Reflective Essay: Management in a Global Context - [Course Name]

This essay delves into the multifaceted roles and responsibilities of international managers within multinational corporations, examining their duties, effectiveness, and the challenges they face in a globalized context. It explores the differences between international and local management, emphasizing the importance of skills like communication, innovation, and ethical considerations. The essay highlights the impact of globalization on management practices, including performance management and human resource strategies, and discusses the ethical issues that arise in international business operations. Furthermore, the essay analyzes the challenges of globalization, such as economic instability and increased competition, while emphasizing the need for open global economies and strong bilateral relationships. It concludes by underscoring the significance of understanding international management dynamics for organizational growth and success. This essay is a comprehensive analysis of the evolving landscape of international management.

Running head: MANAGEMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 1
Management In Global Context
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MANAGEMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 2
Management In Global Context
In the last few decades, managers of multinational corporations have tried to come up
with programs of development to catch up with the dynamics of the international markets and
ensure the growth of their organizations (Pettigrew, 2015, pg. 577). Such managers have most of
the time, worked in multiple countries with some of such managers being expatriates (McKenna,
2013). Many of such managers have not been reported to succumb to challenges of relocating to
new work locations or adjusting to new market cultures and social alignments though they
automatically find themselves dealing with such issues. With such working conditions, this paper
is left with several study questions that elaborates and assist in understanding issues of
international managerial effectiveness. In addition, such study questions will help in
understanding whether they apply to managers that work in countries or societies that are getting
complex. The paper is aimed to establish responses to the following study questions:
- What are the duties of international managers?
- Do such roles differ to those that local managers perform in their organizations?
- How do they manage to be effective in their operations even as they take roles
simultaneously in many countries?
- What management concerns and issues do international managers need to note to be
effective?
- What issues do multinational organizations need to consider ensuring that they create
economic and organizational growth?

MANAGEMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 3
Some of the organization managerial roles that managers play in an organization include
but not limited to staffing, business development, establishing and supervising training
processes, managing projects, establishing communication frameworks, counselling, evaluating,
scheduling, and encouraging innovation (Rai & Panna, 2015). Organizational development
entails managers being responsible for mapping out organizational activities. Within all
organizational levels or departments, managers are required to enforce business decisions
according to management protocols (Pettigrew, 2015, pg. 574). Human resource department
managers are required to perform staffing responsibilities from compensations to recruitments.
Such managers are also required to screen their workers to ensure operational excellence (Goran,
2017). Managers are front-runners and torchbearers in developing, implementing, and executing
projects. Therefore, they are required to have the experience and foresight to harness the best
from project teams and ensure project success (Pettigrew, 2015, pg. 575). Every manager must
be able to communicate and therefore, have strong communication skills. In an organization,
managers are charged with communicating even the most complicated and complex information
to workers in all the departments. Therefore, these individuals need to be fluent speakers and
writers (Rai & Panna, 2015). In many successful organizations, managers are innovative and
encourage innovative processes. They come up with new, efficient ways through which their
teams and departments can operate (Goran, 2017).
Globalization as a process is slowly changing the world in terms of culture, politics,
sociality, and economics. The impacts of globalization are imminent in the contemporary world.
For instance, just a quick, simple breakfast in an Australian household is likely to contain items
from several countries in the globe, in that bread is made from wheat imported from Canada,
banana from Costa Rica, cheese from Switzerland, tea from India, and juice from New Zealand.

MANAGEMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 4
When we decide to list nations that produce the things we use in our daily lives, the list would be
endless (Kauzya, 2016). Apart from that, the work opportunity and income of an individual may
result from investing in different countries. In addition, obtaining an economic security when one
reaches the retiring age may be as a result of funds invested abroad successfully. Business
organizations looking for profits tend to restructure their operations and having their behaviour
adapted to respond to opportunities in the global markets. According to the UN’s World
Investment Report, life insurance clients of New York Life Insurance (NYLI) do mail their
claims to one address at New York’s Kennedy Airport. The insurance claims are then sent to
Shannon Airport located in Ireland, after which they are sent by courier to Castleisland where
NYLI’s processing centre is located. Afterwards, the processing affiliate gets linked to the parent
firm through transatlantic telecommunications where processing is finalized and the claims
returned to the processing firm in New Jersey through the company’s dedicated line where
responses and checks are printed and mailed to clients (Kauzya, 2016).
According to the Global Society for Organizational/ Industrial Psychology, there is a
trend in the global management and workforce. One of such trends is the changing nature of the
global management of performance. Changes in performance management are mainly associated
with large corporations. For instance, multinational organizations have decided to drop
traditional systems of performance management that have proved inefficient and ineffective in
engaging foreign markets and cultures. Globalization has therefore helped managers to redesign
and evolve their systems of performance management, evaluate set goals, and rethinking annual
ratings and reviews (Management, 2017b).
There are several differences between expatriates and local managers in terms of skills
and concepts. For instance, international managers are conventionally charged with handling the

MANAGEMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 5
emerging global concept. They provide supreme coordination and control in the operational
units, they provide opportunities for international development to their staff and facilitate the
transfer of knowledge and skills throughout global branches. On the contrary, the concepts of
local management entail governance multifaceted dimension. This dimension entails the
existence of local structures, systems, processes, government business procedures, and leadership
behaviour among others (Management, 2017a).
As mentioned in the introductory section, managers of multinational corporations come
up with global programs of development to catch up with the dynamics of international
marketing and to ensure the growth of their organizations. However, some of the challenges
associated with globalization include instability of developing countries that would otherwise
disrupt global economics, an increased global competition that would reduce labour rights,
wages, environmental changes, and employment practices, and lastly, organizations being unable
to cooperate with market demands (Kauzya, 2016).
According to the Chinese president in the Global Economic Summit, future trade and
trade blocks need to be open since there are associated economic globalization benefits in doing
so. It is a way of ensuring that developing countries grow and poverty is lifted. Therefore, the
world should be committed to an open global economy. However, the president of the USA Mr
Trump echoed his belief that globalization will reduce political and trade war. Meaning that
globalization will create cohesion through the creation of strong bilateral relationships leading to
free and fair-trade as well as peaceful coexistence (Otobo, 2014).
With several business firms planning to expand to international markets, ethics has
emerged to be a vital concept. The ethical international issues associated with business
operations determines the morality and decision-making processes (Rai & Panna, 2015). Some

MANAGEMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 6
of such international ethical issues include working conditions and standards, outsourcing,
equality, workplace diversity, and business integrity among others. Therefore, international
organizations are required to comply fully international regulations on monetary and fiscal
reporting, environmental concerns, and civil rights issues among others (Goran, 2017).
Global human resource management is a global framework that entails every aspect of
multinational organization's human resource, management of talent, payroll, and other
stakeholder related activities. Some of the global HR functions include strategic input planning,
evaluating and implementing workforce purposes, determining and recruiting appropriate skills,
attitudes, and behaviour patterns required to support strategic planning, and developing strategies
and programs to harness worker skills and behaviours among other duties. On the contrary, local
HR functions include but are not limited to functions such as acquisition, withdrawals, planning,
and socializing. However, local HR also perform development functions in the form of training
and coaching (Goran & Michael, 2016).
In conclusion, international managers as discussed before, tackle aligned with relocating
to new work locations or adjusting to new market cultures and their challenges as well. With
such working condition, this paper has answered several study questions on international
management that are fundamentally important in elaborating, and understanding study outcomes.
In addition, the study questions have helped in determining how global issues affect managers
with management roles getting more and more complex (James & Rosenau, 1997).

MANAGEMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 7
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