizations to root their business in other countries by a better understanding of their culture. Companies should also focus on developing a common human resource strategy and policy for everyone in the organization. Companies should also include every bodys thoughts and opinion wh ile developing these policies for better outcome. An efficient management of diversity will allow reducing or even avoiding the friction caused due to cross cultural issues. An efficient management of diversity could also help an organization to better understand the national difference and this will better help an organization to establish business across globe with out much issues. As a part of diversified management, companies should also give importance to language differences and need to try to make a common language. This is because most of the multinational organizations are multilingual. In general, diversity management has become the at most important process in an organization as it is directly linked with the companies strategic goals and success in the current globalize business world.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Customize Mobile Services (CMS) †Creating and Personalizing your Plans

In a world where technology plays a vital role, mobile phone becomes not just a luxury but more of a necessity. More than calls and messages, we are about thoughts, feelings, ideas in all shapes and sizes, more than just building your business we are about creating your future. Our goal is to transform and enrich lives through communications by way of our dream of making great things possible. The idea of choosing the best plans that will suit to your needs and budget is as easy as snap of a finger. (1) What are the types of services that you offer? CMS offers services but we sell solutions. We are a solution provider. You can either choose between business package and consumer plans. To give you an example, for business plan we have Executive Post Paid, allows you to run the business wherever you maybe. On top of the unlimited calls, you will be equipped with the services such as free text messaging, unlimited internet surfing and downloads that will make your business on the go. For consumer, we will let you decide on the bucket of minutes that you think you consume on monthly basis. From lowest to highest to unlimited calling and sending messages, you can customize it. (2) Is there any add ons? Yes, personalize your mobile phone. Put anything you need on it. Sending pictures, surfing the net, money transfer, voice command, online chatting, long distance call and down load games and ring tones. (3) What if I want to cancel my add ons, is that possible? How can I do that? We have a test drive period of 30 days, for you to be able to check and know the services that will be beneficial for you. If you don’t need, cancel it. (4) Is there a contract? We are looking forward in building a harmonious relationship with our subscribers, thus, we do not bind you to any terms however we guarantee a long time commitment in all we do. There will be no contract and no obligations however if there is one thing we are capable of giving, it is the quality of having us as your provider. (5) Another providers allow me to exceed my limit, I sometimes do not control myself in using my phone, is there any way you can help me with that? Positively yes, aside from the fact that you can choose your own plans, you will also receive a weekly reminder through SMS the current status of your plan, our operator will call you if you are near in exceeding your limits in this way you will be able to know where you stand and you have the option to stop all the services and have it resume on your next billing cycle to avoid paying extra charges. (6) I am a businessman and I don’t have time to fall in line just to pay my bills, what are my means to pay it? You can either pay through your credit card online or you can call our toll free number to enroll you in automatic billing debited. (7) What's in it for me? CMS gives you the worth of your money, we let you get connected to your family members, friends and loved one's without getting over charged. We provide nothing but the best when it comes to mobile technology. Being hip, trendy and in fashion doesn’t always mean costing too much. In fact CMS (Customize Mobile Services) delivers in to you in a complete package wrap in an amazing OPTIONS and CHOICES.

Friday, January 10, 2020

My trip to Rome (Roma)

It was the night of my dad's birthday that my godmother Jill explained how she had free air miles, and wondered if there was somewhere I'd most like to visit? Jill had already invited my mother to go with her. I replied, â€Å"I'd love to go anywhere†. â€Å"What about you where would you like to go the most,† I said. Her answer to this was â€Å"I would love to go to Rome† and I said, â€Å"That's where we should go†. By the time we got to the airport I was feeling rather hungry. I kissed and said good-bye to dad. Jill, mum and I waved goodbye to dad and headed in to the airport. Once we got in side it was really busy. It was hard to get through the people queuing up waiting to check in, so we squeezed through the people to the right checking desk. As we waited for our turn, even though it was busy we got our tickets and passports ready to show the lady behind the desk. When we finally made it to the desk we handed in everything and we where checked in in no time. After doing this Jill led us to the exclusive lounge. This is because she uses this airline a lot, which means she can sit in the lounge and have food and drink depending on what time of day it is. Here we waited and ate our breakfast before we were called for boarding. After an hour and half's wait we were called to board our flight. I grabbed my case and braced my self for the flight as we walked to the boarding area. We showed our tickets at the boarding desk and walked down the tunnel to the plane and took our seats. As I sat there looking out through the small window I started to feel nervous, but it was ok because mum and Jill reassured me. However, I was still a bit nervous and I found it hard to breathe as it was quite packed. When we started to takeoff I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and felt as if was going to pass out but luckily I didn't. I stared out the window as the land below became smaller and smaller. A little while in to the flight they hostesses came round with food and drinks for us, which was really enjoyable and tasty. For the rest of the flight I fell asleep and by the time I woke up we were in the motion of landing. Once we had landed and it was safe to leave our seats we left the plane and went to collect our cases. Then we boarded the airport train, which took us to the main train station where we went on a train to Rome. When we arrived at Rome's train station we had to walk down along platform, which was very busy, and we had to avoid being trampled by the herds of people that were heading towards us. Luckily once we were outside the train station we didn't have far to walk before we were at our hotel as it was only a couple of roads away. When we arrived at the hotel we went straight to the front desk to sign in and get the key to the room we were staying in. We took the lift to the third floor. Mum opened the door and I went in first and sat my case on the floor. Jill and mum followed after me. Jill and mum decided it would be a good idea if we unpacked and have a rest before we went out for our meal. We walked down the stairs to the ground floor and handed our key in before we left the hotel. As we walked we discussed where we were going to eat. Jill suggested that we eat at the restaurant just round the corner and that's where we went to eat that night. When we arrived there was an old man playing beautiful Italian music on his violin. We sat out side, as it was a warm night and there was good music. Jill tried to order dinner in Italian but to our surprise the waiter spoke better English than we did. For our appetiser we had thin dried ham and juicy orange melon. I wasn't sure about it but once I tasted it was really delicious. The second course I had pizza, which was delicious also because it had a buttery cheese topping on a really thin crisp base. By the time we had finish our meal it was late and we were all tired so we went back to the hotel to sleep. The morning after arriving in Rome my deep sleep was interrupted by the loud chiming of the church bells. I got up and went to see mum and Jill in the other room. I went into their room. They looked at me tiredly and I smiled at them. I said morning and went into the bathroom. When I came out they were dressed and ready to go down and have breakfast, so I changed into my clothes and followed them down to the restaurant. After we had eaten we went back to our room and got our things ready for the day ahead. Mum and Jill had planned what we were going to see the night before. The first thing we were going to see was the Trevi fountain and that's where we headed. When we arrived at the Trevi fountain it was swarming with people selling goods, advertising their restaurants, people who giving tours and people who had just come to see the fountain. Once we were closer I understood why there were so many people who had come to see the fountain. It was a wonderful and beautiful sight. The sculpture and the size were amazing. But there was one thing missing which would of given the full affect of the fountain ‘the water'. There was no water to be seen in it at all because it was being cleaned. We took a few pictures and headed to the next thing on our list, which was The Spanish Steps. When we arrived there the first thing that grabbed our attention were the monumental steps. As I looked up the steps I could see the church of SS. We walked up the steps to the church and had a look inside. After looking round the church we come out and walked back down the stairs and headed back to the hotel. As headed back we past the Trevi fountain that was now full of water and as it had gotten dark it was all lit up. This made it even more beautiful than be for and we stood and looked at it and toss a coin into the water of the fountain and made a wish. Over the next four days we were woken up at seven in the morning to the church bells chiming and going out at about half nine. We visited many of the main tourist attractions such as, Vatican City where we saw St. Peter's church and walked up the 320 steps to the top of the building, which was hard work, but the view was breath taking. We also walked around St Peter's square where people were having tours into The Vatican, which we joined. Inside The Vatican it was huge and the detail and sculptures were incredible. We also visited the Sistine Chapel after it had been restored to its original colours and the paintings were astonishing. When you looked up at the ceiling you could tell that each painting got bigger and bigger. This is where Michelangelo realised that the first scene was too small and made the next one bigger and so on. Then we went to The Colosseum where they were restoring it to its original state. But they've had to redo I what they had done because they had restored it wrong. We walked in and around The Colosseum where we took pictures and took in the remarkable building. We went from there to The Roman Forum where the remains of ancient Temples of all ages were still standing at incredible highs. The next thing we visited was the Monument to Victor Emmanuel ll. The size of this monument was the size of the houses of parliament. Then we went in to the Pantheon, which is also a monument. As we went inside this building the sculpture was startling. When I looked up, I noticed this hole in the roof that actually lets in the rain when it does. Following the Pantheon we visited Piazza Navona. This is a square with three big fountains going down the middle of it. We also visited the Villa Bognese garden, which was enormous. We walked through the garden as the sun shone through the leaves on the trees which sent a warm happy felling though my body. It such a beautiful day we found a mini restaurant in the garden, which we sat out side of with a cold glass of water each. We walked around the garden we notice that the pond had lots of terrapins rest on rocks in the sun. We took a few pictures of them and then sat by a little fountain and rested in the shaded to cool down. We on through the garden and found our selves out side of a zoo. We then decided to sit down and read a book but Jill when to sleep instead. Once we were relaxed and hungry we went into the town and had lunch. When we had finished our lunch we head back to the hotel. After visiting each of these places we would have meals at different Italian restaurants where we ate proper Italian foods and wines. The food was filling and really got you taste buds tingling. Jill and I had Italian ice cream whenever we had the chance. We tasted all sorts of flavours which where really yummy. At the end of our trip we still couldn't speak great Italian but we all enjoyed our selves. We will treasure the time we had there.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Opposites Attract in 1984 by George Orwell - 642 Words

Ever hear of the saying opposites attract? Well in the novel 1984 it seems like opposites really do attract. Winston and Julia have almost nothing in common except for their hatred for the Party. There are many differences between Julia and Winston such as their view of the Party, the way they resist and rebel, and their characteristics. The first of many things that Julia and Winston don’t have in common are their characteristics. Both Winston and Julia have a contradicting physical appearance and personality. Winston is a small, frail figure with very fair hair. His face is naturally optimistic looking and his skin is rough by the continuous use of coarse soap, blunt razor blades, and the cold of winter. Winston is thirty-nine years old and has bad health. He coughs violently in the morning and suffers itching and inflammation from a varicose ulcer above his right ankle. The symptoms of the ulcer grow worse the more he retains from sexual activity and starts to alleviate on ce he starts the affair with Julia. Winston is very thoughtful and observant and is very concerned with the Party’s philosophy and how they control the history. Winston also has a unique sense of fatalism and is extremely paranoid. On the other hand, Julia has very dissimilar characteristics than Winston. Julia is dark-haired and twenty-six years old. She plays the act of a zealous Party member by wearing an Anti-Sex sash and passionately participating during the Two Minutes Hate. The real Julia isShow MoreRelatedConsider how the natural development of narrative techniques in George Orwell’s 1984 creates a600 Words   |  3 Pagestechniques in George Orwell’s 1984 creates a theme of individualism verses state. What was the point in writing such an obvious theme, since a dystopia is the prime example of an imperfect world? He uses extremely well-developed techniques to demonstrate the dystopian society. Specifically, Orwell uses symbols as well as the setting to thoroughly contribute to the idea of a totalitarian state in his dystopian society; the ideas are in symbolic objects, themes, and characters. Orwell clearly suggestsRead MoreOrwell s 1984, By George Orwell1617 Words   |  7 Pagesgovernment. Correlating with the basis of being human, humanity is the building blocks of human life, which goes to show its importance, but what if the blocks were being taken away one by one? In the novel, 1984, by George Orwell, these blocks were being stripped away from the citizens every day. Orwell gives the readers insight in a world where technology inhibits daily life, humans lack intuition, and the repression of individuality. For instance, technology today is so prevalent in our daily livesRead MoreHeavens Gate: A Colossal Failure Essay1219 Words   |  5 PagesMarshall H. Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Trousdale Nettles, met in 1972 when Applewhite was a patient in the hospital where Nettles worked (Stewart par 1) After they discovered that they shared many of the same beliefs, they began to hold meetings to attract followers. Applewhite and Nettles believed themselves to be â€Å"the two ‘endtime’ witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11† (â€Å"Heaven’s Gate† Britannica par 2). These witnesses are two nonhuman beings who will appear on earth to prepare the way for theRead MoreGeorge Orwell : The Conscience Of A War Torn Generation Essay2273 Words   |  10 PagesWords of Warning Though George Orwell is widely known as the conscience of a war-torn generation he had originally begun his life as Eric Arthur Blair. Born into the British colony of Motihari, Bengal, Eric spent much of his youth without a father. While his father oversaw exports under the Indian Civil Service his mother chose to raise both of her children in England where they were able to make do. Despite having no ill will towards being lower-upper-middle class he developed a distaste towardsRead MoreCritics of Novel 1984 by George Orwell14914 Words   |  60 Pages1984 In George Orwells 1984, Winston Smith wrestles with oppression in Oceania, a place where the Party scrutinizes human actions with ever-watchful Big Brother. Defying a ban on individuality, Winston dares to express his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with Julia. These criminal deeds bring Winston into the eye of the opposition, who then must reform the nonconformist. George Orwells 1984 introduced the watchwords for life without freedom: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. Written