International Management Report: Global Workforce and Economy

This report provides an analysis of international management, focusing on the challenges and opportunities faced by businesses in a globalized economy, using Mark & Spencer as a case study. It explores the role of culture in international business, emphasizing the importance of cultural awareness and cross-cultural communication. The report delves into organizational and national cultural characteristics, examining talent management strategies and the impact of diverse workforces. It also addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by a global workforce, including the importance of recruiting local talent and adapting to different cultural environments. Furthermore, the report identifies factors contributing to the globalized economy, such as diversity, inclusion, and the impact of technology. The conclusion highlights key takeaways, emphasizing the need for organizations to adapt to cultural nuances and effectively manage a diverse workforce to achieve success in the international market.

INTERNATIONAL
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1 Role of culture in international business............................................................................1
LO2 Knowledge of organisational and national cultural characteristics....................................2
LO 3 Challenges and opportunities of global workforce..........................................................3
LO 4 Factors that contribute to globalised economy..................................................................3
LO 5 Practical application cultural awareness............................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Business has to be faced by different challenges and opportunities and Mark & Spencer
is one of the renowned MNC in London having the specialization of selling of different attire,
luxury food items and home appliances. It made its mark through a long term relationship with
British manufacturers. At that time a brand name was used to sell clothes and food products.
And the products which were not accepted by the customers were refunded and complete cash
was given back by the owners. Almost all types of products i.e. lingerie, girl;s uniform, women's
attire were sold out at at that time. Main focus of the company was on the quality of goods that
were sold. Below are the opportunities and challenges that are faced by workforce in an
international market.
LO 1 Role of culture in international business
Skilled team leaders derive the approachable employees which help them to understand the
business thoughts and proceedings(Rees and Smith, 2017). Access to Related Workforce Data
through Manager. Huge data and “Data Deluge” were the terms depicted by the economists
which relates to the abundance and collection of high amount of data which proved to be a
challenge and was considered as Gartner's Top Technology Trends in 2012. The managers of the
organisation should have the talent to manage the extra data and spread data. Smart options are
provided by the talent managers for the assessment of the extra data and to avoid the overload of
the burden of information. The data has to be timely updated,perfect and meaningful for the
business. Complete information has to be relevant which makes the business persuasive. Instead
of providing a huge amount of data which contains some irrelevant data , some meaningful
information is provided which differs between useful and “deluge” data for the managers in the
organisation. This quality is unique which the business Mark&Spencer take into account to
maintain their information relevant and in demand. Overloading is rejected by the leaders to
analyse the data. And to make business more progressive and advanced irrelevant data is avoided
by the managers. So they always differentiate between the desirable data which the real data and
the data useful for the Mark&Spencer and the data all over which is the surrounded data in
Mark& Spencer. Then there are processes to strengthen up the leadership baselines. Mark &
Spencer not only focus on the top entities of the organisation but also shows interest in the
solutions provided by the people for its establishment. This approach tighten up the their
business strategies and people can also show their skills and talent which helps the organisation
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to grow more rapidly. Professionals solutions helps in the interaction between the leaders and the
team members and more ideas are created and generated. This process motivates their self
confidence and also visualizes their growth in career development. It covers all self intended
employees whose actions and ambitions are being focused and considered. HR provide art staff
training and engage their employees for quality wise work. It follows four types of models such
Change agent, Employee champion, administrative partner, Strategic partner. These models
perform proactive roles and ensures fantastic distribution of skills, training and core competency
for the success of company. These models focus on the fact that they should listen to employees
and provide sufficient resources so that company's targets could be achieved. In international
market like in Africa there is requirement of effective cross-cultural communication skills and
cultural awareness. Personal trust should be build up.
Here five cultural tips are followed such as the cult of precision, there is no mixture of
culture with structure, courtesy is always there, sentiments matters the most and CSR is not
there. Companies reinforce culture to achieve success. While, European culture is advance and
they are proud of their language. They have understand their issues like to make face-to-face
contact in business contracts. In corporate life they make use of extensive titles.
LO 2 Knowledge of organisational and national cultural characteristics.
These employees can be described as 'latent talents' of the organisation whose views
were not submitted in the strategic talent management. These talents prove their presence by
giving useful and ambitious solutions. Their career preferences are also being considered.
Alignment of Human Capital Management (HCM) by the commitment of Organizational leaders
with the business strategy is also very important(Al Maini and et.al.,2015). Maintaining HR
strategies and talent management strategy is also a crucial part of business strategy which helps
in building economy of Mark & Spencer very strong . Economic scale of Mark & Spencer
strongly depend on the HCM strategy to form an outstanding workforce. Talent management
team is apart of HR administration which analyses the potential and real ambition of employees.
For leaders it is important to make strong business strategies with the commendable workforce
and this desirable workforce is a challenge to business administration. They have their own in-
build skills and are more in demand. Strong business strategy rises demand of talented people.
which ultimately form the result oriented team by the organisational leaders. Aligning human
capital management is very important to build up winning and successful workforce. In the
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organisation people of high age groups sometimes makes their own workforce and they want to
get their views and values to be considered at the workstation. But the young employees have
their advanced and fresh box of principles. This creates differences in the Mark & Spencer. And
as the baby boomers are preceding, they are leaving behind the gap of 30 years which can be
counted as the gap of 100 years(Jiang and Men, 2017). This is a type of disadvantage to the
Mark & Spencer. But all old age workers are not required on the board as their health and mental
power is concerned. New and talented is youth is being scouted to fulfil the gap yet the
knowledge which they take with them can't be covered. Internation business opportunities
includes many this like export-import, Outsourcing, Global marketing, and logistics. Many
companies in US depend on domestic revenue. But after globalization companies are competing
with the international market and generating income and not just rely on national market.
LO 3 Challenges and opportunities of global workforce
So for being competitive and strong companies and organization have to go global which
requires a global leaders that build up a national as well as international team. This global
expansion has generated many opportunities and has modified the companies to approach new
customers and create a new baseline of global customers. They can transmit their products and
ideas in a more better way in the market line. Technology has made this work more faster and
easier(Finkelstein and et.al. 2015). Companies with the help of their domain name take
advantage to seek customers . Another advantage is that companies are dealing in the market
with different traditions and cultures which is a daring task for their leaders. Various ideas are
implemented and planning has to be done to capture the market place(Davies and et.al., 2018).
Recruiting local workforce can also lead Mark & Spencer to cultural sensibility and make the
Mark & Spencer understand the new cultural environment and the way of dealing with it. Local
employees ensures company's business standards. Cost advantages are provided to hire talent in
many developing countries. Some countries have much higher employment costs and so they are
cost effective and costs almost 60% of the salary levels. It is very important to do a complete
examining of a recruiting perfect strategic goals before stepping into the market as there is lot of
competition in the market regarding sales, products and customers. Globally, workforce also
provide resources to convey with the people in the marketplace. Other than this, growth,
expansion of business are also emphasized by the planning in International Business. Readiness
in export , import are also focused globally in business centre. Proper training, transaction of
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quality products at global level, marketing and before that counselling of the market place and
customers and logistics department are also some factors for the exploration of the business at
international level. Assistance provided by Federal, County and state agencies and introduction
of the international trade and accessing them with other international clients improves its growth.
For e-commerce , promotion and global planning a lot of analysis on market competency,
productivity is required. Different global perspectives lead to increment in new opportunities of
marketplace and vision of consumers.
LO 4 Factors that contribute to globalised economy
Another factor that affects business centre and its strategy is diversity which tries to
continue and motive the workforce to function at various levels. For eg. In Singapore salary of
13th month is benefit to the employees which is generally not required there. These small
noticeable things that what is required and what is not makes decisions more tough for Mark &
Spencer and so they hire local workforce. At some level population decides to gain a measurable
goal and value a signified community through expanding their strategies globally. Sometimes
operations are updated and re-evaluated in all prospects like from the type of technology they are
using to the marketplace(Reilly and Williams , 2016). This is how the organisations make their
mark in the market. For a clear reflection in the market, investments, changes in the availability
of resources also vary. And workforce is considered to be the invaluable asset for the growth of
every Mark & Spencer . A structured workforce that matches the diversity and socio-economic
level for their end customers, can only faces the challenges of marketplace and accept market
opportunities. It is said that a diversified workforce takes the organisation to greater level and
touches level of innovation. Here inclusion is also needed along with diversity of workforce.
And this diversity and inclusion differs from one part to another and in this some regions are
developing and some are developed which creates opportunities for employees of the developing
nation to show their talent and plan for abroad in various MNCs. These organizations provide
them opportunities to make a stronger workforce which includes women of all culture,
ethnicities, different community members so that business stores the cultural vision for business
challenges and opportunities. A culture of equality is there which is forced by consumers to the
organization(Colbert Yee and George, 2016). More and more inclusion and diversity activities
are performed by the organisations for the assurance of skilled and potential staff. And all these
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can be explained in a word called 'value' of a product as client only looks the value of a product
and recognizes the value of an organization.
LO 5 Practical application cultural awareness.
Cultural awareness of team refers to resound success and solving many problems. From
my perspective it is important for honest feedback, for accountability, standards and
commitment are maintained through communication, level of understanding is developed and
strengths and weaknesses of team are known. Cultural awareness provides respect and trust for
the team. It provides sense of worth for individuals. Development is there in each and every
area.
CONCLUSION
Finally it is concluded that the to acquire high position in a global market an organization
has to face many challenges which includes Talent management , important organizational roles
of Marks & Spencer, extra data usage and how to deal with overloaded data . Cultural factors
which includes diversifies environment and inclusion and structured workforce which is the
backbone of the company is very important to maintain. Equality in workforce can be brought by
hiring them from different regions, languages and culutres which make business centres more
strong and adhesive.
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REFERENCES
Book & Journal
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global shortages and international migration. Global health action. 7(1). p.23611.
Pennycook, A., 2017. The cultural politics of English as an international language. Taylor &
Francis.
Vance, C.M. and Paik, Y., 2014. Managing a global workforce: challenges and opportunities in
international human resource management. Routledge.
Rees, G. and Smith, P. eds., 2017. Strategic human resource management: An international
perspective. Sage.
Al Maini, M. and et.al.,2015. The global challenges and opportunities in the practice of
rheumatology: white paper by the World Forum on Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal
Diseases. Clinical rheumatology. 34(5). pp.819-829.
Jiang, H. and Men, R.L., 2017. Creating an engaged workforce: The impact of authentic
leadership, transparent organizational communication, and work-life
enrichment. Communication research. 44(2). pp.225-243.
Finkelstein and et.al., 2015. Facing the challenges of a multi-age workforce: A use-inspired
approach. Routledge.
Davies, J. and et.al., 2018. The Challenge to Western Management Development: International
Alternatives. Routledge.
Reilly, P. and Williams, T., 2016. Global HR: Challenges facing the function. Routledge.
Colbert, A., Yee, N. and George, G., 2016. The digital workforce and the workplace of the
future. Academy of Management Journal. 59(3). pp.731-739.
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