International Business Management: Weekly Log on CSR & Culture

This assignment presents a student's weekly log for a BUSN 2039 International Business Management course. The log analyzes various aspects of international business across several weeks. Week 3 examines a CSR issue faced by Nestle in Thailand, focusing on labor practices and the company's approach. Week 4 investigates Apple's labor practices in China, identifying management behaviors through Hofstede and GLOBE cultural dimensions. Weeks 5 and 6 explore YouTube videos on cultural differences in business interactions, cross-cultural communication, and negotiation. Week 7 discusses the impact of national culture on negotiation processes. Finally, Week 8 looks at Subway's entry into the Australian market, and Week 9 analyzes Tata Steel's acquisition of Corus Group. The log provides insights into global business challenges, cultural dimensions, and strategic approaches to international expansion.

Running head: WEEKLY LOG
WEEKLY LOG
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1WEEKLY LOG
Week 3.
One of the most reputed baby food company, Nestle operates in the Asian country
Thailand. This company has initiated CSR policy of including the local workers in the
production department. The company gives needed training to these local people and reduces
unemployment it in the market. However the company has faced problem when the incident
of exploitation of these local labours came into focus (Kelly, 2016).
This approach of doing business is not acceptable because this infringes the labour
law internally as well as nationally. Corporate social responsibility has started to play an
important part in the successful operation of the corporation in this Global Business scenario.
The more the companies are focused on doing their social responsibilities towards the
stakeholders by satisfying them economically, socially and politically (Kopnina 2017). With
changing laws in the market the Companies Act to change their priorities so that they can and
ensure their sustainable growth. In this respect the companies face various issues regarding
CSR. One of them is providing positive working condition to the human resource. The
companies try to ensure that they give the best possible employment condition based on the
application of statutory provisions and International Labour standards. This act of Nestle has
violated the trade union rights and supported evolution of forced labour in the workplace.
References:
Kelly, A. (2016). Nestlé admits slavery in Thailand while fighting child labour lawsuit in
Ivory Coast. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-
business/2016/feb/01/nestle-slavery-thailand-fighting-child-labour-lawsuit-ivory-coast
[Accessed 16 Aug. 2019].

2WEEKLY LOG
Kopnina, H., 2017. Sustainability: New strategic thinking for business. Environment,
Development and Sustainability, 19(1), pp.27-43.
Week 4.
From these two videos it is clear that the one of the largest International technology
Company Apple Inc. is indulging in direct exploitation of the workers in China. It is very
clear that the population of China is being used harshly by the management of this
multinational American technology company through who eats biggest contract
manufacturers Foxconn. Foxconn has its branch in in the third largest city of China that is
Shenzhen. In this city e the largest buildings have workers who mainly are in the production
team of Apple’s products. In this teams there are child labours who do not possess licence to
work in that country or for that matter in any country of the world. In addition to this the
labours of China work for lowest wages and for a long time. This is purely exploitation of
labour which is leading the young people of this country to you choose the path of suicide. It
is the stress of work and dissatisfaction which is pushing these young generation to commit
suicide.
This incident of employee exploitation in China by Apple is scene from the cultural
dimension of half stud. The power distance dimension which is very strict in the Chinese
society can be hold responsible for this situation. China ranks 80% in this power distance
dimension which believes that the inequality among people are acceptable (Beugelsdijk,
Kostova and Roth 2017). Here the subordinate except the orders from their superiors and
their relationship tends to be polarized. The subordinates cannot defend against the power
abuse by the superiors. This is why the powerful brand has exploited so much labour from the
cheap workers of China.

3WEEKLY LOG
According to the Globe dimensions of culture this can be associated with the self-
protective leadership styles where the leaders can do anything to protect themselves (De
Mooij 2015). One of the videos has mentioned that Apple is hiding its harsh management
style behind the operation of Foxconn. All the sufferings and exploitation are known to Apple
but it is not taking any initiative to end this process. There is a wage gap between the Chinese
workers and the American workers where the latter one get more monetary support by their
companies then the former ones. In this case Apple may have increased wages to these
workers in China but it is not up to the mark. In order to protect the reputation the CEO of
Apple has utilised self-protective leadership style and does not allow other stakeholders to
know about this unethical behaviour.
References:
Beugelsdijk, S., Kostova, T. and Roth, K., 2017. An overview of Hofstede-inspired country-
level culture research in international business since 2006. Journal of International Business
Studies, 48(1), pp.30-47.
De Mooij, M., 2015. Cross-cultural research in international marketing: clearing up some of
the confusion. International Marketing Review, 32(6), pp.646-662.
Week 5.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvqDv4vbEg
The YouTube video by Erin Meyer has pointed out that difference in National culture
is seen to be reflecting in the organisational culture also. She has shared her own experience
while communicating with some employees from a Japanese organisation. The speaker has a
neutral cultural background where there is no problem in communicating with managers by

4WEEKLY LOG
the lower level staff. The transparency within the organisation is so effective that questioning
the superior is quite acceptable.
However in the Japanese culture questioning refers to low intellect and
misunderstanding. The decision making process are also different in Japan. This effect
business by creating scope for miscommunication. The speaker has also mentioned about the
behaviour of the mangers with the employees and trust building process. All of these are
different in different cultures that leads the business to face problem many times.
Reference:
Business Speaker Erin Meyer: How Cultural Differences Affect Business. (2014). [video]
Directed by YouTube. The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau.
Week 6.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC_EXd0uWnA
In this video, the speaker Matt Mullenax has clarified how cross cultural
communication affect the business in different ways. From the very beginning the speaker
has pretended to be an entrepreneur who is raising fund from different sources under three
different cultural dimensions. In China and Japan making two hand business card exchange is
acceptable but in India it is right handed exchange which is only acceptable method for
business. In the San Francisco the situation is completely different where the business men
exchange their contact information instead of sharing their business cards. Here the
traditional business card exchange is not mandatory to show formalities and sincerity in
business. The pre negotiation formalities is also detail in this video where the speaker has
mentioned about the importance of handshakes and exchange of business cards, simple
greetings which is unique to that culture

5WEEKLY LOG
The communication process also affect the business culturally because in some
culture the desire to reach a conclusion is seen more ardently then the others. In some culture
the importance of emotion in the communication process is important so that the urgency and
sincerity towards the negotiation process is understood properly but some other culture hide
emotions while communicating. The clarity of messages whether it is positive answer or
negative is important in business which is seen in the culture of the UK but not in the country
like Egypt the clarity of answer is confusing. For the speaker advices that for doing business
internationally the different cultural factors affecting communication must be understood so
that there is no scope for failure in negotiation.
Reference:
Communication in Cross Cultural Negotiations. (2017). [video] Directed by YouTube.
Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Week 7.
National culture has direct connection with negotiation process because culture
manipulates the communication style, the thought process and the points of view of the
managers who undergo negotiation. National culture affect the negotiation goals by seeing it
to be a contract or for that matter a step for developing relationship. For some culture
negotiation process is just a contract where they take the position of Win-Win or win-loss
(Liu 2019). The cultural background and personality of the managers determine the
approaches for negotiation where both sides try to win the negotiation or deal to take winning
side. The culture of the country decide the personal style of the negotiator. This influences
the negotiator’s to follow formal or informal style of negotiation. In some cases the
negotiator communicate about personal anecdotes to enhance impression of the negotiation
but others may regain for asking persona questions while negotiating.

6WEEKLY LOG
As culture has direct connection with communication process it decides whether the
negotiators will communicate directly or indirectly (Gunia, Brett and Gelfand 2016). Some
uses figurative forms of speech, gestures and facial expressions but others do not. This also
includes sensitivity to time where the negotiators of one culture is very much punctual as they
value time but others do not.
Difference in culture also affect the form of agreement in the negotiation process. The
negotiation approach can be General or specific depending upon the importance of contract
indifferent companies from different culture (Liu 2019). The team organisation process at the
time of negotiation is also so different because the negotiation can be done by one leader or
in a form of group. In the collective cultures this process is done by teams whereas in the
individualism culture negotiation can be done by one leader.
References:
Gunia, B.C., Brett, J.M. and Gelfand, M.J., 2016. The science of culture and negotiation.
Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, pp.78-83.
Liu, M., 2019. How power distance interacts with culture and status to explain intra‐and
intercultural negotiation behaviors: A multilevel analysis. Negotiation and Conflict
Management Research, 12(3), pp.192-212.
Week 8.
The international brand like Subway had entered the Australian market in 1988. The
first Australian Subway was opened in Perth and now the company has more than 500 outlets
in Australia. Company had entered this market through franchising (Torres, 2019). This gave
the company all the facilities like already established reputation as well as image. This model
also gave Subway to support its big business network through small business ownership.

7WEEKLY LOG
Despite the fact that the company undergo into formal agreement but this process helped
subway to understand the demands of the market more easily than any other process.
In order to respond to the industry pressure for global integration and industry
pressure for the local responsiveness Subway has taken the method of localisation of offering.
It is understood that standardization of products may not be acceptable by the local customers
because the food habit and style of cooking are different in Australia and America. In
addition to this the company has also so change is organisational policies and CSR initiatives
to increase connectivity with the stakeholders like suppliers and customers. Despite the fact
that the company operates in franchise model, it gives every facilities to the employees in
Australia which are given to the American employees of Subway. The Australian culture has
been adopted in the organisational culture of Subway subsidiaries in in Australia. In order to
mitigate the pressure points Subway has also so reply people and the Talent capabilities
through harmonization approach. That has given extra leverage in the competitive food
market of Australia.
References:
Torres, N. (2019). Australian food history timeline - First Australian Subway opens. [online]
Australian food history timeline. Available at:
https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/australian-subway/ [Accessed 16 Aug. 2019].
Week 9.
Tata Steel is a steel making company based in India. It is an Asian company that
entered the market of Europe especially in the UK. This company has entered the European
market by taking over the Corus Group. During 1990 this Corus group was the largest British
Steel producer having huge assets in all over Europe but the share of this company was

8WEEKLY LOG
constantly degrading. This is the reason why Tata Steel had taken over Corus Group in 2006
(Pandathil and Kadam, 2016).
I would not have taken this method of take over a company completely because this
process often leads to have a hostile takeover method which effect the customers and other
stakeholders associated with the company being taken over. Moreover when Tata Steel is
entering a new market it would have a good reputation because the company it is taking over
had a huge customer and stakeholder base. Direct hostile takeover would have affected the
emotion and business relation with these stakeholders. This take over process would have
been an acquisition which is a friendly takeover method. This occurs when the acquiring
company has permission of Target Company’s board of directors for purchasing or taking
over the company. The combination of Corus and Tata would have created the fifth largest
steel making company in the world but the latter one taken over the former for making Tata
Steel UK.
The acquisition process would develop speed and give the company market power it
needs (Trichterborn, Zu Knyphausen‐Aufseß and Schweizer 2016). This is a process that it
mitigates any type of entry barrier giving the company financial gain. All the resources and
competency which the former company used to you enjoy would have acquired also by the
new company e by meeting all the Expectations of the stakeholders like employees,
customers, shareholder groups and the suppliers.
References:
Pandathil, R. and Kadam, K. (2016). Tata Steel's failure with Corus and Tata Motors' success
with JLR: A tale of 2 buyouts in 9 charts - Firstpost. [online] Firstpost. Available at:
https://www.firstpost.com/business/a-tale-of-2-acquisitions-in-9-charts-tata-steels-failure-
with-corus-and-tata-motors-success-with-jlr-2704788.html [Accessed 16 Aug. 2019].

9WEEKLY LOG
Trichterborn, A., Zu Knyphausen‐Aufseß, D. and Schweizer, L., 2016. How to improve
acquisition performance: The role of a dedicated M&A function, M&A learning process, and
M&A capability. Strategic Management Journal, 37(4), pp.763-773.
Week 10.
There are various types of leadership models present but the situation and leadership is one of
the most important one because this focuses on the demand of the organisation on a particular
time span. The situational leadership Theory was developed by Paul Hersey and ken
Blanchard. This leadership model is based upon two continuums which include the required
level of supervision and the arousal required for coaching the workers in the specific situation
so that the subordinates can develop into you better performers. Supervision relates to the
skill and level of knowledge of the employees. Supervision has two ends one is over
supervision and another is under supervision (Thompson and Glasø 2015). The under
supervision leads to lack of coordination, miscommunication and the perception by the
employees that their leader do not care. Similarly over supervision breeds resentment, lower
morality and low level initiative. Therefore the goal of the leader remains to provide correct
amount of supervision depending upon the skill and knowledge of the employees.
The arousal or supporting is related to the need of the employees while working in a
company. This is mainly the emotional support which the employees seek from their leaders.
A certain level of arousal can motivate them for learning and engagement with the
Corporation (Bosse et al. 2017). However too little or too much arousal or support can
stimulate behaviour where the employees need low arousal in the highly cognitive tasks.
In the organisational culture of China situational leadership is followed effectively.
Here the employees are highly motivated therefore need for arousal is very low but they need

10WEEKLY LOG
direction and coaching of the leaders to complete a task. They leave supervision for providing
direction in any type of project because the culture mandates respect for hierarchy.
References:
Bosse, T., Duell, R., Memon, Z.A., Treur, J. and van der Wal, C.N., 2017. Computational
model-based design of leadership support based on situational leadership theory. Simulation,
93(7), pp.605-617.
Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2015. Situational leadership theory: a test from three
perspectives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(5), pp.527-544.
Week 11.
With the expansion of globalisation more companies are taking interest in entering
new markets depending upon the external factors that support the company’s growth. the
main problem which these International brands face is the different culture of the market for
example the European National culture is completely different from that of China. According
to the Hofstede cultural dimension the national culture greatly affect the organisational
culture of the company. Therefore the policies and structure the brand follows in their
European subsidiaries cannot be followed in that of China. There are cross cultural issues like
language issues for effective communication, misunderstanding, and respect for hierarchy in
the organisational structure, style of decision making, priorities, knowledge sharing and
guidance. These are the reasons why the scopes of international trading gets problematic.
All of these cultural problems affect the management of human resource and
managing the stakeholders like the suppliers and consumers. In the world market the
demands of the customers are different based on which the international brands to market
their products or often bring changes in their product so that they increase adaptability and
acceptance of such products in the new market (De Mooij 2015). The styles of leadership also
get changed when accompany enters a new market having different organisational culture. As

11WEEKLY LOG
the stakeholders at present are becoming more aware about their rights and social activities of
the organisations therefore the companies cannot just deceive their customers or employees
(Beugelsdijk, Kostova and Roth 2017). They are to perform according to the expectation of
that culture without giving any scope for discrimination or miscommunication while
operating.
From the cultural learnings it has been understood that if an international company
wants to thrive in a particular market, then it has to perform according to the social and
cultural factors of the country. Otherwise the acceptance of the products will fail and it will
be forced to leave the market.
References:
Beugelsdijk, S., Kostova, T. and Roth, K., 2017. An overview of Hofstede-inspired country-
level culture research in international business since 2006. Journal of International Business
Studies, 48(1), pp.30-47.
De Mooij, M., 2015. Cross-cultural research in international marketing: clearing up some of
the confusion. International Marketing Review, 32(6), pp.646-662.