Globalization can increase production and manufacturing excellence as companies face international competition. However, it also leads to job losses in some countries as production shifts overseas. Economic downturns have also increased protectionism and nationalism as countries try to protect local industries from foreign competition. When expanding internationally, companies must consider factors such as cultural differences, government policies, competition and purchasing power in foreign markets to successfully implement strategies and alliances globally.
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Sample essay on cross cultural management
1. Sample Essay on Cross Cultural Management
Pros of Globalization
Production grows faster due to globalization especially when countries
produce services and commodities that possess proportional
advantage. There is an increase in manufacturing activities due to
competition which turns the focus of producers to excellence
production rather than quantity production. In itself, globalization is a
representative of a universal procedure for homogenizing goods, costs,
interest duty, proceeds and earnings. It depends on three expansion
forces. These are human relocation force, quick capital movements and
worldwide trade as well as economic markets’ incorporation.
Resources’ productivity is increased by these factors and movement of
producers to different places enables them to produce quality goods
that capture potential buyers’ attention. In turn, this improves the
living standards of the people because of their ability to get quality
goods.
Secondly, worldwide competition is enhanced by globalization because
prices are restricted by affordable imports. This prevents economic
growth from being wrecked by inflation. There are cases where
globalization has been considered among the contributing factors for
inflation. However, after assessing the situation properly it becomes
apparent that globalization provides imported goods’ alternative when
the products made locally become expensive because of the production
cost and related factors. It is possible for the imported goods to be
cheaper while suppliers may work hard in their efforts of ensuring that
consumers get imported goods at cheaper prices.
Globalization provides an opportunity for consumers to access
commodities that are not availed by the local producers. This is due to
the fact that companies can now export products to foreign countries
with ease (Bigman, 2002). This makes it possible for consumers to
2. compare various brands or similar products of different companies. As
such, they make decisions from informed perspectives depending on
the value and utility of goods. Customers are able to purchase goods at
prices that are convenient to them due to these comparisons.
Disadvantages of Globalization
There is a significant number of citizens in America who have lost jobs
due to production shifts or importation of goods. Others have not lost
their jobs but they are affected because their jobs are now paying less
salaries and wages. Millions of American citizens are living in fear
because they work for companies that are functioning under anxiety
(Bigman, 2002). It is impossible for such workers to remain productive
at home and at work. This might case a serious problem in families.
Impact of economic Downturn in Protectionism and Nationalism
There are negative impacts of the recent slowdown of economic
growth on trade between countries. Several countries have imposed
policies that are aimed at minimizing global trade. This occurs when
foreign nations seem to benefit from the trade more than local firms.
Protectionism is now a common phenomenon among different
countries because their administrations are trying to liberate their
domestic companies. Almost in all cases, this affects foreign industries
negatively. Different economies have embraced protectionism. They
are taking measures via artificial escalation of exports as well as
diminishing imports. Apparently, the aim of countries with such policies
is to establish these measures in order to protect home industries.
There has been an increase in the restrictions with the aim being to
protect what belongs to the people while ensuring that equal
opportunities are not provided for local and foreign institutions
(Rickard et al., 2009). This shows that economic downturn influenced
global trade negatively. Countries whose local industries were facing
threat from foreign firms have been helped by economic downturn.
3. This is because these industries lack a chance to endure the imported
goods presence whose prices are low. Local products are favored by
protectionism. This makes competition extremely stiff for foreign
industries.
Financial nationalism has emerged afresh due to global slump.
Countries are putting more efforts on minimization or reduction of
globalization’s effects. This is due to the fact that several global
economies are blaming one another for economic downturn. For
instance, Apple products are manufactured by a plant in China but their
proceeds are rarely beneficial to the Chinese people. There was an
immense increase in investment flows and universal trade after the
Second World War. However, countries were influenced by economic
downturn to consider reducing participation in global economy’s
activities.
Role of Culture in Global Management
Managers are now able to work in grounds that they are unfamiliar
with due to globalization which brings different cultural practices
together. Any sensible manager ought to try to comprehend cross-
cultural practices because their business operates from this context.
This comprehension calls for the identification of people’s culture by
the manager so that the members of the culture can effectively identify
with services and goods that an organization offers. The services and
goods that an organization offers ought to consider the people’s culture
for it to be successful.
The manager’s attitude towards people’s civilization can determine a
business’ failure or success. The culture of U.S is very unpredictable
when compared to that of other countries like Indonesia, Saudi Arabia
and Japan. A U.S firm operating in any of these countries ought to be
sensitive to cultural details among the people or the society to prevent
cases of misunderstanding (Harris et al., 1991). A company from U.S
should consider local culture details while offering services and
4. products in Saudi Arabia. Violating cultural details can lead to
disagreement between the firm and the citizens of this Islamic state.
The case might be different when a U.S firm is operating in Germany
since there are similar cultures between Germany and the U.S to some
levels.
A U.S company with a business venture within North America may
require increased creativity due to cultural diversity of this region.
Failing to be creative will make the company incapable of meeting the
needs of the North American people. Here, the idea is to enlarge
market coverage while considering the people’s cultural practices.
Communication across cultures
This communication refers to a communication in which a person faces
the challenge that comes with living in a place that has cultural ways
that differ from the ones that he/she is accustomed to. A person is
required to communicate and interact with people who might not be
like them in significant ways. This communication emphasizes on the
essence of promoting sensitivity to differences in intercultural
communication while providing skills and knowledge to the person so
that they can interact with people of the other cultures successfully
(Dunphy, 2012).
Cultural variables in Communication
In communication, language is considered as a cultural variable. Small
variations in a language that is common among individuals can lead to
communication difficulties among nations that are socially close such as
America and Britain. Being unable to communicate using a local
language and poor translation can cause language ineffectiveness. For
instance, the watchword of Pepsi, “Come Alive with Pepsi”, means
“Come out of the grave” when translated to the German language
(Blanchard, 2006).
5. Attitude that is caused by ethnocentric and stereotypical mid-sets is
another cultural communications’ variable. This attitude can hinder
organizational communication. The manager ought to ensure that
translation is availed in an organization to prevent the use of offensive
words in slogans. In the Pepsis slogan above, it should be changed for
any investment made in Germany to avoid a possible misinterpretation.
Time is another cultural variable. This can determine the use of
language in communication. How people of a specific community
observe and use time ought to be considered prior the start of a
communication process. For instance, the approaches of comparative
timekeeping communicate the essence of the parties involved while to
the Middle East people, only Allah controls time (Blanchard, 2006).
Formulation Strategy
This is a process that involves the evaluation of the existing strategies
and goals of the organization in order to align them with the market
needs. Strategies are often considered as the remedy to market
competition. An organization’s management that intends to cope with
market challenges should recognize the rich calculated substitutes in
addressing critical stages of the process of formulating management
and marketing strategy. Formulation of strategy requires the
management to use exclusive ways within the market apart from
copying other organizations (Segal-Horn, 1999).
Approaches to International Strategy
Before going international, any organization should consider several
factors. The first factor ought to be the expected competition. A wider
market has stiffer competition and an organization that fails to consider
this factor will most likely be frustrated. International strategy entails
knowing that there are several organizations that produce similar goods
as well as the best way to capture the attention of customers. This
ought to be the major concern when a company intends to become an
6. international organization. Customers’ purchasing power within a
market is also another factor. This should be determined while
packaging goods and setting prices.
Factors for a manager to consider
A manger ought to consider the challenges that come with the new
markets including government policies which can affect a company. The
manager should also consider culture since this can affect an
organization positively or negatively. Substitutes’ danger should also be
considered closely by a manager.
Challenges in Implementing a Global alliance
An environment that is extremely competitive poses a threat to global
alliance implementation. Several alliances have been unsuccessful due
to unhealthy competition or when a partner in the alliance starts to
assimilate and to dominate others. This worsens when several systems
that interlock each other are concerned as well as the outlining of
complicated networks.
The type of governments in place can also hinder the implementation
of transnational alliances. The failure or success of a company can be
determined by the government system. Political unrest and
interference within an organization can make the implementation of
global alliances hard.
Steps that are followed while implementing strategies also determine
the success of a venture. Business entities that participate in alliances
ought to decide if to engage long or short drawn transactions. This
implies that licensing ought to be one of the initial steps on the basis of
the conditions that a country has in place.
Authorization, licensing, joint manufacturing, long-term sourcing, joint
business venture and associations that involve equity development are
critical steps in the establishment of alliance sphere. Evidently, this was
7. seen during the McDonalds and Coca-Cola alliance. Although this
alliance was informal, a long-term alliance was established in the
process.
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8. References
Bigman, D. (2002). The pros and cons of globalization for developing
countries. Globalization and the developing countries: Emerging
strategies for rural development and poverty alleviation, 27-79.
Dunphy, J. (2012). Communicating Across Cultures. Retrieved January 9,
2014 from:
http://www2.klett.de/sixcms/media.php/10/A0802153517501_Commu
nicating_across_cultures_LHB_EB.pdf
Harris, P. R., Moran, R. T., & Soccorsy, J. (1991). Managing cultural
differences (Vol. 3). Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company.
Kelly, J., Schaan J., and Joncas, H. (2002). Managing Alliance
relationships: Key Challenges in the early stages of
collaboration. University of Ottawa. Pdf
Lima, J.M. (2008). Patterns of Internationalization for Developing
Country Enterprises: United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO). Vienna Austria. Pdf
Rickard, C., Baker, J., & Crew, Y. (2009). Going global: Managing the HR
function across countries and cultures. Farnham, England: Gower.
Segal-Horn, S., & Faulkner, D. (1999). The dynamics of international
strategy. London [u.a.: International Thomson Business Press.