International management and change Essay Example for Free

International caution and change EssayWhen Pascal made this statement, globalization had as yet to take place. People lived in polar societies remaining cut- morose from each opposite. Each ships in alliance had its own recognition of truth and reality. Then came along the advancement in technology bringing along inventions such as computer, internet and telecommunications fashioning the humanity a global village. Perceptions started changing as information flow crosswise the globe happened at the speed of light.People from every(prenominal) crosswise the globe started sharing their experiences with each other thus reducing the differences in different burnishs. However, the act of globalization has yet to reach its peak. Cultural differences comfort exist within distinguishable societies and the level of information and technology is still heterogeneous around the globe. I would now highlight some distinguishing features of the management styles of various regio ns.We observe that the beliefs and values of people vary across various floricultures. The Japanese put to work as a group and organisational system is establish on community work. The reward system is based on the level of seniority and is in addition group based. The organizational building is cooperation based whereas Ameri lav organizations often argon based on competitive style where individuals are rewarded based on their exertion levels. Similarly the management style of French is withal very antithetical from that of US.French follow a to a greater extent(prenominal) creative thinking pattern and do not give care to adhere to strict rules and regulations. The atomic number 63an management style has some key points that distinguish it from the Ameri dissolve management style. The European management style even differs within the European countries and two countries deserve a superfluous focus France and Germany because, among other reasons, the bureaucrats in tho se countries subscribe to long been regarded as mandarins by the field of public ecesis (Dogan 1976).European management style laughingstock be classified into diverse clusters based upon Hofstedes heathenish dimensions and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners heathenish variables (Goliath, 2004) harmonize to which European management style can be sub-divided into Anglo-Saxon culture (Ireland, UK, and USA), Nordic culture (Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland), Germanic culture (Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland), Frankophile culture (France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain) and Italian culture. These cultures also differ greatly from the US and Japanese styles of management thus requiring different management practices.The pay for performance system can work with the European management style as employees in Europe are mostly achievement point and perform good work for better rewards. The cultural beliefs and values of Europeans are sensibly much different from the people of US and hence the marketing techniques used in Europe should be different from those employ in US. For example, Europeans are very much reluctant to providing personal information as compared to US customers also the credit card usage in Europe is considerably lower than in US (Heilbrunn, 1998).The admittance of upstart logo and implementation of matrix expression allowing a flatter organizational structure can work relatively better in the European avocation environment The company trading operations in South the States demand a completely different approach as Latin American culture significantly differs from US culture in terms of communication process. The US culture emphasizes on completion of task and displaceences are interpreted in their direct meaning. However Latin American society focuses on relationships and context of the communication may involve more than just the spoken intelligence agencys (Wederspahn, 2001).So the marketing and sales efforts i n South American cannot be standardized with the US practices since the Latin American customers tend to perceive communication messages in a very different way from their US counterparts. The new logo can be introduced, however introduction of a flatter organization with matrix structure may not be feasible in South America as the type of culture prevalent in this society is not conducive to the on the job(p) of non- hierarchal organizations. If we study the culture of plaza east countries, it is found that the business practices a mount differ significantly from those of US.The business is mostly chaotic and based upon word of mouth rather than written agreements, the cultural values are mostly Islamic and respect for relationships is held self-governing also the marketing regulations in midway eastboundern countries are very strict as compared to US or rest of the adult male (Kwintessential Ltd). The middle eastern management style is mostly authoritarian and based upon Do uglas McGregors Theory X motivational leadership style (Daniel Workman , 2008). and then employees down comminuted or no motivation to work on their own and pass on perform only when order by the superiors.Thus bright managers from US and other Western states often try to avoid working in Middle East and so they must first be provided straight-laced cultural readying in authoritative styles thus enabling them to adapt to the management practices of the Middle East. The Australian business is more similar to that of US as compared to the rest of regions as described above. The language and dress code is more or less much similar. However, Australian society is strictly based upon egalitarian principle where nobody like cosmos bossed around. People dont like to consider others as superiors and there is almost no hierarchic system (Slideshare, 2009).So authoritarian style of management will not be welcomed in the Australian business. The meeting and negotiation styles as well as the general beliefs of the Australian society are pretty close to the American beliefs. However consort to a study on behavior of 35,000 managers from Australia and New Zealand, the Australian managers consistently try to avoid responsibilities and do not take initiatives (Gettler, 2002). Thus tarboosh should provide cultural and leadership training to Australian manager before implementing any kind of central strategy.Discrimination issues also prevail in Australia that can make life for foreign managers very difficult. However, recently steps have been taken to sanitaryly implement anti-discrimination laws. The posts of front line managers are also changing in Australia as they are provided more and more freedom and responsibility (James Saville, Mark Higgins, 1994). The sales and marketing strategy in Australia can be aligned with the US strategies relatively easily because of the similarity in both societies. So the dilemma of tarboosh is choosing mingled with modify and alter approach.Centralization can be defined as, the form to which decision-making authorization is kept at top levels of management. while Decentralization can be defined as, the stagecoach to which decision making authority is pushed down to lower levels of the firm (Schilling 2008). Both approaches have their own pros and cons. FES has seen tremendous growth over the years and has been expanding into new regions at a very quick rate. Thus the organization requires a large amount of flexibility in its decision making that can be provided by a decentralized approach.However, due to rapid expansion, the organization requires tighter control of finances and close observe of all its operations to reduce personifys and maintain quality. These measures can be achieved by a more centralized approach. So what approach suits FES bests can be determined by a damage benefit analysis where each advantage and disadvantage of delegation authority has to be carefully analyse in lig ht of the company object glasss. Thus aligning the decision making process with the vision of the organization.A centralized approach can benefit the organization by significantly reducing the administrative cost related to employee management. Infrastructure handling will also be more efficient and it will be easier for the headquarter to align organizational goals with the functional and departmental goals ( Dezaree Seeds, Alan S. Khade , 2008). Centralized approach will also make reporting procedure simple resulting in standardized organizational policies. Thus in this way it will shape up dish out the organizational objective of flattening the organizational structure and in creation of a matrix organizational frame-up.A decentralized approach on the other hand can benefit the organization by providing flexibility and em military uniting employees at the divisional and functional level. As explained above, different regions in which FES is operating have different working e nvironments and the condition of energy industry in Europe, Australia, Middle East, US and South East Asian regions are very different from each other. Thus decentralization of HR and marketing policies will allow the organization to cater to the customer needs in the ways most suited to particularized regions.It will also allow greater local control and the ability to act quickly to gain local resources ( Dezaree Seeds, Alan S. Khade , 2008). Decentralization will also allow the organization to better deal with the cultural mixed bag and provide training to the employees as and when the need arises. One thing that business, institutions, authoritiess and key individuals will have to attain is spiders and starfish may look alike, but starfish have a miraculous quality to them. lose weight off the leg of a spider, and you have a seven-legged creature on your hands cut off its head and you have a dead spider.But cut off the arm of a starfish and it will grow a new one. Not only that, but the severed arm can grow an entirely new body. Starfish can achieve this feat because, unlike spiders, they are decentralized every major organ is replicated across each arm (Beckstrom and Brafman 2008). The type of approach taken by FES depends upon the nature and present condition of the global energy industry. The energy industry around the world is in a continuous state of flux. As more and more energy companies around the world become private and become free from the control of state, the nature of competition is changing (ExxonMobil, 2004).Demand for power is increasing at an exponential rate and the competition from private as well as government owned companies is fierce. In the power generation sector, each country has establish different laws and tariff grade for multinational organizations. Thus on a whole it seems wiser to maintain a decentralized organizational setup which is flexible enough to quickly respond to the changing conditions of the industry. FES s hould maintain its present functional structure by keeping the finance, production and HR departments centralized.However using the same marketing and sales techniques all across the globe has a lot of negative implications. Thus allowing the regional marketing departments to work according to their specific environment is the best possible option. So in order to maintain decentralization in the marketing and sales department, the top management has to establish strong ties with all of its regional departments. A strong organizational culture based upon a clear vision and mission of the company should be communicated to all of its employees.Perhaps FES can create a hybrid model which allows centralization of decision making with respect to financial and important managerial decisions and at the same time, the marketing campaign is allowed flexibility according to the specific needs of the region. A key concern for FES is to harmonize its rapid global growth. male monarch and gas ge neration has to be taken in new countries and new plants need to be setup. The world-wide operations have expanded a lot and efforts must be made to consolidate the living business while growing in new regions of the world.As part of the consolidation effort FES must conduct elongated employee training program lend in each employee the vision and objective of the organization. The company should consolidate its major decision making power in the pointquarter thereby allowing Headquarter to maintain a close monitory system on all of its subsidiaries. By centralizing its finance and management activities, the company can also approve marketing budgets for different regions from its Headquarter, thus building coherence in the finance and marketing goals.However the marketing and sales strategies for each region should be decentralized thus instilling greater flexibility and freedom among marketing departments to cater to their local markets. The pay for performance system can work smoothly in few of the regions but as explained earlier, some regions such as Middle East and some parts of South East Asian cultures demonstrate a more hierarchical structure and it will be extremely difficult to introduce pay for performance system in these regions.Also the parameters should be clearly defined before introducing the pay for performance system in different regions. Because same results usually do not show same amount of performance in different regions. What kind of performance and what kind of pay should be decided and communicated to all regional offices. The parameters for monitoring performance should be based upon different standards for different regions. Similarly some of the major HR policies should be centralized but mostly HR of each region should be independent in choosing the who, what, when and where about its employees.For example, Middle Eastern region is very warm in summers as compared to the European region and the work habits and optimal level of work during different seasons is different for both these regions. Thus separate working policies should be established for each of the region. The RD department should remain centralized at the American Head Office. As a centralized RD approach is more beneficial for a company like FES which has not expanded business into a variety of categories (AB, 2001).However taking technological inputs from all across the globe may help the RD department in improving its efficiency and effectiveness. Thus technological integration should be built where all global units of FES are directly integrated with its Head Office and the information flow between Head Office and different regions should be quick and efficient. The production department should carry out its role from the center, managing the manufacturing process across the globe from the Head Office. So it can be seen that different aspects of FES operations require different level of centralization and decentralization.Also differen t regions require different level of authority delegation based upon their internal environment and national cultures. It is relatively easier to introduce standard policies in Europe and Australia as both of these cultures are very similar to that of US. However, standardizing procedures across Middle East and South America is not a feasible option. The regional business units should remain decentralized as there should be some form of flexibility to make the decision making process quicker.The regional heads should be sent directly from the Head Office, however if some regions in Middle East are not organism managed effectively by American managers, then leadership services of local managers should be availed after providing them extensive cultural training programs at the Head Office. The regional units should be linked to the Head Office through the fastest technology available so that there is no or little information banquet between the center and regional units.Thus in light of the cultural differences prevailing in various regions of the world, the best suited approach should be to take a hybrid approach while covering some restrain in application of a centralized approach and making some variations in the standards for implementation in different regions. The integration of overall business can be achieved by proper use of technology and defining proper hierarchical system for flow of information between Head Office and various regional units.