Management and Organization in Global Environment - Week 1 and Week 2 Activities

This study material covers the impact of Ford and Taylorism, Thomas Friedman's flat world thesis, Pankaj Ghamawat's view on globalization, and more in the context of Management and Organization in Global Environment. It includes activities on cross-cultural web design, Hofstede's dimensions, and Trompenaar's viewpoints.

WEEK 1 AND WEEK 2 ACTIVITIES 1
MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
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WEEK 1 AND WEEK 2 ACTIVITIES 2
Management and Organization in Global Environment
Week 1: Activity 1: Ford and Taylorism
Technology and social, political issues have brought a rapid change in the global
management and organization over the last decade. The industry sector is majorly influenced by
globalization and industry. Therefore for an industry sector to succeed, it must work significantly
towards defeating the global challenges (Mullins, 2016). Henry Ford took Taylor's methods to
another level through the use of machines to increase the production of cars. The devices
replaced the workers in some of the activities that were usually performed by human beings
I do not think that workers in Australia, America and Europe will accept Taylorism
today. This is because it assumes that there is only one best way of doing a job. It sets out on
researching on that one best way to make it even better. Taylorism assumes that employees
function better when they are prepared to follow keenly and strictly that one best way (Baum,
2005). Employees are not allowed to make any contribution towards how that particular task is
supposed to be handled.
The primary function for the call centers’ employees is to interact with customers through
computer systems. Call centres are seen as a digital form of Taylorism. This is due to the fact
employees levels of control are minimal but with routine tasks. Most of the workers experience a
lot of stress while at work about interaction with customers. Call centres have worse job
characteristics because customer service representatives have to express less negative emotions
even when one is really emotional. Employees in the call centers are required to talk to the
customers with a happy tone while on phone. Low task control and routine work is what defines
work at the call centers.

WEEK 1 AND WEEK 2 ACTIVITIES 3
Taylorism made production in the organizations compartmentalized; as well employees
control became centralized. This method can be applied in some countries today. Particularly in
the developing countries which cannot obtain some machines to aid them in their work. This is
because, employees through Taylorism can be turned into quasi-machines and make task easier
while increasing production.
Week 2: activity 1: Thomas Friedman of globalization: 3 eras of globalization, world is flat
Following Friedman’s flat world thesis can have some drawbacks to the world of globalization.
If multinational business executives follow this thesis, they may end up misinterpreting the
trends they observe in their businesses (Drucker, 2003). These can influence them towards
making severe strategic errors.
I agree with Friedman's iron rule of the flat world. The world is flat today thanks to the
advancement of technology. New ways of doing business have been realized for example, the
online market. Globalization is not uniform across all the countries. Each country has its level
regarding the development of globalization. In some countries, globalization is reduced by
internal and external conflicts in most of the developing nations.
Activity 2: Pankaj Ghamawat on Globalization
My view on globalization has not changed. This is because the world is not that
globalised. This is because of some various reasons. To begin with, considering all the
telephone-calling time last year, only two percent were cross-border call, on the average people
who read online news, only roughly two percent browse foreign news sites (Hill, 2001). Even in
Facebook, we may not be as global as we think. This is because out of everyone's facebook
friends, roughly ten to fifteen percent are friends from other countries. There is a significant

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movement of people between countries. This is because immigration is not really encouraged.
Regarding education, very few university students take their studies from their mother countries.
This is enough to convince one to agree with Professor Ghemawat that the world is not as
globalised as people perceive it. People have fears on globalization. It has some serious threats to
the economy. This is because practitioners in the economics field seem to be guided by some
badly flawed models which make them fail to notices real world problems (Parker, 2005). They
are tempted to imagine that businesses will expand. This in turn makes some workers to be laid
off thus ending up with increased unemployment.
Activity 3: online tool to explore different countries’ 5 dimensions by Hofstede
Australia has a unique culture. The uniqueness has been brought up by a unique history
that has shaped the diversity of its people, culture and lifestyle. Yes, I agree with the survey
results on the Australian culture since most of the people love culture less than they used to.
More of the people are becoming less engaged; few people are interested in playing musical
instruments as well as reading (Wren, 2005).
Activity 4: The myth of national culture
Yes, I agree with Professor Sweeney’s view on national culture. This is because culture
shapes every aspect of society. Cultural heritage broadens opportunities for education and
lifelong learning. Mc Sweeney offered a more compelling argument on national culture. This is
because his evidence that culture shapes every aspect of nature is valid.
Ones culture comes from where he or she was raised. It is all about family, the family’s
beliefs, cultural traditions that are celebrated and the special occasions that a specific people
celebrate at certain times of the year. It is unique to the concerned people. It is what defines that

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group of persons. Population on the other hand as a body of persons or individuals having a
quality or a characteristic in common (Jones, 2004). Therefore a single culture can be used to
study the whole population since it is the specific people’s way of life.
Activity 5: Riding the waves of culture
In the past, I have solved cultural conflicts like ignorance. Nowadays information is easily
accessible. It is easier to realize the appropriate behaviors when dealing with different cultures. I
had to educate people to stop; being ignorant, thinking that they are superior and realize that they
come from different cultures (Jones, 2004). Bringing different viewpoints as Trompenaar
suggests help to solve speeds up problem solving.
Activity 6: Building a cross- cultural web design for a wider audience
High and low context m means how people communicate in varied cultures. The extent to which
meaning is transmitted through the use of actual words derives the differences. This concept
helps one understand communications styles between different cultures. Communication is
fundamental in business (Jones, 2004). Therefore this concept can be applied in other areas of
business such as marketing and customer-supplier relationship.

WEEK 1 AND WEEK 2 ACTIVITIES 6
References
Baum, J., 2005. Blackwell Companion to Organizations. Blackwell: Oxford.
Drucker, P., 2003. Managing in the Next Society. Butterworth- Heinemann: Oxford.
Hill, C., 2001. Global Business Today. 3 ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
Jones, G., 2004. Organizational Theory, Design and Change. 4 ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
Mullins, L. J., 2016. Management and Organizational Behavoiur. 11 ed. s.l.:Pearson.
Parker, B., 2005. Introduction to Globalization and Business. 2 ed. London: Sage.
Wren, D., 2005. The History of Management Thought. 5 ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons
Inc.