Management and Organizations in a Global Environment Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of management and organizations within a global environment. It begins by exploring the different eras of globalization as defined by Thomas Friedman, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. The report then delves into the perspectives of Friedman and Ghemawat on the concept of a 'flat world,' considering the role of the internet and other influencing factors. It further examines Hofstede's cultural dimensions, the impact of immigration on national cultures, and the importance of understanding cultural differences in management, using the example of Mr. Trompenaar. The report also analyzes organizational culture, including the cultural web, stories, routines, symbols, and control systems, with IKEA as a case study. The report concludes by discussing the power structure within organizations and the importance of adapting to a diverse workforce.

Running head: MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Management and Organizations in Global Environment
Student Name
University name
Author Name

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Globalisation
According to Thomas Friedman the world has experienced three different eras. The first era of
globalization happened when countries colonized other countries. For example British colonized
India or Germans colonized many European countries. The multinational organizations initiated
the second era of the globalisation. The digital revolution brought the third where the
globalization is focused on individuals.
Activity 1
Question1
The following are the disadvantages of the third era:
The business will focus more on the cost effective based production so many countries will
experience increased unemployment.
Though all the nations are connected through the globalization, the cultural conflicts will rise as
well. Every nation, culture or organization does not possess enough knowledge about other
cultures which will cause the conflicts. The cultural conflicts will have negative impact on the
businesses.
Question 2.
According to Friedman because of the internet revolution the world is flat; however one needs to
investigate more before approving it completely. It cannot be denied the definition is more

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
appropriate for the developed world. There are many parts of the world where the people do not
have internet access. The cultural, social or ethical value of individual is different which
prevents the world to be entirely flat. In Friedman’s discussion internet is the main deciding
factor but it should not be, as there are many other factors other than the internet which should be
considered.
Question 3
The internet has limited the world to common space where the interactions among individuals
are increasing. However it cannot be concluded that just because of this every individual is
globalised. This has opened up possibilities for the multi nation al companies to business all
over the world. They see more destinations where the business can expand but to achieve the
individual globalization they have to go a long way.
Activity 2
Ghemawat explained in his book “World 3.0” the world is far from becoming individually
globalised. Ghemawat has contradicted Friedman by saying that the sudden change the internet
brought over influenced him and the theory and conclusion he proposed lack adequate scientific
data. He believed that the large investment, communication and immigration have been
improved because of the globalization but there are many gaps that still exist.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Activity 3.
Hofstede defined cultural dynamics in the following six frameworks:
Power Distance:
It is difficult for the society to achieve equality. The powerful members dominate the community
and the weak members continue suffering.
Individualism:
This dimension is based upon the interdependence among the members of a community. The
individualistic society focuses on ‘I’ where a collectivist society focuses on ‘We’. If a certain
society scores low it needs to focus more on the collective method in order to resolve those
issues.
Masculinity:
The dimension refers to the power equation. In a society if a men possess more power than the
women it is considered as a masculine society.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Uncertainty avoidance:
A nation’s uncertainty avoidance dimension works on preventing the nation or community from
natural disasters.
Long Term orientation:
How a community or nations focuses on long term or short term planning and relationship, this
dimension decides that.
Indulgence:
The community works effectively by their ability to value each other’s perspectives and accept
that. This is very significant for a company in the era of third globalization. The country needs
to be internally forceful in order to deal with that.
Activity 4.
Professor McSweeny’s views on immigration have influenced to a large extent. The
fundamentals of nations have been transformed by immigration and culture. However a nation
cannot be identified by a single culture as there can be many cultures within one society. At the
same time an individual culture or single subculture cannot define the whole. However personal
beliefs and perspectives should be respected by every responsible individual.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Activity 5
The example of Mr. Trompenaar is particularly significant here. He was having troubles with the
management and his colleagues because he used to approach the management directly if any
issue occurred with the customer. Most of the time he failed to expresses his explanations clearly
to the management.
The management had given him some rights and liberty which allowed him to offer discounts to
the customers. After that there were no problems and this resulted in 30 % increase in the
company profit.
Activity 6
People’s acceptability of a specific society defines the ‘low context’ or ‘high context culture’. In
the ‘high context culture’ the things are generally simple and small but in the low context culture
there exist complex behaviors and emotions. For example in a project or meeting the Indians
express low context but the Americans express ‘high context culture’.
Organisational culture
The organizational culture can be defined by the way one organization works. The hierarchical
structure of the organization is maintained by the organizational conducts. The employee
mentality, impact of stories on the staff, power structure, framework control, authoritative
structure, schedules, images and customs work in the development of the hierarchical culture.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Cultural Web
Stories:
The organizational stories are created by the discussion that the employees have inside or outside
the organization. The organization’s well being is reflected on the stories. Ingvar Kamprad is
considered as a legend because of his creation of IKEA. His strategies and concepts entirely
changed the IKEA operations.
Routines and rituals:
The daily actions of the workers within the organizational work flow are accepted by everyone.
Many examples can be drawn in IKEA’s organizational culture, like the employees’ travelling by
economy class or bus or his staying in hotels during business trips. The blue colored casual
dresses can be worn by the employees at the work place.
Symbols
The symbol is an important part of the organizational culture. The symbols of an organization
can be expressed in many ways like the dress code or the company logo or any sign that the
company uses officially. The color of the IKEA employee dresses is blue which symbolizes the
color of the national flag of Sweden. The company also maintains the Swedish side by providing
play corners or scales, pencils and papers.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Organizational Culture:
Thorough this, value of the worker is defined in written or unwritten manner. The strategic role
can be played by the organizational culture as well. IKEA follows an organizational structure
which is non-horizontal in nature. The management maintains the ‘Anti Bureaucrat’ week every
different management level work collaboratively on the same level.
Control system
There is various control systems are at work in any organizational structure. Quality system,
reward system, HR system and financial system are part of the organisational control system.
IKEA works its best to reduce its product cost without compromising quality. IKEA make sure
that the stores with better service and low cost receives the rewards. Management maintains a
close relationship with the employees in order to enhance the quality.
Power Structure
The top management mostly takes the important organizational decisions and most of the time
they are only few people. An effective organization everyone’s right is well protected. IKEA has
become more open and adaptive as now more number of cultural diverse people work for the
company.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Reference:
Anon, Geert Hofstede. The hofstedecentre. Available at: http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html
[August 24, 2017].
Arno Christian, 2011. Building A Cross-cultural Web Design For A Wider Audience.
Onextrapixel. Available at: http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/06/22/building-a-cross-cultural-
web-design-for-a-wider-audience/ [August 24, 2017].
Burt, S., Johansson, U. and Thelander, Å., 2011. Standardized marketing strategies in retailing?
IKEA’s marketing strategies in Sweden, the UK and China. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, 18(3), pp.183-193.
Colin Davies, Managing Director at C21 Consulting Ltd Follow, 2012. Cultural web. LinkedIn
SlideShare. Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/c21colindavies/cultural-web [August 24,
2017].
Duncker, E., Sheikh, J.A. and Fields, B., 2013, July. From global terminology to local
terminology: A review on cross-cultural interface design solutions. In International Conference
on Cross-Cultural Design (pp. 197-207). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Friedman, J., 2004. Globalization. A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics, pp.179-197.
Friedman, T., 2005. The world is flat: A brief history of the globalized world in the 21st
century. London: Allen Lane.

MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Ghemawat, P., Actually, the world isn't flat. PankajGhemawat: Actually, the world isn't flat |
TED Talk | TED.com. Available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/pankaj_ghemawat_actually_the_world_isn_t_flat.html [August 24,
2017].
Guillotin, B. and Mangematin, V., 2015. Internationalization Strategies of Business Schools:
How Flat Is the World?. Thunderbird International Business Review, 57(5), pp.343-357.
Khamis, S., 2016. Brand IKEA in a Global Cultural Economy: A Case Study. Consumer
Culture: Selected Essays.
Larsson, A. and Schiehle, S., 2016. The Effects of Diversity on Multinational Organisations: An
exploratory case study investigating the cross-cultural management and organisational culture of
IKEA.
Peters, M.E., 2015. Open trade, Closed Borders Immigration in the era of Globalization. World
Politics, 67(1), pp.114-154.