Group Definition Of Cross Cultural Awareness Management Essay

Group Definition Of Cross Cultural Awareness Management Essay The purpose of this report is to add to the group slide presentation on cross cultural awareness and the training program that was formulated to tackle the issue. Within this report there will be a summary of each the points that the group focused on. The task that the group were faced with was in the form of a training program that was geared towards increasing cross cultural awareness of a group of 10 British sales managers who work for IBM. Group Definition of Cross Cultural Awareness As more companies expand globally involving expatriates, the need for culture awareness has increased. The lack of cultural awareness is the main cause of misunderstanding and conflicts because of the cultural differences and where the behaviour perception of one culture may be different for another. (Cushner Brislin, 1996). The authors gave different names to cross-cultural awareness such as cross-cultural competence, cross-cultural training, intercultural competence and intercultural sensitivity. Based on several academic literatures, cross-cultural awareness means that a good understanding of its own culture will help the individual to understand more the others cultures and then to be more successful in cross cultural behaviour. In other words, the individual should be conscious enough of their own culture in developing the managers intercultural competence. That means increasing the ability to behave in intercultural way and improving communication across cultures as the intercultural competence shows consideration for others needs and fulfilment of ones own satisfactions (Gupta Govindarajan, 2002). In addition, cross-cultural awareness enables the individual to create a self-awareness through which he can identify his own knowledge and cultural values. Importance of Cross-Cultural Awareness Cross-cultural awareness is considered an important tool that reduces the consequences of cross-cultural conflict. It helps to learn how to behave in appropriate way across different cultures and create a feeling for these cultural differences. This results in enhancing cross-cultural communication skills like listening, speaking and observing which play a vital role to build trust between people of different cultures. The improvement of partnership skills as well, that requires a greater international collaboration. In addition, it decreases the cross-cultural misunderstanding and creates a winning working environment in the workplace. It is a business benefit and cost-effective solution for many companies since it maximizes their potential globally and develops the intercultural sensitivity of expatriates by providing better results to the organisation. It has a significant importance because the expatriates would understand and accept and build a strong relationship with people fr om various cultural backgrounds. Appropriateness of Training Bush and Thomas (2000) explain that it is of a main important for developing successful buyer-seller relationship. A sales manager will have to go through special training which we can call cultural diversity training. Before going through this training Bush and Thomas (2000) argue that it is a requirement for sales people to be exposed to a culturally diverse encounter. This phase will lead sales managers to realise the impact cultural diversity will have on business relationship and will enable them to be really aware of its importance, instead of neglecting it. Requirements can be achieved thanks to management training games such as the BAFA BAFA game. This game begins with the creation of two teams. The sales management team will have to be split into two teams that have different languages and cultures and will have to handle with the rules of the game, and to understand each culture. This game has a long history of success and it was proved to be a good tool to make people from different background work more effectively together. Once the sales managers are aware of the benefit cross cultural training could bring to them, they can move on the proper training. Montagno,R.(1996) say this will enable sales mangers to  acquire the three main qualities needed to do business abroad such as initiate conversation and establish and maintain a meaningful relationship. Type, content and length of training Seven types of training were identified by researchers Litrell and Salas (2005). These seven approaches are identified in the appendix. Each of the seven have their meanings, for example with regards to the groups specific training program, language training means that individuals do not have to become fluent but a general understanding of common courtesies in the host language is provided. (Befus 1988; Bennett 1986) It was decided that six months would be a worthy timescale for the training to take place in order to cover the ten methods and contents chosen by the group. These ten, were sourced from the handbook of intercultural training the ten can be viewed in table 1. These link to the groups definition of cross cultural awareness because the group had identified the key words, such as sensitivity, which is linked to the content of culture sensitizer. From the ten, a table (table 1) was created, which described factors such as what the outcome of the training will be, whether the training will give them knowledge into about or across cultures, what the learning styles would be as different people have different learning styles, for example British people have a different style to American people. The ten were chosen because we felt these were most likely to fit the definition of cross cultural awareness that we produced, for example self-awareness will give employees an understanding about their own culture as well as other peoples cultures. Table 1: Training Methods Cultural Effects Yang, et al (2009) suggest that the effect of trainees cultural background could be examines by Hofstede cultural dimensions. According to Hofstede (1994), nation cultural is defined as the collective programming of the mind in a nation or region. Hofstede (2009) suggested that cultural has several dimensions which include Individualism and collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, time orientation, power distance and masculinity and femininity. The review on cultural effect to the British participants learning performance will base on Hofstedes framework. Table 2 is a summary of the participants cultural effect: Table 2 Cultural Effects in Cross Cultural Training (Sources: Geert Hofstede, 2010) Dimensions Score Effects Approaches Individualism/Collectivism 89 The UK individualism cultural have higher intrinsic motivation than participants from collectivism cultural. The UKs participants valence and training motivation are higher when training is perceived to increase the competencies of individuals. The UKs participants cultural adopt a concrete, intuitive, and inductive learning style. Uncertainty Avoidance 35 The UK participants cultural training effectiveness is associated with a lower level of valence. Short/Long-term Oriented 51 The UKs culture has an average score on time oriented dimension. As a result, the course shall take care on both long-terms and short terms benefits. Power Distance 35 The UK participants cultural is higher when the training is implemented by using a decision-making process. Muscularity/ femininity 66 The participants culture will have higher training motivation and valence when training is perceived to increase the competencies of individuals. The UK has high individualism culture, Yang et al. (2009) showed that participants from individualism cultures have higher intrinsic motivation than participants from collectivism cultures and their valence and training motivation are higher when training is perceived to increase the competencies of individuals. Therefore, the training program should focus on increasing individual performance rather than organizations competencies. Yang, et al. (2009) reported individual cultures adopt a concrete, intuitive, and inductive learning style. As a result, the course shall include elements of solid example to gain best result from participants. They also suggested lower uncertainty avoidance cultural training effectiveness is associated with a lower level of valence. Consequently, the training shall include more individual works rather than group works. They found that the participants from short term oriented will require immediate benefit from the training program. However, the participants from long term oriented will require future benefit from the training program. The UKs culture has an average score on time oriented dimension. Therefore, the course shall take care on both long-terms and short terms benefits. Yang et al. (2009) found that the participants from short term oriented will require immediate benefit from the training program. However, the participants from long term oriented will require future benefit from the training program. The UKs culture has an average score on time oriented dimension. Therefore, the course shall take care on both long-terms and short terms benefits. They also suggested that masculinity cultural will have higher training motivation and valence when training is perceived to increase the competencies of individuals. Therefore, the training program should focus on increasing individual performance rather than organizations competencies. Evaluation The evaluation is an important stage to be considered in the implementation of cross-culture training. It aims to evaluate the effectiveness of cross-culture training by linking logically the content of measures to the training content (Kraiger et al, 1993), assess the improvement of participants awareness about cultural differences and whether the skills and knowledge learned from the training has been implemented in the workplace (Littrell, Salas, 2005) in order to provide recommendations for future cross-culture training. In order to evaluate IBMs cross-culture training, it is important for the evaluator to understand the meaning of culture awareness and sensitivity and set up success criteria for CCT program (Guzman, 2003). Only then they can evaluate participants knowledge and cross-culture training outcomes. The evaluation requires mixed methods including both qualitative and quantitative in order to increase the reliability of the findings. Thus, we will use various evaluation methods at this stage namely conducting interviews with participants in order to determine the change of their cognitive, affective and cognitive behaviour during the training, their self-maintenance and their adjustment to multicultural environment that have been also mentioned by Cross, et al, (1992) A set of congruent behaviours, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross cultural situations. Th is method will be followed by pre-training and post-training survey in order to rate their competency and ability to deal with different cultures in the workplace. The return on investment (ROS) should also be used in order to measure the outcomes of this CCT program. This will help to decide whether CCT program should be modified or not and improve it in the future. Conclusion In conclusion, the pace of globalisation has raised a great attention of managers on the cross-cultural issues due to the conflicts and misunderstanding encountered in the workplace. These issues led to harsh consequences taking the form of frustrated shareholders and business opportunity losses. Therefore, there is a growing need to have an extensive interpersonal skills and knowledge than in past (Kealey and Protheroe, 1996). In other words, companies with an international growth strategy, such as our company IBM, are getting to implement a cross-cultural training for their global managers dealing with individuals from various cultures and this was an effective strategy to achieve their multicultural objectives and organisational performances. The six-month cross-cultural training implemented in IBM sales department will be a mean for our managers to increase their cultural awareness both at the professional and individual level including their communication and negotiation skills. Word Count: 1500 (exclude the tables and references) Appendix: Presentation Slides

Eugene Ionescos rhinoceros: True Means Resides In Action Not Words :: essays research papers

Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros": True Means Resides in Action not Words I awoke sweating. Breathing heavily, I glanced over at my clock and read the time. 4:00 AM. I wasn't sure if this was reality or not so I ran my palm over my scalp. No bump. A sigh of relief came over me. "Phew," I said, "it was only a dream." This is a dream I have had often throughout the past couple of years. Each time, the bump in my dream gets bigger and bigger and each time I wake up I'm more and more frightened that the dream was real. "I will not be a rhinoceros," I tell myself over and over. "I will not." These words I tell myself are nearly meaningless though. They are words and nothing more. Futile attempts to ease the pain of my "rhinocerotic" life. The only way to really not become a rhinoceros is by making the existential decision not to do so. A main theme in Eugene Ionesco's, Rhinoceros, is that true meaning resides in action rather than in mere words. A resistance to taking action then results in one's becoming a rhinoceros. Jean illustrates this in the beginning of Act 2, scene 2, when we see Jean and Berenger bickering. Berenger feels that Jean isn't looking or feeling well and threatens to get him a doctor. Jean resists by saying, "You're not going to get the doctor because I don't want the doctor. I can look after myself." (pp. 62) This refusal comes from his arrogant view of himself as a "Master of [his] own thoughts," (pp. 61) and "[Having] will-power!" (pp. 7) By seeing the doctor, Jean would have put himself in the position of taking responsibility for his actions and seeing that he wasn't always the "master of his own thoughts" and that his will-power was actually quite weak. It would be admitting the meaninglessness in his futile attempts to remain a human. He didn't want to see that he, in fact, was becoming a rhinoceros. Had Jean agreed to see a doctor, he may have been saved. By seeing the doctor, Jean would have come to terms with his becoming a rhinoceros. After coming to terms with his current state, he could then change his subsequent state to one of taking action to be an individual. Berenger, however, illustrates the power in making an existential decision. The trumpeting call of the rhinoceros was a persuasive one, but Berenger was able to resist it through his commitment and determination. In the beginning of Act 3, Berenger and Dudard are speaking after Berenger was awakened

Imagine you are Macbeth Essay

Q- Imagine you are Macbeth. Write a diary entry in which you express your thoughts and feelings at Act 1 Scene 7 and a later entry at some time later one, possible after meeting the doctor. Today Lady Macbeth has convinced me. We are going to ahead with the plot to kill the king. When she first told me about the plan I was very doubtful. I don’t think I will be able to live with myself with the guilt of killing the king. I know this is wrong. What about if we get caught? I am just weighing up the situation. Perhaps I don’t need to do anything to become king, â€Å"If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me without stir†. I possess uncertainty of whether it is righteous to take the life of such a great king in order to feed my hunger for power. As I was thinking about this gesture, I left the chamber and decided not to do the deed. The idea of killing the king came from me first, this was when I heard the witches prophecies. When I first met the witches, they told me 3 predictions. They said, â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!† â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!† â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!† When I heard this I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. Banquo was with me and he asked them, â€Å"Which outward ye show? My noble partner you great with present grace, and great prediction of noble having and of royal hope that he slems rapt withal†. They then told us the final prediction, â€Å"Thou shalt get kings, though be none†. To us this meant that he will not be king but his children will. This was all so confusing. I know I am Thane of Glamis but how can I be the Thane of Cawdor? He still lives as a prosperous gentleman. Then there is me to become king. This is not within the prospect of my belief. Before we could say anything else they vanished. As Banquo and I were talking about the predictions, Ross came with some exciting news. He told me that as I fought well in the battle, I get the reward as the Thane of Cawdor. Mine and Banquo faces dropped with astonishment. â€Å"The Thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me in borrowed robed?† I asked Ross. He then told us that he had died. At this point I had no idea of killing the king. I thought I would never be king and if I was to how would I? The witches offered me great enticement, but it is up to me to fail in the temptation or to be strong enough to resist their captivation. As I was thinking about this, Lady Macbeth came in. I knew this was the best time to tell her. I said, â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business†. She looked at me with great hate but I knew I said the right thing. â€Å"Was the hope drunk?† said Lady Macbeth, â€Å"Such I account thy love, art thou afeard to be the same in thin own act and valour, as thou art in desire?†. She was saying to me that I was drunk and I didn’t know what I was saying. She said that my love is worth nothing if I refuse to go through with the plan, and my love is as accountable as my in decisiveness. She also questions my masculinity and criticises my desire to be king. She used emotional blackmail to seduce me to proceed with this ambitious enterprise, â€Å"When you durst do it, then you were a man†. She makes an analogy to emphasise the importance of keeping my promise. After listening to her I felt very offended. I knew I had to do this or I will regret it all my life. I wanted to prove 3 things that I am a man, my love for my wife, and my desire to be king. To prove these I need to murder king Duncan, so I am. Today the doctor has come and said my wife is ill but he has no cure. This is very disturbing because I noticed she was acting a bit strange after we did that deed. After we murdered king Duncan she was very confident, unlike me. She even toke the daggers back into Duncan’s chamber for me and also she helps me wash the blood off my hands. She helped me pull me together psychologically. When I saw the ghost of Banquo, it caused me stress and concern. This put huge pressure on Lady Macbeth. Even though she cannot see the apparition herself she had to cover up for me. This put a lot of emotional pressure on her. She then tried to get me out of this strange state of mind by once again questioning my manhood, while at the same time giving the guests the excuse that I am not well. She takes control and tells all the guests to leave. I think she has kept her anger and fear in and since I have done more murders she feels more guilty and I have noticed she talks to herself. Since then her behaviour has changed and it shows carefully that her contrived mask slipped. In her sleepwalking she reveals the guilt and anxieties by which she is tortured. But her loyalty to me remains intact. She came to me once and said, â€Å"No more O’that, you mar all with this starting†, this was confusing. She has given all and now her present is overwhelming by the past, like what she said, â€Å"What’s done cannot be undone†. She is saying that we can’t change the past. But it was her who thought of the idea and it was her who convinced me. She is totally regretting it now. The doctor even couldn’t believe it, â€Å"I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report†. I don’t know what to do. I will just give some time to her and will see what will happen.

Bridgeton Management Essay

The ACF plant had cutbacks throughout the 80s as a result of stiff competition caused by foreign competitors entering a market that was dominated by the US auto parts suppliers. As a result of declining market share, ACF is not only in competition with other suppliers but also other Bridgeton plants. The gross profit is declining due to increased costs in direct labor and direct material since 1987. Direct materials cost increased due to the high cost of steel in producing the manifolds. Direct labor cost increased due to the plant using people that were in the retained job pool by the union. More overhead cost was being allocated to remaining products when muffler/exhaust and oil pans were outsourced; as a result manifolds have absorbed a higher cost and are on the brink of being outsourced. Direct labor being cost driver for Overhead allocation, the manifolds product bears a huge portion of the cost of overhead. With the trend in the industry changing and that the manifolds product is as such not yet incurring a loss, I would not recommend it being outsourced for the following reasons: 1. As two important lines – muffler/exhaust and oil pans being outsourced, the Overhead rate significantly increased from 435% to 566%. Despite of significant improvements in the production of manifolds and reduction in overall overhead costs, the fixed costs associated with other lines was burdened on to the manifolds product line. If outsourced, possibly the manifolds burden (like the muffler and oil pans) would shift to another product, which would in turn result in the plant shutting down. 2. As the auto industry is driven more by machines and labor and as plants being more machine intensive than labor intensive, having direct labor, as the cost driver for overhead allocation could be incorrect. The plant should have overhead allocation based on machine hours instead, which would give a better allocation base. 3. If emission standards increased, which would be in favor for the plant, they could increase the selling prices of their manifolds. In the auto industry is could be very likely of the industry demanding a higher emission standard that could only be profitable to Bridgeton.

William Howard Taft and the Progressive Era Essay Example

William Howard Taft and the Progressive Era Essay Example William Howard Taft and the Progressive Era Paper William Howard Taft and the Progressive Era Paper The Progressive era was an important time in American history because it was the period in which Americans had to look at the issues that arose from the rapidly changing industrial and political environment. The time of the Progressives occurred because Americans were facing a whole new set of problems caused by industrialization, urbanization and immigration. During this period there was rampant poverty in the urban areas, low wages and poor working conditions for immigrants and all other low income peoples. The industrial revolution had created a whirlwind of financial and material resources in the United States that were largely unrestricted by the government. The country, its technology and society had grown at a faster pace than the government itself could keep up with. During this time, many politicians faced the challenge of leading the country into the new century, and while other presidents like Theodore Roosevelt were more well-known and respected for their work during the Progressive period, William Howard Taft had a presidency shaped by the progressive ideals (Modern America). While the Progressive Era was a time when people began to take notice of the poor amongst themselves, it was also a period referred to as the Gilded Age because of the extreme wealth that was found amongst very few families in the United States. This was the age of the Rockefeller’s, of railroad tycoons and businessmen made rich by industrialization, such as tobacco and oil. During this period big businesses had monopolies on the market and political leaders had to deal with how to break up the business monopolies and trusts in a country largely run by the wealthy amongst them. William Howard Taft would come onto the scene during a time when this was particularly important and this would help to shape his political career while in office. Also during this period were the beginnings of a great many important movements in Modern America, from the women’s rights movement to the fight against unfair labor practices. A great deal of African-Americans were leaving the south and migrating northward, creating a racially explosive atmosphere in areas where there had been none. All in all, Taft would come into office at a time when the United States was facing a great many changes (Modern America). To understand the man and his presidency, Taft’s beginnings must be recognized. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 15, 1857, Taft was the son of a successful politician who served under President Ulysses S. Grant. He graduated from Yale University in 1878 and went on to law school, was admitted to the bar and held public office. By 1887 Taft realized his dream of being a judge and sat on the Ohio state supreme court. In 1890 Taft went to Washington D. C. at the request of the then president, Benjamin Harrison, to hold a position of solicitor general. More posts from the presidency came and, at the insistence of his wife Helen Herron Taft, he left his bench to hold multiple positions, including that of the first civil governor of the Philippines (Pringle). Thus, his political career had begun. The Progressive era was underway in 1901 when President McKinley was assassinated and Theodore Roosevelt took over the presidency. For Taft this would prove to be an important event as Roosevelt and he were good friends and during Roosevelt’s term, Taft was his political ally. (Pringle). No president had represented the ideals of the Progressive era as much as Roosevelt, who embraced them: however, Roosevelt did not run for a third term and instead insisted that his friend, William Howard Taft, seek the Republican nomination instead. Taft was named as the Republican candidate in 1908, and because he campaigned as a supporter of his predecessor’s Progressive reforms he easily beat the democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan (U. S. History). William Howard Taft was known as a friendly and good-natured man who had a jovial appearance about him (Modern America). He was a large man, over 300 pounds for his entire adult life, and had a love for the judicial system and a dream of being a judge for most of his life. As President he was unhappy and did not have the political savvy to be successful.

The Conflict between Forensic Analysis and Business Process Assignment

The Conflict between Forensic Analysis and Business Process - Assignment Example Computer forensic has been existing for a long period of time and computer has stored data that could be used as evidence for many years. In fact digital forensic was performed in the beginning by government agencies however now it has become common in the commercial sector. The more and more digital world become much common than any subject dealing with crises, threats and computer intrusion and unauthorized use of corporate computers. Computer forensics is the basis of the electronic document in interpreting data to reconstruct files and events. Emergence the computer forensic was a result of the transition by the business world from paper record keeping to electronic document storage. Even though just a few of organizations have the management structure in their place to investigate and identify the evidence. Collecting Digital evidence is a big filed I am not going to cover all part of the evidence but mostly go through the part regarding the corporation. Digital pieces of evidence can include for example computers, hard driver, USB memory device (Removable media) and cell phone, camera or internet history include web page cookies temporary internet files internet history can note the behavior pattern for the user and monitor any malicious attempt, text files, Documents, spreadsheets, servers, graphics file could be download image from the internet or scanned documents Penetration Companys computer network and launching attacks into the system that case network downtime or releasing viruses or malicious code. This is a serious crime (the criminal justice system) has taken attention by strengthening computer crimes laws, track down and prosecute guilty people who intrude into companies or other people network and steal data.  

Biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Biology - Essay Example Although there are many definitions of ethics, perhaps the most universally accepted definition regards ethics as an individual or group’s ability to make choices regarding how to behave. Ethical behavior can be broken down into two categories: the choice as it effects the society around the person making the decision, and the decision as it effects the self of the individual making the choice. An individual who is making an ethical decision must think of how the behavior will affect others, in an altruistic manner. There are many different kinds of stem-cells and uses for them, and many people have different ethical perspectives on what science should and should not be able to do in terms of autonomous limits. Forms of therapeutic cloning currently involve taking cells, often stem-cells, to help the individual in terms of rehabilitation and organ transplants. People feel different ways ethically about cloning. These stem cells can be preserved in the individual’s placental cells or other cells and then can used to make replacement cells if there is a problem or disease that comes up during the individual’s life. Therefore, therapeutic cloning uses techniques that are not designed towards cloning an individual per se, but instead using cell growth to help them with possible ailments and therefore improve their quality of life substantially. This process is set to solve problematic The uses of stem cells are broad: they can be used to fight genetic diseases and treat blood disorders, and cord blood carries less risk of infection. There have been studies in which adult patients have received blood cord stem cell units that were only partially matched and grafted successfully. Also, patients with gene disorders have been given stem cell transplants to replace genetic structures, and the exactitude of this measure is heightened