Religion and The Organizations

A key aspect of the human being is religion; it dictates a set of rules and behaviors that must be obeyed by the people in order to achieve happiness and peaceful life after death. Being a very strong pillar within people, beliefs determine, limit and enhance many of the actions they take in their lives, being business one of the most influenced by them.

We can look at the influence of religion in business from two points of view: the first one is when religion influences directly the creation, policies and how to operate when doing a business. Some religions promote the creation of free market while others limited companies because consider money as an obstacle to achieve good. The second point of view would be from the product or service to be market, this being the most affected by the religious laws in terms of ingredients, names, how it is created or obtained, etc. Some beliefs limit the use of certain products considered sacred or unclean.

Due to globalization and open markets, many companies have seen necessity to study the culture and religion of the territories that they want to reach with their products or services. They have realized that a product that is successful in a geographical area may behave very differently in another. They have had to adapt brand names, ingredients and presentations to meet the demands of each market.

Respecting human being from their beliefs many products have opened the door and made strong in such difficult markets as Hindus, Jews and Muslims, generate a sense of belonging and respect for their brands to see the concern they had for adaptation.

Some cultures have created institutions responsible for care their customs and create stamps to endorse the products and services meet the minimum requirements to be consumed by its believers. Kosher and Halal stamps are proof of that. This is beneficial for producers because meeting these requirements they may open new markets and in turn positive for customers because the label represents quality.

So in business we can say: 

"Believe, then consume "

[Untitled photograph of religion

]. 

Retrieved May 02, 2011, 

from: http://www.heroturko.com/966/religion+photos/

[Untitled photograph of kosher

]. 

Retrieved May 02, 2011, 

from: http://menteargentina.wordpress.com/

[Untitled photograph of halal

]. 

Retrieved May 02, 2011, 

from: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsvVI8MIpanaI7DuqoaK58YMP3F0EOgucsZBdGUUNnp1HmBbVUeCBcLJjlJpE1P75td6i7GcZTurzhY2ljJl8zzcdLES9CkwzbGadu1PBhxQotMIbLiCKoQ7eAYJUPRQRDHf7WfCCrLQ/s400/indo-kombuha-halal-02.jpg&imgrefurl=http://malagaislam.blogspot.com/2011/01/alimentacion-halal-en-la-universidad-de.html&usg=__yydrQ4L-A61GcRN09N14VPOp8iY=&h=320&w=320&sz=18&hl=es&start=0&sig2=qV-yDl3eC03gE_xjNXOSig&zoom=1&tbnid=2UhEnXJttPZaTM:&tbnh=164&tbnw=164&ei=-cDQTfWZB4u3tgfe44XsDQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhalal%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1275%26bih%3D680%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=300&vpy=129&dur=375&hovh=172&hovw=172&tx=102&ty=95&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

Virtual Teams

Ale Ebrahim, N.; Ahmed, S.; Taha, Z. (December 2009) define virtual teams as “small temporary groups of geographically, organizationally and/ or time dispersed knowledge workers who coordinate their work predominantly with electronic information and communication technologies in order to accomplish one or more organization tasks”.

Communications and technology with its rapid development has changed the way of work of thousands of people and businesses around the world. Scenarios that were unthinkable 20 years ago are now the main form of work for most large organizations. In his competitive desire to unite talents and expand markets around the world many companies turn to work virtually, bringing information and geographically distant people to work for the same objective.

Companies that have managed to unite its members through this kind of technology platforms can become more competitive, generate more ideas, expand their products and services, have better customer service, save money and speak a global language, as each individual serves their local goals.

You no longer need face-to-face meetings and the time it entails, a simple Internet connection or via mobile phone you can bind any number of people, adding knowledge, culture and information.

Virtual teams are the current trend of big companies who think the world is their country, that qualified talent has no boundaries and that is not necessary to be close in order to generate a successful organization.

[Untitled photograph of virtual-team

]. 

Retrieved April 25, 2011,

from: 

http://blog.softheme.com/6-rules-for-better-communication-in-virtual-teams/

[Untitled photograph of distributed worforce

]. 

Retrieved April 25, 2011, 

from: 

http://www.workingpoint.com/blog/re-working-work-for-virtual-teams/4088

Communication

nonverbalowl, (2009). nonverbal communication owls. 

Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A68fL1y8ZQ&feature=related

Man has used non-verbal communication from the beginning of time, has developed the ability to express his environment what he thinks and feels through his body. These expressions and signs have taken on different meanings depending on the cultural influence to which each individual is exposed. In this type of communication there are not many studies due to the complexity and extent of the subject, is not well documented but because of its importance has taken a leading role in many new researches.

[Untitled photograph of facial expressions

]. 

Retrieved April 04, 2011, 

from: http://englishcommunicationcourse.wikispaces.com/Group+Project+1

Many gestures are used in the same way in most countries, although these may vary according to the place we are, this is due to the cultural influence of the environment in which we find ourselves. In many countries, expressions that could be taken as universals are not, unlike they could have a negative or opposite meaning to what is wanted to be express. For example:

• The sign of the "V" with the palm out means victory while with the palm inward means an obscene insult
• The thumb up or down to indicate agreement or disagreement means an insult in Greece and in other countries simply means the number one.
• In Western culture, eye contact is interpreted as attentiveness and honesty but in many other cultures, however, including Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native American, eye contact is thought to be disrespectful or rude. In some cultures women may especially avoid eye contact with men because it can be taken as a sign of sexual interest.
• Hands in pocket is disrespectful in Turkey
• Islamic and Hindu:  typically don’t touch with the left hand.  To do so is a social insult.  Left hand is for toilet functions. 

[Untitled photograph of cultural differences in nonverbal communication]. 

Retrieved April 04, 2011, 

from: 

http://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MCS/9362/Sterilisation%20disk%203/lo/7374/7374_00.htm

Andrews University. Non-Verbal Communication Modes. Retrieved April 11, 2011 

from:http://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/lead689/NonVerbal.html

Vermont Department of Health. Cultural Differences in Non-Verbal Communication. Retrieved April 11, 2011 

from: http://healthvermont.gov/family/toolkit/tools%5CF-6%20Cultural%20Differences%20in%20Nonverbal%20Communic.pdf