Leadership Styles

How does organizational leaders should behave in cross-cultural environments?

Leadership is the process of aligning people in a direction to achieve a common task and contribute that something extraordinary happens. Leaders should have the ability to integrate and motivate the people in a given environment/situation. It is important for the leaders to know the persons with whom he is working with and so be able to have a better communication with them.

When leaders are working in a cross-cultural environment they should understand and respect the culture of each person he is leading, in order to do a good job. They should understand how this culture operates because all the issues are handled different depending on the person’s culture. If the leader has all this knowledge then the communication with the followers will be better.

The culture affects the way you think, act and how you resolve the problems. 

[Untitled photograph of Cultural Intelligence]. Retrieved february 28, 2011,
from: http://www.henryorg.fi/data/dokumentit/yhteistyo/Cross-CulturalWeb.pdf

Ethical Behavior in International Business (workshop)

1. What does the statement “all capitalism is crony capitalism” is referring to? Do you agree with this statement or not? Give an example.

The statement “all capitalism is crony capitalism” is refer to the relation companies have with government and media. It says that the success of a company depends of the benefits the government gives and also of the information’s manipulation. Also the company will obtain more grants and permits and their success will not depend of the free market.

Sandeep. (2010). Dynamics of Land Policy, Retrieved:
February 21, 2011, 

from: http://www.cartoonistsandeep.com/post_detail.php.php?id=MAYAI1292503854MAYA4d0a0b2e7b845

2. What is a Banana Republic? Why the author is comparing India with a Banana Republic?

A “banana republic” is a country that depends of the agricultural sector; it is also very corrupt, unstable and have less power. It allows “the richer het richer and the poorer get poorer”.

The author compares India with a “banana republic” since in this country has high levels of corruption. Like the lecture show us “the media is the biggest banana peel in that republic”, having all the power in their hands.

3. Why is it problematic that in the business world “The Media” becomes a corporation?

Media is already very powerful and if it becomes a corporation they’ll become more powerful. It is a very problematic situation because they only take care of their interest, no matter if it damages others. So they will not worry about which information is the right one instead they will only publish the more interesting one, they will no follow any rules since the power they have and they didn’t take care if they damage others or if they give wrong information if it increases their profits.

[Untitled photograph of Media]. Retrived February 21, 2011, 

from: http://mashable.com/2008/03/19/ebooks-social-media/

4. In this situation, what behaviors are considered unethical for corporations, journalist and the state?

• Corporation: Decide what is going to be written and by who; control the media
• Journalist: Don’t give the right information or exaggerate about one
• State: Corruption showing favoritism by some corporations

5. What can The Media, Corporations and the States do in order to behave ethically and in the benefit of the people and not their own interest? Give at least 5 good ideas.

1. Transmit only the right information
2. Implement strong laws when a corporation enters a company
3. Being honesty in the work
4. State should act for the common welfare of the community
5. Information should be write by neutral people of different areas that are not involve in the issue

The Hindu (2010) The Republic on a banana peel. P. Sainath. Opinion. December 3, 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article927895.ece?homepage=true 

The Rise of Multinational Corporations (The Corporation)

How can we ensure corporations are held accountable for their actions "legally" and "ethically"?

It is really difficult to ensure because corporations are entities that nowadays have enormous power. They have a big influence in the economies and since they have many legal benefits that often leave them free to act in the way they wish. Sometimes governments receive some profits to stay silence if there are legal or ethical violations. Also it is very difficult to ensure corporations act in an appropriate way. 

Should individuals (directors, employees, shareholders) bear any responsibility for the actions of a corporation? If so, on what degree?

I think it is very difficult to judge, because sometimes people have some believes but are forced to act in another way.

The ones that are guiltier are the directors because they are the persons in charge to take company’s decision, also if they impose their interest over the ones of the society and didn’t act ethically they should assume this responsibility.

The employees have less responsibility since they only receive orders and is necessary for them act in this way in order to survive, maybe it could be necessary to go over and don’t care about others,

Finally the shareholders are the ones with less responsibility because they only receive dividends and are parts of the community receiving the bad effects the corporation is leaving.

What are the benefits of the corporate form? Could an alternative model offer them as well?

• Diversification of financial responsibility.
• They can achieve their own economical interests regardless of the consequences.
• The personal properties of the owners are not at risk for satisfying corporation’s debts.
• They have presence in different countries but take the decisions from the home country.

A similar form is the “Limited Liability Companies” that as well as the corporation protects the owners, but this model didn’t have the same benefits and have more restrictions.

Search for a foreign multinational corporation that has operations in Colombia. Research if they are run under Colombian rules or regulations or if they have special regulations?

For example a multinational corporation of publicity is (TBWA \ WORLDWIDE) with its office in Colombia TBWA \ COLOMBIA is in force by internal processes of work and exact methodologies in all the countries, but it must adapt its end product to the norms that regulate the communication and publicity in each country where it operates, in Colombia (ministry of communications), the same with their taxes, contracts and financial operation according to the regulations of the Colombian government.

Should economic efficiency (main argument for privatization) be primary concern for common and public services? Are there other criteria to determine who should own or operate them?

Taking into the moment we are living and how the world is developing in terms of globalization economy efficiency is a primary concern of common and public services because there is a lot of competition in the market and consumers are always looking for the lowest prices and best quality products. But there are other ways for the companies to obtain economic affiance.

It’s important to take into account that the things saying before are not reasons for the corporations to operate in a bad way; they should base their operations in good values and efficiency taking into account health, environmental issues, common welfare and share profits.

Austin Kleon. (2008). Mindmao of THE CORPORATION documentary (part one), Retrieved:
February 14, 2011, from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deathtogutenberg/2339726414/sizes/o/

The Corporation - Film (Documentary) (Achbar, M - Abbott, J. 2003).

Motivation

Motivation is what moves a person to reach something by desire to obtain certain results. Motivation guides a person to satisfy a necessity, obtaining that this person does his/her best efforts.

There could exist different types from incentives, which help to direct and maintain certain behavior in the people until they reach the wished goal. If we speak about motivation we should take into account people’s necessities, since if the person does not wish something there is no way to stimulate him/her.

Motivations can be of many classes and also depends on the culture to which the person who wants to be stimulated belongs. Economic retribution is not always enough to motivate a person; in some cases it is also necessary for the person to recieve affection, personal growth, stability and sense from property to their place of work.

"When it comes to motivation, no one strategy works for everyone - even within one culture. Across cultures, it's even more difficult. With Americans, a manager shouldn't expect much from appeals to duty, authority, company loyalty, group rewards or regular after-work socializing. Instead, he or she should emphasize opportunities for personal growth and monetary gain. With employees from India, personal loyalty, company prestige and appeal to authority can be effective, but above all, the manager should cultivate a certain "human touch" in relating to the needs of subordinates, as their guide and friend as well as their boss."

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ly27ao7Xdg8J:www.cmct.net/articles_culture_motivation.html+motivation+in+cultures&cd=1&hl=es&ct=clnk&client=safari&source=www.google.com

theRSAorg, (2010). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc