Examining Culture and Ethics in the Global Management Model

This essay provides an analysis of culture and ethics within a global management model, drawing upon an article about alleged experimentation on indigenous people in Canada. It discusses the challenges faced by global managers, including lack of transparency, communication difficulties, and conflict resolution. The essay also examines the cultural, organizational, and situational environments that global managers need to understand, highlighting the importance of cultural variability, internal and external organizational factors, and environmental changes. Furthermore, it outlines global management strategies, such as formulating organizational strategies within strategic business units and creating a customer-focused organization. The essay underscores the ethical implications of the discussed issues, particularly concerning the treatment of indigenous populations, and emphasizes the need for fair treatment and equality.

Culture and Ethics
Name
Course
Date

1
Global Management Model
Introduction
The article “Canada sued over years of alleged experimentation on indigenous people” is
about native people being forcefully subjected to medical tests in residential schools1. The
lawsuit which was filed holds the federal government responsible discriminatory actions against
the indigenous people. Firstly, the government is accused to operate on isolated healthcare
system1. The healthcare system is inadequate and segregates the people who are not Canadians.
The lawsuit also accuses the Canadian schools to forcefully assimilate the indigenous students
into the Canadian society. The indigenous people have been used by researches to carry out their
finding. The students on which these tests have been done are malicious as their families were
not aware of such a thing. The experiment which was being done on these students was about a
nutritionally deficient diet. The schools involved thought it a better idea to test it on the minority
students. The identified schools have been accused to spot an indigenous group of children, hold
them captive and compulsory impose these tests of foods and drugs.
The researchers have been accused to treat the children unfairly by depriving them of
beneficial nutrients. The awful acts were established after a principal in a residential school
demanded that all children be given vitamin tablets and a researcher opposed claiming that it
would interfere with the medical experiments. The children were also being used to test drugs on
hearing imparities were nine children with this problem were excluded. In the article the
government has been accused of testing drugs such as tuberculosis vaccines on reserve people.
The purpose of this analysis is to enhance an understanding of the global management model. the
analysis will discuss the challenges which global managers encounter, areas which global
managers need to understand, the global management strategies, benefits of a successful global
management strategy as well as the ethical implications depicted in the article.2
1 "The Guardian: “Canada Sued over Years of Alleged Experimentation on Indigenous
People”," Turtle Talkast modified May 11, 2018,
https://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/the-guardian-canada-sued-over-years-of-alleged-
experimentation-on-indigenous-people/.
2 Collings, David G., Hugh Scullion, and Michael J. Morley. "Changing patterns of global
staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and

Challenges Facing Global Managers
A global manager is a leader with the capabilities and skills to manage or lead people
from divergent cultures. For example, from our article, the federal government of Canada is
supposed to be a global manager. The government has been equipped with the responsibility of
handling diversified people including the indigenous people3. The people expect the government
to be responsible and manage everybody with equalities, fair treatment and without
discrimination. A global manager is however faced with some challenges.
The first challenge that a global manager faces is lack of transparency. Different people
especially those with different native tongues speak different languages. This brings out the
problem of common understanding. Different languages impose difficulties in managing people
since it becomes tough to communicate problems in different languages. The global manager
may also be faced with the problem of communications. Simply because someone is a global
manager does not mean that they understand all the cultural languages associated with his or her
people4. A common language helps to unite people and enable effective communication.
Global managers face difficulties in decision making. For example, the federal
government of Canada is composed of diversified individuals. For any decisions to be made, a
meeting has to take place which comprises of these individuals. Arranging a government meeting
is tedious and would take several days5. The meeting has to fit within everyone’s schedule
including the president and ministers. Not to mention, all of these people are mostly busy as they
emerging alternatives." Journal of World Business 42, no. 2 (2007): 198-213
3 Linehan, Margaret, and Hugh Scullion. "The development of global managers: The role
of mentoring and networking." Journal of business ethics 83, no. 1 (2008): 29-40.
4 Shaffer, Margaret A., Maria L. Kraimer, Yu-Ping Chen, and Mark C. Bolino. "Choices,
challenges, and career consequences of global work experiences: A review and future
agenda." Journal of Management 38, no. 4 (2012): 1282-1327.
5 Christopher, Martin, Helen Peck, and Denis Towill. "A taxonomy for selecting global
supply chain strategies." The International Journal of Logistics Management 17, no. 2 (2006):
277-287.

have other roles and responsibilities of serving the nation. Decision making can, therefore, be
very slow.
Global managers face challenges associated with conflict resolution. It is difficult for any
manager to handle conflicts amongst diversified people. This is because everyone wants to
emerge as the winner of the conflict. From the article, the major problem is unfair treatment of
indigenous children in residential schools. This problem has resulted in the whole government
being sued. Although there are other claims of discrimination against indigenous people in
Canada, the residential school cases have resulted in the big mess6. The indigenous people will
expect punishments for those mistreating the children. However, if an unsatisfactory action to the
indigenous people is not taken, it could result in more conflict. What the government may see as
right actions for the case may not be what the indigenous people view as satisfactorily actions.
Whatever decision is made could have a negative impact on the federal government of Canada.
Success within global companies is defined by the implementation of a corporate culture. The
same happens with a country. The federal government of Canada, for instance, would succeed in
serving the people only if they have established a corporate culture. The major challenge,
however, is that it is difficult to define and implement the culture among diversified people.
Corporate culture involves establishing a common culture for the people which do not favor or
discriminate any person7. It is difficult for a global manager to get diversified people to interact
and bond as members of a single culture. The people will even discriminate each other.8
Area(s) (cultural, organizational or situational environments) a global manager needs to
develop a good understanding of
Cultural environment
6 Crane, Andrew, and Dirk Matten. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press, 2016.
7 Cappellen, Tineke, and Maddy Janssens. "Career paths of global managers: Towards
future research." Journal of World Business 40, no. 4 (2005): 348-360.
8 Sirmon, David G., Michael A. Hitt, and R. Duane Ireland. "Managing firm resources in
dynamic environments to create value: Looking inside the black box." Academy of management
review 32, no. 1 (2007): 273-292.

A global manager has to develop a cultural understanding based on the cultural
variability of different people. The major cultural constraints that a global manager might
experience include local attitudes. Local attitude is the assumptions people make towards a
situation. For instance9 the attitude that a particular community may have towards a given
management style is different from the attitude that a different community may have. Global
managers are bound to come into contact with people of different religions. The people have
different spiritual beliefs and it is important to respect each and everyone’s religion. Diversified
languages emerge from the fact that people have different native languages. The manager may
face challenges in understanding the languages. There are communities who practice gender
discrimination. Some communities value boys over girls and some value girls over boys. As a
global manager, the aim is not to support gender discrimination but to make people understand
the importance of equality. A global manager will first have to show their respect and
understanding of their belief but not to support gender inequalities. Global managers are also
required to understand the cultural variability different tastes and preferences10. Each community
has their own tastes in regards to food, clothing and even communications. In general, a global
manager is supposed to understand all these cultural differences for smooth management.
Organizational environment
Organization environment involves the forces which surround an organization which is
likely to affect the performance or operations of the business. Managers need to understand the
internal and external environmental factors which affect the organization. For example from our
case of the federal government of Canada, the internal factors include the personnel working
with the government, the culture of the government, the mission and vision statements and the
leadership styles within the government11. A global manager is supposed to have an
understanding of these factors so as to ensure morale of the personnel.
9 Alon, Ilan, and James M. Higgins. "Global leadership success through emotional and
cultural intelligences." Business horizons 48, no. 6 (2005): 501-512.
10 Johnson, James P., Tomasz Lenartowicz, and Salvador Apud. "Cross-cultural
competence in international business: Toward a definition and a model." Journal of international
business studies 37, no. 4 (2006): 525-543.

The external environment is composed of factors outside the organization that affects its
operations. The external factors that managers need to understand include competition. For
example, the Canada government faces competition from other governments. The way the
government treats the citizens’ matters as it has an impact on the reputation of the government. A
global manager needs to understand the government regulations which affect the business. The
rules and regulations set by the government include taxes. The federal government of Canada in
our case is the global manager. The government needs to set rules which ensure equality. The
laws should be beneficial to all people without any possible discrimination.
Situational environment
A global manager needs to understand the methods put in place to analyze the
organizational environmental factors discussed above. While understanding the situational
environment, managers need to consider the rate of environmental changes. This will enable the
managers to easily cope up with these changes12. The managers also need to understand the
strategic risks and opportunities which are presented by the environmental factors.
Global Management Strategies
The first strategy that needs to be developed is the formulation of organization strategies
within each strategic business unit. Every organization is made up of different departments such
as the accounting department, finance, human resource department. All the strategic departments
need to be defined by strategies. The major purpose of these strategies is to ensure achievement
of business objectives and goals13. The same case applies to the federal government of Canada.
11 Trompenaars, Fons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the waves of culture:
Understanding diversity in global business. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2011.
12 Bateman, Eric D., S. S. Hurd, P. J. Barnes, J. Bousquet, J. M. Drazen, M. FitzGerald, P.
Gibson et al. "Global strategy for business management and prevention: GINA executive
summary." European Business Journal 31, no. 1 (2008): 143-178.
13 Rabe, Klaus F., Suzanne Hurd, Antonio Anzueto, Peter J. Barnes, Sonia A. Buist, Peter
Calverley, Yoshinosuke Fukuchi et al. "Global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and
prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: GOLD executive summary." American
journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 176, no. 6 (2007): 532-555.

14The government is comprised of the judicial, executive and legislative divisions. The branches
work together to ensure effective decision making, lawmaking and proper interpretation of the
laws. Each branch should, therefore, have defined strategies which govern the functioning of the
branch. Each branch should also be defined by specific personnel who work under it to ensure
achievement of goals.
The other global management strategy that needs to be developed is a customer-focused
organization. The reason for the existence of any business is to serve the customers. Businesses
which are customer focused have more chances of continued growth. This is because customer
satisfaction ensures customer loyalty to the business. The best global managers understand the
needs of their customers as well as their complaints. The same case applies to the issues posed by
the article. The federal government of Canada is supposed to understand the needs of the citizens
as well as their complaints. The biggest complaint, In this case, is discrimination and unfair
treatment of the indigenous people15. The government is supposed to take actions which prevent
any future related actions. The government needs to take action on the researchers who are
mistreating the indigenous children. Being customer focused means putting the needs of the
customers a priority to ensure their satisfaction. Satisfaction of the people will ensure continued
support towards the operations of the government.
An organization needs to develop willing and committed teams for the operations. A
global leader creates a team which is able to influence other people to achieve the business goals
and objectives. Committed teams also assist managers in their day to day operations of the
organization. The teams have the ability to spot any trends within the business environments and
take the right actions. The trends are mostly associated with the external environment, for
example, the team could be able to note changes in technology which is likely to have an impact
on the operations of the business. Being able to spot the changes enables the managers to make
14 Manuj, Ila, and John T. Mentzer. "Global supply chain risk management
strategies." International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 38, no. 3
(2008): 192-223.
15 Lorange, Peter. "Shipping company strategies: Global management under turbulent
conditions." (2005).

the right decisions concerning the organization. The same case applies to the Canadian
government. The personnel in each branch of the government should be able to note the changes
in needs and preferences of the people. Since the people are of diversified culture, the changes
are likely to be different for different people. An analysis of the changes should be developed to
determine the common and crucial needs of the people. This will help eliminate the
discrimination cases of the indigenous people. The teams formulated should be able to note such
cases and stop them before they happen. This will ensure effective running of the government.
Benefits of a Successful Global Management Strategy
Successful management strategy contributes to cost reduction. For instance, the federal
government of Canada can ensure that the chosen teams or personnel are efficient for
accomplishing the set goals. The team will thus focus on the assigned areas. This will ensure
completion of tasks in the required time. Teamwork is also ensured when an organization
formulates teams. Costs related to time are therefore reduced16. The expenses which would be
incurred by an individual person are combined reducing the overall costs. From the case, the
federal government of Canada can be able to reduce its operating costs by establishing
committed teams in those government branches. Committed teams will help save the government
resources while ensuring maximum benefits.
A global management strategy ensures formulation of a common input. The strategy will
involve understanding the cultural differences which could pose challenges. The cultural
differences include the tastes and needs of each group of people. For example, the federal
government of Canada will first understand the needs of each ethnic group. Understanding the
groups will ensure the development of products, policies, laws which are equal and not
discriminatory. 17This reduces the effort of formulating laws or developing products which are
16 Cappellen, Tineke, and Maddy Janssens. "Career paths of global managers: Towards
future research." Journal of World Business 40, no. 4 (2005): 348-360
17 Vance, Charles M., and Yongsun Paik. Managing a global workforce: challenges and
opportunities in international human resource management. Routledge, 2014.

unacceptable and which are likely to bring up chaos. Developing products or rules without first
understanding the cultural needs of every person can result in a huge disappointment for the
government. The people can’t be forced to accept laws that they feel are preferential to some
people. 18For instance, the families of the indigenous children who are being mistreated are not
likely to accept the discrimination being practiced on their children. The same happens to the
citizens if they feel that the rules are dictatorial or pose a threat to their cultural beliefs.
Management strategy, therefore, ensures fulfillment of the customer expectations within and
outside countries.
Ethical implications
There are various ethical implications associated with global management model. As an
organization decides to enlarge the business to global levels, there are ethical considerations they
have to put into place. For example, the ethical issues they have to consider include laws of
different countries, the ethical standards practiced by different people and even ethical
jurisdictions19. The case presented in this article poses ethical implications in that there are
discrimination and unfair treatment of the indigenous people. The residential schools of Canada
subject the indigenous children into research experiments concerning food and drugs. The
children are given food which is deprived of nutrients. The children are also used to test the
tuberculosis vaccination if it is efficient to administer. This is unethical as according to the global
management model, there should be equal rights and treatments concerning everybody despite
their culture. The indigenous children are also being forced to join the Canadian society. This is
unethical as people have different cultures which they believe in20. The federal government of
Canada should, therefore, revise their laws to ensure equal treatment of its citizens. A global
18 Katiraei, Farid, and Mohammad Reza Iravani. "Management strategies for a microgrid
with multiple distributed generation units." IEEE transactions on power systems 21, no. 4
(2006): 1821-1831.
19 Doh, Jonathan P. "Offshore outsourcing: Implications for international business and
strategic management theory and practice." Journal of Management Studies 42, no. 3 (2005):
695-704.

leader ensures an understanding of the cultural differences. The leader also knows that these
differences should not be used against people simply because they are different. Every culture
deserves its respect and there are consequences for violating the cultural beliefs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the case of the article provides a projection of how global leaders are
supposed to act and manage corporations across different countries. This case is within the
government of Canada and it provides a reflection of the challenges indigenous groups face. The
major challenges include discrimination and unfair treatment. The global management model
requires global leaders to understand the cultural differences between different people and
develop products according to those differences. Global leaders are also supposed to ensure
satisfaction of customers. This highly contributes to the success of the corporations in different
countries. The benefits associated with global management strategies include a reduction in
operating costs and acceptance of products.
20 Hill, Charles. "International business: Competing in the global market place." Strategic
Direction 24, no. 9 (2008).

Bibliography
"The Guardian: “Canada Sued over Years of Alleged Experimentation on Indigenous People”,"
Turtle Talk, last modified May 11, 2018, https://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2018/05/11/the-
guardian-canada-sued-over-years-of-alleged-experimentation-on-indigenous-people/.
Alon, Ilan, and James M. Higgins. "Global leadership success through emotional and cultural
intelligences." Business horizons 48, no. 6 (2005): 501-512.
Bateman, Eric D., S. S. Hurd, P. J. Barnes, J. Bousquet, J. M. Drazen, M. FitzGerald, P. Gibson
et al. "Global strategy for business management and prevention: GINA executive
summary." European Business Journal 31, no. 1 (2008): 143-178.
Cappellen, Tineke, and Maddy Janssens. "Career paths of global managers: Towards future
research." Journal of World Business 40, no. 4 (2005): 348-360.
Christopher, Martin, Helen Peck, and Denis Towill. "A taxonomy for selecting global supply
chain strategies." The International Journal of Logistics Management 17, no. 2 (2006):
277-287.
Collings, David G., Hugh Scullion, and Michael J. Morley. "Changing patterns of global staffing
in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and
emerging alternatives." Journal of World Business 42, no. 2 (2007): 198-213.
Crane, Andrew, and Dirk Matten. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press, 2016.
David, Fred R. Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Peaeson/Prentice Hall, 2011.
Doh, Jonathan P. "Offshore outsourcing: Implications for international business and strategic
management theory and practice." Journal of Management Studies 42, no. 3 (2005): 695-
704.
Hill, Charles. "International business: Competing in the global market place." Strategic
Direction 24, no. 9 (2008).
Johnson, James P., Tomasz Lenartowicz, and Salvador Apud. "Cross-cultural competence in
international business: Toward a definition and a model." Journal of international
business studies 37, no. 4 (2006): 525-543.
Katiraei, Farid, and Mohammad Reza Iravani. "Management strategies for a microgrid with
multiple distributed generation units." IEEE transactions on power systems 21, no. 4
(2006): 1821-1831.

Linehan, Margaret, and Hugh Scullion. "The development of global managers: The role of
mentoring and networking." Journal of business ethics 83, no. 1 (2008): 29-40.
Lorange, Peter. "Shipping company strategies: Global management under turbulent conditions."
(2005).
Manuj, Ila, and John T. Mentzer. "Global supply chain risk management
strategies." International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 38,
no. 3 (2008): 192-223.
Rabe, Klaus F., Suzanne Hurd, Antonio Anzueto, Peter J. Barnes, Sonia A. Buist, Peter
Calverley, Yoshinosuke Fukuchi et al. "Global strategy for the diagnosis, management,
and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: GOLD executive
summary." American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 176, no. 6 (2007):
532-555.
Shaffer, Margaret A., Maria L. Kraimer, Yu-Ping Chen, and Mark C. Bolino. "Choices,
challenges, and career consequences of global work experiences: A review and future
agenda." Journal of Management 38, no. 4 (2012): 1282-1327.
Sirmon, David G., Michael A. Hitt, and R. Duane Ireland. "Managing firm resources in dynamic
environments to create value: Looking inside the black box." Academy of management
review 32, no. 1 (2007): 273-292.
Trompenaars, Fons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the waves of culture: Understanding
diversity in global business. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2011.
Vance, Charles M., and Yongsun Paik. Managing a global workforce: challenges and
opportunities in international human resource management. Routledge, 2014.