International Business Management - Sample Assignment

Running head: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The given report throws light on the case study of a given organization which has been assumed
to be XYZ Company for convenience. The organization operates in various parts of the world
like Oman, Vietnam, India and other developing countries. The company is headquartered in
Australia. However recently, the company has been facing problems with respect to the various
issues which can be outlined as inter cultural issues, lack of an effective feedback system and
mismanagement of social media tools. The report has highlighted various aspects of these issues
and analyzed the same. Certain recommendations have also been provided.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the current situation......................................................................................................4
Issue one—social media..............................................................................................................4
Issue two—feedback....................................................................................................................6
Issue three—Intercultural communication..................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................10
Issue one—social media............................................................................................................10
Issue two—feedback..................................................................................................................11
Issue three—Intercultural..........................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................16

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Introduction
The given organization which is based in Australia is an organization which provides
services to various countries including Australia, India, Oman, Vietnam and Nigeria. The
organization deals in various products which range from agricultural equipment and related
goods to various international clients. The company has 8000 clients currently and operates in
five different countries. The given company has more than a million consumer base with its
headquarters in Australia.
The organization had been working well since the past few years but recently it has been
facing certain problems in relation to the different people who are engaged in the organization
and these problems are due to the communication barriers (Chaney & Martin, 2013). The
problems are related to problems of lack of efficient feedback system, lack of mistrust due to the
intercultural communication and a lack of proper utilization of social media to share and
distribute the ideas.
The primary purpose of the given report is to lay down the different issues which the
company has been facing with respect to the communication barriers. Each issue will be
analyzed and identified in detail with respect to relevant theoretical aspects. Furthermore,
recommendations for the same will also be provided. The report will be following a structured
format whereby the various issues and problems will be analyzed in detail followed by
recommendations with respect to same.
The main limitations of the given study are that it is completely based on secondary
research and there exists no primary research components with respect to the different issues

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being analyzed (Jagongo & Kinyua, 2013). For convenience, the article in the case study will be
called as XYZ Company.
Analysis of the current situation
Issue one—social media
As identified in the given case study, it could be figured that the company lacks effective
use of social media and related networks. Social media is a critical tool of management and
communication, the incorporation of which can go a long way n helping organization
management with special respect to those which are spread in different geographical areas. The
chosen organization lacked an effective use of social media to manage a task, share ideas and the
consistent use of management tools available. Given below are certain common problems which
are faced with respect to the social media by the chosen organization.
 Social media strategy- The organization in concern lacks a proper social media strategy.
The social media strategy is considered to be a relevant aspect of an organization, the use
of which is relevant and crucial in determining the success of the organization. However,
the given organization lacks a strategy which will help immensely in being able to
distribute the concerned tasks and help in knowledge management (He, Zha & Li, 2013).
An organization which has been running without a strategy may find it increasingly
difficult to decide upon their next step.
 Lack of a common portal- As the organization is spreads out geographically, it becomes
increasingly essential for it to have a common portal or a database in place which will
help the different managers in different parts of the organization and in the different

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countries to view and understand the events which have been taking place in the different
parts of the given organization.
 Lack of Consistent and Good content- It is extremely important to have good content on
the various social media tools like blogs, and other pages in order to encourage the users
as well as the viewers to go through the page and details about the company which might
go a long way in making the firm successful (Chua & Banerjee, 2013). However, many
firms’ although have the resources, lack the basic ability to post relevant and suitable data
on the website which may keep the users and the views engaged.
 Encouraging sharing of contents- The content which is being posted on the social media
tools needs to be shared successfully among various users. This shall ensure that the firm
is able to encourage different users to view in the data available and make use of the
resources effectively (Ainsworth, 2013). In XYZ, there lacks proper sharing of
knowledge and management which needs to be taken care of.
 Choosing the right medium- The right medium to communicate among the various
members of the organization needs to be decided upon by the management. There are
various tools available, however the top management of XYZ. Is unable to decide upon
an effective tool which will then go a long way in encouraging the employees to make
extensive use of the tools (Aral, Dellarocas & Godes, 2013).
 Performance return on Investment- Furthermore, as there does not take place the presence
of any performance measures based on which the use of social media as an effective tool
can be measured and this leads to its ineffective use of available resources (Montalvo,
2016).

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Issue two—feedback
Second issue that is being currently faced by the given company is that it lacks a sound
and effective feedback strategy which goes a long way in helping the organization to attain client
and related relevant information. Given below are certain reasons why XYZ, has been facing
problem related to the faulty feedback issues are being discussed.
 Lack of link to change in the organization- Very often a situation arises in various
organizations that there does not exist a sound link between the questions being asked in
a feedback from clients and the change which takes place in an organization. There needs
to exist a definite and profound link between the different questions being asked in the
give n feedback which is being taken from the clients and the manner in which the
detailed information can be obtained (Van Looy, 2016).
 Lack of connecting feedback to business success- In the similar manner, there exists a
lack of feedback connection to the success of the business organization. This means that
there does not take place any link between the factors which determine success in the
organization and the feedback which is essential in improving the various aspects of the
business in the given opportunistic world (McLuhan, 2015).
 Soloed approach to implementation- Another problem being faced b the XYZ,
organization is that even through the Feedback is received from the different members in
an organization, there exists a lack of proper implementation with respect to the given
feedback which is received. The task is dependent on the different departments of the
firm which is a wrong approach. Instead a cross functional team should be formed which
shall enable the organization to take corrective measures.

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 Lack of senior support-Very often the senior management in the given organization
becomes result oriented instead of process oriented. In the result oriented approach
everyone is just required to work hard and see to it that the individual task is being
completed without any help from others. In the same manner the organizational members
especially those who are senior are required to support the innovations but this is not the
case for it (Franks & Maslovat, 2015). The various seniors in the chosen organization
XYZ do not support the importance of feedback.
 Lack of proper mechanism- There exists lack of proper mechanism as well which can be
further utilized in order to extract relevant data out of the given scenario (Schermerhorn
et al., 2014). There is a faulty system in existence, which is unable to provide
convenience to the organizational members and causes a default feedback management in
the given organization. They fail to realize the importance of a correct organizational
system which would go a long way in encouraging the employees, to undertake the
required tasks (Park, Wilding & Chung, 2014).
Issue three—Intercultural communication
As the operations of the organization are wide spread in nature and the company has
various branches in different parts of the organization, it generally becomes very difficult for the
given organization to ensure that the three takes place proper communication in the given
organization and that the meaning of every phrase is clear with all members. For the given
organization, XYZ it becomes extremely important to ensure that the communication takes place
effectively and that there exists an environment of trust and loyalty which would give rise to
better activities for the firm and successful accomplishment of goals and objectives.

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The given problems are being faced by the organization with respect to the culture of the
organization.
 Inaccurate assumption of meanings- The different cultures, have different meanings of
the similar and same words. The combination of verbal communication and the body
language also tends to have a different meaning in the different cultures. If a co-worker
working in the organization has smiled as an affirmation then, it may be understood that
he has received the report or any other agreement. However, in other business
organizations, in a different country, this may not be the case (Friedrichsen, 2013).
Hence, in case of the organization, XYZ, different cultures tend to have a different
meaning with respect to the different communication variants.
 Formality Differences in Communications- The cultures of Australia, New Zealand, India
and other related countries are unique and different from one another. The business
associates tend to address different issues and dignitaries in a different manner which
tends to have a huge influence on the way to the organization tends to build trust into the
organization and tends to form the basis of the organization. In the XYZ organization,
there is a lack of mutual trust and respect due to the different in the various cultures. This
goes a long way in affecting the different activities of the firm and there is exists no
success in the organization because of such differences (Mai & Hoffmann, 2014).
 The body language of the different individuals in different parts of the organization in the
sense, that the manner in which an organization interprets the body language goes a long
way in determining the trust in the given firm (Armstrong et al., 2015). Maintaining an
eye contact in the workplace is a good method in foreign organizational who are very
practical in nature. However, in countries like India, where the XYZ, operates,

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maintaining eye contact with seniors and other organizational members is a form of
disrespect since the organization is traditional in nature and the different members treat
one another differently. Hence when the members of such different cultures will interact
with one another, it will lead to an environment of disrespect and lack of values.
 Unfamiliar Phrases in Communications-In different organizations, the different members
tend to have different communication strategies and styles. There exists cultural specific
communication in the workplace which is often not understood by the different members
of the organization which causes miscommunication and lack of transparency.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis on the different issues which are being faced by the
organization XYZ, it could be analyzed that the main problems have been arising because the
organization is distributed geographically. Because of this, the organization is not being
successfully able to engage in meaning relationships and facing such problems. The main
problem areas are areas concerning with the ineffective use of the social media tools, cultural
differences and the lack of an effective feedback receiving mechanism. The social media tools
are not being used effectively to manage the different tasks, because the organization lacks
proper plans with respect to the social media plans and strategy that needs to be adopted
efficiently into the organizational domain. Furthermore, the feedback system of the organization
is fairly inaccurate because the organization does not stress enough on the importance of the
valuable feedback and believes that it will b able to achieve success just based on the normal
feedback which is namesake. Lastly, there exists certain cultural differences as well which need
to be dealt with. The next section states down certain recommendations to improve this system
and help the organization in achieving success.

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Recommendations
Issue one—social media
In order to manage the social media aspect at the organization, XYZ needs to implement
the following to ensure that it is being able to give rise to the technology in an organization
which engages the different members of the organization into one unit. To use the social media
to build a better organization, the following can be easily implanted and taken into considerate;
1. Defining the goals. And next the chosen platforms.
The platform does not hold as much importance as the goals do. The platform used in the
organization does not directly correlate to the results received. Although a majority of
organizations spend a majority of their money in building the right kind of platform, only a few
are actually able to figure out the manner in which the organization needs to make correct use of
the platform. Hence, it is important for an organization to keep a proper social media plan at
place which would go a long way in helping the given organization to implement the social
media plan in place and to ensure that the road for future is clear (Lally, 2013).Although the firm
does not need to spend exquisite resources and determine the plan in detail, however it is
extremely important for the given organization to see to it that they have a fair idea of what they
want to do in future and how this chosen plan would assist it in achieving the stated objectives.
The plan does not need to be very exquisite and collaboration needs to be formed successfully.
2. Think objectively and being specific
The organizational members should have their input into the decision making of the firm
and they should see to it that the plan is thought about objectively and the details are specific in
nature (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Creation of a plan which is not well detailed and just beats about

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the bush will not assist the organization in achieving its objectives. Instead, the organization
should ensure that they take up one target at one time and ensure it is able to successfully carry
out those plans step by step in order to achieve the special media objectives stated down.
3. Making using of young talent
The firm needs to ensure that it is successfully being able to attract the young talent in the
organization. Young talent in the organization refers to educated and qualified individuals who
have a hang of the different technologies and can make effective use of it in order to help the
organization in maintaining a transparent communication lone and make efficient use of the
resources and manage tasks (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). The young talent can be well trained so
that the future of the organization is secure and the firm is able to function successfully.
4. Build employee loyalty and culture
If a proper loyalty and culture is not built between the different organizational members,
they will not be willing to effectively contribute to the successful goals completing and target
achievement that the organization needs to in the present work culture. Use of social media for
work requires the organization to stand as one and help the weaker members to adapt to the
different needs and requirements which are essential to build a strong social media base (Tukker
& Tischner, 2017).
Issue two—feedback
Client feedback forms an essential aspect of the success which an organization aims to
achieve, the client is the primary reason why an organization is functioning, hence, it s important
to take in their point of view into consideration which will help the business to improve its
respires and ensure that the various tasks are easily able to make the different clients happy and

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the firm is able to attain success. For XYZ, the following recommendations can be followed in
order to ensure that the firm is successfully able to build a feedback system.
1. Getting the objectives set
It is very important for the organization to ensure that it has the basic rights in place and
it is easily able to decide the manner in which it feels comfortable for taking in the feedbacks and
objectives. It needs to ensure that the feedback taking system is transparent and easy to
understand for the various individuals in an organization (Evans, 2013). If the feedback taking
system in an organization is such that the members of the organization are not able to cope with
it or have difficulties in extracting basic information out of the received feedback.
2. Building it Top-Down
Gathering effective feedback is not just the job of the first line managers. All the
organizational members need to realize that taking in feedback forms an essential aspect of the
organization and that the leaders, top management as well as the middle level managers need to
be trained on the importance of receiving feedback. The absence of taking in effective feedback
from the different members will ensure that the organization is unable to meet with the correct
criteria (Miller, 2013). Approachability should be built in the organization ad it needs to be seen
to it that the firm is successful in building a culture which fosters proper facilitation of feedback
management.
3. Grapevine management
The feedback system needs to follow a bottoms top approach but it is also very essential
that it is successfully spread out in different parts of the organization. This shall ensure that the

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firm is successfully able to inculcate an environment that shall ensure that the feedback system is
implemented in all levels of the organization and it will ensure that all team members will be
easily able utilize the feedback received and make sure that the changes are effectively
maintained in the different parts if the organization.
4. Transparent system
Building a transparent system is essentially important as it goes a long way in seeing to it
that the different factors involved in an organization are maintained effectively. The feedback
which shall be received needs to be utilized for the benefit of the organization and it should be
seen to it that the different members are aware of the areas they are lagging in and a culture
needs to be building (Purce, 2014). Being transparent about the system is the only way a firm
will be able to achieve success in putting the feedback to action (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).
Issue three—Intercultural
As the given organization, XYZ is functioning in different geographical locations , the
culture of the different places is very different and this often causes problems with respect to the
different ways in which different members in tend to interact with one another. This often causes
confusion among the organizational members and is an area of concern among the different
organizational members. Hence, the following has been suggested for the welfare of the firm.
1. Learning a few key aspects of the new culture
If the organization aims to look out for the long term success of the organization then it
is important for the firm to see to it that they start learning the basic cultural aspects of the
different business unit. For example, the organization is in Australia, it may begin to learn certain
aspects of the Indian culture in order to ensure, that it is successfully able to interact and

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associate themselves with the employees working in the given unit of the organization (Renwick,
Redman & Maguire, 2013). This shall ensure that the firm is successful in maintaining and
engaging in long term relationships which are essentially beneficial for the organization.
2. Learning the basic key manners
Different cultures ten to have different ways in which the business associates are
required to behave in. It is suggested that a learning of these different mannerisms and etiquettes
should be implemented and undertaken (Wild, Wild & Han, 2014). Doing so, will ensure that the
firm is successfully able to manage the relationships with the outsiders and the people engaging
in such business relationships do not face any problem with respect to the communication that
they are required to engage in when taking part in the different activities of the firm.
3. Promoting appreciation of the difference in cultures
The difference in the culture is not a topic of concerned but an appreciation. The various
aspects of such need to be encouraged in the organization, for successful goal completion The
diversity that will be taking place in the given organization needs to be appreciated and it needs
to be seen to it that the different cultures are actually promoted (Adekola & Sergi, 2016). An
input from the different cultures in an organization goes a long way in making the organization
successful and ensures that the client needs which are situated in the different parts of the
organization are successfully met with.
4. Trying new things
The organizational headquarters could engage in a team building session which would ensure
that the firm is successful in maintaining the long term relationship with one another and gel with

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each other. This is also an opportunity to help the organizational members to learn about new
people and the culture in which they tend to operate (Cascio, 2018).
5. Accommodating
Lastly, proper training needs to be implemented and the different organizational members
need to be given help as to how they will be able to successful engage in long lasting and
accommodating relationships with one another and ensure that the given organization is easily
able to accommodate with one another and achieve organizational goals (Swift & Piff, 2014).
Hence, regardless of the kind of activity, the organization engages in it is important to
understand that all cultural requirements and strives towards success.

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Routledge.
Ainsworth, J. (2013). Business languages for intercultural and international business
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50.
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3-13.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction.
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Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
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Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Cascio, W. (2018). Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.
Chaney, L., & Martin, J. (2013). Intercultural business communication. Pearson Higher Ed.
Chua, A. Y., & Banerjee, S. (2013). Customer knowledge management via social media: the case
of Starbucks. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(2), 237-249.
Evans, C. (2013). Making sense of assessment feedback in higher educ

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Franks, I. M., & Maslovat, D. (2015). The importance of feedback to performance. In Essentials
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Friedrichsen, M. (2013). Handbook of social media management: Value chain and business
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