HI6005 - Management and Organization in Global Environment Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by managers operating in a global environment. It focuses on issues such as language and behavioral differences, diversity management, and understanding diverse training needs. The report utilizes the Hofstede cultural framework to explain how cultural dimensions impact management practices. It also identifies key skills and abilities for successful international managers, including communication, motivation, team building, adaptability, creativity, self-awareness, and negotiation. Furthermore, it discusses the application of multivariate analysis in recruiting international managers and addresses acculturation issues related to expatriation and repatriation. The report emphasizes the importance of cultural competence and adaptability in navigating the complexities of international business operations.

Management and
Organization in
global environment

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Executive Summary
Modern day managers had to face different set of challenges especially when the managers
had to move to some other countries. This report analyses the common issues faced by
expatriate manager which include Language and behaviour difference, Diversity management
and Understanding training needs are some of the most common issues that an international
managers had to face. This is because of the change in the cultural orientation of the host and
home country. There are different set of skills that are required for international managers to
be successful. This report shows that Communication, Motivational skills, Team building
skills, Adaptability, Creativity and self-awareness and Negotiation are some of the skills that
are actually required to be successful. Cultural competence, Thinking skills,
Communicational skills and Behaviour analysis are some of the areas in which multivariate
analysis is required before recruiting an international manager. Acculturation issues like
change in values and ethics along with food habits that needs to be faced by managers when
they are expatriate and repatriate at international location.
Content

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s
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Issues likely to be faced by expatriate manager.....................................................................................3
Skills and abilities that needs to be present for being a successful international managers....................5
The way in which multivariate analysis might be utilised in recruiting international managers............7
Acculturation issues in expatriation and repatriation of international managers....................................9
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................10
References...........................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Management of operations in today’s time has become one of the most complex tasks due to
the fast changing nature of the global environment. It is seen that numbers of issues related to
people have increased in any firm. Companies that are indulged in the global business had to
face one of the major challenges i.e. the fact that employees working in any firm are from
different cultural backgrounds. Management of cross-cultural teams is one of the biggest
challenges that an expatriate manager had to face (Miao, Adler and Xu, 2011). This is also
because the challenges in recruiting the people from different cultures have also become
difficult. In this regards the major role is played by skills and abilities of the international
managers. This report is going to discuss the likely issues that can be faced by expatriate
manager using some of the cultural framework theories. It also discusses abilities and skills
that are required for successful international manager. Multivariate analyses which can be
used in recruitment of international managers have been discussed. At last the discussion is
made about acculturation issues in expatriation and repatriation of international managers.
Issues likely to be faced by expatriate manager
Companies are sending many of their managers at global levels so as to manage the
challenges that are faced by different business units. In this environment, cross-cultural
management is playing a significant role in the success of the firm. An expatriate manager is
from different parts of the world hence he had to face multiple challenges in managing cross-
cultural teams. Some of the most likely issues that are faced by the expatriate manager are:
 Language and behaviour difference: There is a language barrier between the people
from different cultural backgrounds and most of the time, there is language difference
between these people. It is difficult for the expatriate managers to train everyone with
every language. This is also true in the case of behaviour as the behaviour of the
people is highly influenced by the culture from which they belong to. This change in
the behaviour has a long term impact on the team culture as they have to understand
each other’s behaviour so as to reduce the chances of miscommunication and enhance
the understanding between each other which is necessary for the success of the
projects and tasks (Briscoe, Tarique and Schuler, 2012).

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 Diversity management: In cross-cultural environment, there are many points of
difference. Due to this, it become difficult for the expatriate managers to make sure
that recruit people from all cultural backgrounds. An expatriate manager could not
provide jobs only to the people from their cultural background (Adler and Rigg,
2012).
 Understanding training needs: Since people from different cultural backgrounds have
different training needs. This change in the training requirements of the people makes
it difficult for the managers to design a universal training program. For example a
person from Kenya if goes to work in united states, they will have to use of more
advanced technologies in performing their work for which they need training (Harvey,
Napier and Moeller, 2011).
The challenges can be further understood by the help of Hofstede cultural framework as this
framework explains the effect on values of its members due to culture of society and the way
in which these values are related with behaviour of people. This can be understood by the
dimension of nation’s culture that this framework represents.
(Assumption: The home country of the expatriate manager is highly different from the
country in which he or she is placed in terms of Hofstede cultural dimension)
 Power distance index: If the value on this index is different for the employees from
two countries then the major issue that that will be faced is in the distribution of
power i.e. the members of these nations will have different approach to accept the
authority.
 Individualism vs. collectivism: If the difference between these two nations in terms of
cultural dimension is higher than the expatriate manager will face issues such as team
building and team management which again is essential for management of operations
in today’s time. Huge difference in this cultural dimension reduces the chances of
coordination between the employees (Qin and Baruch, 2010).
 Uncertainty avoidance: Higher difference in the uncertainty avoidance has an impact
on the way manager pushes guidelines, laws, codes of behaviour etc. It creates
challenges as expatriate manager’s culture is different from the employee who creates
issues such as people acceptance of different thoughts and ideas. Managers also face
ambiguity and imposing regulations related challenges.

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 Masculinity vs. femininity: The difference in this domain suggests the values of any
society related to women. It creates issues related to recruitment and equal treatment
of any employee. In an organisation if the value for women is similar in all the
cultures, then there is higher chance that women will be promoted higher levels in the
organisational structure. Expatriate manager will face challenges in managing gender
diversity (Wang, Freeman and Zhu, 2013).
 Long-term orientation vs. short-term orientation: If the difference in this dimension is
huge among the people then the expatriate manager will face challenges in managing
long-term and short-term decisions. It decides that whether it is easier for the
managers to make long term and short term plans or not.
 Indulgence vs. restraint: If the difference in this cultural dimension is large then
managers might face challenges in motivating employees as well as in keeping their
commitments on the higher side. It also illustrates that will the expatriate manager
will face problems in making decisions. This is because the impact on the social
norms on the strategy making is higher (Li and Scullion, 2010).
Skills and abilities that needs to be present for being a successful international
managers
In the international business, there are large numbers of challenges that managers had to face.
Due to this they are facing challenges in the management of operations. Various kinds of
skills are required for the international managers to become successful. It is essential for the
management to make sure that they have all the skills that can improve their capacity to
manage. In this regards, there are people from different parts of the world (Noe, et al. 2017).
In this regards it is critical that managers understand the problems that they might face in
managing all these skills and on the basis of it they need to develop their skills. There are
various ways in which international managers can enhance their skills. Some of the skills and
abilities that managers need to have so as to become successful in the international
management are.
 Communication: It is critical that manager have skills related to communication. An
effective communication allows companies to understand others and at the same time
it also allows managers to communicate everything that is required for the
international managers to be successful. In this regards the cross-cultural
communication skills is highly important in the modern day environment (Fisher,

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2011). This is because when the managers are able to communicate in a better
manner, they are able to communicate the policies, standards and demand of the
company from the employees. This all helps in making a better team and at the same
time it allows managers to make better employee relations which again are important
in the modern day business.
 Motivational skills: In the time when the complexity of the business has become very
high. The successful mangers in this environment are the managers that are able to
motivate people as it allows them to achieve the performance from their employees.
For a successful manager it is critical that they have a clear understanding of what can
give an employee sustainable development over the rivals. Motivational skills of the
employees needs to be on the higher side hence it is critical that managers also have
the skills to self-motivate (Santoso and Loosemore, 2013).
 Team building skills: At the international levels there are many challenges that are
faced by the employees. In this environment it is critical that managers are able to
make teams that are productive and in this regards it is also critical that effective team
is made. This is necessary for implementing the international business strategy at the
global levels (McNulty, 2015). Team building skills plays a very critical role in the
management of operations.
 Adaptability: Since the international managers need to work at different locations
hence it is critical for the managers to make sure that they have the ability to adapt in
any culture. They need to make sure that they have a cultural understanding that can
improve their adaptability in any culture. Since the culture changes from country to
country hence it is critical for the managers to have an understanding of the cross-
cultural (Briscoe, Tarique and Schuler, 2012). For this cross-cultural behaviour
understanding is essential. This is also necessary for achieving the required
adaptability. There are people from different parts of the world working under an
international managers hence it is critical that managers have the skill to understand
people from other parts of the world. This is necessary for achieving required
performance from them.
 Creativity and self-awareness: This is another major ability that must be present in the
modern day business environment. This is because the nature of challenges that is
faced by the managers is becoming complex day by day. Due to this increase in
complexity there is a requirement that manager to have creative thinking skills.
Creativity can be enhanced when the managers continuously strive for enhancing the

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knowledge they have. In today’s time it is the innovative thinking skill of the
managers that helps them in resolving the issues they have faced. Self-awareness is
also an important ability of the management that helps them in managing the
company and its operations (Hickman and Silva, 2018). These two abilities and skills
allow them to make better decisions which are necessary for gaining success in the
global market.
 Negotiation: Negotiation plays a critical role in making of the decisions and for
making better deals. An international manager that aims to be successful, it is critical
that they have negotiation skills that can allow them to better negotiate with people
both internal and external to the company. For example an International human
resource manager can hire the best candidate for any position if they are able to
negotiate with others in a better manner (Oude Mulders, Henkens and Schippers,
2016). This helps in hiring employees from different parts of the world and according
to the requirement of the company. Negotiation skills also help a manager in making
of plans for the company while ensuring that they satisfy the needs of consumers.
Negotiation also allows managers to make others understand the demand the company
has from their employees hence reducing the chances of dissatisfaction.
The way in which multivariate analysis might be utilised in recruiting international
managers
In recruiting international managers, it is critical for the companies to analyse different
aspects that can help the company in recruiting an international manager. It is critical that
company chooses international managers that are able to deal with the challenges that is
confronting at the international levels. As seen in the above section of the report that there are
many skills and abilities that needs to be present in a successful international managers. Due
to this, it is critical that a thorough analysis is done by the firm so as to understand the
requirement of the firms in terms of manager’s ability (Yang, Huang and Wu, 2011). Some of
the ways in which multivariate analysis needs to be used for recruiting international managers
are as follows:
 Cultural competence: This is again an essential aspect on the basis of which
international managers can be utilised. Multivariate analysis allows the companies to
measure the cultural competence. The variables that can be utilised in this regards are
the knowledge of the cultural language, cultural behaviour, and cultural negotiation

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techniques (Quinn, et al. 2015). This will allow the company to have an understanding
that whether a manager will be able to adjust in different cultures or not. For a
manager it is critical to have an understanding of different cultures. This is necessary
for leading a cross-cultural team and it is also critical for operating in other parts of
the world. The selection of the expatriate managers is done on the basis of these
cultural competences only.
 Thinking skills: It is also essential for the managers to have a thinking skill that is
unique and creative. The creativity in the thinking skills allows them to work on the
challenges that are confronting the business. This is also true in terms of the fact
better thinking skills of the managers will help the company in finding solution to the
problems at much faster rate (Purgal-Popiela, 2011). This can also be done on the
basis of different variables such as problem solving skill, judgemental power, quick
response to different situations etc. are some of the variables on the basis of which
thinking skills can be found out.
 Communicational skills: It is seen that communication within any firm plays a highly
critical role in the success of the business units or the overall organisation. Due to
this, it is essential that communication within the firm is done in an appropriate
manner and managers must have the knowledge of communication that is needed at
all the levels of organisational structure and also between the employee and managers
(Kaplan, Klebanov and Sorensen, 2012). The multivariate analysis in this regards will
allow the firm to understand that whether the candidate that is being selected for any
particular position does not fall short in terms of the communicational skills they
have.
 Behaviour analysis: For any recruitment for international managers, it is critical that
company understands the behaviour of the person that will be going to get recruited.
In the time when the behaviour plays a critical role in the management of the
employee relations, this behaviour analysis plays a critical role in selecting the
managers (Collings, Doherty, Luethy and Osborn, 2011). A manager needs to be
polite. This can be analysed by the company with the help of virtual environment
training. This is because by placing an individual in a virtual environment. Behaviour
analysis has to be done on the basis of different variables. These include team
orientation and management skills.

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Apart from these areas, there are many variables that can be analysed for finding out which is
most suitable candidate for position of international managers. For a company, it is critical
that on the basis personal and professional skills a manager need to be analysed. For instance
technology plays a major role in the management of the modern day business environment
(Naidoo, 2010). Due to this, it is essential that technology used within the organisation is
used in a more creative manner and it is also to be noted that when a manager is
technologically advanced then they will be able promote technology within the firm. An
international manager must be able to find out the challenges that they are facing in the global
markets and resolve it with the help of technology. In the modern day business, this can be
very much essential as it allows the company to build a technology based organisational
culture. An analysis about what technological skills are known to a manager and what
technological skills are actually needed within the firm has to be analysed. For a company, it
is critical to find out whether the candidate that will be selected has the knowledge of the
advanced technologies.
Acculturation issues in expatriation and repatriation of international managers
Culture plays a critical role in the management of the operations at the international levels.
There are different cultural issues that are faced by individuals that are sent by a company as
an international manager. It is seen that cultural issues produces challenges for the expatriate
and repatriate managers (Ahsan, Ho and Khan, 2013). Acculturation theory is understood as
cultural change process that is occurring when a person from different cultural background
come into continuous, prolonged and first-hand contact with each other. Some of the
acculturation issues in expatriation and repatriation of international manager are:
 Change in values and ethics: When a person goes from one cultural background to
another, there is always a problem of change in ethics and values This is because
every culture has their own set of values and ethics and in the case of expatriate and
repatriate of the international managers, it is not easier for the managers to adjust
themselves quickly into new values and ethics (Cascio, 2015). This can be understood
in terms of the fact that in some areas values and ethics differs in both the countries
drastically. If the behaviour of the people in one country differs from that in other
country then there is a higher chance that manager will face challenges in managing
ethics at the workplace. Values and ethics has a critical role in the development of
strategies especially the ones that are going to have impact on the consumers so if the

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managers is not able to understand the local values and ethics then there is a greater
chance that they might not be able to satisfy the local consumers demands.
 Change in food habits: Cultural change also brings changes in the food habits. For
example in some countries there is excessive beef eating and it is the part of the
organisational culture and if the people that are from different parts of the world such
as country like India go into that country they might face challenges in managing a
better team bond with the employees in that country (Nikandrou and Panayotopoulou,
2012).
Conclusion
From the above based report it can be concluded that Language and behaviour difference,
diversity management and understanding training needs are some of the issues faced by the
expatriate manager. Hofstede’s cultural dimension model also explains that if the cultural
difference between the two nations is very high managers will have to deal with the
challenges related cultural difference. Communication, Motivational skills, Team building
skills, Adaptability, Creativity and self-awareness and Negotiation are some of the major
skills that needs to be present in a successful international managers. Cultural competence,
Thinking skills, Communicational skills, and Behaviour analysis are some of the areas in
which companies need to do multivariate analysis before recruiting the managers for the
company.

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