International Management Challenges and Strategies Report

This report delves into the multifaceted challenges of management within a global environment. It begins by defining the global business environment and highlighting the issues faced by expatriate managers, including cultural differences in time perception, communication styles, and organizational structures. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding these cultural nuances for international business success. It then outlines the essential skills and abilities of successful international managers, such as cross-cultural communication, resilience, networking, emotional intelligence, and adaptability. Furthermore, the report discusses multivariate analysis as a crucial tool for recruiting international managers, considering factors like motivation, qualifications, and risk mitigation. Finally, the report addresses acculturation issues in expatriation and repatriation, underscoring the significance of cross-cultural training and a positive attitude in navigating challenges. The report provides a comprehensive overview of international management, offering valuable insights for those operating in a global context.

Running head: MANAGEMENT IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Management in a global environment
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this report will be to illuminate on the different challenges that are faced
when recruiting people from cross cultural teams. It will talk in length about the different
kind of issues that an expatriate manager is likely to face. It will also highlight about the
skills and abilities of international managers and about the different variables that will be
considered while appointing an international manager. It will also talk at length about the
issues that will arise when the international manager will try to intermingle with the
surrounding culture. Cross cultural training would be able to eliminate the problem of
expatriates and positive attitude would help them in dealing with a difficult situation.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Issues that an expatriate manager may face...........................................................................3
Skills and abilities in successful international manager.........................................................5
Multivariate analysis in recruiting international manager.....................................................7
Acculturation in expatriation and repatriation of international managers.............................8
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................9
References:...............................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The global business environment refers to the prevailing environment in various
sovereign countries having factors that the home environment of organization does not have
that influences the decision making process along with the use of resources. The global
business environment can further be classified into that of internal and external environment.
The external environment will be inclusive of the social, political, legal and cultural
environment. Companies that are operating at the international arena should be able to
understand social environment in relation to the host country where they are operating. There
are a large number of MNC that are operating in different parts of the globe. Companies
should acquaint themselves with the culture of the country where they are operating for
providing the perfect output. This report will throw light on the issues that an expatriate
manager may have to face and highlight the skills that that are cherished to perform an
international role successfully. A multivariate approach will be followed to recruit an
international manager who will be able to successfully carry out his role perfectly for the
successful running of an organization.
Issues that an expatriate manager may face
An expatriate refers to an employee who is working provisionally and is living
outside of his home country. Hofstede’s work was published in the year 1980 and it argued
that many theories related to management like that of Herzberr, Mausner, and Mc Gregor are
invalid because the authors fall prey to cultural bias that would be manifested intrinsically in
their cultural make up. According to Hofstede, national cultures differ mainly owing to four
factors. They are avoidance of uncertainity, power distance, individualism and masculinity.
(Block 2016).Understanding the differences of cultures is extremely important for
organizations as it will be able to expand beyond the sphere of their own national boundary

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and will thus be able to win loyalty of customers who are residing across globe. Time is
conceived differently in different cultures which relies on the history of the place. There are
two time systems that prevail one is monochromic and the other one is polychromic. The
cultures that follow the monochromic framework think of time in a linear fashion and they
give more focus on people as compared to that of information. The cultures that follow
polychromic structure of time do not rely much on information and their schedules are
flexible (Bücker et al. 2016). There are some cultures that put more importance on past
traditions. Their plans will be in accordance with the past traditions of the company. There
are companies that focus on the long term benefits. Companies that are future oriented give
more importance to plans along with that of results. There are some cultures that accept
inequality and as a result of this no effort is made to alter the current situation. There are
cultures that give importance to equality that facilitates in maintaining effective relationship
within an organisation (Comfort and Franklin 2014). In a free market, management gives
more importance to competition. Some organisations give importance to competition in
between the employees which helps in making the employees more creative. More focus is
laid on wealth and performance when competition within an organization is valued. Some
companies have cultures where focus is laid on developing a measurable time framed action.
In “being cultures” more importance is laid on vision of the company. The perception in
relation to space varies in different cultures. There are things that are considered as “private”
in one culture can be considered as “public” by another culture. There are some cultures
where family issues are discussed in an open manner whereas in another culture privacy will
be considered to be of supreme importance. The concept of “context” that is the surrounding
circumstances within which communication occurs differs in different cultures. In a high
context communication, information is provided in the coded form whereas in the context of
low context information the greater part of the information is provided in explicit code

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(Dabic, González-Loureiro and Harvey 2015). The organizational structure of business also
differs in different cultures. The culture that gives importance to individualism lays stress on
individual above that of the group. The individual is held to be more self-reliant and
difference does not exist between that of in-group and that of out-group. Collectivism on the
other hand lays more emphasis on shares values within the framework of a group. The
interest of the group is given more importance as compared to that of the individual. Research
conducted by Hofstede revealed that in the United States parents rear their children by
teaching them about self-reliance and they were free to voice out their individual opinion.
The Japanese, Chinese and Malaysians emphasize the group approach as compared to that of
the individual (Delaney et al. 2017).
Skills and abilities in successful international manager
A different set of skill set is required today to thrive in the arena of international
business. The business environment nowadays is volatile and complex. Knowledge about the
technical know-how is essential but it is the garnering of soft skills that will mark the
difference between that of survival and that of being successful in the domain of international
business. It has been found that international managers possess cross-cultural communication
skill, resilience, excellent abilities for networking, emotional intelligence, collaboration,
adaptive thinking and the skills related to interpersonal influence (Deresky 2017). Respect,
diplomacy, an open mind and research will be required to work in an international platform
because an international business will have people coming from different cultural
background. Having an in-depth knowledge about how workplace confrontation is interpreted
in other cultures is crucial for maintaining effective relationship with the co-workers.
Listening skill is an important aspect of maintaining effective communication in an
organization. Successful networking skills will be able to open opportunity for the expansion
of business (Fombrun, Ponzi and Newburry 2015). Taking part in networking events related

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to industry will help in meeting professionals who are like-minded. Ability of collaboration
and working together is of high importance in the world of business. Humility is an essential
trait in an ideal manager and one should allow other people to take lead. Confidence is
required which would help in dealing with crisis. One should have the ability to influence
other people and should be able to build respect. One should be assertive without engaging in
aggressive acts (Guo, Rammal and Dowling 2016). An international manager has the ability
to adapt quickly to a situation and adaptive thinkers will be able to prosper in an environment
that is ever-changing. Having curiosity can help to a large extent in breeding adaptive
thinking. In situations when a swift response will be required adaptive thinking will help in
taking an action that will be thoughtful rather than giving in to the dictates of others. Tactical
skill is a highly enviable quality of professionals working in the international domain. Strong
emotional intelligence is a critical skill that should be present in international managers. They
would be able to react in a calm manner in case of a critical situation. Mental toughness is an
essential trait in an ideal international manager (Jovcheska and Popovski 2015).Failure and
setback is inevitable in the world of business hence resilience is an important quality in the
international manager. It is necessary for achieving success and allows one to meet the
challenges in relation to global business. It helps one in maintaining motivation and in
overcoming risk. An international manager is a good negotiator and he should have strong
negotiating skills that will help him in doing business across national boundaries (Kang and
Shen 2017). An international manager should have an aura and charisma that will prove to be
of great help in dealing with people. His attire, confidence level and interest in other people
are crucial for his profession and it will help in influencing other people. A global business
leader should respect affiliations related to other people. The identities of others should be
respected to create the ideal environment at work.

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Multivariate analysis in recruiting international manager
Multivariate analysis revolves round the observation and analysis of more than one
variable at a time. It helps in performing studies across different dimensions. The goals of
international assignment should be specified and the strategic value should be determined
which should be on the basis of strategic objectives of the organization (Knocke et al. 2017).
The international manager should be motivated and qualified so that can carry out his duty
successfully. The candidate should have the competency so that he is able to successfully
achieve his goal. He should be able to minimize the risk related to assignment failure and the
costs related. The multivariate analysis should be done in such a manner that would maximise
the benefit of the organization along with that of the candidate. The characteristics of a
multinational company will be crucial in selecting the right employee. Due care should be
taken to prepare the employees for the challenges that will arise when one takes up the new
position. The expatriates should be provided with all kinds of help that will facilitate their
adjustment in the new atmosphere and allow them to work in an efficient manner during the
entire period of their contract. The difficulties in relation to performance appraisal will come
from the conflict in between that of global and subsidiary objectives and volatility in relation
to that of the international market (O’Donohue, Hutchings and Hansen 2017). The variable
levels in relation to the maturity of market will be another arena of contention. International
managers have to face a lot of difficulty in adjusting to the new environment of another place
and he should have the mental ability to cope with the challenges of a new place. The nature
of technology will be different in a foreign country and the foreign manager should be
adequately equipped to deal with this that may lead to frustration. Due care should be taken
to understand his capability in the area of technology. He should be equipped with technical,
human and conceptual skills that will help him to handle the international portfolio
successfully. A combination of training, on job exposure along with that of formal education

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will help him to carry out his duties in the right manner. Interpersonal skills are also a
necessity in today’s world and managers have to work with people so they should have the
ability to communicate effectively. Cohesion, fairness and good will are contributory factors
for the growth of an organization (Peltokorpi and Vaara 2014). Human skills will help the
manager in communicating and motivating an employee so that productivity is increased
within the organization. Analytical ability so that he is able to envision both parts and sum
will add to the conceptual skill set of the manager. The conceptual skills of the manager will
help him in solving problems in a calculated manner. The chaotic environment of business in
today’s world necessitates conceptual skills in the managers. An international manager
should have the vision and he should have the ability to articulate that vision. Visionaries
know how to handle changes and can draw new boundaries. They should have the ability to
make other people feel that they are an integral part of the project (Rees and Smith 2017).
Acculturation in expatriation and repatriation of international managers
The last two decades have revealed that personnel administrators who are working in
multinational companies have been troubled by a recurring problem that revolved round the
premature returning of expatriate managers (Vijayakumar et al. 2016). The expatriate
managers cannot adjust to the business environment of host culture and it proves to be costly
for the management. The cost involved in recruiting an expatriate manager is immense and in
case they cannot adjust themselves in the new position it proves to be extremely detrimental
for the future of the company. The expatriate manager may choose to live in a place that is
largely populated by people of his source country. They do not have to learn the language of
their new place and they try to refrain from communicating with people of their new place
that can pose to be a big problem. Thus expatriation may force other people to face the
problem of linguistic assimilation and they feel out of place in the new environment.
Emotional assimilation is another area in which the international manager may face problem

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(Silbiger et al. 2017). Their loyalties will be divided between the two cultures. Empirical
evidence has suggested that cultural adjustment is extremely necessary for being successful in
job as maladjustment will create psychological stress and it will have negative repercussion
on his career. The personality trait of the immigrant will be able to determine whether he
would be able to match to norms and practices of host country (Stahl et al. 2016). The
research that is conducted should be inclusive of dynamics over a period of time because
many individual who have lived and worked outside the confines of their home country often
imbibe a global mindset and the acculturation framework becomes insufficient in such a case.
Culture shock can result in anxiety that occurs when the individual loses all the familiar signs
in relation to social intercourse. Culture shock results in stress, sense of loss, sense of
becoming an outcast, confusion and evokes a sense of powerlessness. Cross cultural training
can be of acute help to the expatriates (Story et al. 2014). The expatriates should create
positive attitude that would help in dealing with emotions and learning language will prove to
be a great boon in understanding host country. They should try to accept and adapt to foreign
environment. The expatriates should be able to conceive of the people and customs as their
own that will make their experience enjoyable (Vaiman, Haslberger and Vance 2015).
Conclusion:
An international manager has to face many hurdles as he tries to assimilate himself
into the new culture. Different cultures have different conception of time that complicates the
situation for the expatriates (Townsend, Regan and Li 2015). Technical knowledge is
essential for an international manager however it is the perfect learning of soft skills that will
create difference between survival and being successful. Resilience is an important quality in
the international manager since failure is bound to be encountered in the world of
management. The expatriates should be provided intensive help that will help them to adjust

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to the new environment. The conceptual skills in the international manager will prove to be of
great boon in solving problems. Expatriation will force people to face the problem of
linguistic assimilation along with that of emotional assimilation. The expatriates should have
a positive attitude that would be immensely helpful while dealing with emotions.

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Deresky, H., 2017. International management: Managing across borders and cultures.
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